HormoneSynergy® Longevity Medicine grew out of more than 25 years of clinical practice and a shared interest in helping people understand their health before disease, disability, or loss of function forces the conversation. Dr. Kathryn Retzler leads the medical care. Daniel Soule oversees the business, patient experience, education, and many of the systems that support the work around it.
Dr. Kathryn Retzler & Daniel Soule
HormoneSynergy® did not begin as a longevity clinic. It evolved into one.
Dr. Kathryn Retzler began practicing in 2001, when hormone replacement therapy, preventive cardiology, body composition, cognitive testing, insulin resistance, advanced cardiovascular imaging, and many of the subjects now associated with longevity medicine were rarely discussed together.
Over the years, the practice changed as the medicine changed. Hormones remained important, but patients were also arriving with cardiovascular risk, metabolic dysfunction, declining bone and muscle mass, cognitive concerns, weight problems, sleep disruption, and the complicated physiology that often accompanies aging.
HormoneSynergy gradually became a practice built around those connections rather than around any single diagnosis or treatment.
Medicine, Not Marketing.
We are interested in what is useful, what is supported by evidence, what is appropriate for the individual patient, and what can reasonably improve health over time. That may include nutrition and lifestyle medicine, hormone therapy, prescription medication, supplements, advanced diagnostics, specialist referral, or a combination of approaches.
Dr. Kathryn Retzler
Dr. Kathryn Retzler is the founder and physician behind HormoneSynergy®. Her clinical work now includes hormone medicine, metabolic health, preventive cardiology, body composition, cognitive health, and preventive longevity medicine.
Her approach has changed considerably during more than two decades of practice. She was trained as a naturopathic physician, and that education gave her a strong foundation in nutrition, prevention, lifestyle, physiology, and non-pharmaceutical treatment. Those ideas continue to influence the way she evaluates patients today.
Her career also moved steadily into areas of conventional medicine. Prescribing became an important part of her work. So did cardiovascular diagnostics, advanced laboratory testing, medical imaging, evidence-based hormone therapy, pharmacology, and collaboration with physicians and specialists outside naturopathic medicine.
She does not divide treatments into natural medicine and conventional medicine and then ask patients to choose a side. Some problems respond well to nutrition, exercise, sleep, weight loss, or another lower-risk intervention. Others are better treated with medication. Many patients benefit from both.
That broader medical perspective is now central to HormoneSynergy.
Training & Background
Dr. Retzler received her doctorate from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon in 2001. Her early postgraduate experience included an integrative medicine internship with Andrew Weil, MD, followed by residency training in McMinnville, Oregon.
She later completed two fellowships in preventive cardiology through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine with Mark Houston, MD. That training contributed to the cardiovascular and metabolic work that eventually became an important part of HormoneSynergy.
Her continuing education has included work with physicians and researchers in hormone health, brain health, and age-management medicine, including Rebecca Glaser, MD, Thierry Hertoghe, MD, Daniel Amen, MD, and Dale Bredesen, MD.
Dr. Retzler is licensed with prescribing authority in Oregon and Washington.
From Naturopathic Medicine to Integrative Longevity Medicine
Dr. Retzler has never considered graduating from medical school the end of her education. Twenty-five years of patients, continuing medical education, teaching, prescribing, consultation with other physicians, and watching treatments succeed or fail have changed the way she practices.
Some naturopathic approaches that appeared promising early in her career became less compelling as evidence accumulated. Other approaches continued to prove useful. Conventional treatments that might once have been viewed cautiously earned a place in her practice when the research and clinical experience supported them.
She has also considered more than once whether an MD or DO degree might have made parts of her career easier. Naturopathic licensure, postgraduate training, professional recognition, hospital access, and prescribing authority can vary considerably depending on where a physician practices.
Oregon gave her an unusually broad environment in which to build her career, and she found a way to combine the parts of naturopathic medical training she valued with a much broader medical toolbox. HormoneSynergy today reflects that evolution.
For readers interested in the professional path itself, we have written more about it in The Realities of Becoming a Naturopathic Physician: What Medical School Does Not Prepare You For.
Daniel Soule
Daniel Soule is the owner and operator of HormoneSynergy®. His background includes psychology, counseling, coaching, behavior change, and health education, along with more than two decades of learning what is required to build and operate a medical practice.
Dr. Retzler's work is clinical. Daniel's role is different. He oversees much of the business and operational side of HormoneSynergy, including patient communication, education, practice development, systems, and the experience surrounding the medical care.
That division of responsibilities developed gradually. Like many independent medical practices, HormoneSynergy had to learn how to manage staffing, technology, scheduling, finances, marketing, patient communication, and countless other details that are rarely taught in medical school.
Daniel has spent years working on those parts of the practice so that the clinical side can remain focused on medicine.
His background in counseling and coaching also shapes the way HormoneSynergy communicates with patients. Laboratory information and medical recommendations are only useful when someone understands what they mean and can translate them into decisions they are willing and able to sustain.
Education & Training
Daniel studied psychology, sociology, and anthropology at Wichita State University and continued his training at New West Seminary in Portland, Oregon.
His additional education has included coaching, clinical hypnotherapy, neuro-linguistic programming, health and wellness coaching, Chinese medicine, and massage therapy through programs including:
- New Vibe Training Center, ICF Coaching Certification
- Apositiva Counseling and Training Center, Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming
- AMPAC University, Certification in Clinical Hypnotherapy
- Kansas College of Chinese Medicine
- Total Health Works School of Massage
- Your New Life Story®, Health and Wellness Coaching Certification
How HormoneSynergy® Practices Medicine
The clinic is built around a fairly straightforward idea: the more accurately we understand a patient's physiology and risk, the more intelligently we can decide what deserves attention.
