Pharmaceutical companies have given us a great deal of information sometimes causing confusion when we think about neurotransmitters. But, outside of pharmaceuticals, there is another way we can help ourselves to better health. Exercise is one way researchers have discovered we have influence over crucial neurotransmitters.

Whoever thought that exercise could have such dramatic effects on our ability to maintain brain health? Well, the jury is in on that one, and the gains are impressive—gains that we cannot ignore. The good news is that you don’t have to exercise to exhaustion to reap the benefits. But it’s not simply one hormone, dopamine, that is in play here, which can mean gains for all of us.

Of course, dopamine is a complex hormone-neurotransmitter of interest. Exercising raises levels of this hormone associated with motivation, pleasure, and contentment. New research shows a possible link between better reflexes and dopamine levels when exercising. In 1979, researchers found the good news about dopamine and reflexes when they observed older lab rats and their swimming abilities. Once the older rats got the biosynthetic precursor of dopamine, L-dopa, their swimming ability and endurance increased.

As people live longer, and with the risk of Alzheimer’s disease affecting their cognition, it’s crucial to find ways to prevent cognitive impairments. Despite researchers’ best efforts, traditional methods for developing effective treatments have mostly been unsuccessful. Curiously, research has shown that exercise, particularly endurance exercise, can boost cognitive function as we age and has positive benefits in brain health generally.

The hippocampus, which helps with memory recall and recognition, can be modified in young adults through aerobic exercise. A three-month intervention examined whether healthy older persons (60–77 years) also exhibit such flexibility. Researchers have observed a correlation between cognition and exercise in persons in their twenties and thirties, suggesting that it persists into old age. The results? Improvements in fitness were positively associated with improvements in early spatial object recognition and memory.

This research on aerobic exercise and cognition also noted one caveat of concern. As people get older, the benefits of exercise on the brain seem to decrease. This is especially true for the hippocampus, a critical part of the brain.

We need to consider, however, that many intervening variables were not accounted for in this research and may play a major role in older persons’ cognitive processes benefiting from exercise. Of course, genetic inheritance, diet, and lifestyle are always issues that need to be considered and may contribute, either minutely or massively, to changes that may come about after these exercise protocols.

One thing we must note is that exercise is always a good idea, and we should not write it off because of one research project. Just because one research study produced an interesting result doesn’t mean it applies to everyone.

But what about the hormone irisin that is involved in both exercise and body fat? A slight increase in irisin levels can improve insulin resistance caused by a diet. This hormone can help muscles function better by affecting fat. And there is much more evidence for the involvement of irisin as well as in body fat—white versus brown fat.

Another interesting finding of research on irisin is that it can contain neuroinflammation, which has been thought to be involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, neuroinflammation has been viewed as the major killer of brain neurons as we age.

To date, all of this research is bringing new attention to the complex relationships in our bodies. The intricate muscle-fat-bone axis now includes skeletal muscle, which is thought of as an endocrine organ that secretes irisin. This may be a little–known hormone that has a major effect on our body overall.

Developments in the understanding of the skeleton’s role as an endocrine organ in glucose tolerance and testosterone production through the secretion of a bone-specific protein are encouraging. Now that bone-skeletal muscle is officially recognized as an endocrine “gland,” the therapeutic possibilities for this hormone-secreting tissue are endless.

The main point is that exercising regularly is crucial for our health and mental abilities as we grow older, and we are only now beginning to fully appreciate its importance. The overall maintenance of our bodies goes beyond just keeping our muscles in shape. Anyone who can sit in a chair can exercise. Don’t believe it? Go to YouTube and watch this video.

The post The Hormones That Get Too Little Attention and Bring Big Benefits appeared first on Medika Life.

In the COVID pandemic age, I have thought a lot about the emotional well-being of my patients and others. I have also been looking at Blue Zones, areas in the world where we will find the longest living people.

You are probably wondering where I am going with this thought thread. Today, I want to briefly explore how giving (and being a part of a community) can boost your physical and psychological well-being.

Blue zone — Nicoya (Costa Rica)

This Central American nation isn’t that far from the United States, but it is well ahead of us in life length.

While there are many contributing factors to the longevity of the Nicoya region of Costa Rica, the good folks at bluezone.com note that Nicoyan centenarians “get frequent visits from neighbors. They know how to listen, laugh, and appreciate what they have.”

Community matters: Nicoyan centenarians frequently visit with neighbors, and they tend to live with families who provide support and a sense of purpose.

The theme of robust communities extends to the other Blue Zone communities, including Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia, Loma Linda (USA), and Ikaria (Greece).

