From ‘manopause’ to mental health – 6 common health issues plaguing men – and what to do about them

MAN ALIVE

From ‘manopause’ to mental health – 6 common health issues plaguing men – and what to do about them

Ellie Cambridge
6:20 ET, Sep 22 2021

This article is a repost which originally appeared on The U.S. Sun

Edited for content.

MEN suffer with a number of common health issues that can cause angst and a host of problems.

Quite often they can be easily remedied if you know what to look out for – but often men don’t know the signs.

It’s a societal thing to focus on the look of a male body, with less emphasis given to the physical or mental side.

But Dr Jeff Foster, who has written a new book –  Man Alive: The Health Problems Men Face And How To Fix Them – wants men to understand what common ailments to watch out for.

He told the Independent: “Men are conditioned to develop health practices and habits that increase their risk of disease and make it harder for them to seek medical advice when they need it.

“Bad health isn’t inevitable for men. The key is to empower men with the knowledge they need to understand their own bodies and minds.”

Here we outline six common problems and how to tackle them…

‘MANOPAUSE’

Around a million men are affected by low testosterone.It’s known as andropause or “manopause”, and mimics a lot of the symptoms experienced by women during the menopause.

But whereas the menopause usually affects older women, men from 30 can suffer with andropause.

Men afflicted with this condition can often put it down to working too hard or a mid-life crisis.

It is often missed as it is lumped in with something else, or thought to be general tiredness.

Dr Foster: “Symptoms include tiredness, falling asleep at the end of the day, decreased libido, increased body fat/decreased muscle, poor concentration/brain fog and being more irritable.

“In the later stages, men may also suffer night sweats, changes to cholesterol and blood pressure, diabetes risk and osteoporosis (blood thinning).”

The condition is diagnosed really simply – through a blood test – although this has to be interpreted correctly.

It can then be treated by fixing the cause or going onto testosterone replacement therapy.

Dr Foster said knowing what’s wrong can drastically improves men’s lives, save marriages and jobs.

MENTAL HEATH

About one in eight men in the UK suffer mental health problems.

While women are more likely to be diagnosed with issues, suicide rates are higher in men.

Mental health struggles can come from a range of reasons, and aren’t always psychological.

Dr Foster said: “We need to start opening up. It doesn’t need to be with a doctor necessarily, but even a friend, or anyone we can open up to.

“Of course, there are medications, talking therapies and a range of other options available, but the key to changing male mental health is giving men the tools and social acceptance of being able to say, ‘it’s ok to cry’.”

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

About 50 per cent of men will suffer with erectile dysfunction (ED) at some point in their lives.

Again, the reasons behind the condition can be wide-ranging – so it’s best to get it checked out.

ED can happen due to neurological or metabolic causes, anxiety or hormone problems.

Dr Foster revealed it can even be due to narrowing of the blood supply to the penis, which is vital to know about.

If there is a vascular cause for ED it is thought the patient could have about three years until their heart is also affected – which serves as a good warning.

PROSTATE DISEASE

It is thought that all men will have some degree of prostate cancer, if they live long enough.

It is the most common cancer in men and makes up for a quarter of all cases.

There is no national screening programme, although once you reach around 50 years old your GP should start doing regular checks.

But often cases are missed with the cancer growing quickly – some symptoms to watch out for include:

  • A painful or burning sensation during urination or ejaculation
  • Frequent urination, particularly at night
  • Difficulty stopping or starting urination
  • Sudden erectile dysfunction
  • Blood in urine or semen

You can reduce your risk by keeping in shape, taking vitamin D, avoiding excess calcium and getting regular checks.

CARDIO HEALTH

Obesity levels are rising in men each year.

This has a knock on effect for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type two diabetes, heart disease and strokes.

Dr Foster recommends: “When it comes to exercise, it’s far simpler: everyone should be doing it.

“There’s no single best type of exercise, but we’re not built to be sedentary, and exercise has been shown to reduce the risks of virtually every medical condition.”

HAIR LOSS

This is an important topic for many men, and the source of a lot of anxiety for some.

Going bald and losing hair can have a really big impact on men’s mental health and body image.

Lots of people are taken in by a growing market of lotions and pills that claim to help.

But Dr Foster warns against these, advising men to speak to their doctor to decide on the right treatment if that is a road they want to go down.

 

Aging: It’s more complicated than we thought

Every cell in the body goes through thousands of chemical reactions each day, and each reaction involves tiny protein molecules folded into precise shapes to perform their functions. Misfolded proteins underlie some of the most common and devastating diseases of aging, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. A major focus of aging research is discovering ways to maintain protein shape and prevent misfolded proteins from wreaking havoc on cellular function.

