Tag: depression

The Condition and more Symptoms of Male Menopause

The condition and the symptoms of male menopause are comparable to the ones women experience and can sometimes be as worse. However male menopause does not affect all men, at least not with the same inclusion. Only some of the men between the age of forty and fifty can experience the condition and most of the symptoms of male menopause.

All the changes that occur in every man during the male menopausal period can affect every aspect of their lives. Male menopause is recognized as a physical condition and manifests in personal, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions.

Men also experience difficulties in hormonal fluctuations that affect their sexuality, mood, and personality like women. It is only one of the manifestations of the aging process of a man, where changes comes and make the person better out of it.

All men going through male menopausal can experience hormonal changes that greatly affect their lives. The levels of hormones will lower at their mid-life and may have changes which are usually associated with male menopausal. It is important to mark that every man has a unique personality and their individual levels of hormonal loss may vary widely. They have different outlook in life and strategies of living with satisfaction.

If the level of hormones lowers, it can be the cause to the decrease in sex drive and the general well being of their health. The occurrence of these things will also lead to the increase of depression and weight gain and absolutely will change the day to day living as compared to their lives before the onset of male menopause.

During the menopausal period, some men can experience problems with regards to impotence. Wherein it is the constant inability to achieve and maintain an erection that is enough to have a satisfactory sexual performance. And because of impotency, men are having lowered sexual desires.

How can a man recognize that he is going through that certain stage in life, the menopausal period? There are some symptoms to be aware of. Some are physical, some are psychological, and some are sexual. The following are the symptoms that a male is going through a male menopausal period.

Physical symptoms of male menopause include:

Recovery from injuries and illness takes longer
Less endurance for physical activity
Gaining weight
Difficulty reading small print
Loss or thinning of hair
Sleep disturbances
Low libido
Lack of energy

Psychological symptoms of male menopause include:

Irritability
Hesitancy or difficulty in making decisions
Worry and fear for life
Depression
Having low self-esteem, self-confidence and joy
Loss of purpose and direction in life
Feeling alone, unattractive, and unloved
Lack of memory and complexity in concentrating
Mood swings

Sexual symptoms of male menopause include:

Decreased sex drive
Fear of sexual impotency
More relationship problems and fights occurs with regards to sex, love, and intimacy
Incapacity to erect during intimacy
Increased of attraction to a much younger opposite sex

All the symptoms that a male can experience during the male menopausal period can be treated. Although men have been suffering from either physical, emotional or sexual symptoms of male menopause, you need to control it not through attempting self-diagnosis but by talking to a doctor, this will lead to being better informed and getting the proper treatment to alleviate the symptoms of the condition.

More Symptoms Associated With the Male Menopause Condition

Everyone knows that menopause is associated with women who reach a certain age. However, not many people are aware that menopause will also be experienced by the male population when they also reach a certain age. The male menopause condition or also known as andropause is very real and as a male, you have to be informed about it in order to cope with it.

Male menopause occurs when you reach the age of about 50 to early 60’s. The signs and symptoms of male menopause are quite similar to what women experience when they are going through the menopause.

However, unlike the female menopause where the production of hormones stops instantly, the male menopause will only decline in the production of male hormones called testosterone. This decline will result in the different signs and symptoms that you will experience when you go through male menopause.

Male menopause will have symptoms similar to menopause that women experience, such as fatigue, infertility, hot flashes, and mood swings. However, there are more symptoms that men should be aware of when they experience male menopause.

You have to consider that you will also experience erectile dysfunction, loss of interest in sex, depression, and anxiety. There are also other symptoms linked to male menopause. Some men reported that they became more motherly. It is a fact that males are more focused on money, power, and career. When they experience male menopause, they somewhat reported that they became more focused on family, and friends, which is the primary concerns of women. Sometimes they say that they regretted their former attitude.

Males will also experience loss of hair in the armpits and axilla, decreased sex drive, shrinking of testicles, impotence, constant feeling of tiredness, decreased muscle strength, decreased muscle mass, decreased bone density, and low sperm count. All these symptoms points to male menopause.

This is all due to the loss of androgens in the male’s body. This is why there is testosterone replacement therapy as a treatment for men who are going through male menopause. It has been found that testosterone replacement can significantly improve your condition and decrease the signs and symptoms of male menopause.

There are also other treatments that are not as complicated as testosterone replacement therapy that you can do in order to improve your condition. However, it is recommended that you should mix these activities with testosterone replacement therapy. It is recommended that men should relax and rest well, exercise, eat the right kinds of food, and abstain from drinking and smoking.

Together with testosterone replacement therapy, you will see that it will significantly improve your condition. You will see that it will increase your sex drive or your libido, increase your muscle mass and strength, increase bone density, and it will also prevent depression.

Before you jump up and get yourself treated with testosterone replacement therapy, it is very important that you should consult your doctor first. The doctor will be able to determine if you have a low testosterone level by conducting a series of tests. The doctor will also be the one to recommend you to a qualified professional to do the testosterone replacement therapy.

Always remember that testosterone replacement therapy will not cure male menopause. It can only relieve the symptoms you experience associated with male menopause and can help you cope up with this condition. Just remember the signs and symptoms of male menopause and you can easily determine if you need to visit your doctor.

