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The unusual Meristem project in Northern California offers a structured curriculum of craft, the ... [+] practical arts, and working the land: all aimed at assisting youth on the autism spectrum transition into adulthood.

Falling off the cliff is the term often used by worried parents and family members when young adults with autism and other developmental differences turn 18. For most of these youth, the wide range of educational and behavioral services provided by their local school districts ends abruptly.

The numbers of these youth are growing rapidly: just among youth with a diagnosis of autism, 750,000-1,000,000 are projected to turn 18 over the next decade. In response, a new industry oftransition programs is emerginghundreds of transition programs nationwide aimed at integrating these youth into employment and the broader society. While most of these programs are based on current ideas of college inclusion and technical education, a few are drawing on older intellectual traditions regarding transition, emphasizing the land, practical arts and craft.

The Meristem campus is set on 13 bucolic acres outside of Sacramento: a series of cottages spread among a working farm, woodworking and metal shops, a bakery, walking trails and orchards. Its design and curriculum are based on the Ruskin Mill Trust, founded in England in 1987 to serve young adults with mental health and learning disabilities, rooted in the ideas of the nineteenth century art critic turned social advocate, John Ruskin.

Though Ruskin (1819-1900) first achieved public prominence in the 1840s and 1850s with a series of art histories and criticisms, by 1860 he had turned from art criticism to trying to remake Victorian society. He criticized industrialization and its division of labor as the degradation of work, and called for a return to the land and the practical arts. Receiving a large inheritance upon the death of his father in 1864, he put his ideas into practice, funding through his Guild of St. George, businesses that employed workers in hand producing cloth goods, textiles and fresh foods.

In the mid-1980s, the founders of the Ruskin Mill Trust discovered in Ruskins ideas on land and craft what they believed to be a transition path for youth with disabilities. Over the past thirty years, the Trust has succeeded in building land-and-craft based transition centers throughout England and Wales. Prominent Sacramento philanthropists, Marc Turtletaub and Maureen Curran-Turtletaub, visited these centers, and inspired, established Meristem in the Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks, with a first cohort of students in 2015.

The Meristem curriculum is a structured one, combining classes in farming, the crafts (metal, wood, baking and the culinary arts), work skills, physical exercise and movement. Accompanying the training, the Meristem students also work in the businesses that Meristem has established Meristem Bakery, Meristem Herbal products and Meristem Model Bed and Breakfast.

Meristem officials envision that only a few students will pursue careers in farming and the crafts. The training is aimed mainly at other values: self-confidence, shedding of anxieties, self-advocacy, social participation. More than technical skills, these are the values that might overcome the isolation and marginality common in the past to adults with autism and other disabilities.

Edmund Knighton, Meristem President, has spoken in detail on the relation of craft and autism. Through craft, young adults practice discipline and persistence, with an emphasis on results.Referring to one student, Ben, with a withdrawn and remote demeanor prior to Meristem, Knighton explains, Ben receives objective feedback from the materials he sculpts or hammers or weaves. When successful, the product has value for others and the world because it is functional. With practice, students discipline themselves to persist through boredom, conflict with themselves and with others, and fatigue. As they are supported by instructors and peers to work through these challenges, their work becomes not only more functional but also more aesthetic.

Beyond craft, the connection to the land and natural environment is meant to reduce anxieties, provide grounding, and sharpen the ability to see things whole. Knighton details this connection to the land and farming in the following terms: Students experience the full cycle of organic/biodynamic plant life, from spouting the pastel to planting and weeding and watering and harvesting it. Then they clean it and use it as an ingredient in our bakery or caf to serve to the community. Experiencing the full cycle of a food substance that grows and then allows us to grow provides a deeply satisfying wholeness to our students, in contrast to so much in life that feels disconnected or in conflict. Lunch is a time where all staff and students sit down together and share a meal from the garden.

Along with craft and land, physical exercise and movement is the third of the Meristem pillars. Meristem co-founder Maureen Curran-Turtletaub believes movement is vital, students start each day with movement activities, and are encouraged to develop an exercise and healthy eating regimen.

Meristem has grown from a few students in 2015 to a cohort of 45, with a waiting list, and ideas of expanding to other locations in California. Students are becoming involved in the local Sacramento community, through taking classes at America River community college and other local colleges. The Meristem businesses, especially the bakery, are venturing out to sell to the area residentspushing students to practice sales and executive skills. This year Meristem is even forming its own youth chapter of the Rotary Club.

Dr. Lou Vismara is a retired cardiologist, co-founder of the UC Davis MIND Institute, and former Meristem board member. While on the board, he would take time to meet with new Meristem students and follow their experiences, and writes of his findings: Upon enrollment, many of Meristems students manifested aloof and withdrawn behaviors, When I first met with members of the entering cohort, their anxiety, stress and detachment was pervasive and truly palpable. During the course of Meristems program, virtually all of the students demonstrated a great sense of identity, purpose and self-confidence.

