Low Testosterone Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease, How to increase it naturally.

Nancy Solomon Low levels of the male sex hormone, testosterone, in older men is associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to research by a team that includes a Saint Louis University scientist.

... The study was published electronically prior to its print publication in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and led by Leung-Wing Chu, M.D., who is chief of the division of geriatric medicine at Queen Mary Hospital at the University of Hong Kong.

Researchers studied 153 Chinese men who were recruited from social centers. They were at least 55 years and older, lived in the community and didn't have dementia. Of those men, 47 had mild cognitive impairment - or problems with clear thinking and memory loss. Within a year, 10 men who all were part of the cognitively impaired group developed probable Alzheimer's disease. These men also had low testosterone in their body tissues; elevated levels of the ApoE 4 (apolipoprotein E) protein, which is correlated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease; and high blood pressure.

... The findings corroborate findings in previous studies of older Caucasian men that show low testosterone is associated with impaired thinking and Alzheimer's disease. They suggest that testosterone may have a protective value against Alzheimer's disease. The next step, Morley said, is to conduct a large-scale study that investigates the use of testosterone in preventing Alzheimer's disease. Morley and his co-authors advocate studying the effectiveness of testosterone replacement in older men who have both mild memory problems and low testosterone in staving off Alzheimer's disease.

via Low Testosterone Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease : Saint Louis University : SLU.

This from 2002:

Older men with higher levels of free, or unbound, testosterone circulating in their bloodstreams have better visual and verbal recall and perform spatial tasks more adeptly than their peers, according to investigators at the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The study* identifies a potential biological factor that one day could be used to protect against decline in memory and other cognitive skills in later life.

"Although we can't firmly establish a causal relationship without further study, this finding suggests that there may be hormonal modulation of cognitive abilities as people get older. Clearly, having higher levels of circulating free testosterone is associated with a reduced risk of certain types of memory loss,” said Susan Resnick, Ph.D., an investigator in the NIA's Laboratory of Personality and Cognition, and corresponding author of the study, published in the November 2002 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. ...

via nih.gov

Here are some tips on increasing testosterone naturally excerpted from from nowloss.com:

Get enough Zinc: "Foods high in Zinc include oysters (a natural aphrodisiac), beef, liver, crab, seafood, poultry, nuts and seeds, salmon, brown rice, cheese, pine nuts, beans, turkey, milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese or you can supplement with at least 50-to-100mg of Zinc daily"

Eat healthy fats:  "Research has shown that men who ate diets rich in healthy fats like monounsaturated fats & Omega-3 fats had the highest testosterone levels..." So, eat "nuts & seeds, fatty fish like salmon & tuna, avocados, olives, vegetable oils, and natural peanut butter"

Lose weight if you are over weight: "body fat contains an enzyme called aromatase that converts your 'manly' testosterone into 'womanly' estrogen"

Get rid of excess estrogen: "Eat more RAW cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower because cruciferous vegetables contain a chemical called diindolylmethane (or DIM) that helps your body get rid of excess estrogen". "You can eat more fiber to naturally cleanse your body and flush out toxins that cause you to have excess estrogen". Use "(resveratrol) to help your liver remove excess estrogen."

Avoid "Xenoestrogens ... man-made estrogens that are found in things like pesticides, artificial growth hormones & steroids, air fresheners and plastic containers" ... "Don't use any perfumes, colognes, or air fresheners that have parabens listed as one of the ingredients. Parabens are xenoestrogens."

Get enough sleep (6 to 8 hrs) "Your testosterone levels can drop down by as much as 40 PERCENT when you don't get enough sleep".

Stress less, take time to relax: "When you get stressed out - your body releases a "stress" hormone called cortisol that shuts down testosterone production"... Cortisol also makes you gain belly fat. ... a natural supplement like Ashwagandha can also help reduce cortisol."

Take Vitamin C (1,000 to 1,500 mg/day):  It has "been shown to lower cortisol levels allowing your body to make more Testosterone and" it also "reduces the armostase enzyme that converts your Testosterone into Estrogen."

Work out in a manly way:  Do compound exercises. These are exercises that work several large muscle groups at once:  "Power Cleans, Squats, Bench presses, Deadlifts, Chin-ups, Dips, and Military presses...  you can still do isolation exercises like triceps extensions, bicep curls or chest flyes for definition.  ... use heavy weights that will allow you to only do about 3-to-5 reps per set and ... do about 5-to-8 sets... but... limit your workout time on ...  compound exercises to 1-to-2 hours...   do only 1-to-2 compound exercises followed by a few optional isolation exercises twice a week (Mon. & Thur. for example)" ... Avoid 'sissy cardio' where you walk or run for long periods of time and start doing Manly Cardio workouts like Hill sprints and intervals 3-to-4 times a week and limit your long duration sissy cardio workouts to only 2 times a week"

Rest: rest harder than you work out because overtraining leads to more cortisol and lower testosterone

Sex: Get aroused daily. Do what you need to do to increase your arousal, but don't use Viagra.  "German scientists even found that simply having an erection causes your levels of circulating testosterone to rise significantly"

Get enough vitamin A, B and E:  "not getting enough A, B, & E Vitamins will lead to lower testosterone levels ... If you're eating plenty of fruits & veggies, lean meats and nuts then you shouldn't have to worry too much about supplementing with any extra A, B, & E Vitamins."

Keep the family jewels cool: Avoid long HOT baths. "Your testicles need to be 94-to-96 degrees or about 2 degrees cooler than your body temperature to function at it's best and produce the most testosterone". Excess fat also heats them up, so this is another reason to keep your weight down.

Don't drink alcohol: "Alcohol makes it hard for your liver to breakdown estrogen making you have more estrogen & less testosterone which will cause you to become more woman-like by making you loose facial & pubic hair, get man boobs and become impotent ... Alcohol decrease zinc levels in your body ...

Avoid grapefruit:  "Grapefruits can also make it hard for your liver to breakdown estrogen."