Ian's Health Updates: Thaw - Final Step

Ian's Health Updates: Thaw - Final Step: "Just came out of Ian's room. His temp is at 35, the goal is to reach 36.1 by 1:30. From there he needs to get to 36.8 by 5:30 and then we ar..."

1960

Hormone Therapy for Men

Testosterone replacement therapy can help older men deficient in the hormone reduce their risks of heart disease, diabetes, and death, according to new research presented during ENDO 08, the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society.''The goal of testosterone treatment is to keep the levels within normal range," says Farid Saad, director of scientific affairs for Bayer Schering Pharma in Berlin. Saad presented two of the studies at the meeting, held in San Francisco. Bayer Schering Pharma makes several testosterone products.

Low levels of testosterone are common with age, Saad says, occurring in about 18% of 70-year-olds. Low levels of testosterone, he says, are associated with the metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors such as abnormal cholesterol and high blood pressure that boost risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes as well as other risks to health. In the studies, Saad and his colleagues found that testosterone replacement therapy reduced the metabolic syndrome risk factors and did so in a similar way in all the age ranges studied.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Heart Disease Risks

In the first study, Saad's team looked at 95 men, aged 34 to 69, with low levels of testosterone.
All had metabolic syndrome. Those who have this diagnosis must have three of five risk factors: increased waist circumference, low "good" cholesterol or HDL, high triglycerides, elevated blood pressure, and elevated blood sugar. "We treated them for at least a year," he tells WebMD. Every three months, they measured cholesterol, waist circumference, and other parameters. The testosterone replacement was given as a long-acting injection, every three months. The same product is not yet available in the U.S., Saad says, although other types are.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy: Test Results

"We saw a consistent improvement of the parameters of metabolic syndrome," Saad says. The men were not given a special diet or exercise program. The supplemental testosterone reduced total cholesterol, "bad" LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and body mass index while improving "good" HDL cholesterol. The men lost their pot bellies, Saad says. "What we see after 12 months is a reduction in two or three trouser sizes, three or four inches off the waist. We see a reduction by one-fourth to one-third of their total cholesterol."
No adverse effects were reported, he says. While hormone replacement therapy for women has been found to be associated with increased risks of heart disease and other problems, Saad doesn't foresee that will be the case with testosterone replacement. "There are fundamental differences between hormone replacement in women and testosterone treatment in men," he tells WebMD.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy: No Age Effects?

In a second study, Saad divided the same 95 men into three groups, based on age: less than 57, 57 to 63, and older than 63. They found the older men and the younger men had similar improvement in their risk factors.

"There are some precautions with testosterone supplementation," Saad tells WebMD. "We need to monitor the prostate."
"It is well known that with prostate cancer, the cancer is usually dependent on testosterone. Prostate cancer is a slow-growing tumor." Cancer of the gland must be ruled out before starting supplements, he says. He also advises routine prostate checkups while on treatment.
A test to monitor red blood cell formation, called a hematocrit, is needed, too. "Testosterone increases red blood cells," he says. In excess, it can theoretically boost heart attack or stroke risk.

Testosterone and Death Risk

Low testosterone levels are associated with an increased risk of death, according to Robin Haring, a researcher from the Institute for Community Medicine at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University in Griefswald, Germany, who presented the finding at the meeting. He evaluated data on nearly 2,000 men, aged 20 to 79, who participated in the Study of Health in Pomerania, following them for seven years until August 2007. He noted testosterone levels, age, weight, smoking habits, and physical activity. The drugmaker Novo Nordisk partly funded the study. During the follow-up, 226 men died. "Men with low testosterone have a more than twofold higher risk of death during the follow-up period," he says. They were more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and cancer, but not of other causes.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy: Long-Term Effects Unknown

Another researcher, Jane F. Reckelhoff, PhD, professor of physiology and biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, offers a caveat about supplemental testosterone: "We don't know what the long-terms effects are. The safety studies have not been done and they need to be done."
She reviewed the studies for WebMD and has published on a review about testosterone supplements for the American Journal of Physiology Renal Physiology. Her chief concerns: "Testosterone [in excess] can increase blood pressure and compromise kidney function." But an advocate of testosterone replacement therapy, Martin Miner, MD, co-director of the Men's Health Center at the Miriam Hospital of Brown University in Providence, R.I., says the studies show that restoring testosterone when it is low improves metabolic syndrome factors and could help prevent type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risks.
He agrees close monitoring of men on testosterone is needed. "Checking hematocrit, PSA (prostate-specific antigen), and lower urinary tract symptoms in men is vital to the management of testosterone replacement therapy," he says.