We still have much to learn about the element of effective transition programs and processes for young people with developmental differences. Autism diagnoses began to rise in the 1980s, and the first cohort is now in their thirties and forties, and for nearly all of them transition has been an on-going process, not a point in time, with shifting challenges in the work places and social inclusion.

Even as our post-industrial economy evolves in America, with few workers producing a physical product, craft and the land continue to hold an allure for social thinkers. A growing genre ofbooks (Shop Class as Soulcraft, The Cliff Walk,The Craftsman, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, to name a few) celebrate a return to work with ones hands and craft. Meristems land and craft approach is in line with this broader intellectual movement. Though Meristem is still in its initial stage, there is reason to think it holds promise especially for youth with autism and other developmental differences.

Original post:
Autism Transition: Returning To Craft And The Land - Forbes

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Heres one thing that rings true: If youre going to haul yourself all the way to the gym, you want your workout to be worth it. In terms of strength trainingaka a weight-focused circuitthe real gains, according to trainers, lie in the final minutes. Just when you think youve finished your sets, your trainer throws in that last cardio hit (read: hell). Its what they love to call the finisher, and there are a few reasons why its the key to an effective workout. Jennifer Lau, Nike Master Trainer and owner of Fit Squad in Toronto, explains why she uses it in her training programs.

A finisher in the literal sense is a short and intense exercise (or series of exercises) to complete at the end of a workout to test your mental toughnessyou think youve finished your workout, but its one more thing to push your body to the point of being finished. This helps burn extra calories, tests your mental strength, and makes you sweat even more. For example, at the completion of a strength workout (weight-focused circuit), a finisher could be one minute of high-intensity exercise, such as squat jumps.

A finisher in the literal sense is a short and intense exercise (or series of exercises) to complete at the end of a workout, Lau explains. Think one minute of squat jumps, or completing a 500 m row as fast as you can. Bottom line: Youre pushing through your comfort zone.

Lau says its important to add a high-intensity interval at the end of a weight-training workout for maximum effectiveness, versus executing one at the start of one. High-intensity intervals require a big energy output, and strength training takes focus. She says doing it at the end ensures your glycogen levels are not depleted heading into your strength workout.

Theres this little phenomenon called post-exercise oxygen consumption that occurs when you do an intense exercise. It uses up your stored energy and creates more damage to your working muscles (a good thing!), so when your body is in restoration and repair mode it uses up all that extra energy you have stuck in your cells.

Youll feel like youve worked out. Strength training doesnt have the same cardiovascular strain as a high-intensity workout does, so when you tack on some heart-pumping move, youll feel like youve done the work. Its a mental play, but it works. It will build mental toughness, Lau adds, because as the name would suggest, you should feel completely done after it.

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Is a Finisher the Key to a Better Workout? - coveteur.com

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I'm a fairly athletic 31 year old woman who has been lifting weights on and off for a total of probably no more than a year or so. I'm currently in an "on" phase and hope to stay that way. Even though I'm pretty confident that I know how to do the lifts and I feel pretty good about my progression, I still feel like I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. I originally started with something like 5x5, but modified ad-hoc to use whatever equipment was available at my busy corporate gym.

I feel like I should be doing other stuff though? Should I be doing other stuff? Everyone else seems to be doing other stuff? People on instagram talk about muscle activation exercises, how do I know which of those to do and when? What is leg day? How much weight should I use for each set? What order should I do the lifts in? The one I do first is the one I'm most successful with, but then I lose track of whether the number I wrote down for one lift is from when I started with that lift, or when I did it last, and now I spend way too much time staring at the equipment and staring at my phone, wondering what the hell I should be doing. Do I need to just grow up and read a book? - Tessa

Ok, we should talk about Instagram. In general, I think Instagram has been a really good thing for fitness. For a really long time, established media properties, especially ones whose businesses relied on marketing products that enforce rigid beauty standards (workouts, diet pills, and drinks, clothes for painfully thin people) were wholly in the clutches of those beauty standards. Social media, broadly speaking, gave a platform people who simply loved working out and loved their bodies could share that directly with others. There was, and still is, a lot of purity to it that the feedback loop of bigger media properties cant touch. People with non-Victorias-Secret-model bodies who glossy magazines would never cover could finally get some airtime, like @mynameisjessamyn, @prettystrongbec, @jenbretty, or @maria_htee. Magazines may cover them now, now that they have painstakingly proved follower by follower and like by like there is actual interest in them and what they represent and have to say.

However, Instagram and other social media platforms have grown up quite a bit in the last few years. Influencers have their own sponsors and advertisers to answer to, which means they have principles they have to assert, aesthetics they have to maintain, in order to sell the products they need to. Part of this is making themselves eternally essential, like a personal trainer who never teaches you to work out and progress your training on your own, because if you could do things on your own, you wouldnt need him. Part of that involves talking about the latest moves or trying the latest trends, which can be fine but is confusing to people who are trying to figure out where even begin.

