Trouble with arousal or orgasm? Low (or no) libido? Dryness and painful intercourse? Nearly half of all women will experience sexual dysfunction or intimacy issues like these at some point in their lives. Men suffer from some of these problems, too. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Advances in sexual health medicine offer exciting new solutions for these common obstacles to a healthy (and hot) sex life. Today’s Healthy Longevity guest is Carolyn DeLucia, MD, a former OBGYN, who’s now helping thousands of women and men rekindle their sexuality at her practice, The Secret Orchid, in Hillsborough, NJ. Dr. DeLucia uses non-surgical techniques such as laser and sound-wave therapy, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and hormone optimization to jumpstart libido, increase vaginal lubrication, achieve more intense orgasms, and improve overall self-confidence and satisfaction. Join me as we explore the new medicine of sexual pleasure.

You’ll learn:

· Today, women are much more open about their sexual health, thanks to social media, but there’s far too much misinformation online (some of it dangerous, most of it useless). Get your advice from experts who understand the science and recognize that every human is unique.

· Sexual health problems are more common than you might think. Sixty percent of women experience vaginal atrophy. A third of women suffer from urinary incontinence and 45 percent of them refrain from intimacy due to the shame.

· Instead of doing thousands of Kegels every day, laser therapy and electromagnetic stimulation of the pelvic floor strengthen the muscles surrounding the bladder and improve urinary control.

· In addition to boosting a woman’s libido, testosterone cream applied to the back of the knee helps women put on lean muscle and lose fat. (An oral testosterone pill is currently being tested.)

· Os and Ahhs: A PRP therapy called the “O-Shot,” improves blood flow and lubrication, increases sex drive, heightens arousal, and makes orgasms more intense. The O-Shot involves taking a small amount of blood from the arm and processing it to concentrate platelet-rich plasma, which is injected into the numbed clitoris, labia, and G-spot. The result: improved blood flow and lubrication, increased sex drive, heightened arousal, and more intense orgasms. A similar PRP therapy, the “P-Shot,” is available for male sexual dysfunction.

· Part of helping women remain active and willing participants in their intimate lives is keeping their partner active, too.

· An active sex life is terrific for building self-esteem and overall health.

About Florence Comite, MD

Dr. Comite began her medical journey at Yale University School of Medicine and continued with at Yale with a residency in medicine. She completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology (multidisciplinary training incorporating pediatrics, gynecology, and andrology) at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She remained at the National Institutes of Health as a senior clinical research associate before joining the Yale faculty as an associate professor in endocrinology. During her 25-year faculty tenure, Dr. Comite founded and directed Women’s Health at Yale.

In 2005, she launched her bespoke medical practice, Comite Center for Precision Medicine & Healthy Longevity, in New York City and, subsequently expanded offices to Palo Alto and Miami Beach.

Through her medical practice and decades of clinical research, Dr. Comite recognized that all humans have inherited a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism (a glucose disorder leading toward diabetes), which is accelerated by aging and the natural decline of the hormones testosterone and estrogen, which begins around age 30.

Dr. Comite’s podcast delivers the truth about your health—that age-related disease begins early in life at the cellular level. By slowing and even reversing the biological aging process, we can stay active and in great health for life. She interviews renowned physicians, researchers, and thought leaders offering surprising insights and practical tips that listeners can use to improve their own health trajectory.

A decade ago, the idea of a drug that could tackle obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease sounded like pure science fiction. Today, thanks to peptides like Ozempic and Zepbound, it’s a reality and a lifeline to the more than 90 percent of Americans who have metabolic disease. In this episode, Dr. Comite discusses GLP-1s and other “booster shots to preventive medicine” with Rudy Eberwein, MD, founder of A New You Wellness in Miami, who specializes in weight loss, hormone optimization, and longevity. This episode answers many of the questions you may have about improving your healthspan to match your lifespan.

You’ll learn…

· * That Eberwein believes only 7 percent of the U.S. population is metabolically healthy and Dr. Comite has “never seen a completely healthy human being.”

· * Why doctors Comite and Eberwein believe GLP-1 medications are to healthcare in the 21st century as antibiotics were to saving lives in the 20th century.

· * That obesity is not a result of a lack of willpower.

· * About the medication combo that represents the “best one-two punch” against metabolic disease.

· * About the “exposome,” and how it negatively impacts health.

· * Why Dr. Comite calls muscle “the organ of longevity.”

· * The fears of getting prostate cancer on testosterone therapy are unfounded.

· * About “iron overload” and the “sweet spot” for iron and ferritin levels.

Upcoming:
July 1: Carolyn DeLucia, MD, a board-certified gynecologist specializing in women’s intimacy on non-surgical techniques for improving sexual health.

July 15 Brad Jacobs, MD, owner of BlueWave Medicine on wearables, meditation, and psychedelic-assisted therapies.

About Florence Comite, MD

Dr. Comite began her medical journey at Yale University School of Medicine and continued at Yale with a residency in medicine. She completed a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology (multidisciplinary training incorporating pediatrics, gynecology, and andrology) at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. She remained at the National Institutes of Health as a senior clinical research associate before joining the Yale faculty as an associate professor in endocrinology. During her 25-year faculty tenure, Dr. Comite founded and directed Women’s Health at Yale.

