Physical Fitness Improves Brain Health 
Copyright 2006 Simon Evans 

Everyone knows that exercise is good for them. It contributes to weight loss and weight management. It's good for your heart and your cardiovascular system. And it generally keeps you fit and healthier. 

But did you know that exercise is also good for your brain? It can actually make you smarter. Not only that, but exercise can help prevent disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and depression. It can even increase your chances of recovering from a stroke or traumatic brain injury. 

Exercise improves learning and memory. 

It turns out that physical activity actually turns on hormonal support systems in your brain. The activation of these systems strengthens brain circuits that you already have and helps you develop new ones. 

Exercise causes a rise in several growth factors in the brain that are responsible for helping brain cells survive and divide into new brain cells, or neurons. Only a couple of brain regions can produce new neurons and exercise increases the amount and rate of neuron production in these regions. 

Exercise also increases the blood supply in the brain. In laboratory studies, exercise increased the number of blood vessels that supply several brain regions. This has the effect of improving nutrient delivery and waste removal from critical regions that effect mental function. 

One of the brain areas producing new neurons is the hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a critical role in learning, memory and attention. Exercise induces new neuron growth in the hippocampus and improves performance on several types of cognitive tasks. 

Exercise improves mental health. 

Another important role of the hippocampus is in the response to stress. In fact, studies show that war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder have a smaller hippocampus. Stress actually damages the hippocampus and can cause neurons to die, the opposite of what happens when you exercise. 

Folks that exercise regularly know that they are much more capable of handling stress throughout their day than they are when they don't exercise. This is, in part, because exercise and stress have opposite effects on the hippocampus and exercise improves your 'buffer' to handle the stress. 

Interestingly, anti-depressants work in a similar manner. Although, we don't completely understand the exact mechanism of anti-depressant action, we do know that several classes of anti-depressants increase new neurons in the hippocampus. They do the same thing that exercise does! 

Anti-depressant drugs activate the same growth factor systems in the brain that exercise activates. They also induce new neuron growth in the hippocampus, similar to exercise routines. Psychiatrists have known for a long time that patients experiencing depression respond much better to therapy if they combine it with regular exercise. In some cases, exercise alone is sufficient to alleviate depressive symptoms. 

With so many kids and adults on anti-depressants today, I have to wonder what proportion of them could get off these medications with more physical activity. Of course, anti-depressant therapy is both beneficial and necessary for some folks. But the rate of prescriptions today, especially in kids, is out of control. 

Exercise protects the brain from damage and disease. 

Studies also show that exercise protects the brain from aging and injury. Older adults that regularly exercise perform better in cognitive tasks and have lower rates of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. They also recover stronger from strokes and from accidental brain injury. 

One can argue that people that exercise have many factors in their lives that can contribute to these findings. For example, they smoke less, eat better, etc. However, studies in laboratory animals also support the idea that exercise is protective. Animals that are exercised are protected against traumatic brain injury in laboratory tests and don't develop the extent of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease in model systems. 

Studies also show that in addition to exercise's protective role, it is a valuable therapeutic tool for brain function. Fitness training improves cognitive functions relative to planning, scheduling, task coordination and attention. Adults that exercise have more grey matter, representing more brain cells, than adults that don't exercise. 

Focus on the young family. 

All of the beneficial effects of exercise are compounded by starting early in life. It's kind of like compound interest in the bank. The earlier you start saving, the more money there is to earn interest in the end. Yet, unfortunately, schools are cutting physical education for budgetary reasons. Soccer moms must unite and get exercise back in our schools. 

Inducing physically active behavior in our kids is crucial. Studies show that people tend to continue the lifestyles they are exposed to at an early age. Ignoring the value of physical activity now will make them more likely to do so as adults. In order for our kids to be cognitively active adults all the way through life, we must instill the importance of physical activity today. If we do not, we are doing them a huge disfavor. 

Many of us as parents forget about looking far into our kid's futures. We have so much to worry about in day-to-day activities that keeping our kids from premature entry into the old-folks home is not at the forefront of our minds. Unfortunately, 2 out of 3 adults age 65 or older don't engage in any regular physical activity and are not getting the brain protection they could be. 

The actions that we take with our kids now and the behaviors that we promote will have a huge impact on their life long success. Yes, once they are out of our homes they are their own people and can choose to live their lives how they want. Nevertheless, we have to give them the leg-up now to set them up for the successes they deserve. 

Even if you are a new parent for the first time, please be aware that you are influencing many decades by what you deem important today. 
---------------------------------------------------- 
Dr. Simon Evans is a neuroscientist studying the interaction between nutrition, exercise and stress. He also also a passionate youth sports coach and is concerned about current trends in children's health. Visit Dr. Evans blog 
at http://www.feedingdreams.com to read previous articles and contribute your feedback. 

