Testosterone and Immunity

Testosterone and Immunity

Chronic Illness, Weight Gain, & Impotence.

 

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Low HGH (Human Growth Hormone)
Health problems rarely occur in isolation or for obvious reasons.
http://www.digitalnaturopath.com/cond/C13209.html

Growth Hormone levels have been found to decline with age in every species so far tested and this decline is a major factor in the aging process.

In numerical terms, humans produce on a daily basis some 500mcg of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) at 20 years of age, 200mcg at 40 years, and 25mcg at 80.

HGH deficiency in adults is now recognized as a specific clinical syndrome with characteristic signs and symptoms. Replacement of the hormones which decline with age, such as growth hormone, estrogen and testosterone, is an important part of any antiaging program..

HGH replacement improves body composition and quality of life as soon as 1 month after commencement.

Most importantly these changes occur without side-effects. Increased levels of HGH have a positive effect by increasing muscle mass, stimulating fat loss, improving skin texture, improving exercise tolerance, increasing bone density, improving sleep quality and helping mental processes.

 

There are several possibilities for treating low HGH levels:

HGH injections (expensive, used when other means are insufficient)
HGH transdermal products (Trans-D-Tropin)
oral products with secretagogues (all-natural HGH releasers, also known as agonists) and precursors taken daily

homeopathic preparations (the least expensive)

... Some amino acids have been shown to stimulate GH release, and may be found in preparations designed to increase GH release. Most of these preparations come with the recommendation that they be used just prior to muscle building exercise for maximal effect. These amino acids include: L-arginine, L-lysine, L-glutamine, L-ornithine, and glycine.

... Growth hormone is released during periods of deep sleep. So, the lack of deep sleep may be a major cause of growth hormone deficiency, especially in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Natural remedies such as The Revitalizing Sleep Formula by Integrative Therapeutics, 5-HTP or tryptophan, calcium and magnesium at bedtime, and melatonin (1/2mg) can be very effective for sleep.

... Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
There is some evidence that the use of niacin improves GH release from the pituitary gland.

 

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Testosterone may impede immunity.
Medical Research News
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=6138
Published: Monday, 8-Nov-2004

Decreasing testosterone boosts immunity because testosterone helps control억제T-lymphocytes, the attack cells of the immune system, according to Mayo Clinic-led research in laboratory animals. The findings appear in the current edition of the Journal of Immunology. ...

T-lymphocytes are cells that are vital to controlling the body's immune response.

"T cells," as they are usually called by scientists, are white blood cells that can fight against tumor cells and infection. Alternatively, T cells can help other immune cells known as "B cells" make antibodies to defend the body against certain bacterial and fungal infections, and possibly against cancer. ...

 

When testosterone is removed, the immune cells come back strong and aggressive, ready to attack. Says [Eugene Kwon, M.D., the Mayo Clinic urologist and immunology researcher], "They become twitchy, very reactive, and in this state they can, in fact, mediate a strong immune response -- which, as physicians, is just what we want."

 

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Testosterone: a natural tonic for the failing heart?

P.J. Pugh, K.M. English, T.H. Jones1 and K.S. Channer
http://qjmed.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/93/10/689
Department of Cardiology,
Royal Hallamshire Hospital
Department of Human Metabolism and Clinical Biochemistry,
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

 

... A study of 53 men with CHF [Chronic congestive heart failure] found that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels were significantly lower than in healthy controls.

In 17 men with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy, testosterone levels correlated with cardiac index,

and five men with severe left ventricular dysfunction had markedly reduced plasma testosterone,

which normalized 2 months after implantation of a ventricular assist device.

In an animal model of heart failure, hamsters with cardiomyopathy were found to have very low testosterone levels.

... to be expected given the effect of chronic disease on gonadal function. However, there is also a link between hypotestosteronaemia and stable CAD.

 Epidemiological data suggest that men with ischaemic heart disease have low androgen levels, and men with proven coronary atheroma have lower testosterone levels than healthy controls.

In [laboratory] animals, castration promotes atherosclerosis while androgen therapy retards it.