In 2005, she launched her bespoke medical practice, Comite Center for Precision Medicine & Healthy Longevity, in New York City and subsequently expanded offices to Palo Alto and Miami Beach.

Through her medical practice and decades of clinical research, Dr. Comite recognized that all humans have inherited a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism (a glucose disorder leading toward diabetes), which is accelerated by aging and the natural decline of the hormones testosterone and estrogen, which begins around age 30.

Dr. Comite’s podcast delivers the truth about your health—that age-related disease begins early in life at the cellular level. By slowing and even reversing the biological aging process, we can stay active and in great health for life. She interviews renowned physicians, researchers, and thought leaders, offering surprising insights and practical tips that listeners can use to improve their health trajectory.

Not unlike your skin, your gums, the periodontal support tissues for your teeth, act as a frontline defense against bacteria and pathogens trying to enter your body. “If your gums are not healthy, you are not healthy,” says biologic dentist and periodontal surgeon Alexander Volchonok, DMD, co-founder of TetraHealth Dentistry in New York City. In this episode of Healthy Longevity with Florence Comite, MD, you’ll learn that the mouth is the window into the health of your entire body. Bleeding gums, a hallmark of periodontal disease, warn of dysbiosis of the mouth's microbiome and have many downstream effects that can negatively impact the endocrine system, heart health, and even the brain. Open wide and join us on a fascinating exploration of biologic dentistry, an approach that focuses on the interconnectedness of oral health with the rest of the body.

You’ll learn…

· Biologic dentistry uses high-tech diagnostic modalities to test saliva for markers of inflammation and to analyze the DNA of the oral microbiome.

· High-definition scans can peer below the surface of the gum to the bone, uncovering hidden infections, that may be completely asymptomatic, early enough to prevent advanced disease.

· Declining oral health is not inevitable with age; you can have a healthy mouth and gums for the rest of your life.

· Plaques in the heart and blood vessels contain oral bacteria, which traveled there through the bloodstream from “leaky” gums.

· Oral bacteria can upregulate inflammatory cytokines like interleukin-1 and interleukin-6, which can cross the blood-brain barrier and may play a role in Alzheimer’s dementia.

· Everyone should have a thorough oral screening and consider advanced screening and testing options.

· The best way to take care of your teeth and gums, according to Volchonok: use an electric toothbrush and a water flosser (like the classic Waterpik).

Would you want to know if cancer is in your health future? In many cases, detecting cancers early before they metastasize and when they are more easily treated is the key to survival and return to good health. Unfortunately, many aggressive cancers are identified in the later stages of progression, making treatment difficult and sometimes ineffective. Today, however, biomedical companies are racing to develop cancer screening technologies that may ultimately change the trajectory of cancer mortality. Leading that effort is GRAIL with its first-to-market Galleri multi-cancer early detection test, which is awaiting FDA approval. In this episode of Healthy Longevity, Dr. Comite discusses this pioneering test with Eric A. Klein, MD, a distinguished scientist at GRAIL and a long-time urologist and surgical oncologist.

You’ll learn…

· Currently, we can screen for only cervical, breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancers.

· Standard screening tests only detect 14 percent of cancers. More than 80 percent of people who die of cancer succumb to cancers for which there is no screening.

· While those current tests reduce mortality, we still lose more than 600,000 patients yearly in the U.S. to cancer.

· Multi-cancer screening tests like Galleri fill an unmet need for finding the deadliest cancers before they become symptomatic.

· Cancers growing in the body shed DNA into the bloodstream. These DNA fragments act like a fingerprint of cancer that the Galleri blood test can detect.

· When a cancer fingerprint is found, the test can predict the type of organ or tissue it is linked to, which can help doctors home in on the most effective treatment.

· 1 in 200 people who take the Galleri test receive a false positive. More than 90 percent of those determined to have cancer will benefit by learning the origin of the cancer.

Many women who can benefit from hormones are still sitting on the sidelines because of long-held misconceptions about health risks of hormone therapy. “We need to move on from that crazy debate that hormones are bad,” says gynecologist and integrative medicine physician Felice Gersh MD, author of PCOS SOS and Menopause: 50 Things You Need to Know. “Estradiol is the elixir of life!” In this episode, Dr. Comite interviews Dr. Gersh about how insufficient hormones dramatically impact a woman’s current and future health.

You’ll learn…

· Not only can hormone therapy ease hot flashes, sleep disturbance, and other symptoms of menopause, it reduces insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease risk in menopausal women, optimizes production of growth factors in the brain and supports bone health.

· Breast cancer is more common after menopause when estrogen levels drop.

· The close connection between PCOS and Menopause.

· Chronic inflammation upregulates aromatase and changes estrogen into an unhealthy form called “estrone.”

· 50% of women with PCOS have a first-degree relative who has PCOS.

· While excess testosterone is blamed for PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome is primarily a condition caused by not enough estradiol.

· “You can’t heal without hormones, but until you’re healed, you won’t make the hormones,” says Dr. Gersh.

· Why you should take estradiol in cream or patch form, not orally.