New Cosmetic Surgery

As a cosmetic surgeon and anti-aging doctor in the general practice branch, for some time I have been critical of the repugnantly unnatural results that an unbridled zeal for plastic surgery is leaving behind on an increasing number of increasingly younger patients worldwide!

In some respects cosmetic surgery is in disorder, there’s no doubt about that! The problem, however, lies not with cosmetic surgeons who were not trained as plastic surgeons but still perform cosmetic surgery. Why shouldn’t they do so? After all, general practitioners and doctors in other specialties were key proponents of cosmetic surgery long before there ever was a plastic surgery specialty, which incidentally has only been existence in Austria for 20 years or so. But neither can cosmetic surgery be reserved for plastic surgeons, as it is generally known that they have had no more cosmetic surgery training in their hospital internships than any other doctor. Hence the plastic surgeon, just like the rest of us cosmetic surgeons, had to attend the “training courses” that Prof. Turkof (whom I highly respect) rightfully advocated in the article entitled “The Beauty Battlefield” (Schlachtfeld Schönheit) in Profil 36/08.

To a much greater extent the problem lies in the fact that plastic surgeons tend to favor methods involving operations, as their training focused on reconstructive surgery after tumors and accidents. From a surgical standpoint, however, such methods often entail grandiose performances that are too invasive and stressful for the subtle improvements in appearance and body shape demanded in cosmetic surgery. Hand in hand with unrealistic alteration wishes (take Michael Jackson, for example), the result is a high rate of complications as well as many patients with an overly-tightened, unnatural look.

For the well-being of the patients, what is needed is a New Cosmetic Surgery in which operations are gentle and non-invasive, and wherein scalpels, silicone, and plastic are dispensed with as much as possible! This New Cosmetic Surgery must be entrusted to doctors with extensive medical training and capable of thinking across disciplines; ones who won’t resort to plastic reconstructive operations as a primary means for solving every cosmetic problem caused by stress and hormone deficiencies.

This New Cosmetic Surgery exists already: it is based on minimally invasive cosmetic interventions, autologous stem cells, and bioidentical hormones. It spares women undergoing breast and facial surgery from scalpels, plastic, and silicone, produces natural looking results, and means a substantial improvement in health and quality of life!

Hollywood does indeed set trends in many areas, but even in Hollywood the era of overly tightened doll faces and silicone breasts is coming to an end. Many stars are turning away from plastic surgery and swear by the gentler methods of New Cosmetic Surgery! Hence we can be cautiously optimistic that in the future there will be less bloodshed on the “beauty battlefield”!

Heinrich, MD

The all too familiar theory that one can live longer through calorie restriction is often touted by the media as the only scientifically-based way to increase one’s lifespan. The main proponent and the one who came up with this theory, Roy Walford, died in 2004 at the age of 79, although he had expected to live well past 100. Due to malnutrition, he looked physically wasted and chronically ill. The same applies to his daughter, who also espouses her father’s theory and as a result looks like a chronically ill 60 year old, even though she is only around 40.

And they’re claiming that such a diet is healthy? Anybody who looks ill isn’t healthy! Among other things, a protein-deficient diet leads to insufficient quantities of hormones being produced. This not only causes the body to age faster, but also to die sooner due to lower resistance.

Many supposedly “natural” cosmetic and functional problems of aging are in fact symptoms of chronic deficiencies of certain hormones. A diet intended to slow down aging must therefore provide the nutrients, calories, and proteins needed for optimum hormone production. Furthermore, there is more and more evidence that intermittent fasting – as practiced in medicinal and religious traditions worldwide – may be advisable.

In New Cosmetic Surgery, we use bioidentical hormones to raise aging-induced low hormone levels back up to their individual optimum values, which frequently leads to a remarkable rejuvenation effect. Hence the widely-held assumption that rejuvenation is still an impossibility is not true – through the balanced use of bioidentical hormones, it can be achieved and experienced today! However, in some cases liposuction with microcannulas can help to get rid of the signs of aging. Aside from rejuvenation of the body, bioidentical hormones are one of the pillars of Weight Loss by DDr. Heinrich.

Heinrich, MD