Hone Health, a new startup for men’s health.
When Saad Alam turned 35, he started to experience a series of symptoms that ranged from fatigue to low libido, which led him to the doctor’s office. But like so many Americans, he was told there was nothing wrong with him—possibly anxiety which he could treat with meds.
Yet Alam wasn’t convinced that it was simply anxiety. Being a self-confessed health junkie, he decided to explore other avenues, asking a whole array of medical professionals to check him out. After countless tests, he found his answer: his hormones were off. More specifically, he was experiencing these symptoms because of low testosterone. “The doctor told me I had the testosterone levels of an 80-year-old man.”
That was the start of his latest entrepreneurial journey, leading him to build Hone Health.
And at 35, it seemed a bit odd to him that he would suffer from hormonal imbalance. So he researched further into the issue and found that this wasn’t uncommon at all. “So many men I found later in my age group were dealing with this as well, and some were just writing it off as being tired. It’s estimated that 40 percent of men over 35 start seeing a decline in testosterone.”
So what causes lower testosterone levels in otherwise healthy men? There is a natural reduction post 30. But there are other contributing factors which may have more so to do with modern life: poor diet, lack of sleep, high alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, and exposure to chemicals and pollution—all of these, he says, can lead to hormonal balance.
Alam, who no longer drinks alcohol, exercises regularly, and eats a healthy diet, couldn’t quite figure out what was the cause in his case. “I’m very healthy. If anything, I’m a bit obsessed with my health,” he says. So, he attributes his imbalance to the environment; Alam lives in New York City where pollution and exposure to chemicals is possible on a daily basis.
Within weeks of doing hormone therapy, Alam says he saw a shift in his energy levels, health, and libido. This very personal experience led him to consider starting a company to help other men test their hormone levels. But for six months, he sat on the idea, aware of how challenging it can be to build a health-related company that would be testing patients regularly and providing medication. “I have to be honest, I was scared.”
He also clarifies that for most men who follow a balanced, healthy lifestyle, they’re likely to be fine. “It’s only when the conservative measures don’t work, that you then need to turn to treatment.”
For cases like his, where he couldn’t pinpoint the cause, he refers to a host of data and studies that suggest a link between phthalates, commonly found in plastics and personal care products, and hormonal disruption. Some of the data goes back 10 to 15 years, arguing that this is not a new phenomenon. For example, one study from the UK in 2009 finds that chemicals in the water supply could be contributing to male infertility; the chemicals are leaching into the water system from agriculture (pesticides) and the pharmaceutical industry (disposal of meds), the study says. These studies also argue that low testosterone, or hypogonadism, can affect a man’s overall health, contributing to more significant health issues and co-morbidities.
The challenge is that getting tested can be a lengthy process, especially if a primary care doctor doesn’t make the association between a man’s symptoms and possible hormonal imbalance.
Thus, alongside his four co-founders, Seth Franz, Stuart Blitz, Alba Metira, and Zach Cane, Alam decided to jump in and launch Hone Health before the pandemic. After raising two rounds of funding, he says, “we are very close to turning a profit.”
Unlike traditional medical care, where you’re given a prescription and sent off, Alam says that the company works with patients on a regular basis using telemedicine, does follow up testing routinely to ensure the treatment is working, and if any adjustments are needed.
While Hone Health started out targeting men’s health, he sees an opportunity to build a similar concept for women, and to foray into new aspects of health, beyond just hormonal imbalances.
Alam, who has worked previously in the healthcare space, engaging with pharmaceutical companies notes that Hone Health is an example of a more sophisticated approach to healthcare, fine-tuning what a patient needs. “Traditionally in pharma, companies send reps to doctors who help sell a drug to them as the latest new thing that they should be giving their patients. But is that the best approach?”
While Hone Health medical professionals do prescribe drugs to some patients, he argues that it’s with much more thought involved, alongside lifestyle changes that can be made.
Although Hone Health was started with a specific cause, it raises broader questions about the healthcare system: how many patients are not getting to the root of the problem because doctors simply don’t have the time to explore a patient’s problem? And how significant is the impact of modern day pollutants to our hormones?
Given the data that Hone Health has been collecting on a regular basis, it’s ideal grounds for a longitudinal study to see a shift in men’s health over months, if not years, and help researchers better understand men’s hormonal health.