Pharmaceuticals used to treat male pattern baldness (MPB) like Proscar (finasteride), work by decreasing serum levels dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT has been called the most potent of all androgens (male sex hormones), and is the major factor in MPB.
The current theory is that DHT binds to the hair follicle and prevents ribonucleic acid (RNA) from functioning. RNA is responsible for protein synthesis. In a nut shell, if the RNA doesn’t function, the follicle cannot create protein and stunts hair growth. Decreasing DHT levels will prevent baldness, but is it worth the side effects?
A Study reported in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, conducted standardized interviews with 71 healthy men taking finasteride to prevent baldness. 94% of the participants developed low libido, 92% developed erectile dysfunction, 92% developed decreased arousal, and 69% developed problems with orgasm. So, if you’re willing to give up your sex life to have a full head of hair, go ahead and take Proscar.
You can have the healthiest lifestyle, but if you’re not getting enough sleep, over time you’re setting yourself up for disaster. Sleep deprivation can cause depression, increased risk of diabetes, weight gain, heart disease, head aches, aching muscles, confusion, and memory lapses or loss just to name a few.
If you are having sleep problems, or you simply want to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, there are many things you can do, including:
* Go to bed around the same time each night, ideally around 10 PM.
* Avoid snacking just before bedtime, particularly grains and sugars.
* Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F (ideally between 60-68 degrees F.
* Eat a high-protein snack several hours before bed. This can provide the amino acid L-tryptophan, a precursor to melatonin and serotonin.
* Avoid caffeine as much as possible, especially in the PM.
* Make sure you exercise regularly, but not near bedtime.
There is one more thing however, that has been shown in scientific studies to improve your sleep. Wool has been proven to outperform both synthetics and down. Dramatic results demonstrated that wool bedding such as comforters and pillows:
* Breathes more naturally than any comparable synthetics, so you reduce the thermal stress on your body AND avoid creating a hospitable environment for dust mites.
* Increases the length of your REM sleep meaning you benefit more deeply from this vitally important stage of sleep every night.
* Helps create the most optimal body temperature the body gets to a comfortable sleeping temperature more quickly and stays there longer.
And, if that weren’t enough, recent studies have shown that the resting heart rate of people who sleep under wool versus those who use synthetics is 20 beats per minute less creating a more restorative sleep experience from beginning to end.
The vast majority of soy at your local market is not a health food. 91% of soy grown in the US is genetically modified (GM) soy that is contaminated with large pesticide residues. The genetic modification is done to impart resistance to the toxic herbicide Roundup, so they can spray it over the soy plants to improve crop production by killing the weeds. This is solely meant to increase farming efficiency and provide you with less expensive soy. In other words, cheap as opposed to healthy.
For centuries, contrary of what Americans have been told, Asian people have been consuming non-GM fermented soy products such as natto, tempeh, and soy sauce in SMALL amounts. Western food processors separate the soybean into two commodities?protein and oil. And there is nothing natural or safe about these products that many Americans consume.
Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility?even cancer and heart disease.
Here is just a sampling of the health effects that have been linked to soy consumption:
* Breast cancer
* Brain damage
* Infant abnormalities
* Thyroid disorders
* Kidney stones
* Immune system impairment
* Severe, potentially fatal food allergies
* Impaired fertility
* Danger during pregnancy and nursing
Soy proponents will argue that soy-based foods (they lump the fermented ones with the unfermented) will protect you from everything from colon, prostate and breast cancer to strokes, osteoporosis, and asthma. However, proponents never mention the studies that illuminate soy?s downside and all of the dangers posed to your health, which are based on sound research.
Another unfortunate fact is that 80 percent of the world?s soy is used in farm animal feed, which is why soy production is contributing to deforestation. Some soy propagandists have suggested that the solution to this is for all of us to become vegetarians?a reckless recommendation rooted in total ignorance about nutrition?whereas a far better solution is a major overhaul in how farm animals are fed and raised.
In a large percentage of animals, females are only fertile during a brief period of time surrounding ovulation. For the males of these species, this period promotes mating behavior. There is evidence that shows that males can actually smell when a female is ovulating. Recent studies indicate that the olfactory sense may play a large role in human attraction and mating also.
The researchers performed two separate but related experiments. In the first scenario, the scientists gave four women plain, white T-shirts. The women wore the shirts when they slept over three days during ovulation or late follicular phase. Five days later, the women again wore T-shirts for three days when they slept during the luteal phase, which is far from ovulation. At the end of every night sleep the shirts were collected and put in bags separately then frozen.
In the second experiment, the scientists added an extra variable: fresh T-shirts that hadn’t been worn by anyone, which were also placed in bags.
The researchers asked dozens of men to stick their noses into the bags. As the men sniffed the shirts, scientists sampled the participants’ saliva, which was used to measure testosterone. Men who smelled the shirts of ovulating women in the first experiment had, on average, testosterone levels that were 37 percent higher than the men who smelled the shirts of non-ovulating women. For the second experiment, the testosterone levels of the men who smelled the T-shirts of ovulating women were, on average, 15 percent higher than men who sniffed the two other T-shirt samples.
