For Women Only
Researcher Barbara Sherwin, quoted in the January/February issue of Psychology Today, makes an excellent case for biologically identical hormone therapy in perimenopausal and menopausal women. Although studies with synthetic hormones among elderly women often have produced alarming findings, Sherwin's studies show that estrogen can improve working memory in young women. She notes that all estrogen is not identical (as College Pharmacy customers know) and that route of administration is important as well. Another study by the San Francisco VA Medical Center found that low doses of estradiol administered via a transdermal patch had no negative effects on older women's cognition. The best time to begin hormone therapy, according to Sherwin, is just around the time of menopause, about age 49.
For Men Only
The same article noted above, by medical writer Sherry Baker, drew some interesting conclusions about the effects of testosterone on men. Testosterone levels skyrocket in men with high baseline levels when they lose a competition, whether it be a sporting event or a contest for a prospective mate. High-testosterone men even project stress to their dogs, particularly after their prized pooches lose at a pet show. In addition, competitive, status-seeking men with high testosterone levels become angry and cognitively impaired when stripped of their status. Men with low testosterone levels, on the other hand, show the same responses when placed in high-status positions they do not seek.
Remember Sex?
For reasons that are unclear, testosterone levels among American males have been declining over the past 20 years, according to researchers at the New England Research Institutes, Waterdown, Mass. Testosterone levels play a key role in maintaining libido as well as muscle and bone mass. Although it is normal for men's testosterone levels to drop as they age, the study compared 50-year-old men in 1988 to men the same age in 1996. Publishing their results in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, scientists said that neither aging nor factors such as smoking could fully explain the decline over generations.
Quote of the Month
"You will rise by lifting others."
- Robert Green Ingersoll
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Q&A
Q: Is it true that older people often lose interest in food?
A: Aside from factors related to medications and particular diseases, older adults have fewer taste buds than young people, which can account for less enthusiasm at dinner time. Most people lose half their taste buds by age 60. So if grandma shows a renewed interest in salsa and cayenne pepper, she might be trying to spice things up a bit!
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Healthy and Fit
Smarter kids are more likely to be vegetarians as adults, according to a report in the December online issue of the British Medical Journal. Data on 8,200 men and women aged 30, whose IQ had been tested at age 10, were collected for the study. Those who scored higher as children were more likely to become vegetarians, a diet often associated with lower cholesterol, lower rates of obesity, and lower risk of heart disease. More intelligent people tend to have healthier habits overall, including diet. Among unanswered questions are the children's home environment, including whether their parents were vegetarians, and whether a particular event influenced their choice.
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