This article is a repost which originally appeared on Buck Institute
Buck Institute– September 7, 2021 
Edited for content and readability Images sourced from Pexels
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.63453

Another major focus of aging research is on mitochondria, those canonical powerhouses that turn out to do so much more than just fuel a cell’s energy level. Aged mitochondria don’t perform as well as their younger counterparts and contribute to aging and disease, both through declining energy production and by signaling poor health to the rest of the cell.

In an important new study from the Lithgow lab at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, postdoc and lead author Suzanne Angeli, PhD made a surprising discovery about the connection between protein shape and mitochondrial health, providing a piece of evidence for yet another theme in aging research: it’s always more complicated than we thought. Results are published in eLife.

Mitochondria are jellybean shaped organelles containing two membranes, allowing them to maintain their own microenvironment. Proteins within the mitochondria are intricately involved in mitochondrial function, and are protected by the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt). When proteins misfold in the mitochondria, which can be caused by external threats like pathogens or mitochondrial toxins, the UPRmt gets activated which helps restore protein shape and function. Past research on the microscopic worm C. elegans has demonstrated that boosting the UPRmt during development contributes to better mitochondrial health and a longer lifespan for the worms. Consistently, pharmacologically boosting this response has been shown to slow down diseases with mitochondrial dysfunction, such as Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Angeli’s research has found that activating the UPRmt in adult worms has the opposite effect: adult worms with a boosted unfolded protein response have worse health and a shorter lifespan. Digging into the details of this surprising outcome led the team to examine a pore called the mitochondrial permeability transition pore. Most of the time this pore is closed, keeping the interior of the mitochondria separate from the rest of the cell. Under stress, though, it opens to release calcium into the rest of the cell, signaling that it’s time to cut its losses and induce cell death. It turns out that methods to boost the UPRmt in adult C. elegans are caused indirectly—the UPRmt is initiated in response to the opening of the transition pore. While the UPRmt is busy trying to clean things up, the signals coming from the opened pore are too strong for the cell to ignore and result in cell death. Dr. Angeli thinks this is what contributes to the early death of the adult worms.

Treating the worms with cyclosporin A, a pharmacological method to keep the pore closed, also prevents the UPRmt from initiating and restores their average lifespan. This supports the case that the pore and UPRmt are connected. Going one step further, genetic manipulations to keep the pore closed actually resulted in longer average lifespan for the worms.

Research in C. elegans forms the basis of much aging research, but what does this mean for efforts to boost health and prevent disease in people? While the mitochondrial permeability transition pore is already implicated in conditions like stroke and heart attack, the role of the UPRmt is not as well understood. This new discovery that it is associated with poor outcomes in adult C. elegans leads Angeli to think that it might not always be helpful in humans. Says Angeli, “It’s going to be really important moving forward to understand the mitoUPR in ischemia reperfusion injuries [stroke] to see if it’s contributing to the injuries”. She likens it to inflammation, which has a specific purpose and is useful under some conditions, but causes damage under others. One possibility is that, in a stressed cell, the UPRmt uses valuable cellular resources, hastening the already inevitable cell death.

This study is the first to find a connection between the “bad” process of pore opening and the “good” process of UPRmt .To push this research forward, Angeli plans to investigate how the UPRmt gets activated by the pore. Her hunch is that the calcium release triggers the process, but this is uncharted territory with lots of room for discovery. It also unknown if the UPRmt can be decoupled from the opening of the pore in adult C. elegans, like it is during development. If so, how does it affect C. elegans lifespan and how does it contribute to our understanding of the aging process? One thing for sure, it will be more complicated than we expect.

3 Ways the Pandemic Is Affecting Your Sex Life and How to Fix It

3 Ways the Pandemic Is Affecting Your Sex Life and How to Fix It

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“It’s just going to last this year; it won’t be that serious,”- said people back in 2020.

Well, fast forward, and now we’re on our way to 2022 in a few months, and guess what, the covid pandemic is far from over.

Even worse, new variants are popping up like daisies, and people have to continue physical distancing.

There was one crucial thing you took for granted, and that was a social connection. Who knew people would be scared to even wave hello in each other’s direction?

Like it or not, stress and anxiety levels have skyrocketed everywhere, and people have no energy to mingle anymore.

Less physical connection means less libido, which means you’ll reach priesthood if you continue this way.

What can you do to fix your miserable attitude?

Here are three ways for a start!

 

1. Try Legit Dating Apps or Social Platforms

The last thing you need right now is to be catfished by a 60-year-old retired lady who’s frisky one night!

