Somers, best well-known as an actress. is a successful author penning 19 books. She is also known for her various products, including the ThighMaster.
Somers may be recognized as an actress but before the lure of Hollywood she went to San Francisco College for Women on a music scholarship in 1964. She left school at 17 when she became pregnant with her son Bruce Somers, Jr. In 1977 she married her husband Alan Hamel.
"I love Canadians. I have slept with one every night for the past 42 years," she said at a Toronto event.
Looking at the beautiful Somers it is hard to believe that she is 63 years old. When she speaks her wisdom on health care shines through.
The author of 19 books, her image has moved from the dingy blonde to a well versed business woman.
"The Irish either write or drink, I do both."
Somers' first book dealt with dieting and was the beginning of a series called "Somersizing." In 1988 Somers wrote Keeping Secrets. That book and its sequel After the Fall dealt with being the daughter of an alcoholic.
"Being the child of an alcoholic toughened me up. I sell my problems through my books. I write a book after I have worked out my problems, when I have the perceptive from the other side."
For the past 10 years those problems have been health concerns. In 2001, Somers told the public that she had breast cancer. As Somers fought back from cancer she started to explore more alternative forms of health care. From that research and her own personal health struggles Somers says that Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy has changed her life.
"Aging can be so incredible if you know how to approach it," she said.
Somers told the audience that it's common for us to expect to get sick as we age. We don't think of being in optimal health at the age of 100, which is becoming a common age at death. As we live longer we need to have the health and lifestyle practices in place so that we can stay healthy, she stressed.
Our generation is experiencing hormone loss up to 30 years earlier than past ones. That hormone loss is very important. If we were like the rest of the animal kingdom it would mean we would be approaching the end of life at about 45 years of age. Once an animal is no longer able to produce life they die. There is no menopause for the rest of the food chain.
In order to have optimal health we have to trick our bodies that we are still productive.
Somers talked about women at this stage of life. We are a little moody at this time. As our hormonal balance begins to shift we get cranky, can't sleep, our skin itches, we get depressed. It's not a fun period in our lives, or the lives of those around us.
Some women may go to their doctors with concerns about these changes. Doctors often have a quick solution. You can't sleep, take this little pill. Now you're depressed so another little pill comes to your medicine cabinet. It's that parade of Valium, Prozac, blood pressure medicine, lipator. The list becomes endless.
So you are now a mixture of pills, an out of whack hormonal balance, and wondering why you're always bloated or farting. (Yes, older women tend to have more gas.)
As Somers' puts it: "Oh this aging thing is fun."
There's another factor coming in at this time. Cancer. It's an epidemic in western countries. Doctors know that if your hormones are out of balance you're more likely to get cancer. In the past, the answer for hormone replacement was a drug made from horse urine. The problem that came out in 2002 is horse hormones don't mash up with humans. There is no compatibility.
It's not our fault that women are less likely to talk to their doctors about these type of concerns. In the 1950's and 1960's menopausal women were 'put away' because of their behaviour.
When our hormones are not at optimal function our bodies don't act right. We feel sick, we bloat, we don't sleep. There is good news though, we are in a very hopeful time where there is so much interest in working to get our bodies functioning at an optimal level.
We are also living in a time period where the outside toxicity attacking our bodies is at an all time high, she said. Baby boomers are the first generation where processed foods were a standard by mid-life. Our children are the first generation that have been exposed to chemicals in the womb.
We are under a chemical assault, from the products we use to clean our homes to the poisons on our produce to protect it. Is there any wonder why we are having high levels of toxicity in our bodies or that our hormones are out of whack at an earlier age?
One of the first steps in getting hormones at optimal levels is demanding that your doctor does an hormonal blood panel test during your physical every year, starting in your twenties. You should be tracking those levels right along with your doctor. This way you will be aware when your hormone levels are getting lower.
Somers told the audience about her own experience. For three years she felt horrible. Finally she saw an endocrinologist who knew Suzanne was feeling horrible just by looking at her blood work. By slowly working with hormone creams Somers and the doctor have corrected hormonal imbalances. It took time for Somers to feel completely well but she felt better within a week.
"The goal is to keep everything at an optimal level. That level is when the body is at it's best, so the levels are optimal when you're in your twenties and thirties. The ideal is to trick the brain that the body is futile."
Having an optimal hormonal level is not just for women. Men also have hormone level problems. When a man starts to have lowering hormone levels they become grumpy, gain that pot belly, start having heart issues, loss muscle mass and develop man boobs. As for their sex drives, by the time their estrogen levels are too high Somers joked it doesn't matter, they have become a woman with no sex drive.
For women when estrogen levels become to low bloating, chin hairs and a deep Lauren Bacall voice is on the horizon.
We have to begin to detox our bodies for optimal health to take place. Instead of using chemical cleaners use natural products. Think of non-chemical ways of ridding your home of pests.
"Think about those pest guys. They come to your house completely suited up for their protection. They spray their poison and we go right back into the house."
While researching for her latest book Knockout, Somers asked doctors how we can stop cancer. She was told that we all have cancer cells and cancer protector cells in our body. The goal is not to turn off those protector cells. The protector cells are turned off in part when they are exposed to toxins, poor quality foods, not sleeping, stress and an imbalance of hormones.
Those turn offs for protective cells are prevalent in today's world. Today cancer is an epidemic. During the writing of Knockout, 27 people that Somers knew died from cancer.
As the evening started to wind down Somers told us of her latest medical scare. Early this year she wound up in the emergency room. The blood was drawn, X-rays and CATs were taken. The news was not good. She had masses everywhere. One large mass was in her lungs. There were tumors in her liver. A blood clot was looming, the doctors said that it could kill her. In short, Somers had cancer everywhere. The doctors wanted to use aggressive chemotherapy. Somers said no. On day six a biopsy was performed. There was no cancer -- the doctors had been wrong.
Had the doctors looked at the blood work instead of the X-rays and CAT scans they would have known that cancer wasn't the problem. Somers had been having a severe allergic reaction to something.
While she laid in the hospital, unable to tell her family everything would be alright, Somers knew what courses of action she would take if she made it out of bed. She had done the research and was aware of the best doctors for different types of cancer.
Somers brings that research to those who read her latest book.
"Hormones are for all of us. They govern every aspect of our lives. We have to keep them balanced." Somers smiled as she finished her talk, "Aging is amazing."
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