About

Edward Mark Lichten, M.D.
Fellow, American College of Surgeons
Fellow, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Fellow, American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine

Faculty, Wayne State  University,
College of Medicine

555 South Old Woodward Ave
Suite 700
Birmingham, MI 48009

Telephone: 248.593.9999

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Curriculum Vitae

Introduction: Biography of Edward M. Lichten, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.C.O.G.
Edward Lichten is a 63 year old board certified physician who was mentored by the legendary gynecologist Frederick P. Zuspan,  M.D. Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University.  Trained in the most advanced surgery for cancer, Dr. Lichten chose to pursue a search for the medical imbalances that contribute to and cause disease.

Background Information: "Anti-aging" and Disease Research:
Since the 1960's, gynecologists treated menopause with the addition of estrogen and  testosterone to revive sex drive. But until just 20 years ago, no one connected imbalances of 'hormones' with non-gynecologic disease states.

Lichten's Research in the 1980's:
Dr. Lichten discovered in the early 1980's that there were two non-surgical diseases of women that could be treated effectively with hormones instead of expensive tranquilizers and potentially dangerous medications. His work identified that pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) and migraine could be prevented by stabilizing a woman's fluctuating hormone.  For the majority of these women there was no more Prozac® or Imitrex®; no more uncontrolled moods or raging head pain.

What has been overlooked are Hormones! Main stream medical research had failed to consider that realize that many diseases are mediated through hormones! That is why a 50-year old's broken bones take longer to heal than a 15-year old's. When we add back the hormones, like estrogen and testosterone, she can stay more alert, involved, active and recover faster--LIVING BETTER and LONGER!

The Most Radical Breakthrough is using Testosterone to Treat Men!
In the 1990's, Dr. Lichten experienced what is now called andropause; 'men'pause for men. Night sweats, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, weight gain and depression became his way of life.  When searching for a hormonal cause, Dr. Lichten discovered that the laboratory blood tests explained the disorder. And with replacement of testosterone, all of his symptoms disappeared and he was able to build muscle tone, mental acuity, and endurance not realized since his 20's.

Testosterone Reverses Need for Diabetic Medication:
As his women patients saw the difference testosterone made for Dr. Lichten, they encouraged their husbands to be seen for the miracle 'fountain of youth' hormone treatments. The third man to be seen, Joe. N. was a 295 pound, 5-foot 9-inch male with diabetes. On testosterone, he lost 85 pounds in the first year and discontinues all his diabetic medications the first month. Now, 14 years later, Joe. N. is still not clinically diabetic.

The Clinical Research:
Buoyed by the anti-diabetic effects of testosterone is a multitude of men, Dr. Lichten enlisted James Sowers, M.D., Professor and Chairman of Endocrinology at Wayne State to co-sponsor a university approved clinical study. The results proved that: 1) all diabetic men are low in testosterone, 2) adding back testosterone would reduce the need for insulin by 50% and oral agents nearly completely, and 3) the men on testosterone did not report any low blood sugar complications. A large clinical study using more potent testosterones is being planned as clinical research from Harvard, England and Switzerland support exactly what Dr. Lichten published to the Internet 10 years ago.

Putting It All Together:
As the author of the Textbook of Bio-identical Hormones, Dr. Lichten has put together the missing pieces that  underlie most chronic disease-- hormone imbalances. These hormones can be measured in common laboratory blood tests. So while vitamin D3 deficiency causes insomnia, low growth hormone -- fibromyalgia, thyroid- hair loss, fatigue and weight gain, adrenal-afternoon fatigue, pancreas- diabetes and digestion, and the sex hormones of estrogen and testosterone everything from Alzheimer's to heart disease.

The Doctor: Past and Present
Dr. Edward M. Lichten received his medical degree from the Ohio State University, College of Medicine in 1972 and is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Now, nearing his 64nd birthday, Dr. Lichten has focused on the non-surgical and hormonal treatment of disease for the last 25 years.
Many of his research applications have been presented at various national meetings. Such as:

• In the treatment of menstrual pain and endometriosis, Dr. Lichten first reported that out-patient laparoscopic surgery, L.U.N.A. (presented at the American College of Surgeons and American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists Annual Meeting 1985), could stop monthly incapacitating menstrual pain. He also confirmed in his practice that testosterone-derivate hormones are more effective in the treatment of this disease, at one tenth the cost of luprolide acetate and without Lupron®'s rapid bone loss.
  

• In the treatment of premenstrual syndrome, Dr. Lichten confirmed that there exists a hormonal disruption in the second half of the menstrual cycle. (presented by his collaborator at the Amsterdam Psychology Conference 1985) Clinically, he has used a program of hormonal supplementation with natural progesterone, a mild diuretic (acetazolamide), and high protein diet in an attempt to relieved many with mild PMS symptoms so as to avoid tranquilizers.
  

• In the most severe cases of P.M.S., those with disruptive mood disturbances, Dr. Lichten will try to stabilize the hormonal shift with testosterone-derivate hormones. He feels this is effective more than 80% of the time. (Presented at the Michigan Psychiatric Society Annual Meeting 1986).
  

• In cases of post-partum depression, some women responded to injections of a natural progesterone and/or testosterone-derivate hormones in lieu or in addition to psychotropic medications.
  