Similarly, hypertensive men have relatively low androgen levels, which show an inverse correlation with blood pressure. 11 Men with CHF, therefore, are likely to have low testosterone levels, potentially exacerbating the catabolic imbalance.

There are no clinical trial data concerning the effects of testosterone on left ventricular function. In rats, androgen therapy improves coronary blood flow and increases both fractional shortening and peak myocardial oxygen consumption, thereby improving cardiac function.14 Castration results in reduced ejection fraction and diastolic dysfunction, with alteration of the isoenzyme composition of the myosin heavy chain.

Testosterone therapy has been used to treat men with angina; the beneficial effects on both ischaemia and exercise tolerance have been demonstrated in several studies.

In humans, testosterone reduces blood pressure and enhances relaxation of brachial arteries; direct injection into coronary arteries produces dilatation and increased coronary blood flow. Low circulating levels of testosterone may therefore contribute to the generalized increase in vascular tone found in patients with CHF. A vasodilator effect could be important in relieving pulmonary congestion and improving peripheral perfusion. Androgen therapy could therefore also improve cardiac function by reducing pre-load and after-load and by increasing coronary blood flow.

Fatigue and poor exercise tolerance are central features of the symptoms of heart failure, and may be out of proportion to the degree of left ventricular dysfunction. Patients with CHF suffer loss of skeletal muscle mass with reduced muscle strength and endurance. Muscle fibre type and mitochondrial structure are altered, with reduction in the enzymes of the Krebs cycle and oxidative chain. ...

Testosterone deficiency is likely to contribute to the weakness and fatigue of CHF which constitute a major aspect of the morbidity. Androgen therapy could potentially improve patient well-being by combating this. ... Testosterone has been found to increase IGF-1 levels and reduce hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance.

It is now recognized that cytokine activation is likely to play an important role in the progression of cardiac failure. ... Circulating levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-6 (Il-6) are elevated in CHF and independently predict mortality. The levels correlate adversely with several prognostic markers, including NYHA class, exercise tolerance and myocardial oxygen consumption, as well as plasma levels of ANP, catecholamines, endothelin-1 and angiotensin.

TNF is produced mainly by macrophages [especially in systemic disease], but also by the myocardium in CHF. It impairs synthesis and promotes catabolism of skeletal muscle, and reduces testosterone production. It causes endothelial dysfunction and impairs production of NO by endothelium.55 Administration causes left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure in humans; anti-TNF therapy may improve cardiac function.56,57 Cytokines therefore appear to mediate many of the pathophysiological processes of heart failure.

The immune-modulatory properties of androgens have been well described. In various disease models (though not in heart failure), androgens have been found to significantly suppress macrophage production of cytokines both in vitro and in vivo. In man, androgen levels correlate negatively with plasma cytokine levels and gonadotropin therapy suppresses the high level seen in hypogonadal men.

Patients with chronic heart failure suffer considerable morbidity as well as early mortality. They exhibit altered structure and function of cardiac and skeletal muscle and excessive activation of catabolic hormones and inflammatory cytokines. Men with CHF have relatively low androgen levels, which may contribute to the pathophysiological process. Androgen replacement therapy could potentially ameliorate symptoms by improving cardiac and vascular function and increasing strength and endurance. It may also redress the catabolic/anabolic imbalance of chronic CHF and suppress the cytokine activation which leads to progression of the disease. ....

 

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Testosterone

(The Natural Anabolic Steroid (or TNAS)
The Doctor's Medical Library
Dr. Ron Kennedy, M.D., dr_kennedy@medical-library.net
http://www.medical-library.net/sitesd/framer.html?/sitesd/_testosterone_therapy.html
[Permission requested: March, 2005]

 

To understand the value of the use of testosterone in modern medicine, it is necessary to expand our thinking. Testosterone is not simply "the male sex hormone." It is perhaps even unfortunate that it was first discovered in animal testes and thus named "testosterone," implying that it comes only from the testes and thus associating it exclusively with sexual function. Testosterone is best termed The Natural Anabolic Steroid, or TNAS.

The biochemical name of TNAS is a jaw-breaker, and I will write it only once: cyclo-pentano-perhydro-phenanthrene. The hyphens are my addition to this mouthful and help us pronounce this long string of letters. No wonder they named it something else!