So no matter what, don’t fall for any dating app you see advertised to you on TV or the Internet.

Do your research and read reviews about the app. You might as well ask your friends also.

Moreover, try to discreetly give out any personal information about you, like your home address. You never know who is sitting behind the screen!

Social platforms like Facebook, where you are mutual friends, are your best bet if you come across someone attractive. You can start by talking casually about shared interests and then see your love blossom!

 

2. Ask Your Friends

It’s alright to ask your buddies for support sometimes. It doesn’t mean that you’re desperate.

You just crave human connection, and that’s completely normal!

So ask your close friends if they know someone who’s single and shares similar interests like yours. You never know; you might get lucky and hit the jackpot!

Being alone for too long can take a toll on you. It affects both your mental health and physical health. After being sad and grumpy for too long, you’ll soon become a sack of potatoes unable to move anywhere.

Unfortunately, if you don’t change this lifestyle soon, you’ll be facing a couple of health issues, from diabetes to erectile dysfunction. The latter will cause you to lose more hope in getting a partner.

But fear not, if you are at that stage where you’re having problems with your penis and you happen to reside in Washington, you can consult a professional in Bothell for ed treatment!

3. Stay Active Online and Offline

Sometimes no matter what you do, it feels like the world is against you, and all hope is lost.

It’s OK to feel this way, and you have to cut yourself some slack. You’re going through a global pandemic right now. It’s not easy to cope with everything that’s going on around you.

So keep on conversing with your close friends online! And if you see a hottie who lives in your area, just message her (not in a creepy way, of course).

While restrictions are everywhere, you can still wear a mask and meet someone while keeping the appropriate distance.

It might seem like it’s the end of the world, but chin up, you’ve got this!

 

Quantifying the Effects of a Five Day Fast for Comparison with Fasting Mimicking and Calorie Restriction

One of the more interesting developments of recent years in work on the beneficial effects of calorie restriction in humans is the establishment of an optimal boundary of reduced calorie intake. Can one obtain near all the benefits of fasting by eating a little, and how much is "a little" in this context? That question led to the fasting mimicking diet, supported by evidence for "a little" to be something like 750 calories per day for an averagely sized human, when considering a five day fast or low-calorie diet. As researchers note here, improvements in many metabolic parameters are not very different when considering fasting versus a fasting mimicking low calorie intake on this time frame. A range of other topics are also under exploration, such as how long the benefits to metabolism last following a fast, how long one has to fast to obtain those lasting benefits, how frequently to fast, and so forth. But it is always good to see an accumulation of more data and more robust data on these topics.
This article is a repost which originally appeared on Fight Aging!
Reason – September 9, 2021 
Edited for content and readability Images sourced from Pexels

Fasting is known to have many health benefits such as prolonging lifespan and suppression of tumorigenesis. In the present study, we systematically evaluated the effects of water-only fasting on metabolic-syndrome and age-related risk markers in 45 normal-weight individuals. As shown, a 4.59 kg reduction in body weight, 9.85 cm reduction in waist circumference, and 1.64 kg/m2 reduction in body mass index (BMI) were observed during a 5-day water-only fast. After refeeding for 1 month (day 38), body weight, waist circumference, and BMI were still lower than the baseline level.

Blood pressure (BP) significantly declined during water-only fasting with diastolic BP declining more than systolic BP and gradually both increased to the baseline level by 98 days. Considering many fasting studies showed diastolic BP reduction did not exceed systolic BP reduction, future studies are needed on water-only fasting and BP reduction. Insulin dropped approximately 2.8-fold lower than the baseline level during water-only fasting. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) decreased by a total of 26% during water-only fasting and decreased more in females than males.

The number of pan T cellsCD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, and B cells decreased during water-only fasting. In contrast, the frequency of Treg cells significantly increased during fasting and still exceeded the baseline level 3 months after refeeding. This is an important benefit, since Treg cells have anti-inflammation effects. With regard to thyroid hormonesT4 increased rapidly during fasting, whereas T3 and TSH decreased. The decreased level of T3 during water-only fasting is of particularly importance since a low T3 level, without impairing thyroid function, is strongly associated with longevity.

The present study suggested that water-only fasting for many parameters was similar to calorie restriction and a fasting-mimic diet. The results of the present study are very promising as 5-day water-only fasting has many critical beneficial effects without toxicity.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ctm2.502

Questions You Should Avoid Asking Your Partner

Questions You Should Avoid Asking Your Partner

31.08.2021

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If you are tired of guessing your partner’s mood from their facial expressions, welcome to the club! Sometimes partners, be those wives or girlfriends, give a hard time when you want to understand what has happened. They act one way on the first day and another way right the day after.