How the Acupuncture Practitioner Uses His Needles

The major focus of an acupuncture treatment is to return the circulation of body energy to its normal levels. To do this, needles are used at points on the body indicated by the set of symptoms for the particular client. These symptoms may be physical, emotional, behavioral, and/or mental. Simply, a needle is inserted at a point in order to either stimulate or dissipate energy. Energy may be dissipated from a point if there is too much activity, which can be indicated by such symptoms as heat or anger. Energy may need to be stimulated by acupuncture if there is seems to be a depletion, as in the case of dizziness or depression.

The points at which needles are to be inserted are determined by an analysis of the client’s symptoms, and the organs that are involved in those symptoms. Some change may be affected by simply using pressure on those points (a technique known as acupressure), but far superior results are obtained by being treated by an acupuncture practitioner. There are a number of techniques for using the needles, as well as several different types of needles that can be used. Many modern acupuncture practitioners use small, disposable needles. They can be inserted to different depths, depending on the symptom addressed. It is interesting to compare how the technique to stimulate energy is different than the technique to dissipate energy.

An acupuncture needle used to stimulate energy is sometimes more effective when warmed. The point where the needle is inserted should be massaged before insertion of the needle. Puncture superficially, and then slowly insert the needle to its correct depth slowly, and remove it slowly. The needle should be inserted as the patient exhales, and removed as the patient inhales. The different points should be punctured in the order of energy flow. The needles should remain in place for several minutes, up to ten minutes.

An acupuncture needle used to dissipate energy is rarely warmed, and is inserted and withdrawn rapidly. The needles on average are inserted more deeply than for energy stimulation. The different points should be punctured in the opposite order from the energy flow. The client should inhale as the needle is punctured, and exhale as it is withdrawn. The needle need only remain a few seconds in many cases. Comparing the two techniques, the technique to dissipate energy seems very similar to letting some air out of a balloon or other container: insert quickly and deeply. It is also interesting to note that the patient exhales as the needle is withdrawn, again releasing energy.

A good acupuncture practitioner never inflicts any pain. At most, there may be a slight feeling of a twinge upon the first insertion, but even that is not to be usual. A needle remaining in the skin is not felt at all as long as it is stationary, and most patients forget about them. There are a number of different kinds of needles, but the only noticeable difference to the client is the difference between a normal needle and a Japanese needle. A Japanese needle is generally thinner and is inside a guide tube, so it will look distinctly different. Needles can come in various widths, with acupuncture needles used for dissipating energy generally thicker than the needles used for energy stimulation. I hope this introduction has both intriguing and reassuring, enough for you to schedule a first trip to an acupuncture clinic.

Psychiatric Evidence of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a serious mental illness that has eluded doctors for decades. For many years, bipolar disorder patients were diagnosed as psychotic or Schitsophrinia. However, about twenty years ago, manic depression became a more common diagnosis. Psychiatric specialists still, however, did not really understand the illness.

Over time, more psychiatric evidence has come to light that proves that bipolar disorder, as it is now called, is actually caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. Other factors, both medical and situational, can be involved as well. In the last few years, psychiatric specialists and researchers have determined that bipolar disorder actually has varying degrees of severity, as well as types of symptoms.

Studies of bipolar patients conducted by psychiatric professionals and researchers has long suggested that bipolar disorder runs in families, or, in other words, is hereditary. Through careful study and research of the functions of the brain, it has now been determined how this illness is indeed hereditary and biological in nature.

According to research posted in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2000, patients with bipolar disorder actually have thirty percent more brain cells of a certain class that have to do with sending signals within the brain. These additional brain cells cause patients’ brains to actually behave differently, making them predisposed to have periods of mania or depression.

According to researchers, this type of brain cell regulates moods, how someone responds to stress, and cognitive functions. When the extra brain cells are present, a congestion of cells regulated one type of mood or cognitive function is overloaded, and therefore causes a bout of mania or depression. It is not yet known by psychiatric researchers, however, why patients with bipolar disorder have these additional brain cells. To discover this, more genetic research will be required.

In addition to brain cells and brain chemistry, it has also been speculated by psychiatric researchers that various genes in the genetic makeup of bipolar patients can also contribute to the cause of and hereditary nature of bipolar disorder. Studies have been ongoing experimenting with removal of the gene in mice. The evidence suggests that circadian genes, which regulate mood, hormones, blood pressure, and heart activity may be linked to bipolar disorder. Specifically, the absence or abnormality of the gene actually seems to bring about mania episodes.

All in all, more research needs to be done. Medical and psychiatric researchers and doctors have a lot more to learn about the brain and how it functions. While current treatments seem to work for bipolar disorder, they also have severe side effects. Often, medications prescribed for bipolar disorder have to be monitored, dosages modified, or medications switched entirely for patients to maintain balance. The more we learn about the brain and it’s functions, the more we can learn about the physical, biological causes of bipolar disorder. The more we learn about the causes of bipolar disorder, the more likely it will become that effective treatments can be found that offer little side effects and more permanent treatment options for bipolar patients.