The interaction between TNAS and the cell is to increase protein production. TNAS commands the DNA structure of each cell to increase production of RNA. RNA, in turn, migrates from the nucleus into the main body (cytoplasm) of the cell where it increases protein synthesis. Thus, TNAS increases lean body weight at the expense of fatty tissue. Food that would be stored as fat is stored as muscle. ...

TNAS is made in women as well as in men.
The major site of production is the adrenal gland. Castration does not end a man's TNAS production, and women produce sufficient quantities of TNAS. In women, TNAS and estrogens work together to maintain health and positive nitrogen balance (the production of at least as much muscle tissue as is lost each day). Therefore, TNAS is necessary for the maintenance of health in women, as well as men. ...

The multicellular anaerobic creatures are called "plants." By banding together as many cells and by developing protective skin-like structures, they are able to protect themselves from atmospheric O2. Anaerobic bacteria, on the other hand, are obliged to live in cracks and crevices where they can hide from the toxicity of O2. They live best where the gaseous form of oxygen is not present.

Bacteria which cause human disease all are anaerobic, while the aerobic bacteria (which live in the intestine) have become useful in digestion, and some actually manufacture vitamins for us. one form of life intermediate between plants and bacteria has developed, known as "fungi," which are anaerobic and quite a nuisance to human health, predisposing to fungus infections of the lungs, toes, nails and the more generalized Yeast Syndrome.

Ordinarily, aerobic metabolism predominates, because it is so much more efficient. However, when conditions make aerobic metabolism difficult, the cells of your body can shift toward anaerobic metabolism.

It is interesting to note that cancer cells use sixty percent anaerobic metabolism. Anaerobic conditions may be a significant risk factor for cancer. The fact is, in normal cells both types of metabolism are going on at all times, but the experience of vital, normal health requires that aerobic metabolism predominate. That is where TNAS comes in.

TNAS is the primary balancing hormone which maintains aerobic metabolism as the major source of energy for the body. When TNAS levels fall, anaerobic metabolism is used in proportion to the fallen level of TNAS.

(By the way, you can know that your body has shifted toward anaerobic metabolism if you crave sweets. Sugar is the fuel source of anaerobic metabolism.)

TNAS begins to be found in increased levels around age eight to ten and reaches a maximum level at around age eighteen. After that, it falls off progressively until at age sixty or seventy it is found at very low levels. At any age, the production of TNAS can be encouraged by aerobic exercise. Somehow, the body knows that increased levels of O2 need increased levels of TNAS for proper utilization.

This is one of the major benefit of an exercise program: increased levels of TNAS. When we doctors prescribe exercise we are actually prescribing a means of producing an increased level of TNAS. This, in turn, improves carbohydrate metabolism and normalizes lipase ?thus helping to shift fat to protein. Exercise lowers cholesterol in a natural way by shifting metabolism to the aerobic end of the spectrum, using acetyl-CoA in the Krebs Cycle more and using it to construct excess cholesterol less. ...

The hormone system plays a powerful role in oxygen use. For example, thyroid hormone regulates the rate at which oxygen is used in oxidation. Insulin regulates the entry of glucose (the major source of fuel for aerobic metabolism) into cells. And TNAS serves to shift metabolism away from anaerobic toward aerobic. It powers up the Krebs Cycle (also known as the "citric acid cycle"), the basic metabolic route the body uses to produce energy through oxidation. ...

It is well-known that TNAS has a powerful "fibrinolytic" effect. That means that it tends to prevent blood clots, and when they happen it breaks them up. A lowered level of TNAS, therefore, predisposes to blood clots. Therefore, the blood clot which forms in the coronary artery and the death of surrounding heart muscle may both be caused by lowered levels of TNAS.

... heart attack originates in the heart muscle itself due to a shift to anaerobic metabolism. This makes some theoretical sense in that the heart is the only muscle in the body which is not allowed to take a break and rest. It must contract fifty to eighty times per minute to sustain life. If it goes on a break, you die. This kind of demand is not made on any other muscle. If there is a shift to anaerobic metabolism in the heart muscle, it may just work itself to death in short order, even with a sufficient blood supply. Remember aerobic metabolism depends not only on oxygen supply but oxygen utilization as well. ...

