Happy Valentine's Day!
HRT Update
A new study from the University of California, San Francisco, reports that about 25 percent of women who stop using synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because of its risks go back to taking the pills because their menopausal symptoms are intolerable. Dr. Deborah Grady surveyed 377 randomly selected patients who tried to give up HRT. Although three-fourths of the women had no or tolerable symptoms after quitting, one quarter had hot flashes and other miseries that drove them back to their pills. Some physicians are recommending antidepressants, such as Prozac, even if patients are not depressed. Although nobody knows why they work, small studies indicate they can reduce hot flashes by 60 percent. If these options are unappealing or unacceptable to you, consider trying biologically identical hormones, which are functionally and chemically identical to human hormones and do not appear to have the side effects of synthetic HRT. For more information, visit www.collegepharmacy.com.
Remember Sex?
The cover story in the January 19, 2004, issue of Time ("How Your Love Life Keeps You Healthy") features some fun facts about animal attraction. For those of you who got "Finding Nemo" for Christmas, you might want to know that when the female half of a pair of clown fish dies, the widower usually turns into a female. Other species do it too. In one species of marine worm, when two females meet, the smaller one becomes a male. Among slipper limpets, when too many males surround a female, the males change sex and then they become the object of sexual advances. As if dating wasn't confusing enough!
For Men Only
For the man in your life this Valentine's Day, offer a gentle reminder that optimal testosterone levels not only improve sexual function, but also are critical for maintaining muscle mass and bone strength, mental acuity, and heart health (as noted in our January newsletter). Offering further evidence, a study of 407 men (aged 50 to 91) published in 2002 noted that "higher FTI (free testosterone levels) was associated with better scores on visual and verbal memory, visuospatial functioning, and visuomotor scanning and a reduced rate of longitudinal decline in visual memory" ( Moffat, S.D., Zonderman, A.B., Metter, E.J., Blackman, M.R., Harman, S.M., & Resnick, S.M. Longitudinal assessment of serum free testosterone concentration predicts memory performance and cognitive status in elderly men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Nov; 87(11);5001-7).
Quote of the Month
"Age is an opportunity no less than youth itself."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
|
|
Letters
I have been a College Pharmacy customer for several years and would like to congratulate you and your staff for the wonderful services you offer. I am especially glad that your company is in the forefront of providing innovative and natural (peri)menopausal support to women.
I have had communications with your staff, Melinda and Terri. They were both very professional, knowledgeable, patient, and friendly... They are an asset to College Pharmacy and us women.
"Susanne"
|
|
Q&A
Q: Can I eat as much as I want on a low-carb diet?
A: A low-carb diet is not a license to gorge. Eating too many low-carb foods that are high in calories will do nothing to trim your waistline. In addition, you should still limit the amount of red meat and saturated fat you eat. Promoters of the Atkins diet recommend that only 20 percent of a dieter's calories should come from saturated fat.
|
|
|
|
Healthy and Fit
Exercise alone, without dieting, can help prevent weight gain, according to new research. In an eight-month study at Duke University, participants who got no exercise gained an average of almost 2.5 pounds. Seventy-three percent of those who briskly walked 11 miles per week (about 30 minutes per day) maintained their weight or lost a few pounds. Those who exercised more vigorously (running about 17 miles per week) lost almost 8 pounds and gained lean body mass. The study included 120 overweight or mildly obese adults ages 40 to 65.
|
|
|
