By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

Is it possible to age youthfully? That might sound like a contradiction, but at Charleston-based Cenegenics South Carolina, an affiliate of Cenegenics Medical Institute of Las Vegas, patients regain much of the vigor and vitality they enjoyed in their 20s, said Dr. Michale Barber, co-owner of Cenegenics South Carolina.

The keys to Cenegenics’ “age management” strategy are nutrition, exercise and hormone evaluation and restoration. Working in concert, these three keys contribute to a healthy lifestyle in which patients, most of them baby boomers, end up looking and feeling younger than their age, said Barber, a board-certified anesthesiologist.

Located in the Majestic Square building in downtown Charleston, Cenegenics South Carolina includes a kitchen where healthful meals for clients are prepared, diagnostic rooms where clients have their body fat and hormonal content measured, waiting rooms where clients watch relaxation-inducing DVDs and the offices of Barber and her business partner, Dr. Thomas Egan, a certified cardiologist and internist. Cenegenics’ clients also have access to a fitness center in the building.

“People have known they should go to the gym, eat well and get a good night’s sleep, but no one had a plan to help people achieve this,” Barber said.

Cenegenics Medical Institute, founded in 1997 by radiologist and former Mr. Illinois bodybuilder Dr. Alan Mintz and businessman John Adams, has such a plan, Barber said.

Launched in 2006, Cenegenics South Carolina has about 200 patients; most of them are men 45 and older who are business executives and professionals. As the first U.S. Cenegenics location to be established outside of the Las Vegas headquarters, Cenegenics South Carolina attracts patients from as far north as Washington, D.C., and throughout much of the Southeast, Barber said.

New patients pay $2,495 for a day’s evaluation, in which their bone density,  their hormonal condition and their body fat are measured and analyzed. And their living habits and family health history are discussed and their work environment examined. Patients pay $5,000 a year to stay in the program. Although these services are not covered under health insurance, patients can pay for them through health savings accounts and flexible savings accounts, Barber explained.

While most people know diet and exercise are crucial to good health, hormonal care might be a lesser-known component, Barber noted.

For instance, each year after age 30, men lose from 1% to 3% of their testosterone, a hormone vital not only to the libido but to heart and brain function, muscle mass and fat reduction, healthy cholesterol and blood pressure levels and bone condition. As men age, testosterone is converted to estrogen.

If too much testosterone is converted, fat begins to replace muscle. Proper exercise and nutrition, including antioxidants, B vitamins and other nutraceutical supplements, can reverse the testosterone decline as well as redress other hormonal imbalances, Barber said.

Cenegenics prescribes human growth hormone, or HGH, only for patients with a proven adult hormone growth deficiency, according to a Cenegenics publication. HGH helps build muscle, reduce fat, increase bone strength, improve the immune system as well as provide other such benefits.

The Cenegenics strategy is to address potential health risks before they become problems, Barber explained.

“Our practice is prevention,” she said.

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.

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