The major function of TNAS is to maintain aerobic metabolism. As we age, we not only receive a decreasing supply of TNAS, but also cells become resistant to the effects of all hormones. Thus, for TNAS to produce the same result in a sixty year old person as it does in a twenty year old person, there must be a higher level of TNAS in the older person.

In normal metabolism there is a balance between protein synthesis and breakdown. TNAS encourages protein synthesis, and an adrenal hormone named "cortisol" (hydrocortisone) acts antagonistically and encourages the breakdown of protein. The breakdown of protein also is encouraged through chronic tension and anxiety (as many underweight worriers can tell you) through the production of the catecholamines ?adrenalin and noradrenalin (also called "epinephrine" and "norepinephrine"). Stress raises both cortisol and catecholamine levels and, if stress becomes constant, the hormonal balance between TNAS, cortisol and the catecholamine is upset. Indeed, this balance is upset by the aging process itself, by the decreased production of TNAS and the increased production of the catecholamines, which occurs with age. ...

When metabolism becomes relatively anaerobic, the enzyme systems which alter cholesterol to make these hormones are unable to function normally. This results in the accumulation of cholesterol. Thus, an increased cholesterol level is a signal that metabolism has shifted toward the anaerobic and alerts us that we should do what is necessary to deliver more oxygen to the tissues and also to condition the tissues to use that oxygen more efficiently. ...

The aches and pains of growing old are due to anaerobic metabolism. If anaerobic metabolism predominates in the upper back and shoulders there will be intermittent or constant aching in that area. This usually is conceived of as tension, but when anaerobic metabolism is converted back to aerobic metabolism by TNAS, this pain promptly disappears. ...

When surgery is necessary, it is important for the surgeon to know that the stress of surgery drives up cortisol and catecholamine levels and drives the level of TNAS down. Thus, the patient is a sitting duck for a leg vein thrombosis followed by the breaking loose of this thrombosis in the large veins of the legs and abdomen, with the subsequent migration of this thrombosis to the heart ?where death can quickly ensue. When a thrombosis breaks loose it is called an "embolus" and may quickly lead to death. The postoperative administration of TNAS not only speeds healing, but also protects the patient from the hazard of thrombosis and subsequent embolism. ...

It is interesting to consider why TNAS therapy has not caught hold in American medicine. Usually doctors favor treatments which give dramatic results, because this enhances the image of healer. However, in the case of TNAS, there are powerful reasons for it to be ignored or attacked as a quack therapy. First of all, we live in a society which tries to suppress sexuality. Because the name "testosterone" reminds of sex, it is natural that there should be an unconscious reaction against this valuable hormone. For this reason I have renamed it "The Natural Anabolic Hormone."

Second, TNAS is a natural part of the makeup of all humans. Therefore, it cannot be patented, so the old story ?no big profits, no advertisement, no drug reps in the doctor's office touting the effectiveness of "testosterone" for the diseases of aging. Then there is the association with the synthetic anabolic steroids, which have caused so much damage to athletes. Even though TNAS is the natural anabolic steroid and has never caused damage to anyone, the words "anabolic steroid" bring up the association with synthetic steroids. ...

TNAS is used for male birth control in China on a wide scale. Physiologic doses of TNAS on a regular basis cause a virtual disappearance of sperm from the male ejaculate. Given the serious problems of female birth control pills, it would be a great service to the women of our country for this use of TNAS to be made known. ...

TNAS comes as an injectable in an oil base, which disperses over a ten to fourteen day period. This is the best form for most people, providing a constant level of TNAS in the body. Occasionally a person becomes aggressively argumentative in the first day or two after an injection, particularly toward the spouse, if there is one. The patient should be warned of this possibility. For this sensitive individual, a smaller, more frequent dose is advisable. Each person is different, and treatment should be individualized.