Giving is good for health

Do you volunteer for a hospital, soup kitchen, or other organization? Did you know that you are getting psychological and physical health benefits? These upsides may include:

• Improved self-esteem, mood, and stress levels
• Lower blood pressure
• Greater levels of satisfaction
• Longer life

Volunteer, and you stimulate your brain’s reward centers. Joggers have their “runner’s high,” and the charitable experience a “giver’s high.”

Three brain chemicals are essential drivers of happiness: Dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin neurochemicals can boost your mood. Volunteer, and you create a happiness trifecta.

Dopamine is associated with our motivation and arousal. Serotonin is linked to learning, memory, appetite, digestion, and sleep.

Finally, oxytocin — the so-called cuddle hormone — affects blood pressure, sexual arousal, empathy, and bonding. Abonus of oxytocin surges? Reductions in pain and better wound healing.

Did you know that we can positively impact the brains of others? Mirror nerve cells (neurons) in our brains are powerful: Smile and others smile as you trigger their mirror neurons.

Get creative with your acts of kindness. Happiness researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky and Kennon Sheldon discovered that individuals who performed a variety of acts of kindness throughout the week had more significant happiness increases than those who performed the same activity repeatedly.

RAKtivists

I was delighted to run across the term “RAKtivist,” or a “Random Acts of Kindness activist” in a recent CNN piece. Spread kindness, and you will not only help others feel good about themselves. You also get a boost in health, and happiness is a great bonus.

What does this mean from a practical perspective for me? I am writing more old-school notes (handwritten) to folks about whom I care, reminding them of how much I value them. I randomly positively respond to online posts. We have too much negativity in that space. Of course, I must do much more.

Do you do random acts of kindness? If so, what do you do? Thank you for joining me today. I genuinely appreciate that you took the time to read this piece.

The post You Can Learn from Random Act of Kindness Activists appeared first on Medika Life.

Testosterone plays a number of important roles, such as:

• The development of the penis and testes
• The deepening of the voice during puberty
• The appearance of facial and pubic hair starting at puberty; later in life, it may play a role in balding
• Muscle size and strength
• Bone growth and strength
• Sex drive (libido)
• Sperm production

Adolescent boys with too little testosterone may not experience normal masculinization. For example, the genitals may not enlarge, facial and body hair may be scant and the voice may not deepen normally.

Testosterone may also play a role in maintaining normal mood. There may be other important functions of this hormone that have not yet been discovered.

How is testosterone manufactured

Signals sent from the brain to the pituitary gland at the base of the brain control the production of testosterone in men. The pituitary gland then relays signals to the testes to produce testosterone. A “feedback loop” closely regulates the amount of hormone in the blood. When testosterone levels rise too high, the brain sends signals to the pituitary to reduce production.

In women testosterone is produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. It’s one of several androgens (male sex hormones) in females. These hormones are thought to have important effects on:

• Ovarian function
• Bone strength
• Sexual behavior, including normal libido (although evidence is not conclusive)

The proper balance between testosterone (along with other androgens) and estrogen is important for the ovaries to work normally. While the specifics are uncertain, it’s possible that androgens also play an important role in normal brain function (including mood, sex drive and cognitive function).

Your testosterone levels fluctuate from hour to hour. They tend to be highest in the morning and lowest at night.Testosterone levels are highest by age 20 to 30 and slowly go down after age 30 to 35.

How our testosterone levels affect us

It is most common for men to suffer from low testosterone levels but occasionally levels may become elevated.

Low testosterone

Early symptoms and signs of low testosterone in men include:

• Reduced body and facial hair
• Loss of muscle mass
• Low libido, impotence, small testicles, reduced sperm count and infertility
• Increased breast size
• Hot flashes
• Irritability, poor concentration and depression
• Loss of body hair
• Brittle bones and an increased risk of fracture

Later in life, low testosterone can lead to decreased muscle and bone strength, less energy, and lower fertility.

Some things can temporarily lower testosterone, for instance, too much exercise, poor nutrition, or serious illness. Living a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and a good diet helps maintain normal testosterone levels.

Having too much naturally-occurring testosterone is not a common problem among men. That may surprise you given what people might consider obvious evidence of testosterone excess: road rage, fighting among fathers at Little League games and sexual promiscuity.

Part of this may be due to the difficulty defining “normal” testosterone levels and “normal” behavior. Blood levels of testosterone vary dramatically over time and even during the course of a day. In addition, what may seem like a symptom of testosterone excess (see below) may actually be unrelated to this hormone.

In fact, most of what we know about abnormally high testosterone levels in men comes from athletes who use anabolic steroids, testosterone or related hormones to increase muscle mass and athletic performance.