• In five separate publications, Dr. Lichten has outlined the direct effects hormones have on women's migraines. Three separate drugs therapies have controlled more than 80% of the worse menstrual and menopausal migraines when standard medication failed. (Presented to American College of Obstetricians, abstracted in Journal American Medical Association, Speaker at American Association for the Study of Headache 1988-1992).
  

• And ongoing research focuses on the relief of "aging related disease" related to diabetes.  He have been successful in implementing a diabetic-control program to reduce insulin and oral diabetic medications by adding back TESTOSTERONE. Now with replacement hormones in both men and women there seems to be more than slowing disease, there is some reversal. The hormonal program may include thyroid, D.H.E.A., calciferol, cortisol, testosterone and estradiol pellets. The diseases we now treat NATURALLY include chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, diabetes and possibly heart disease.

My philosophy and the focus of my practice of medicine is changing. After two decades of focus on the pharmacologic [drugs] treatment of disease, I have slowly come to realized that modern medicine cannot yet deliver on all our expectations for a long and health-filled life. Doctors of Medicine, M.D.'s, and Doctors of Osteopathy, D.O.'s, through the application of scientific principles, have eliminated polio, smallpox, and most deaths from childbirth. With DNA mapping and gene therapy there will be new ways to diagnose and treat cancer and even correct some of the now, untreatable inheritable disease states. But the fault with our health system is that there is little or no preventive care. Illness is not treated until it is recorded on a "scientific test." Therefore, our medical practice remains disease oriented. As an analogy, we do not send out the ‘posse’ until the ‘horses are out of the barn.’ And between not recognizing the development of illness and waiting until the disease is so wide spread to treat, scientifically based medical practice routinely misses the best opportunity to treat disease: by preventing it first!

Just look at the increased incidence of people with heart and renal failure, the increase in diabetes and asthma, the nursing homes filled with sufferers of chronic illness, and the drop in fertility in both men and women if you doubt that there are 'cracks' in our ‘scientific’ practice of health care. For with all our medical marvels, the average man, woman and child today is fatter, less physically fit, more stressed and generally less healthy than our parent’s generation. And if we do have some answers to medical care then why in the United States do we continue to spend more health care dollars on "not approved"-- non allopathic services including manipulation, acupuncture, and naturopathic/ herbal therapies than on conventional medical services?

Most people realize that health care is a personal matter: every individual needs to take an interest in maintaining a healthy environment. Eating correctly, exercise, and stress reduction are general goals that focus on improved quality of life issues: quitting smoking, decreased alcohol and drug use, and weight loss are specific examples.

Our hope in developing the USDOCTOR home page is to increase your awareness of the non-surgical or less invasive treatments of common diseases and to ask the question to you "why we are 'not as healthy' as we can be?" Simple and alternative treatments as they become available will be described so that you might consider this information in your treatment of some common medical problems. We hope that you can adopt a program of prevention for yourself and your family that will include the use of vitamins, exercise, diet, and natural remedies to supplement those of standard medical practice.

We believe in the scientific principles of medical practice: medical studies must be reproducible and based on logical principles. But at the same time, we believe that the patient usually knows best that 'something is not right' even when there is no test to prove it so. We listen to our patients' complaints. We believe that the key to good health is with preventive medicine. At the same time, we believe that hormonal and alternative therapy is an often overlooked mainstay to both treating many 'diseases' and is part of the natural plan for "prevention of disease". We encourage our readers to ask questions about their health care and relay their positive and negative experiences with medical and alternative therapies through an associated "chat line."

You will find that our USDOCTOR on the INTERNET information is based in scientific medicine: we have contributed original research and will reference the published clinical findings of others within each article. But more importantly our primary responsibility as DOCTORS is to apply common sense and look at the whole patient and together decide what is normal and what is not. It is "not normal" to not sleep, to be tired, to be in pain, to be depressed most days. It is not normal to have no exercise tolerance, to have no drive or interest in sex, and to look for solace in alcohol, self-abusive patterns, and psychotropic and illegal drugs.

We will plan to develop each topic with an the extent of the ‘medical problem’ and the directions being taken in its standard treatment. Then, the direction of our writings will be to develop the background science and theory behind new research and try to explain how this may apply to the clinical practice of treating the patient. With this additional information, hopefully you will be better educated to the concept of disease and the alternatives and/or additional treatments that may be applicable to your specific medical needs.

No one treatment is correct for everyone. There are many individuals over the years that all of us have treated but to no avail. It is not our desire or intent to suggest that one treatment is the best. Rather, we propose that those who avail themselves of medical care must first educate themselves and then actively discuss with their health professionals what options are available in their individual medical care:


Our first goal, therefore, must be

►PREVENTION
►TREATMENTS FOR THE WHOLE BODY'S WELL-BEING
OPTIONS THAT ARE SAFE, COST-EFFECTIVE, AND AVAILABLE:

Then we can hope to LIVE LONGER & BETTER in a life style that supports

►HEALTH
►RENEWED ENERGY, and
►LONGEVITY in a purposeful life..


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Medical Articles/ National and International Presentations by Dr. Lichten are referenced in his curriculum vitae.