Note:  Above taken from an article from Web MD, but not really news for me. HRT changed my life

Chris

Old People Lifting

Westwood

Is it still reasonable to expect to be bodybuilding over 40? How about over 50 or 60? Absolutely! Bodybuilding at any age is an activity that can prove to be very beneficial. It helps to create a healthier “older” person and it improves the condition of the heart, muscles, libido, and can just prove to be a good means of prolonging life and looking younger.
Another advantage to bodybuilding over 40 and 50 is that it helps you to look as much as ten years younger and thus contributes to feelings of well being as well as improving confidence levels. I can attest to this personally. Ya, know at about 47 one of my kids asked me to put on a shirt while I was cutting the lawn during one nice Saturday afternoon. I asked why and they said that I was growing boobs and my stomach was hanging!! In all honesty though, I don’t think it was that bad, but admittedly, it wasn’t where I wanted to be in my life. That was my “commitment day” to better health and physic.
The one thing about working about and getting in shape and especially body-building is to make sure you’re in good health. As at any age and fitness levels, it is still smart and wise to get professional advice before proceeding with a fitness and bodybuilding routine.
There is nothing to suggest that senior bodybuilding is in any way different to what a younger person may do. It is just a matter of adjusting certain routines and being more careful. One possible exception to this is when you add supplements of any kind. From anabolic steroids, pro-hormones or vitamins and proteins. With all these, you have to monitor closely because of cholesterol issues, blood affects and on your cardiovascular system. When you’re older, you just have to watch more closely
Also, ensuring a proper warm up is important. I’m guilty of not always doing this. Twenty years ago, you may have gotten away with jumping right into a set of weight lifting exercises with just the slightest of warm ups. Not only is this inadvisable at any age it can be quite dangerous in later life. Shit breaks easier when you get up in age. When you hit fifty plus, a proper warm up is essential to increase blood circulation to the muscles and improve oxygen absorption. A good 10 to 20 minutes of moderate cardio activity is recommended prior to your weight lifting routine. Do I practice this all time? No, I don’t, but I’m making a New Year resolution to do just this. Ten minutes of some type of stretch or cardio workout before I hit the weights.
I often make the big mistake of doing to many exercises’. I see it with others in the gym also, so Im not alone. Machine to machine to weights to other weights exercising the same muscle group. Again, you may get away with it when you’re younger, but injury is almost a for sure if you continue doing it when your lifting on those “heavy days” Back off a bit, stay focused on the single muscle group your working that day, but don’t overdo it. It’s OK, to push yourself on occasion or even a couple of days a week if done wisely. For me I cover almost all my single muscle groups on three exercises breaking them up each week. Three exercises for biceps, three for triceps ect.. The next week, I do other exercises for each of those but on different machines or mix of weights. I’m convinced you can get caught up in a routine and plateau and not see much gains doing the same thing week after week. Use your time and energy wisely by working out major muscle groups at a high intensity over a shorter time scale also. Your muscles will benefit exactly the same and you’ll save yourself from unnecessary, depleting, multiple exercises.
“How often should I exercise” is a question I see on many forums on the internet and especially the ones where somebody is a bit over weight and not in great shape or after 50. Well, it’s like this. I’m in the gym 6 days a week as a rule because I want to. Am I busting my ass every day? Of course not. I try and get to the gym more out of getting in the habit and creating a routine for myself so when I can’t go, I feel like a part of my day is missing. Get to the gym when you can and if your bodybuilding and a goal of more than just losing weight, the gym had better start looking like home to you. People should be nodding their heads at the door when you walk in and on the floor. Im not saying the gym should be your social outlet or a place to be popular. But you need to get to the gym in my opinion as often as you can with one “prime time” that’s yours everyday or at least three days a week. Now, with all that said you need recovery period so you can grow and just not tax your muscles like you were in your 20’s. When you begin a strength training program you might just be able to work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, providing your body can fully recover with just one day off. But as you get stronger and start lifting heavier weights, you will need more time to recover. This doesn’t mean you can’t go to the gym and do a mild routine 3 days a week. You can. You recover when you sleep. Thus, get lots of it the harder your working. That’s when your HGH levels peak, if you have any at 50 or over. That’s a whole other subject though. Depending on what your goals are though, you set the standard for you. There are no rules that are hard and fast except you have to work hard, eat right and watch your health. The hard truth here is that cannot achieve your optimum muscle growth by just working out with the same frequency as you get your hair cut. It aint gonna happen. If you minimally work in the gym, you will get minimal growth. This is especially true for seniors. When your older you have to work harder.
This kind of leads into another issue. Have you ever seen two people who were both 60 years old but one of them looks 70 and the other looks 45? Age can’t be measured by the calendar alone. There are several well established “bio markers of aging” that are used to give more accuracy to the assessment of physical age. Guess what? The amount of muscle your body contains is one of the principle bio markers of aging. The more muscle you have, the younger you are. Another bio marker of aging is bone density. Guess what the number one method is of increasing bone density? Heavy, weight bearing exercise!
Those of us over fifty years of age can greatly slow down (and in many cases reverse) aging processes by performing rational, efficient strength training that increases muscle mass and bone density and do even more with the addition of anabolic steroids. Though one must proceed with caution on this. It’s a serious endeavor and you MUST BE EDUCATED on the subject. The really great news is that you don’t have to accept that your body will deteriorate and waste away with age. You must adapt to the aging process in your habits and your body will follow. We can’t stop the cloak, but we can slow down the process. I’ll tell you that it has changed my outlook on ageing and my whole life. One thing is for sure is that it takes a commitment and its one that few can do or do. You can see it for yourself walking down the street. You can be a 1 % er in the older generation by keeping fit and getting into bodybuilding. Once you commit, your will be glad you did. If you’re doing it now, don’t stop. Because I don’t want to see your fat outta shape ass on the street when you can do something about it. Dig?

WW

Female soldiers of the world

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Female soldiers of the world

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