EXCITING NEWS! -
Healthcare Retail '06
Conference
First Time EVER!
Conference for Hospital
CEO's
April 10th-11th -
Orlando, Florida
Cheryl Whitman, CEO &
Founder of Beautiful Forever
Consulting
Mac Fadra, Senior
Consultant, MBA
Monday April 10th
1:30 pm Day Spas, Wellness &
Fitness Centers
Is your hospital ready for a
Day Spa/Wellness Center?
Medical spas can be a highly
lucrative business whether
they stand alone or are
integrated into the
healthcare system.Important
additional benefits are
realized by employees and
patients alike. Proper
planning can mean the
difference between the
success or failure of your
medical spa.
For information on
attending:
www.healthcareretail06.com
1-407-566-1017
elena.mcmiller@thepacquingroup.com
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Selling The Promise Of Youth
The anti-aging
industry is offering a
dizzying array of
hormones and
supplements.
Business is booming.
But some remedies
are risky, and the benefits
are unproven.
MARCH 20, 2006
Business Week
By Arlene Weintraub
As Dr. Ron Rothenberg bursts
through the door of his
anti-aging institute in
Southern California, a cell
phone pressed to his ear,
his nurse warns him of the
busy day ahead. There will
be four-hour consultations
with each of three
prospective patients, she
says. They're all coming to
hear the 60-year-old
Rothenberg's pitch about how
his tailored regimens of
diet, exercise, and hormones
will make them feel younger
and live longer.
As 77 million baby boomers
approach retirement, the
relatively new field of
anti-aging is racing to keep
up with them. Anti-aging
medicine goes way beyond
Botox, Retin-A face creams,
and medical spas that offer
plastic surgery and
laser-based cosmetic
procedures. In fact, only a
small portion of what these
new medicine men and women
do is aimed at making
patients look younger.
Instead, anti-aging doctors
seek to turn back the
internal hands of time by
prescribing megadoses of
supplements that they
believe prevent the body's
organs from deteriorating
and dying.
Controversies
The American
Academy of Anti-Aging
Medicine (A4M) sponsors
conferences and it also
waves around research
showing that the industry
pulls in $56 billion a year
now -- and that number could
swell to $79 billion by
2009. The promise A4M and
its members dangle before
patients is summed up
perfectly in the title of
Rothenberg's self-published
book: Forever Ageless.
According to A4M, 1,500
doctors have sought board
certification in anti-aging
medicine since 1996.
Rothenberg and other
practitioners in the field
have precious little
scientific data to back up
their claims that the
potions extend life. But
they insist the regimens
will guarantee what
Rothenberg calls "rectangularization"
-- years of healthy living
followed by a short, acute
decline, as opposed to a
slower, triangle-like
descent toward the grave.
HGH is by far the most
controversial weapon in the
anti-aging arsenal. A
substance produced in the
body, it was synthesized by
several biotech companies in
the early 1980s. The first
products were approved by
the FDA in 1985 to help
short children grow taller.
Lately the anti-aging
industry has latched on to
HGH as a tool for boosting
immunity, memory, heart
function, muscle mass, and
more.
Rothenberg, who has taken
growth hormone himself,
believes it could help
people live to be 125. But
it's illegal for anyone to
distribute HGH for
anti-aging purposes, and
critics believe many players
in the anti-aging industry
who prescribe it are
violating laws and
endangering patients in the
process. The drug industry
formally opposes the efforts
to link HGH with anti-aging,
but behind the scenes,
companies may not have done
much to douse the
enthusiasm.
Then there are concerns that
anti-aging promotions may be
more like scams. Because
aging is not actually a
disease, very little of the
expense is covered by
insurance. That leaves
patients paying often
substantial fees out of
pocket.
Through the Cracks
More recent studies
have downplayed the heart
disease risk, but in the
meantime, anti-aging doctors
have stepped in to fill the
void, promoting natural, or
"bio-identical," hormones as
safe alternatives. Critics
take issue with these
products for several
reasons. First,
bio-identical hormones are
made by so-called
compounding pharmacists.