The oral, methylated form of TNAS (methyl testosterone) has been taken off the market in Europe because of its proven association with liver cancer. However, it is still available in the U.S., and is the only form of testosterone known to most allopathic doctors. While the FDA want to regulate the sale of vitamins, they continue to allow a substance on the market which is proven to increase the incidence of cancer. Meanwhile, many doctors are unaware that oral, orthomolecular, human testosterone is available through compounding pharmacies. In fact, there are several generations of doctors who do not even know what a compounding pharmacy is. ...

To find the compounding pharmacist closest to you, contact:

Professionals and Patients for Customized Care
10925 Kinghurst #508
Houston, TX 77099 --- (800)435-1412

 

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Homeopathic testosterone preparations.
Cell Signal Enhancers
http://www.biomedcomm.com/
6 Nickerson Street, Suite 210
Seattle, WA 98109
(888)637-3516
customerservice@biomedcomm.com

Human Growth Hormone, (hGH), is a signaling protein which carries vital information to our cells. one of many types of signaling protein produced naturally by our body. hGH is misnamed as a hormone, and it certainly is not a steroid. Like all signaling proteins, hGH passes information between the nervous, immune, and hormonal systems in order to coordinate activities. Without proper signaling our 뱔nfocused?body is not working at its optimal level. Aging, illness and stress all interfere with our body뭩 production of signaling proteins (like hGH), depleting it of essential information. Biomed Comm created homeopathic Naturally hGH and Athletic Edge to counteract the decline of the hGH signal.

The very first benefit people notice is improved sleep. As use continues and the natural signals of the body get stronger, greater goals are achieved. After a few months people find they have not only burned fat but they look lean and fit, stress levels have dramatically decreased, and they feel re-energized.

 

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Low Sex Drive

Diagnose-Me.com, PO Box 370, Laupahoehoe,
Hawaii, USA 96764
http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C477282.html
Feb 19, 2005

 

Inhibited desire is the most common sexual dysfunction, effecting one in three couples. 20% of married couples have a non-sexual marriage (being sexual less than ten times a year) and 30% of non-married-couples who have been together longer than two years have a non-sexual relationship. Desire problems can drain intimacy and good feelings from the relationship. ...

Nursing mothers?hormones, including those that influence sex drive, are in flux for as long as they continue to nurse, and their limited enthusiasm for sex can effectively cool their mate뭩 desire also. ...

Hypothyroidism can trigger loss of libido in both men and women.

DHEA is the precursor to testosterone. Low testosterone levels, which reduce sex drive, may be due to low DHEA levels. ...

Mental states such as depression and strong emotions such as anger can effectively cool sexual desire. ...

The most common medications that put a damper on sex include antidepressants, which inhibit arousal and orgasm; anti-inflammatories, which also hamper orgasm; ulcer medications, which lessen desire; and birth control pills, which limit desire and decrease lubrication. Diuretics and anti-anxiety drugs may have this side-effect also.

 

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Human resistance to Plasmodium falciparum increases during
puberty and is predicted by dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels.

Kurtis JD, Mtalib R, onyango FK, Duffy PE.
U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Kenya and
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya.
Infect Immun. 2001 Jan;69(1):123-8.

 

Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum ... among populations newly exposed to malaria, adults acquire immunity more rapidly than children. ... We determined pubertal development by Tanner staging and by levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and testosterone in plasma. In multivariate and age-stratified analyses, we examined the effect of pubertal development on resistance to malaria. ... Age-related decreases in the frequency and density of parasitemia were greatest during puberty (15- to 20-year-olds).

DHEAS and testosterone were significant independent predictors of resistance to P. falciparum parasitemia, even after accounting for the effect of age. Fifteen- to 20-year-old males with high DHEAS levels had a 72% lower mean parasite density (P<0.01) than individuals with low DHEAS levels. Similarly, 21- to 35-year-old males with high DHEAS levels had a 92% lower mean parasite density (P<0.001) and 48% lower frequency of parasitemia (P<0.05) than individuals with low DHEAS levels. ...

 

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Low libido in women found to be caused by
DHEA deficiency, not low testosterone.

The Jean Hailes Foundation
Professor Susan Davis (spokesperson)
susan.davis@jeanhailes.org.au
17 Jun 2004

 

... In a finding that overturns medical dogma about women's sexual problems, a major new study has found low testosterone has little to do with low libido in younger women.