How can you improve this? By avoiding asking some questions.

Let’s list them here.

  1. What Is Wrong with You?

See, women are complex creatures, much complex than men. The brains of the two genders operate much differently than you can imagine. So assuming that the girl would understand your question as straightforwardly as you have asked it wouldn’t always work. Some may even speculate that something has happened, especially if they are going through their period. Instead, you can ask, “Has anything happened that I don’t know?” or “Would you like me to help you with something?”

  1. How Much Do You Weigh?

No, no, don’t say that. Every girl is worried about how she looks, no matter how confident she seems to be. In the same way as men, women also follow beauty standards, but they do it more vigorously, sometimes being forced to correspond to a specific body image. When you ask this question, a woman might interpret it as “I don’t like the way you look.” or “You should lose a couple of pounds.” There is no alternative to this question. Yes, some women would take it calmly, but many can think that you are objectifying them.

  1. Can You Lend Me Some Money (Please)?

One secret (not a secret at all) is that every woman wants to feel calm and safe next to her partner deep down. So many wouldn’t accept it, taking into account the feminism narrative of doing everything herself and proving that she can. However, no one can go against human nature as women need safety subconsciously for their offspring. This basic human need has never disappeared, so asking women for some money would create an impression of being unable to take care of her and potentially her children. You can always go to your friends and colleagues if you have financial issues.

  1. Do You Find Me Attractive?

Again, women want to see that you know yourself and where you are heading clearly so that they would feel comfortable and relaxed. Dropping these signs of being insecure here and there would question a woman’s belief in your confidence. This applies especially to your sexual performance. If you are not sure about it, consult a specialist to get the necessary care, for instance, targeted erectile dysfunction treatment, if you speculate you might have this condition.

  1. Why Are You Single?

There is an impassable gap between “Are you single?” and “Why are you single?” so never mix these two questions. The reason is pretty apparent. While the first one shows interest, the second one sounds like blame or expectation. Women may think that you expect them to be in a relationship and something is wrong with them if they aren’t right now. So, a go-to question would be asking about their relationship history and be open to learning new and exciting things about her.

These are the top five questions to avoid, but you get the principle to avoid asking similar questions. Women want true confidence when they can trust you and your feelings and know that you are there for them. And if you are, you can show it not through speaking but through doing something for her. You know, actions speak louder than words.

Improve Sleep and Reduce Stress with Ashwagandha

Improve Sleep and Reduce Stress with Ashwagandha

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With a name that means “horse smell”, ashwagandha may not seem as appealing as other dietary supplements. However, both the name and the smell are easy for some people to overlook once they’ve experienced the benefits for themselves.

So, what are the benefits of ashwagandha? It’s a shrub that’s been used in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries, and has recently started getting more attention in the Western alternative medicine scene. People use it to improve sleep quality, regulate stress responses, boost sexual health for men, and more. As with any herbal medicine, Ashwagandha is best if you talk with a healthcare provider before giving ashwagandha a try. This isn’t just to confirm that it’s the right choice for you; this powerful herb can potentially have some unpleasant side effects, as well as interact with prescription medications.

Ashwagandha: a 30-second summary

It’s also called “Indian ginseng”; the scientific name is “withania somnifera”. If you’re getting it over the counter, it’ll probably come in pill or powder form. As an adaptogen, one of the primary benefits of ashwagandha is in balancing adrenal function, which in turn is supposed to balance your sleep and stress levels.

Even though “ashwagandha” means “horse smell” in Sanskrit, don’t let that discourage you! Just like fish oil or garlic supplements, it’s possible to get ashwagandha supplements that are pretty close to being smell-free.

What’s the big deal with ashwagandha?

While it’s relatively new to Western consumers, India and other Asian countries have enjoyed ashwagandha’s many benefits for centuries within Ayurvedic traditions. Thanks to the growing interest in alternative medicines in Western countries, ashwagandha has become one of many plant-based remedies to gain popularity in recent years.

There haven’t been that many studies on ashwagandha yet, but initial efforts have been encouraging; there’s certainly plenty of interest in seeing what future observation uncovers.

How ashwagandha is supposed to work

It’s all about the cortisol, also called the “stress hormone”. This hormone is produced by the adrenal glands; you need a baseline amount of cortisol to function, but too much can result in constant feelings of stress or even anxiety. Several thousand years ago, humans needed cortisol to help fend off attacks from predators; these days, you’re more likely to get a cortisol spike when you see that you’re getting a phone call from your demanding boss, or suddenly realize that you’re late to an important appointment.

