Forever Young
Don't age prematurely. Dr. Murray Susser's human-growth-hormone injections let patients grow young gracefully.
by
DANIELLA BRODSKY (Article from LA Confidential Magzine)
Dr. Murray Susser, physician homeopathologist is a contender for the title of the Ponce de Leon of West Los Angeles, where his traditional family practice has turned into the Longevity Medical Center, thanks to Susser's human-growth-hormone (HGH) injections for the 40-and-over crowd. There are even many younger than 40 who are asking about HGH, either because they find themselves slowing down ahead of schedule or as a treatment for conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome. LA may be the most likely place that a forever-young alternative could find an interested clientele. While celebrities like Dixie Carter have found their way to Susser's office, the sparkly folks are not the core of his clientele. The typical patient isn't a silver- or small-screen star, but someone more like John Nolan, a 46-year-old attorney. "In the two months he was taking four injections per week, John's bench press went from 170 pounds to 220 pounds, and his golf swing, which had been stuck at 250 yards for two years, went up to 310 yards," recounts Susser.
Just as many people expect their hairdressers to have great tresses and body- builders to have world-class pecs, Susser sometimes shocks his clients when he reveals his age ("I'm in my seventies"). His schedule would leave many younger men exhausted: He recently moved and expanded his practice, has been making appearances on ABC's 20/20, and just purchased a new home. Like that celebrated Hair Club for Men president, Susser is also a client. It may sound too good to be true, but according to Susser, as of yet, there are no indications that this cure is anything but the miracle it appears. "The only contraindications at present are with cancer patients," explains the physician. The other concern, he says, is merely a dosage issue. "If you inject too much, the client will experience pain, but the physician would recognize this immediately and then adjust the amount?
Injections? Yes, injections. The price of eternal youth is a needle prick—four units per week on average, at $16 a pop. Susser started his practice in a traditional vein, administering flu shots and taking blood pressure. Then 35 years ago, he started to explore the area of nutrition and found his true love. "It's so therapeutic to get people off drugs." Admitting that conventional therapies have a time and place, he feels they are far from the only answer. He has come to incorporate homeopathy (the science of using highly diluted preparations that stimulate the immune system) when possible. "When I stumbled into vitamins, I found they often worked?
In his constant search to combat what he refers to as "failures of orthodox treatment," Susser became interested in bioenergetic testing (a bicycle hooked up to monitors that test carbon dioxide levels and how the body bums carbohydrates and fat) as a way to investigate whether his patients were aging prematurely. If you prefer the technical name for the condition, it is sarcopenia. According to Susser, most of us suffer from it to some degree: "Nearly everyone, eighty to ninety percent of us, has some level of sarcopenia because of some hormone deficiency." So what does Susser think is next for the future of medicine? "Human embryo stem cells are going to play a major part in the future of health care? And as for the future of HGH, "it's clearly going to become standard."
DOCTOR FEELS GOOD: Murray Susser takes his own medicine—HGH injections.