Doctors have long blamed low sex drive in women on dwindling testosterone levels and many females are being encouraged to top up their testosterone with pills, patches, creams and gels designed for, and officially approved only for use in, men.

But Australian researchers who examined 1,423 women, aged 18 to 75, found low levels of DHEA, a hormone produced by the adrenal gland, is significantly associated with desire and arousal problems in women under 45. ...

Until now experts have agreed that sexual dysfunction in women was illustrated by low levels of free and total testosterone. However this study has shown low testosterone bears no relationship to low libido in women under 45 years of age.

"We found a strong relationship between the low scores for desire, arousal and responsiveness and low DHEAS levels in women under 45, " said Professor Davis.

[Low] DHEA levels ... means adrenal gland fatigue ... Chronic stress and poor diet, primarily.

 

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Mutations, Testosterone, and Human Evolution.

http://www.anthropogeny.com/Mutations,%20Testosterone%20and%20Human%20Evolution.htm
Copyright ?2002 by James Michael Howard.
1037 North Woolsey Avenue
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701-2046
jmhoward@anthropogeny.com

 

I suggest increases in testosterone are directly connected to human evolution (J. Howard, Rivista di Biolgia / Biology Forum 2001; 94: 345). Human males and females produce more testosterone than chimpanzee males and females, respectively. Increased testosterone may have increased brain capacity and reproduction. However, periodically, negative effects of excessive levels of testosterone occurred which may have reduced fertility and immunity sufficiently to threaten survival. (Increased testosterone reduces spermatogenesis and immune function.) Increasing testosterone produced increasingly large hominids with moderately increased brain capacity, vulnerable to periodic negative effects of testosterone. Fortuitously, testosterone produces an additional effect which counterbalances negative effects and may have produced modern humans.

The evolution of Primates from other mammals may be due to increased testosterone. Early Primates may have also been affected by negative effects of excessive testosterone. The gene, Deleted in AZoospermia, DAZ, first appears about 30-40 million years ago, the time of the appearance of the Primates. (Some think DAZ is necessary / beneficial for spermatogenesis.) I suggest DAZ rescued the early Primates from extinction due to reduced spermatogenesis. Hominids evolved from Primates, again as a result of increased testosterone. With time, this would, again, cause negative effects.

DAZ "doubled" about the same time that "Y Chromosome Adam" appears in human evolution. I suggest DAZ increased spermatogenesis a second time and, again, rescued us from excessive testosterone. (J. Howard, Rivista di Biologia / Biology Forum 95 (2) in press; this paragraph inclusive). I suggest increased testosterone may increase the probability of mutations, some of which counteracted the negative effects of excessive testosterone.

There is a strong "male-driven" effect on gene mutation in humans and apes (Kateryna, et al., Nature 2002; 416: 624 and Ebersberger, et al., American Journal of Human Genetics 2002; 70: 1490). This effect is greater in Primates than rodents (Huang, et al., Journal of Molecular Evolution 1997; 44: 463) and is "particularly pronounced in the human brain," (Enard, et al., Comment in Science 2002; 296: 233).

Testosterone's effect of accelerating gene change may have participated in the change in the human gene, FOXP2. FOXP2 is thought to participate in human language, differs from FOXP2 in the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan and mouse, and is "doubled" in humans (Nature 2002; 418: 869). Humans do not make a common mammalian sialic acid (Neu5Gc), because the enzyme which makes Neu5Gc, CAMH, is mutated in humans. The change in CAMH in hominids occurred a short time before the "brain expansion began in humankind's ancestry, 2.1 - 2.2 million years ago." (Chou, et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Science U.S.A. 2002; 99: 11736).

During times of excess testosterone during human evolution, I suggest increased testosterone participated in these genetic changes that are thought to play significant roles in the evolution of the human brain and language. This effect may also explain increased cancer in humans.

[There are a great many "suggestions" noted in the above and these theoretical possibilities are often proven wrong with sufficient investigation and time. In this case, Spiritual Guidance indicates that the majority of suggestions made, is accurate.]