That is why our work extends beyond hormones. Depending on the patient, an evaluation may involve cardiovascular risk, insulin resistance, visceral fat, bone density, lean mass, cognition, inflammation, sleep, nutrition, medications, hormone status, family history, and other factors that influence health over time.
We use advanced diagnostics because guessing is rarely a good substitute for measuring. We also try not to order testing simply because technology makes it available. A test should answer a useful clinical question or influence what happens next.
Treatment follows the same principle. Nutrition, resistance training, sleep, weight management, hormone replacement therapy, prescription medication, supplements, and specialist care all have a place when the patient and evidence justify them.
We are less interested in whether a treatment belongs to one medical philosophy than in whether it is likely to help the person sitting in front of us.
The Optimal Aging Assessment
For new patients seeking comprehensive care, the Optimal Aging Assessment is the starting point for our longevity medicine model.
The assessment is designed to establish a more complete baseline before making treatment decisions. It begins at $2,995 and may include advanced laboratory testing, body composition assessment, vascular screening, neurocognitive evaluation, and an extended physician visit with Dr. Retzler.
The goal is not to produce a stack of test results. It is to understand how the findings fit together and determine which problems deserve attention now, which should be watched over time, and what can reasonably be changed.
Learn more about our Personalized Longevity Medicine approach.
Areas of Clinical Focus
- Hormone medicine: individualized evaluation and treatment for women and men, including menopause, perimenopause, testosterone, thyroid considerations, and age-related hormonal changes.
- Preventive cardiology: cardiovascular risk assessment using advanced biomarkers, vascular testing, imaging when appropriate, and individualized prevention strategies.
- Metabolic health: insulin resistance, body composition, visceral fat, weight management, muscle preservation, nutrition, and metabolic risk.
- Brain and cognitive health: evaluation of cognitive function alongside cardiovascular, metabolic, hormonal, sleep, and lifestyle factors that can influence the aging brain.
- Bone and body composition: assessment of bone density, lean mass, fat mass, and visceral adiposity as part of healthy aging.
- Healthy aging: bringing these systems together rather than treating each one as an unrelated problem.
Why Patients Work With Us
Most patients who find HormoneSynergy are not looking for another five-minute conversation about a single laboratory value. They are trying to understand why their health is changing and what they can reasonably do about it.
Our role is to provide the medical evaluation, context, and options. Patients still make their own decisions. We want them to understand why a test was ordered, why a treatment is being considered, what the evidence suggests, and what the alternatives are.
- More than 25 years of clinical experience
- Physician-guided preventive longevity medicine
- Integration of hormones, metabolism, cardiovascular health, cognition, bone, and body composition
- Advanced diagnostics used in the context of an individual patient
- Both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical treatment options when appropriate
- A strong emphasis on patient education and informed decision-making
- Care based in Lake Oswego and the Portland metropolitan area
Learn More About Our Approach
The following pages explain several parts of the HormoneSynergy model in greater detail:
- Personalized Longevity Medicine
- HormoneSynergy® Longevity Medicine Model
- Preventive Cardiology and Cleerly Testing
- Hormone Optimization and Bioidentical Hormone Therapy
- Weight Loss for Longevity
Longevity Medicine Resources
Connect With HormoneSynergy®
If our approach sounds like the kind of medical relationship you are looking for, you can learn more about becoming a patient or contact our office with questions about whether the practice is a reasonable fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dr. Kathryn Retzler?
Dr. Kathryn Retzler is the founder and physician behind HormoneSynergy® Longevity Medicine. She has practiced for more than 25 years, with clinical interests that include hormone medicine, metabolic health, preventive cardiology, body composition, cognitive health, and healthy aging.
What is Dr. Retzler's medical background?
Dr. Retzler graduated from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2001. Her early postgraduate experience included an integrative medicine internship with Andrew Weil, MD, followed by residency training. She later completed two preventive cardiology fellowships through the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine with Mark Houston, MD, and has continued advanced medical education throughout her career.
Who is Daniel Soule?
Daniel Soule is the owner and operator of HormoneSynergy®. He oversees much of the business, operations, patient experience, communication, and educational side of the practice. His background includes psychology, counseling, coaching, behavior change, and health education.
What is HormoneSynergy®?
HormoneSynergy® is a physician-guided longevity medicine clinic in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The practice brings together hormone medicine, metabolic health, preventive cardiology, body composition, brain health, advanced diagnostics, lifestyle medicine, and healthy aging.
Is HormoneSynergy a naturopathic clinic?
Dr. Retzler was trained as a naturopathic physician, and that education continues to influence her emphasis on nutrition, prevention, lifestyle, and physiology. Her clinical practice also incorporates prescription medications, advanced diagnostics, conventional treatments, and specialist collaboration when appropriate. HormoneSynergy is best described as an integrative preventive longevity medicine practice rather than a clinic limited to one philosophy of medicine.
How do you approach patient care?
We evaluate the systems that influence long-term health rather than focusing on one symptom in isolation. Depending on the patient, that may include hormones, metabolism, cardiovascular risk, cognition, body composition, bone health, sleep, lifestyle, nutrition, medications, and other relevant factors.
What is the Optimal Aging Assessment?
The Optimal Aging Assessment is our comprehensive new-patient evaluation. It begins at $2,995 and may include advanced laboratory testing, body composition assessment, vascular screening, neurocognitive testing, and an extended physician visit with Dr. Retzler.
Where is HormoneSynergy located?
HormoneSynergy® Longevity Medicine is located in Lake Oswego, Oregon, serving patients from the Portland metropolitan area and surrounding communities.
HormoneSynergy® Longevity Medicine • Lake Oswego & Portland, Oregon • Preventive Longevity Medicine • Hormones • Brain Health • Preventive Cardiology