This isn’t too bad if it only happens once in a while, but if life is hard and your adrenals are constantly in overdrive, you won’t just be stressed; you might also notice that your metabolism, sleep, and other things are impacted as well.

This is where ashwagandha comes in. It seems to have the ability to lower cortisol, which gives your body the signal that it’s finally time to chill out a bit. Some users report that they feel relaxed when using ashwagandha, without the prescription-sedative fogginess that comes with many drugs. You might also experience other benefits, like avoidance of cortisol-related weight gain, lower blood sugar, fewer headaches, less irritability, and reduced anxiety.

Ashwagandha and male sexual health

The exact mechanism isn’t quite understood, but research has suggested that ashwagandha could boost testosterone levels, drive up sperm count, and increase sex drive in men. This could be a direct affect, or it could be a result of reduced cortisol levels; either way, ashwagandha is great news for any guy who’s interested in improving his sexual health.

Other potential health benefits

At this point, it’s hard to say for sure what ashwagandha can do; there just haven’t been enough studies yet. However, there are still both animal and human studies which seem promising as topics for future examination. While there’s a lot to be learned, here’s what studies have indicated about ashwagandha’s benefits so far:

  • Could have an anti-cancer effect

  • Improves brain function and cognitive abilities

  • Gives better energy levels throughout the day

  • Reduces inflammation

  • Increases muscle mass

  • Lowers cholesterol

What about the side effects or drug interactions?

The most common side effects are gastro-intestinal, such as nausea or diarrhea; users also report getting headaches. Most of these instances only occur at high doses, but it’s good to be aware of what could happen if you overdo it.

Since ashwagandha is considered to be a “dietary supplement”, it isn’t strictly regulated like prescription medication. It’s pretty much as easy to get as zinc tablets or gummy vitamins, but this doesn’t mean that you should just give it a try without checking with a professional. Since it could potentially interact with a drug or other supplement, it’s best to consult your doctor first. Just to be on the safe side, any woman who’s pregnant or breastfeeding should simply avoid it altogether.

How long before I can experience the effects of ashwagandha?

Don’t expect immediate results. According to most users, it’ll take two weeks at minimum if you’re having it daily – possibly up to a month. Even if you’ve watched an entire TikTok dance trend come and go in the time you’ve been waiting for results, just have patience. The processes that ashwagandha affects are pretty complex, so it’ll take some time to see concrete changes. If you want hard-and-fast info on how you’re progressing, you could track your cortisol, or journal about your energy or stress levels. Sleep apps let you keep an eye on your health even when you’re basically unconscious, and saliva tests can help you monitor important sleep hormones, such as melatonin.

What kind of ashwagandha should I buy?

If you want to avoid the smell, look for capsules. If you’re a smoothie enthusiast, maybe a powder would work best. There are even dietary supplements that combine ashwagandha with other natural remedies. You can buy it from health food stores, retail drug stores, and online, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting some. In other words, if you’ve decided that ashwagandha could work for you, you’re just a few steps away from seeing if you were right!

Breathing wildfire smoke can affect the brain and sperm, as well as the lungs

Wildfires burning in the western U.S. are sending smoke into communities far from the fires themselves, creating hazardous air for days or weeks at a time. A lot of people are wondering: What does breathing all that smoke do to our bodies?

This article is a repost which originally appeared on The Conversation
Luke Montrose and Adam Schuller – August 30, 2021
Edited for content and readability
Images sourced from Pexels

What is wildfire smoke?

Wildfire smoke is a mix of chemicals and tiny particles that are small enough to evade the body’s defenses and directly affect the lungs. But the damage may not stop there. As environmental toxicologists, we have been investigating the health effects of wildfire smoke on humans, including on parts of the body that you might not expect: sperm and the brain.

Given the large number of people now breathing wildfire smoke each summer, these numbers are likely to increase as wildfire conditions worsen in a warming world. It’s important to understand how wildfire smoke can harm your body and how to protect yourself.


Smoke from large western wildfires was detected as far east as Illinoise on Aug. 30, 2021.
 Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program, EPA

Pollution can change sperm’s genetic material

Urban air pollution, which has a slightly different chemical profile than wildfire smoke, has already been linked with harmful effects to the male reproductive system. Studies have shown how air pollution produced from sources like industrial stacks and automobile exhaust can affect sperm shape, their ability to swim and the genetic material they carry. However, few studies have looked at wildfire smoke as an independent source of toxicity.

