By Amy Kennard
As the baby boomer population ages, their quest for the fountain of youth is on the increase. In fact, the anti-aging industry is, well, booming, to the tune of $291 billion worldwide. But how do you know that the physician who’s promising you a flawless face, boundless energy and a rejuvenated libido is on the up and up? It’s a case of buyer beware.
In order to practice medicine in the United States, physicians must be licensed in the state in which they work. In order to become licensed, they must have attended medical school, performed a post graduate residency, and passed an exam.
Most physicians today are considered specialists, even if the specialty is something that seems general, such as family practice. Because of the increase in specialization, board certification was developed to set practice standards, and to ensure that doctors were well qualified to provide care in their chosen specialty.
According to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), board certified physicians voluntarily meet additional stringent standards — beyond basic licensing. To maintain board certification, a physician must remain active in the latest advances in his or her specialty, and demonstrate best practices for patient safety, communications, and ethics. Board certification is independent of the government, and does not change from state to state.
So how does anti-aging fit in?
There are currently 24 ABMS board certificates which also include many subspecialty certificates. For example, the American Board of Internal Medicine includes 19 subspecialties, ranging from cardiology to oncology to sports medicine. However, the anti-aging field isn’t a specialty that’s recognized by the ABMS, meaning physicians cannot officially be board certified in anti-aging.
In 1992 the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) was founded, offering certificates in anti-aging medicine to more than 24,000 member physicians. But many scientists studying aging do not condone the claims of A4M and critics of the group have accused them of using misleading marketing to sell expensive and potentially harmful hormone treatments.
So what’s an aging adult to do?
“Aging is a natural process, not a medical condition, and there isn’t any therapy that can reverse it or slow it down,” says S. Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., a research associate at the Center on Aging at the University of Chicago. The National Institute on Aging recommends maintaining a healthy weight, exercise, eat nutritiously and don’t smoke. If you have issues, see your OB/GYN, family practice doctor or internist, who are qualified to handle aging-related issues, but don’t profess to be able to turn back time.
Board certification is one way to protect you – the patient. People may not realize that most states, including Illinois, do not have any laws that prevent doctors from practicing outside of their field. And given that physicians’ reimbursements are getting lower and lower under managed care, it’s understandable that some are turning to the lucrative area of anti-aging. So before you take steps to stay forever young, remember that there are potentially harmful, non-FDA approved anti-aging treatments out there being offered by physicians who are not board certified in these types of services or recognized by the ABMS as having a specialty in anti-aging medicine. In which case, that fountain of youth may be no more than a mirage.