(Psycological Science)
The male offspring of rats fed diets containing genistein, a chemical found in soybeans, developed abnormal reproductive organs and had sexual dysfunction as adults. This finding may indicate a need for further research to determine whether exposure to genistein while in the womb and during breastfeeding influences human reproductive development, according to researchers.
Researchers found that while the sperm counts of genistein-exposed males were normal, they had smaller testes and a larger prostate gland than unexposed rats. They also had lower testosterone levels and were less likely to ejaculate than unexposed rats.
The effects of genistein exposure continued long after the rats were exposed, leading researchers to say that exposure during reproductive development may have negative, long-term consequences in males.
It is thought that genistein may act as an estrogen or an anti-androgen, blocking the function of the sex hormones, known as endogenous androgens, necessary for males to develop a normal reproductive system.
(J urol2003;169(4):1582-6)
Any man or woman with a functioning sex organ and a mind experiences sexual desire and can describe it. Yet, if you ask 10 people to describe their level of sex drive and what makes them “randy,” you’ll get 10 different answers. Despite these differences, all 10 will agree — they want more of it.
The human sex drive is so intense, and having sex is so pleasurable, people are willing to do almost anything to heighten or improve their sexual desires and experiences. This includes engaging in activities that risk and possibly ruin their personal and professional lives. But this is nothing new. People have been seeking ways to improve their sex lives for thousands of years.
Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has updated the package insert for its restless legs syndrome drug Requip. According to the new insert, Requip may cause ?pathological gambling? and ?increased libido including hypersexuality.?
These side effects are reportedly a class-wide effect, which impact all the drugs belonging to the non-ergoline dopamine agonist class of drugs. The insert reads:
?Impulse control symptoms, including compulsive behaviors such as pathological gambling and hypersexuality, have been reported in patients treated with dopaminergic agents.?
Another RLS drug, Mirapex (which is also used to treat Parkinson?s disease), has reported similar symptoms. The Mirapex package insert reads:
?Patients taking certain medicines to treat Parkinson?s disease or RLS, including Mirapex . . . have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive.?
A 2005 study published in the Archives of Neurology also found that dozens of patients using Mirapex or similar drugs developed serious gambling addictions.
Hundreds of people have reportedly contacted lawyers about joining class-action lawsuits that allege Mirapex and Requip caused unusual side effects such as compulsive gambling, shopping, painting and eating.
(Arch Neurol 2005;62(9):1377-1381)
Symptoms of low testosterone levels in men include decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, depression, osteoporosis, weight gain, muscle loss, diabetes, heart disease, and decreased physical performance. Unfortunately, 1 out of 4 men above the age of thirty in the US has lower than normal testosterone levels and will experience some of these symptoms.
Age, which we have little control over, obviously plays a big role in lower testosterone. Are there other factors that we can control, such as nutrition?
A study involving 42 men with normal blood sugar levels, 23 with pre-diabetic blood sugar levels, and 9 with type 2 diabetes was performed to make testing for testosterone levels more accurate. In the process however, researchers discovered that eating sugar cuts a man’s testosterone levels significantly.
Each participant was given a sugary solution and then had their testosterone levels checked. Regardless of whether the participants had diabetes or not, blood levels of testosterone dropped by as much as 25% and remained low for a period of 2 hours. 15% of the participants with normal testosterone levels before the test experienced a drop in testosterone so low they could be classified as having hypogonadism, which would require hormonal replacement therapy. (Alternatives.13(9);2010)
If nothing else, you’ll lose body fat and achieve a higher level of overall health by cutting out sugar. Sugar has been associated with diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and many more. Now you can add improved testosterone levels to the list
In a previous Did you know… column, which offers research, trends and other info to help with your fitness, health and nutritional needs. I reveal that: testosterone has been proven to help protect against heart disease; Cialis offers spontaneity over Viagra; how you can break your johnson, partial reps can be productive; and more.
Did you know…
?that half of all men over the age of 30 experience problems getting erections at one point or another. Viagra since its introduction has increased the sexual capacities of many men with erectile dysfunction (ED). Cialis is a new drug for the treatment of ED and was introduced in 2003. The side effects are the same as Viagra; headaches, flushing, heartburn and nasal congestion. Cialis, however, works faster than Viagra and lasts between 24 and 36 hours. Cialis allows a man to be more spontaneous.
?you can actually break your penis. Normally when we talk about breaking a part of the body we are concerned with bones. However, when fully erect the penis becomes almost as hard as bone. If you were to have vigorous sex and unintentionally slip out, the force of missing the target could cause a break. The tubes (corposa cavernosa) that are filled with blood can rupture. This can be accompanied by a popping sound, extreme pain and severe swelling. Unfortunately, the damage is difficult to repair and some men are prevented from ever having full erections. (mypleasure.com)
Do genetics control our bodies or can we control our genetics? Many scientists now believe genetics do not control life but are controlled by environmental factors such as our mental attitudes. This is a mind blowing, culture bending new way of thought that is starting to gain popularity.
“Mind over matter” is a well known saying that has merit. The power of the mind over the body has been shown time and time again. Science shows us everything is made of atoms and that atoms are energy. Therefore, everything is energy. It is no stretch to think that our positive mental energy created by a positive mental attitude would transfer to better health.
