“All of these hormones have risks,” she said. “The concept that one can regain youth by mimicking the hormone levels of a young person is a very dangerous proposition.”

The issue of weighing risks and benefits of anti-aging products has become more important in recent years as the market has ballooned, reaching nearly $250 billion in 2012, according to a recent report from BCC Research, a publisher of technology-market research reports based in Wellesley, Mass. The report, “Antiaging Products and Services: The Global Market,” found that the services portion of the market was $38 billion, or 15 percent of the overall market. But that figure is projected to grow to $61.2 billion by 2018, a compounded annual growth rate of 8.6 percent that outpaces the overall market.

Juan Fitz, MD, assistant medical director of the Emergency Department at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, said that one reason anti-aging therapies, services, and products appeal to his fellow emergency physicians is that they have high-stress jobs that can physically and mentally take a toll on them.

Dr. Fitz operates Fitz Anti Aging & Wellness @ Bella Derme, also in Lubbock, which offers Botox injections, laser therapies for skin conditions, and other anti-aging treatments. Actions that reduce stress and give his patients, including other emergency physicians, a more youthful feeling or complexion are more than worthwhile, he said.

“The risk factors for me in the long term, in 20 years?” he said. “I’ll be 80. If I can get a good five, 10 years of quality life, enjoying my children, enjoying my grandchildren, enjoying those around me that I care for—why not?”

Dr. Kivela said the key to providing anti-aging services is to specialize in them. Too many physicians, he said, may self-treat without understanding the risks. By way of contrast, he said his wife, Madeline Andrew, MD, took a year off from her psychiatric practice to become a specialist.

“I think there is plenty of evidence-based medicine there to say this is another way of improving your health,” Dr. Kivela said. “I’m not telling anyone this is something they should or shouldn’t do, but I think it seems to be crazy that someone would not even consider that, given the amount of evidence-based medicine that’s out there supporting it.”

Sources: FDA.gov; Elan Medical; ACEP News Research

Dr. Kivela believes many of the critics of anti-aging services and products view them through professional athletes, who seemingly monthly make news with issues surrounding unauthorized use of hormones or steroids. The complications and problems occur in patients who are not maintained within physiologic levels.