Authors: Jörg Blech
The proverb that one should choose one’s parents carefully in order to have a long, healthy life is becoming less true. Genes may determine the way we age by 30 percent;
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the environment determines the rest. To a large extent, we determine how fast we age. Apart from smoking, it is above all disuse of the body that shortens lives. This weakens the potency of men, makes us vulnerable to stress, steals our healthy sleep, and increases the number of illnesses we get.
WORKING OUT FOR POTENCY
It was the first day of June 1889 when the neurologist Charles Edouard Brown-Sequard declared at the Biological Society of France in Paris that he had discovered a fountain of youth and had already tested it. The result, the 72-year-old professor claimed, was nothing but a sensation. Brown-Sequard said he felt physically strong and mentally awakened. He had gotten rid of his constipation and urinated again like in his young days, in a high arch. The professor was convinced these improvements were due to an extract he had prepared from the testes of guinea pigs and dogs, and subsequently injected into his own body. As it turned out, this supposed antiaging regimen had, if anything, a placebo effect because its recipe was simply too weak to work. Nevertheless, Brown-Sequard had founded a new field dealing with the production and effects of hormones, today known as endocrinology. Furthermore, his hunch that the testes are an important reloading point for hormones was subsequently proven right.
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By 1935, chemists were able to simulate the work of the glands by synthesizing testosterone in the laboratory. Normally, it is produced in the male body but also—in smaller amounts—in the female body. It promotes the maturation of the male reproductive organs; helps with the production of new sperm; and, in both sexes, strengthens the libido.
Furthermore, testosterone acts as an anabolic hormone and increases the buildup of proteins in cells, enabling muscle growth, for example. Small wonder that testosterone and the similar hormone DHEA are marketed as antiaging products and consumed by many men. Doctors and public-relations people with ties to pharmaceutical companies even invented a disease, which they have named “male menopause,” to generate more sales. Due to an age-related decline of testosterone, men supposedly become sluggish, sexually slack, and grumpy.
But in reality, hormone prescriptions help only the drug manufacturer and the prescribing doctor. A study has just shown that neither testosterone nor DHEA enhance well-being when given as drugs. A two-year study of elderly men (using testosterone plaster and DHEA tablets) and women (taking DHEA tablets alone) tested these products. Although this resulted in higher hormone levels, it did not affect muscle strength, aerobic capacity, or quality of life. There was no trace of an antiaging effect.
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Obviously these hormones are helpful and effective only if produced by the body. This natural buildup is stimulated by exercise. This has been shown time and again by researchers like John McKinlay and his colleagues of the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Massachusetts. In the 1980s they randomly contacted more than 1,700 men between 40 and 70 years of age. Over time, the researchers assessed the health of those men via questionnaires and by measuring their hormone levels. On the one hand, the researchers found that the level of male sex hormones incrementally decreases over the course of time; the testosterone level goes down by about 1 percent every year. On the other hand, testosterone level is significantly influenced by lifestyle. Heavy smokers and people who drink a lot of alcohol have lower hormone levels. Inactive, obese men also have a level 10 to 15 percent below that of physically active men of the same age.
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Men suffering from hot flashes often turned out to be sedentary heavyweights. The impact of obesity and other adverse lifestyle factors is roughly as big as the impact of natural aging.
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Thus, McKinlay concludes that male menopause is nothing but a myth, the symptoms more likely to be caused by laziness and an unhealthy lifestyle.
So if men want to boost their testosterone, they simply have to become active. Several studies examined what happened when men at age of 70 began to work out. Unsurprisingly, their strength increased. But their levels of testosterone and growth hormone rose, too. Whereas the hormone production of fit men responds especially strongly to stimuli, formerly inactive men profit, too. Sedentary men aged 66 to 76 training just for one hour on a stationary bike have seen their level of testosterone go up by 23 percent.
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Physical activity also helps men suffering from impotence. The condition, also called erectile dysfunction, is seldom the only problem of the affected men. An individual with an erectile dysfunction usually has quite a few other health issues, such as coronary heart disease, impaired circulation of the legs, and strokes—all of which are caused by a lack of physical exercise.
So, is a flaccid penis an indicator for lack of exercise?
Many findings point that way. An elevated body weight is connected with potency problems. The link between impotence and lack of exercise appears to be the endothelium of the blood vessels, which, as we have already seen, is impaired by inactivity. When that happens, the penis is not properly supplied with blood any longer.
Common sense as well as scientific data thus tell us that impotent men need workouts rather than Viagra. Whereas the pills are expensive and have side effects, physical exercise is safe and free.
In the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, John McKinlay and his colleagues followed more than 590 men.
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At the start of the study, they were middle-aged and all potent. Eight years later, only 83 percent of them had satisfactory erections and, apart from alcohol abuse and smoking, obesity and lack of exercise were the main reasons for the problem. By contrast, some previously sedentary men in the study had adopted an active lifestyle. In comparison to inactive participants, their likelihood of impotence was reduced by 70 percent. “Early adoption of healthy lifestyles may be the best approach to reducing the burden of erectile dysfunction on the health and the well-being of older men,” the doctors conclude. Their recommendation? A brisk two-mile walk every day keeps erectile dysfunction away.
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The physician Katherine Esposito has used this effect to help men from southern Italy.
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The 110 participants in her study were all impotent and overweight (BMI of 30 to 49).
