I am very excited to be writing this blog. There are huge advances happening in medicine, notably in the use of natural, safe methods to treat common complaints, usually without resorting to surgery.

I am Dr Lily Kiswani, MD, an Obstetrician and Gynecologist. That is, I help women get pregnant, help them deliver healthy babies, and also treat them for various conditions such as fibroids and ovarian cysts and many more.

I have been delivering babies since 30 years now. And you know what, the wonder of a new life is as awe-inspiring today as it was when, as trembling students, we witnessed our first delivery many (many) years ago. And the deep satisfaction when I can help a woman reach full term and deliver a healthy baby in high risk situations as when the baby is not developing appropriately, I believe cannot compare with any other experience on earth.

It has been a wonderful journey as an Obstetrician (dealing with pregnancy). And yet, I have been privileged to move to something even more demanding. I have been practising Endoscopic Surgery since 1983, when there were just a mere handful of us in India proficient in Endoscopy. I co-authored a Textbook on the subject, Endoscopic Gynecologic Surgery, published in Germany.

But that is not the end of my journey. I am so blessed that I had the opportunity to learn about Anti-Aging Medicine, also known as Regenerative Medicine or Advanced Personalized Lifestyle Medicine. Using this knowledge, I have been able to treat many conditions without resorting to surgery, which would have been an automatic choice 5 years ago. Even today, mainstream practitioners have no choice other than surgery. But, even more exciting, I have had considerable success treating patients suffering from Lifestyle Disorders, such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

This is special, because we limit the use of ‘medicines’ which almost invariably have toxic side effects. We use a holistic approach, consisting of lifestyle changes –

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Stress Reduction
• Supplements
• Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement
• Mind Body Balance
• And occasionally, traditional ‘medicines’.

This advanced approach is deeply satisfying to me as a clinician, as the results are incomparable.

Let us take a typical example.

A 45 –yr old lady complains of heavy periods, heavy enough to need treatment. Among the options available as a traditional gynaecologist, hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) is right at the top. And statistics from any of the developed countries show that hysterectomy is a very popular choice.

Such a patient often also has other complaints such as abdominal pain, tiredness and weakness due to associated anemia, and some amount of depression associated with fear of heavy periods.

Undergoing a surgical procedure is associated with risks of surgery as well as of anesthesia, and even though the risks may be small, they are real risks and may be serious enough to cause mortality. Surgery deals with the initial complaint of heavy periods, but it does not address any of the accompanying complaints.

Now let us see what happens with Anti-Aging medicine.

We use Bio-Identical Hormones to correct the imbalance of normal physiological hormones which cause the complaints. ‘Bio-Identical’ means it is the same molecule that we have in our bodies and which permits us to function optimally. This means that the body recognizes this molecule as normal, natural, as ‘its own’, and responds exactly like it normally does to its own hormones. In comparison, the traditional synthetic, chemical products are different from the body’s hormones and therefore the response is also different, uneven, inadequate and can even have side effects.

Additionally, the holistic approach with bio-identical hormones and other actions as mentioned above, affect the patient as a whole, and we find that other complaints settle even when not specifically addressed. For example, our typical patient above may find she loses excess weight, becomes more active and positive.

These are the results we expect, and get, with the new modality. Patients are thrilled to not only have their complaints settle without surgery, but they have positive ‘side effects’ – they have more energy, they sleep better, they have lost excess weight, their insulin resistance has disappeared!

Sounds too good to be true? There’s no magic, just the practice of medicine with an advanced, personalized and holistic approach. That’s what’s so exciting and what drives me to share my knowledge with everyone out there. For you to believe that there is, indeed, always a way. A way to avoid invasive procedures, to expect to be active and productive throughout life. And to live out life to the normal span of 120 years, in good health.