One recent study found that baby rats born to parents that had been exposed to wood smoke could end up with behavioral and cognitive problems. That prompted our team at Boise State University, in collaboration with researchers at Northeastern University, to look closer at what happens to the sperm of mice exposed to wildfire smoke.

Our goal was to look for small changes at the cellular level that might show us how negative effects could be passed from parents to the next generation. Mice aren’t humans, of course, but damage to their systems can provide clues about potential harm to ours.

White Smoke Coming Out from Green and Brown Field

How we did the Study:

We simulated a wildland fire in the laboratory by burning Douglas fir needles and chose a smoke exposure amount similar to what a wildland firefighter with 15 years of service would experience. We found that this exposure in a mouse resulted in changes in sperm DNA methylation. DNA methylation is a biological mechanism that can regulate how a gene is expressed, kind of like a dimmer switch on a light bulb. Environmental factors can influence DNA methylation, and this can be harmful if it occurs at the wrong time of life or at the wrong gene.

We were surprised to find that the effects of wood smoke were similar to the effects of cigarette and cannabis smoke exposure on sperm. Much more work is still needed to understand if and how these changes in sperm affect the offspring they create, and what the effect is in humans. Studying populations with extreme levels of smoke exposure, like wildland firefighters, would help to answer these questions. However, very little data currently exists for long-term exposure monitoring and health tracking in this group of workers.

Links to Alzheimer’s and other ways smoke affects the brain

Wood smoke exposure has also been linked to poor brain health, including conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. There is data that suggests wood smoke exacerbates symptoms of cognitive decline such as loss of memory or motor skills.

In a recent review article in the journal Epigenetics Insights, we outlined the latest research showing how wildfire smoke particles or the inflammatory signals released by the immune system after exposure might reach the brain and contribute to these health problems.

One possibility is for very small particles to be inhaled into the lungs, escape into the blood stream and travel to the brain. A second possibility is the particles stay in the lungs but generate inflammatory signals that travel in the blood to the brain. Lastly, evidence suggests that particles may not need to travel to the lungs at all, but rather could get to the brain directly from the nose by following nerve bundles.

Illustration showing PM2.5 compared to a human hair's width.

Wildfire smoke particles include PM2.5 particulate matter that is much smaller than a human hair. California Air Resources Board

DNA methylation changes are especially crucial in brain areas like the hippocampus that are involved in learning and memory. If environmental exposures are changing DNA methylation, that may help to explain why Alzheimer’s disease can affect only one identical twin even though their genetic code is exactly the same.

What can you do to stay safe?

The potential impact of breathing wildfire smoke on lungs alone should be concerning enough to make people think twice about their level of exposure. Now, we’re seeing the potential for additional risks, including to the sperm and brain. Other research suggests connections between wildfire smoke and heart inflammation and the risk of pre-term births.

So, what can you do to lower your health risk during wildfire season?

Start by staying alert to wildfire smoke warnings. The Environmental Protection Agency and companies like PurpleAir have robust air monitoring networks with interactive maps that can show you how bad or good the air quality is in your area. You can also find low-cost air quality monitors.

In your home, change the filter on your furnace and air conditioner regularly and make sure it is the proper size. Portable HEPA air purification units in the rooms you spend the most time in can help, too.

Face masks can be a great tool when used properly. A mask labeled N-95 or higher is designed to filter out 95% or more of the harmful particles that get deep into the lungs, but only if they have the proper fitment. While cloth masks can help stop the spread of COVID-19, they do not do a good job of filtering out wildfire smoke particles. This is partly because they don’t seal well on the face and because the material is not designed to capture dangerously small smoke particles.

As the planet warms and the West continues to dry, wildfire smoke is likely to become a common feature of summer. It’s important to understand the health risks so you can protect yourself.

 

Do You Need Penis Enlargement? (from The Ultimate Guide To Male Enhancement)

Do You Need Penis Enlargement?

The following is a chapter taken from the book: The Ultimate Guide To Male Enhancement.

Edited for content

First, do you want or need penis enlargement?

Penis enlargement is a subset of male enhancement, which deals with a more holistic approach toward men’s issues like penile stamina and sexual self-confidence. A HUGE number of men become fixated on the idea of penis enlargement, due to the misconceptions they get from pornographic movies. There’s also a strong cultural reference to “bigger is better.”

If you truly want to succeed in penis enlargement, it’s important for you be to be able to get some degree of objectivity about it. I say this due to the facts that:

1. Penis enlargement and EQ stats have a very definite relationship, and
2. Men who struggle with poor EQ due to negative self-imagery often have a very hard time gaining.