They were randomly assigned into two groups. The control group received information about improving their diets and exercise, but it was kept rather unspecific. Over the next two years they were visited bimonthly by the researchers, but no specific individualized program was provided. The men of the intervention group, however, were asked to lose 10 percent of their body weight and were given concrete tips, namely that they should not eat more than 1,700 kilocalories per day and should begin an active life with swimming, ball games, and many walks. Every four to eight weeks, these participants were counseled by nutrition experts and physical educators.
Two years later, Esposito compared the two groups. Although there was no difference between the groups with regard to their eating habits, their activity patterns differed profoundly. Among the men only vaguely instructed about physical activity, the amount of exercise went up from 51 to 84 minutes per week. In the other group, however, the increase was from 48 to 195 minutes per week. The program also affected body weight. Whereas the BMI went down from 36.4 to 35.7 in the first group, the men in the training group lost much more fat; the average BMI declined from 36.9 to 31.2.
This lifestyle change was very beneficial for sexual performance. Whereas 5 percent of the men in the control group were able to overcome their impotence, 31 percent of the exercisers were able to do so. This result fits the data from epidemiological studies, which indicate that 79 out of 100 men with erectile dysfunction are overweight or obese.
Many men do actually intuit the potential exercise has for their potency. That was revealed when the Massachusetts Male Aging Study examined the course of erectile dysfunction.
More than 300 men were followed for nine years, and during this time impotence problems worsened among 33 percent of them. But in 35 percent of the cases the condition had disappeared. These latter men had apparently adopted healthier lifestyles, with less overeating and more sports, and thus had reversed their illness.
The study has two important messages. First, natural aging impairs potency to a much lesser degree than thought. Second, men can overcome penile problems without pills. This is probably not only because of the physiological improvements, which lead to a better blood supply to the erectile tissue. It might also be that exercise helps men to deal better with stress. With less psychological pressure, lust and libido certainly profit. In a true win-win situation, frequent sex enhances fitness and activates the production of hormones—which in turn creates even more desire.
STRIKING BACK AT STRESS
The reason why exercise keeps bodies young and fit is not as evident as it might appear. After all, even moderate use of the muscles leads to an elevated consumption of oxygen—and thereby to an adverse side effect called oxidative stress. In the wake of this stress, highly reactive chemicals are produced, called free radicals, which can damage a cell’s DNA.
Fortunately, we are able to protect ourselves against these dangers. As soon as the body is put in motion, a special program is switched on that can neutralize the adverse effects of exercise as well as psychological stress. The gerontologist Suresh Rattan of University Aarhus in Denmark believes that this protection is created by certain proteins (which, for historical reasons, have the confusing name of “heat shock proteins”). They act as a shield against stress and thus enhance well-being. In the bodies of Stone Age people, this program was probably switched on most of the time. All humans living today have the same system hardwired into their bodies, but it is usually switched off because modern people hardly use their muscles.
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The problem is, when this stress shield is turned off, people are still subjected to stress, of a kind that might be even worse than the stress our Stone Age forebears usually had to deal with. Back then, stress always meant that there was an immediate threat and life was in danger. Those situations involve a swift bodily response: energy is released, and the muscles are supplied with glucose. The heart starts beating faster, and blood pressure and breathing frequency increase so that the body can consume more oxygen. Functions that are not needed in life-threatening situations are suppressed: the sex drive, digestion, and the immune system. At the same time, the body is flooded with stress hormones. They ensure that we do not feel pain and sharpen our senses. This system stood the test when our forebears were escaping from mammoths and saber-tooth tigers, and it helps us to this day—for example, should we have to flee a burning house or run away from other dangers.
So far, so good. But there is a problem: today, even when it is not a matter of life and death, stress waves keep rolling in, due especially to the acceleration of daily life that does not allow us to take any rest periods. Many employees can be reached day and night because of cellular phones, e-mail, and text messages. American companies in particular assume they can disturb their employees at any time, even vacations. There has never before been more continuous stress than in the technologically connected job world. Absolute silence and peace, on the other hand, can also be bad. Individuals who have no friends and must live in social isolation are often burdened by stress, too.
In past times, stress lasted only a short while: Either the saber-tooth tiger got you, or not. Nowadays, stress persists the whole day. Furthermore, stress and the corresponding response are uncoupled in sedentary people. The released energy is not converted into action but stays inside the body. Rather than actively defending against threats, the author Tara Parker-Pope concludes: “Now you’re just a person with unregulated blood sugar, high blood pressure, blood clots, a depressed sex drive and a buckling immune system.”
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Add to that the effects on the brain. An excess of stress hormones (glucocorticoides from the adrenal gland) impairs nerve cells and causes atrophy in certain brain regions.
The many consequences of stress for the physiology can be measured and expressed in a unit called “allostatic load.” Poor, badly educated individuals usually suffer more stress than people who are affluent and have had extensive education. Sleep deprivation and physical inactivity are also associated with an above-average allostatic load.
However, nobody is at the mercy of stress. We can take measures either to minimize it or prevent its more dangerous effects. A social network seems to help against it. People who have an intact family life, are on good terms with their relatives, and have friends are found to have comparatively lower levels of stress hormones in the blood and live longer than the average.
If stress cannot be circumvented or evaded, which is unfortunately often the case, physical activity is the best answer to it. Rodents running on treadmills do not develop brain disorders as quickly as sedentary rodents when put under stress. They appear to be protected by a still poorly understood mechanism against the adverse processes stress can trigger in the brain.
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From the vantage point of evolution, this makes perfect sense: “Assuming that the stress response is a neuro-endocrine mechanism that occurs in anticipation of physical action, then physical activity should be the natural means to prevent the consequences of stress.”
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