High Testosterone

Problems associated with abnormally high testosterone levels in men include:

• Low sperm counts, shrinking of the testicles and impotence
• Heart muscle damage and increased risk of heart attack
• Prostate enlargement with difficulty urinating
• Liver disease
• Acne
• Fluid retention with swelling of the legs and feet
• Weight gain, perhaps related in part to increased appetite
• High blood pressure and cholesterol
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Increased muscle mass
• Increased risk of blood clots
• Stunted growth in adolescents
• Uncharacteristically aggressive behavior (although not well studied or clearly proven)
• Mood swings, euphoria, irritability, impaired judgment, delusions

Among women, perhaps the most common cause of a high testosterone level is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This disease is common. It affects 6% to 10% of premenopausal women.

The ovaries of women with PCOS contain multiple cysts. Symptoms include irregular periods, reduced fertility, excess or coarse hair on the face, extremities, trunk and pubic area, male-pattern baldness, darkened, thick skin, weight gain, depression and anxiety. One treatment available for many of these problems is spironolactone, a diuretic (water pill) that blocks the action of male sex hormones.

Women with high testosterone levels, due to either disease or drug use, may experience a decrease in breast size and deepening of the voice, in addition to many of the problems men may experience.

Diseases and conditions that affect testosterone

Men can experience a drop in testosterone due to conditions or diseases affecting the:

• Testes – direct injury, castration, infection, radiation treatment, chemotherapy, tumors
• Pituitary and hypothalamus glands – tumors, medications (especially steroids, morphine or related drugs and major tranquilizers, such as haloperidol), HIV/AIDS, certain infections and autoimmune conditions

Genetic diseases, such as Klinefelter syndrome (in which a man has an extra x-chromosome) and hemochromatosis (in which an abnormal gene causes excessive iron to accumulate throughout the body, including the pituitary gland) can also affect testosterone.

Women may have a testosterone deficiency due to diseases of the pituitary, hypothalamus or adrenal glands, in addition to removal of the ovaries. Estrogen therapy increases sex hormone binding globulin and, like aging men, this reduces the amount of free, active testosterone in the body.

The post Understanding Hormones: the role of Testosterone appeared first on Medika Life.

To understand how these hormones are manufactured we need to look more closely at the ovaries, the site of production of estrogen and progesterone in women. The ovaries produce and release the two groups of sex hormones—progesterone and estrogen.

Estrogens

Estrogens are broken down into three groups, known as

• Estradiol (E2) the most common type in women of childbearing age
• Estrone (E1) the only estrogen your body makes after menopause (when menstrual periods stop)
• Estriol (E3) the main estrogen during pregnancy

These substances work together to promote the healthy development of female sex characteristics during puberty and to ensure fertility. Estrogen also has other functions: 

• Keeps cholesterol in control
• Protects bone health for both women and men
• Affects your brain (including mood), bones, heart, skin, and other tissues

Estrogen (estradiol, specifically) is instrumental in breast development, fat distribution in the hips, legs, and breasts, and the development of reproductive organs.  The ovaries also release two other hormones, relaxin (released prior to giving birth) and inhibin (used to inhibit follicle-stimulation hormone secretion)

Progesterone and estrogen are necessary to prepare your uterus for menstruation. The hypothalamus, a small region located at the base of your brain, triggers their release. Once you reach puberty, the ovaries release a single egg each month —this is called ovulation.

If a woman is pregnant, the pregnancy will trigger high levels of estrogen and progesterone, which prevent further eggs from maturing. More hormones are released during pregnancy than at any other time of a woman’s life, but during menopause—which marks the end of fertility—estrogen levels fall fast. This can lead to a range of menopausal symptoms. 

How Estrogen levels affect you

Low Estrogen: 

Women. The most common reason for low estrogen in women is menopause or the surgical removal of the ovaries. Estrogen supplementation is often prescribed to alleviate menopausal symptoms. Symptoms of low estrogen include:

• Menstrual periods that are less frequent or that stop
• Hot flashes (suddenly feeling very warm) and/or night sweats
• Trouble sleeping
• Dryness and thinning of the vagina
• Low sexual desire
• Mood swings
• Dry skin

Some women also get menstrual migraines, a bad headache right before their menstrual period, because of the drop in estrogen.

Men. Low estrogen in men can cause excess belly fat and low sexual desire.

High Estrogen: 

Women. Excess estrogen can lead to these problems, among others:

• Weight gain, mainly in your waist, hips, and thighs
• Menstrual problems, such as light or heavy bleeding
• Worsening of premenstrual syndrome
• Fibrocystic breasts (non-cancerous breast lumps)
• Fibroids (noncancerous tumors) in the uterus
• Fatigue
• Loss of sex drive
• Feeling depressed or anxious

Men. High estrogen in men can cause:

• Enlarged breasts (gynecomastia)
• Erectile dysfunction
• Infertility

Testing Estrogen Levels

This is easily done with a simple blood test that will allow your doctor to check any one of the three forms of the hormone. Estrogen testing must be coordinated with a doctor as the interpretation of the results is often misunderstood.