It's really not that big of a leap to assume that general "good health" practices adhered to by the average male will also help ensure a healthy sex life.  In the case of male sexuality, the phrase "you are what you eat" is taking on a whole new meaning according to new studies which strongly tie heart health and the absence of obesity to the absence of impotence and other similar sexual dysfunctions in men. 

In a newly released comprehensive study which followed over 22,000 men in the United States for 14 years, the findings confirmed what we all pretty much knew, that lifestyle choices are strongly linked to the risk of erectile dysfunction in men. 

While common sense tells us that our lifestyle choices, such as exercise and diet habits, have strong influences on both our overall mental and physical health, there was never really a strong body of research to back this hypothesis up in the sexual health department.  Well, now there is - at least for men. 

Of the 22,000 men in the study, those men who were considered clinically obese when the study started, were found to be 90% more likely to develop some sort of erectile dysfunction than the slimmer, or normal range men. Not only that, but another lifestyle choice, smoking, was shown to increase a man's risk of sexual dysfunction by 50% when compared to non smoking males. 

Interestingly enough, researchers have noted that sexual dysfunction in men used to be thought of as primarily a psychological rather than physiological issue, but this new research confirms that many of the lifestyle choices that are correlated to physical health, and more importantly heart health, are also strongly linked to a healthy sex life for men. 

If you think about this relationship, it does make sense though really, since both heart health and erectile health are linked to a healthy blood flow, which is influenced greatly by the lifestyle factors of obesity, smoking and exercise. 

It seems like they thought of everything in this study, and just as well, since it is the largest group of test subjects to date on sexual health studies for men.  Regular cardiovascular exercise was also shown to protect against erectile issues in the exercisers vs. the non-exercisers in this study. 

The men who reported they took part in the most consistent and highest levels of exercise were roughly 30%  less likely to develop erectile dysfunction over the study's 14 years than their sedentary counterparts. 

Hopefully these new findings will help to lead men to a healthier lifestyle, since it has produced convincing and clear evidence that a healthy lifestyle also leads to a healthy and active sex life, a major driving biological force in men. 

Knowing that they have more than just their health at risk may dramatically raise health awareness and solidify the belief that a healthy lifestyle is essential to so many key factors of living a happy and fulfilling life. 

Danna Schneider is the founder of 
http://www.Herbal-Therapeutics.com , a resource for herbal remedies and supplements which improve quality of life. She has been involved in reviewing and writing about herbal products as well as beauty products for years now, and is the proprietor of several popular natural health and beauty websites. 

Yes, by all means, but it is technically called hypogonadism (low testosterone levels). Symptoms may vary, but most men will experience decreased libido (sexual desire) as well as erectile dysfunction, hot sweats, decrease in body hair, fatigue, or even depression. They 
also tend to lose muscle mass and gain weight due to increased subcutaneous fat. 

Erectile dysfunction is a common complaint of male patients past the age of 50, and although it is most commonly caused by such problems as vascular insufficiency (decreased blood flow) to the penis which usually responds well to such medications as Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra, your physician should check for hypogonadism as a possible cause and also screen for cardiovascular disease as well as diabetes. Certain prescription medications can also lead to problems with both libido and sexual dysfunction; most notably certain anti-depressants and hypertensive medications. 

Serum testosterone levels are at their highest between the ages of 20 to 30 and tend to progressively fall after age 40. If your testosterone levels come back low, your physician may wish to order a couple of other tests to determine the actual cause. There are other causes of low testosterone other than merely aging. If your testosterone level IS low and you are going to receive treatment, make sure that you are screened for prostate cancer. Your doctor should perform a digital rectal exam, order a PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test, and your testicles 
should be examined for size, nodules and other abnormalities. 

Topical testosterone gel is usually the preferred method of administering the hormone. Topical 1% testosterone is available as Androgel or Testim. The starting dosage is 5 gm a day and applied to dry skin of the abdomen, upper arm or shoulders. The gel should not be placed on the 
genitals! The area of skin should be allowed to dry and a shirt be worn during contact with children or women as it IS possible to transfer the medicine to the skin of another individual. The serum testosterone level should be determined again about two weeks after initiating treatment. 

The administration of testosterone replacements have NOT been demonstrated to increase the incidence of prostate cancer, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. It can, however, elevate the PSA (prostate specific antigen) level. 

Treament has come a long way over the past few years with the advent of the topical applications. Testosterone used to be given by intramuscular injection which was both painful and had to be given rather frequently because the levels of the medication would not last long in the blood stream. The topical applications tend to maintain an even level of medication at all times without the peaks and valleys caused by the old injections. 

Testosterone replacement should improve libido, muscle mass, and well being. It can aggravate sleep apnea, cause mild acne, and gynecomastia (slight enlargement of the breasts), but NOT in everyone. 

It can enable a male to feel much more vibrant, improve his sexual desire, ability, and performance, and make life a lot more enjoyable overall. 
 
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