An objective approach will also help you to differentiate between enlargement for the purpose of aesthetics, as opposed to feeling the need to fulfill someone else’s expectations.

The best type of physical training analogy I can compare penis enlargement to is yoga or gymnastics. These forms of training involve developing a high degree of both flexibility and strength. One aspect shouldn’t be out of balance with the other.

The Training Spectrum

While experiments like the Client Study do show there are certain training methods which appear to work very well for a sizable number of trainees, it should be noted there are a significant number of men who require different stimuli and, in some cases, unusual methods for forcing adaptations.

Higher intensity does NOT automatically mean the exercise(s) in question will be better for growth. What higher intensity means is more work is performed in less relative time. For men who have a tendency to gain with moderate intensity or even light intensity/high volume methods, their training would take them in a different direction.

In the training spectrum from low intensity to high intensity, the sample exercises are outlined as follows:

Girth: Penile Slaps > High Volume Style Jelqs > Standard Jelqs > Squeezes > ULI#3 > Clamping

Length: All Day Stretchers > Extenders > Side to Side stretches > Tension Stretches > Ruler Stretches > PNF Stretches > Heavy weight hanging

Stamina: Unerect Kegels > Erect Kegels > Stop and Starts > Super Kegels/Towel Raises > Master Your Orgasms
exercise

[A list of penis enlargement exercise instructions can be seen here: Penis Exercises]

Something important to keep in mind is if you spend enough time training in a progressive manner, you might eventually be able to work up to and benefit from performing both high intensity and high-volume training. Few trainees see the need to use this type of training, but some of the really big gains claimed by trainees come from working up to being able to handle high volumes of high intensity over the course of several years.

NOTE: EQ will play a huge part in your ability to adapt, recover and benefit from progressive training. The bigger your penis gets, the higher your EQ should become.

The Ultimate Guide to Male Enhancement

Muscle Dysmorphia: ‘It Makes Me Feel the Way a Man Should Feel’

Muscle Dysmorphia: ‘It Makes Me Feel the Way a Man Should Feel’

Eating disorders are stereotyped as only impacting women and girls. But young men are also obsessing about dieting and appearance leading to muscle dysmorphia

Bethany Dawson
Aug 22, 2021, 12:17 PM

This article is a repost which originally appeared on the INSIDER

Edited for content

External pressure isn’t a reason to go to the gym.

Four thousand calories a day. Lift heavy weights. Check the nutrition app. Check muscle definition in the mirror. Check it again – and again. No pain, no gain – this was Micky David’s mantra.

It all began when David looked in the mirror one day and was unhappy with what he saw.  Scrolling through social media and inspired by the images of the incredible bodies of fitness influencers he decided to bulk up. He started a grueling eight-week fitness regime. It ended with his world falling apart.

David suffered from muscle dysmorphia and it controlled his life for many months, he told Insider.

” My only fixation was what I looked like. I would think about that numerous times throughout the day. I would panic if I couldn’t make a gym session,” he said.

“I had a nutrition app on my phone, so everything I ate would be scanned in and I would know exactly how much protein I was having, how much fat I was consuming. It was an obsession.”

David was always checking himself out. “For example, if my T-shirt wasn’t tight around my bicep, I’d feel really scrawny, really skinny throughout the day. I’d hate that,” he said.

Meanwhile, socializing became a mental assault course. “If I went out to a restaurant or a social event, I’d panic about what to eat or what to order, whether that would kind of fit into the nutrition plan. So it’s a kind of constant battle.

“I didn’t get these ideas from my parents or family at all. I’ve always been very supportive and stuff for me. It more came from the society around me.”

Mathematical model predicts best way to build muscle

This article is a repost which originally appeared on Phys.org

University of Cambridge – AUGUST 23, 2021

Edited for content and readability
Images sourced from Pexels

DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.07.023

Mathematical model predicts best way to build muscle

Figure 1. The “textbook” hierarchy in the anatomy of skeletal muscle. The overall muscle is characterized by its cross-sectional area (CSA), which contains a certain number (Nc) of muscle fibers (the muscle cells with multiple nuclei or multinucleate myocytes). A given muscle has a nearly fixed number of myocytes: between Nc ≈ 1000 for the tensor tympani and Nc > 1,000,000 for large muscles (gastrocnemius, temporalis, etc. Credit: DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.07.023

Researchers have developed a mathematical model that can predict the optimum exercise regimen for building muscle.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used methods of theoretical biophysics to construct the model, which can tell how much a specific amount of exertion will cause a muscle to grow and how long it will take. This model, could allow users to optimize their exercise regimens by entering a few details of their individual physiology.