Progesterone

Progesterone is a steroid hormone belonging to a class of hormones called progestogens. It is secreted by the corpus luteum, a temporary endocrine gland that the female body produces after ovulation during the second half of the menstrual cycle.

Synthetic steroid hormones with progesterone-like properties are called progestins. Progestin is often combined with estrogen in oral contraceptive pills. Progesterone is used as a single hormonal contraceptive in the Depoprovera shot and certain intrauterine devices.

Progestin is also useful in treating common menopausal symptoms. 

How does Progesterone Work?

Progesterone prepares the endometrium (the mucous membrane lining the womb) for the potential of pregnancy after ovulation. It triggers the lining to thicken to accept a fertilized egg. It also stops the muscle contractions in the uterus that would cause your body to reject an egg. While the body is producing high levels of progesterone, you will not ovulate.

If you do not become pregnant, the corpus luteum breaks down, lowering the progesterone levels in your body. This signals your body to start menstruation. If you do conceive, progesterone continues to stimulate your body to provide the blood vessels in the endometrium that will feed your growing fetus.

Once the placenta develops it begins to secrete progesterone in place of the corpus luteum. This causes the levels to remain elevated throughout the pregnancy, so your body does not produce more eggs. It also helps prepare the breasts for milk production.

In men, progesterone is known as the calming, mood, sleep, libido, and bone-enhancing hormone. Progesterone functions as a precursor in men to produce testosterone while also acting as a balance to decrease estrogen levels. Progesterone is produced by men’s adrenal glands and testes

The Role of Progestins

Progesterone isn’t absorbed well when taken as a pill. Synthetic progestins were created to bind to progesterone receptors in the body and create similar effects as progesterone. Progestin can change the lining of the uterus and stop the lining from building up.

Progestin can also be used to treat menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Estrogen can be used alone to treat these symptoms, or it can be combined with progestin. Women who still have a uterus must use progesterone to counter the effects of estrogen. Unopposed Estrogen increases the risk of uterine cancer. Healthcare providers may suggest an oral micronized progesterone treatment.

Progestin can also be prescribed to treat amenorrhea, endometriosis, and irregular periods.

How Progesterone levels affect you

Women with low levels of progesterone will have abnormal menstrual cycles or may struggle to conceive because the progesterone does not trigger the proper environment for a conceived egg to grow. Women with low progesterone levels who do succeed in getting pregnant are at higher risk for miscarriage or pre-term delivery because progesterone helps maintain the pregnancy.

Low progesterone in women

• Abnormal uterine bleeding
• Irregular or missed periods
• Spotting and abdominal pain during pregnancy
• Frequent miscarriages

In addition, low progesterone levels can cause elevated levels of estrogen, which can decrease sex drive, contribute to weight gain, or cause gallbladder problems.

Low progesterone in men

Symptoms of low progesterone in men include:

• Low libido
• Hair loss
• Weight gain
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Gynecomastia (“male breasts”)
• Erectile dysfunction
• Impotence· Bone loss
• Muscle loss

In addition, men with low levels of progesterone have a higher risk of developing health conditions, such as osteoporosis, arthritis, enlarged prostate, and prostate cancer.

Side effects of progestin

When taking progestin for menopausal symptoms, side effects may include:

• mood changes,
• bloating,
• headaches,
• breast tenderness.
• For newly menopausal women, breakthrough bleeding may occur.

In hormonal birth control, progestin side effects can include withdrawal bleeding and increased cramping. Other side effects may include increased blood pressure and low blood sugar.

Testing progesterone levels

Your doctor will request a serum progesterone test after drawing your blood. They may order it if you’re having trouble getting pregnant. The results can give them an indication of whether or not you’re ovulating. This can help them diagnose and manage potential fertility problems.

Your doctor might also order this test if you’re pregnant and they suspect you’re at risk of ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. Ectopic pregnancy happens when a fertilized egg attaches itself to your fallopian tube, abdominal cavity, or cervix, rather than your uterus. Miscarriage happens when you lose a fetus during early pregnancy. Both cause low progesterone levels.

Further Reading,

Offsite Links
Please note that the links below are to information and materials not hosted on Medika’s servers and are as such, not subject to our Terms of Use

1. An overview of the Ovaries: Endocrine Web, <https://www.endocrineweb.com/endocrinology/overview-ovaries>

The post Understanding Hormones: the roles of Estrogen and Progesterone appeared first on Medika Life.