 

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Skin Aging.

by Professor Carmen Fusco
[Publication date and source unknown.]

... So much hormone activity occurs in skin that it has been called another endocrine gland. Skin has its own immune system and specialized enzymes that no other part of the body has. According to research, skin cannot function without hormones.

The sleep hormone (melatonin) and the anti-stress hormone (DHEA) are both found in human skin. Both are converted to other entities with important jobs to do. DHEA is converted into estrogen and androgen-type metabolites found only in skin. Melatonin is synthesized in skin. In low concentrations it can stimulate cell growth. This type of on-site, organ-specific production of hormones is called intracrine biosynthesis. Intracrine biosynthesis allows different organs to manufacture the substances they need without flooding the entire body with growth factors.

Estrogen's skin-enhancing effects are well-known. It provokes collagen and a moisture factor known as hyaluronic acid. Aging decreases both estrogen and collagen. Enzymes that convert DHEA to estrogen also decline. Not surprisingly, women who take synthetic estrogen have scientifically proven thicker skin. Women who take both estrogen and testosterone have really thick skin-48% thicker than women who don't take either hormone. DHEA is converted to both estrogen and testosterone, providing the benefits of both hormones. ...

Skin is such a specialized organ that it has its own immune system. It has been proposed that faulty skin immunity affects the entire immune system. Sunlight can penetrate deep into skin and alter immunity directly, or it can cause changes in dermis and epidermis that provoke immune changes. Sunlight affects hormones. It decreases melatonin, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine and increases cortisol, serotonin, GABA, and dopamine. ...

DHEA has action against everyday insults as well. By maintaining skin immunity, DHEA preserves the ability of skin to react to cancer-causing, skin-destroying pollutants in air, food, and water. DHEA also has antioxidant action against peroxyl and superoxide free radicals. ...

In small amounts, melatonin causes skin cells to proliferate. (In large amounts, it stops proliferation). People with psoriasis and atopic eczema do not have normal melatonin secretion. Instead of peaks, they have valleys. With psoriasis, melatonin peaks in the day when it shouldn't, and patients have little at night. ...

Foods rich in nucleic acids (RNA) such as sardines, salmon, tuna, shell fish, lentils, and beans help improve cell energy through a "salvage pathway" (see Life Extension Magazine, Aug. 1997, 5-8).

Foods rich in antioxidants and other phytochemicals such as fruits, vegetables, and green tea help protect against oxidative damage and free radical attack of all body cells including the skin. ....

 

COMMENT
In systemic illnesses, such as those which may develop from a cumulative and resulting high exposure to mercury and other heavy metals, a lowered testosterone level will be a benefit in boosting the toxin depressed immune function.

This will weaken heart function and can provide a tightrope balancing requirement between adequate immune function to restrain parasite infestation, and, adequate heart health to prevent heart failure.

Psychological - Emotional Depression must be cautiously, patiently, and aggressively avoided as the symptoms of systemic illness with lowered testosterone levels WILL produce chronic tiredness and weakness together with impotency and a likelihood of respiratory and digestive inadequacies.

Confusion over the origin and permanence of these symptoms in previous quite active persons will produce anxiety which can build to paranoia and panic. All of these states of negative stress will only heighten the symptoms and accelerate their progression.

In the worst of cases, occasioned by the greatest toxicity influence before the sources can be found and withdrawn, systemic physical depression (tiredness and weakness) will prevent sufficient aerobic activity to maintain lymph and heart health. Inevitably, the health of all organs, with the possible exception of a brain which is actively stressed on a daily basis, will deteriorate and become increasingly susceptible to parasite infestation (bacteria, fungi, virus, worms, flukes). This will increase basic nutritional requirements while decreasing caloric requirements.

The addition of excess weight may be impossible to avoid if one is to survive. Elimination of this excess will become possible in a healthful way once the toxins have been removed, the parasite presence reduced, one's serotonin level stabilized, and one's testosterone level increased towards the normal. At that point, strength and endurance should be increasing and aerobic and strength building exercise can then be safely begun. With a careful nutritional and caloric intake, relevant for one's blood type and metabolic type, excess weight will diminish and heart and systemic health will improve.