The model is based on earlier work by the same team, which found that a component of muscle called titin is responsible for generating the chemical signals that affect muscle growth.

The Results

In the Biophysical Journal, the results suggest that there is an optimal weight at which to do resistance training for each person and each muscle growth target. Muscles can only be near their maximal load for a very short time. It is that max load, integrated over time which activates the cell signaling pathway that leads to the combining of new muscle proteins. However, below a certain value, the load is too insufficient to cause much signaling, and exercise time would have to increase exponentially to compensate. The value of this critical load is likely to depend on the particular physiology of the individual.

We all know that exercise builds muscle. Or do we? “Surprisingly, not very much is known about why or how exercise builds muscles: there’s a lot of anecdotal knowledge and acquired wisdom, but very little in the way of hard or proven data,” said Professor Eugene Terentjev from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory.

Exercise as we know it

When exercising, the higher the load, the more repetitions, or the greater the frequency, then the greater the increase in muscle size. However, even when looking at the whole muscle, why or how much this happens isn’t known. The answers to both questions get even trickier as the focus goes down to a single muscle or its individual fibers.

Muscles are made up of individual filaments, which are only 2 micrometers long and less than a micrometer across, smaller than the size of the muscle cell. “Because of this, part of the explanation for muscle growth must be at the molecular scale,” said co-author Neil Ibata. “The interactions between the main structural molecules in muscle were only pieced together around 50 years ago. How the smaller, accessory proteins fit into the picture is still not fully clear.”

 

This is because the data is very difficult to obtain:

People differ greatly in their physiology and behavior, making it almost impossible to conduct a controlled experiment on muscle size changes in a real person. “You can extract muscle cells and look at those individually, but that then ignores other problems like oxygen and glucose levels during exercise,” said Terentjev. “It’s very hard to look at it all together.”

History of the Research

Terentjev and his colleagues started looking at the ability of cells to sense mechanical cues in their environment several years ago. This research was noticed by the English Institute of Sport, who was interested in whether it might relate to their observations in muscle rehabilitation. Together, they found that muscle hyper/atrophy was directly linked to the Cambridge work.

In 2018, the Cambridge researchers started a project on how the proteins in muscle filaments change under force. They found that main muscle constituents, actin and myosin, lack binding sites for signaling molecules. This meant that it had to be the third-most abundant muscle component—titin—that was responsible for signaling the changes in applied force.

Molecule Level

Whenever part of a molecule is under tension for a sufficiently long time, it toggles into a different state, exposing a previously hidden region. If this region can then bind to a small molecule involved in cell signaling, it can activate that molecule, and generate a chemical signal chain. Titin is a giant protein, a large part of which is extended when a muscle is stretched. Also, a small part of the molecule is also under tension during muscle contraction. This part of titin contains the so-called titin kinase domain, which is the one that generates the chemical signal that affects muscle growth.

The molecule will be more likely to open if it is under more force, or when kept under the same force for longer. Both conditions will increase the number of activated signaling molecules. These molecules then induce the synthesis of more messenger RNA, leading to production of new muscle proteins, and the cross-section of the muscle cell increases.

This realization led to the current work, started by Ibata, himself a keen athlete. “I was excited to gain a better understanding of both the why and how of muscle growth,” he said. “So much time and resources could be saved in avoiding low-productivity exercise regimens, and maximizing athletes’ potential with regular higher value sessions, given a specific volume that the athlete is capable of achieving.”

Woman in White and Red Dress Figurine

The Mathematical Model

Terentjev and Ibata set out to create a mathematical model that could give quantitative predictions on muscle growth. They started with a simple model that kept track of titin molecules opening under force and starting the signaling cascade. They used microscopy data to determine the force-dependent probability that a titin kinase unit would open or close under force and activate a signaling molecule.

After that, they made the model more complex by including additional information, such as metabolic energy exchange, repetition length, and recovery. The model was validated using past long-term studies on muscle hypertrophy.

“Our model offers a physiological basis for the idea that muscle growth mainly occurs at 70% of the maximum load. Which is the idea behind resistance training,” said Terentjev. “Below that, the opening rate of titin kinase drops steeply and prevents mechanosensitive signaling from taking place. Above that, rapid exhaustion prevents a good outcome, which our model has quantitatively predicted.”

Eventually, the researchers hope to produce a user-friendly software-based application that could give individualized exercise regimens for specific goals. The researchers also hope to improve their model by extending their analysis with detailed data for both men and women. This is because many exercise studies are heavily biased towards male athletes.