Historically, they have been
permitted by law to
customize medications for
individual patients -- for
example, people who react
adversely to certain
ingredients. But under FDA
rules, they should not be
manufacturing or selling
drugs to a mass market. To
get into that business, they
would have to submit to
strict supervision of their
facilities, the quality of
their products, the claims
on their labels, and the
like. Critics blast the FDA
for letting too much
activity slip through the
cracks.
The second big complaint
involves the very term
"bio-identical." The
hormones prescribed by
anti-aging doctors are
generally derived from
plants such as soybeans and
sweet potatoes, and combined
into proprietary recipes,
which may never be tested in
human trials. Anti-aging
proponents say the
substances are natural, safe
alternatives to FDA-approved
hormones such as Premarin
and Prempro, which are
derived from the urine of
pregnant horses. But many
doctors are leery of the
bio-identical pitch. "Yams
do not make hormones like
humans do," says Dr. Bruce
Bouts, an internist in
Findlay, Ohio.
What's missing amid all this
excitement, though, is any
firm scientific proof that
these regimens actually slow
down or reverse the aging
process. That proof may
never come. A truly
scientific study would have
to span several decades and
include a control group
that's taking a placebo.
Imagine how difficult it
would be to persuade
patients to participate in
such a trial, knowing that
they could end up taking a
sugar pill for 50 years,
rather than the pill that
might actually extend their
lives.
Some patients are aware that
anti-aging is controversial,
but they say they must
answer to how they feel.
Paul's patient Suzi Tillman
first went to see him after
a hysterectomy left her
feeling that her entire body
had simply shut down. "I
wasn't sleeping, I couldn't
think straight, I called my
children the wrong names,"
says Tillman, 51, a former
professional ballroom dancer
who now teaches dance and
works with senior citizens.
"I felt ugly. For an
empowered woman, this is
scary." Now she is taking 15
supplements a day and
rubbing a cream made of
compounded estrogen into her
skin. She feels like her old
self. "Oh, the relief to
have that cloud gone."
For more of this article
visit:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_12/b3976001.htm
|
Introducing
Medical Spa Success System
-
the medical spa business
made simple
developed by Cheryl Whitman,
President and CEO of
Beautiful Forever Consulting
Firm Inc.
www.medicalspasuccess.com
This system is the first and
only comprehensive,
do-it-yourself guide to
planning, staffing,
marketing, and operating
your medical spa business.
For a reasonable investment
on your part, you get all
the tools and knowledge you
need to be successful
including:
-
400+ page manual that
walks you through
concept creation and
branding, selecting a
market niche, choosing
your location, creating
a menu, identifying
marketing tactics,
reviewing legal and
insurance issues, and
operating efficiently
-
Customizable CD Rom that
includes: employee
handbook, operating
manual, marketing and
business plan templates,
treatment protocols,
project timeline, and
job describtions.
-
Consulting time with
Beautiful Forever
medical spa expert
-
Six month progress
review
-
Member discounts on
additional services such
as consulting hours,
on-site visits and
pratice assessments
-
Additional discounts for
current or past
clients
Become a MSSS subscriber and
learn how to:
-
Prevent Costly
Mistakes
-
Drive New Business
-
Secure
Capital
-
Maintain Control of
Your Venture
-
Stay
Within Your Budget
-
Hire the Right
Personnel
-
Interpret
Applicable
Laws
-
Create
Profitiable Retail
*Beautiful Forever
is a leading consulting firm
that specializes in advising
medical spas as well as
clinics and centers that
offer procedures and
services in the realm of
cosmetic and elective
medicine.
*Beautiful Forever
can not only help improve
your bottom-line and address
your problems but also grow
your business by developing
new and improved marketing
programs and strategies as
well as by adding new, high
margin procedure-based
services.
*Beautiful Forever has
the staff expertise,
strategic alliances,
resources and experience to
make a difference in your
practice.
*Different Subscription
Options
ACT NOW!
1-877-SPA-MEDI
www.medicalspasuccess.com
info@medicalspaconsultant.com
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