Health and fitness are ripe for marketing because its so easy to make people feel insecure about their health and bodies. People are very susceptible to personal guilt and insecurity, and there are few things they are less able to change than the fundamentals of what they look like. Even if we intellectually know this, it doesnt stop us from feeling bad about it most of the time. This is also what leads us to think anything a conventionally attractive person does is what made them conventionally attractive. Someone who quite clearly had butt injections can post a video of herself doing side-lying leg lifts will still get all the people wishing they had a butt like hers also doing side-lying leg lifts. She doesn't even have to explain how a side-lying leg lift gives you a bigger butt, or claim that that's where her butt came from; we somehow manage to make those connections all on our own.

So this brings us to how easy it is to see lots of people doing lots of different things on social media platforms, claiming it has this or that effect: donkey kicks for a bigger butt! Spider crawls for defined abs! Doing a little digging on many of these people often reveals that they dont really have the authority to claim these things, but theres no one to really stop them. Thats the double-edged sword of social media: it rewards always having something new and exciting to say, even if what youre saying has no real substance.

Per the above, theres a lot of real and useful information on Instagram, but it can be hard to separate (and a lot of times, the people with the most valuable things to say are not the ones with the most followers). I can say from experience, it actually takes a lot of time to even begin to learn who is worth listening to and who isnt, and Im really only just getting started. Even the actually helpful stuff is framed as if you have [such and such particular problem], but how do you know if you have that problem?

So this is a vote in favor of trusted resources, of which there are many and I almost hesitate to name any because theres no one true answer to which program should I do? But I can answer some questions: training programs are always written deliberately when it comes to number of sets, number of reps, and the order of exercises. When you pick a program, be it StrongLifts or reddits Beginner Routine or 5/3/1 for Beginners, you are meant to do them in the order theyre written, in the weekly rotation they are written.

You are also meant to stick with a program for long enough that it can pay off for you. Most knowledgeable coaches/critics, like Alan Thrall or Mike Israetel, say often that which very specific program youre doing, especially if youre a relative beginner, matters way less than being consistent, getting your rest, and making sure your form is good, and that throwing a bunch of random accessory exercises at yourself is not a lot more than a distraction. A lot of times, the target audiences for new trendy exercises are real gym rats who are bored after years and years of training and are looking to mix it up. This also isn't clear from social media video clips, but a lot of those accessory-type moves are tacked on at the end of a strength program mostly composed of bigger, fundamental movements (squat, bench, deadlift, row, overhead press), not an entire workout in and of themselves.

That doesnt sound like you! You sound like you want to get stronger and make progress, and maybe havent gotten that chance yet because you feel distracted or insecure about whether youre doing the right things. You should feel reassured that a basic program like StrongLifts 5x5 IS a whole program, and you dont need to mess with it. These programs are vaunted and popular because they do work. Even experienced lifters will return to them again and again if they are rebuilding after time off. if it feels like people maybe arent talking about these programs as much as the latest gluteus medius exercise, its because they feel like everyone already knows about basic stuff like 5x5, and they need something new to add.

All that said: These programs are designed to allow the people following them to get stronger fairly quickly, and in a straightforward beginner program, you add at least a couple of pounds to each of the major lifts (squat, bench, etc.) every session, or at least every week. if you are specifically worried about your body, such that you are getting hurt, or youre doing your very best on form and consistency and recovery and youre still not making progress, you may benefit from the help of a coach.

Finding someone local and in person who is able to coach you in strength (powerlifting coaches with CSCS certifications) would be the best case scenario. More and more gyms that are focused on lifting (powerlifting gym or strength training gym in google-search language) are starting to offer intro tutorials or limited-run classes in lifting, where the goal is to teach you skills and advise you, versus simply making you run around for 45 minutes. But another benefit of the internet is that many such people now offer online coaching, where they can talk to you about what challenges youre facing, watch videos of your form, and help you figure out how to achieve your goals. If you would benefit from activation exercises or particular targeted accessory movements, these are the people who would be able to tell you. There is a place for that stuff, and while I think we can be a little too apprehensive about trying stuff with our bodies, whichever activation and prehab/rehab-type moves we might see influencers do often come from someone's technical expertise.

Should you or can you just read a book? For sure there are books: Strong Curves, New Rules of Lifting for Women, Scientific Principles of Strength Training, and Thinner Leaner Stronger are a few that I have enjoyed (even as some of the framing in these is, in some ways, a little problematic). Only you know whether reading a book or trying to work with a coach or take a class will work better for you. (I should note, a coach can tailor their advice to you, while a book may involve some educated guessing as to what your challenges are.) Whatever you do, definitely write down what youre doing in the gym at each step, so youre not trying to remember what you did last time and what would constitute doing more than last time (or, if its a bad day, what would constitute going easy on yourself and doing less).

Just remember that you dont need to be aiming to take over the world by building the strongest body of all time, or doing the most accessories, or trying all of the latest stuff; incremental progress at it relates to yourself, and yourself only, will give you plenty to do.

This article originally appeared on VICE US.

Originally posted here:
All the Reasons You Shouldn't Bother With Trendy Instagram Workouts - VICE UK

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The achievements of African Americans in the United States will be highlighted in a Feb. 15 program for school-age children at Willard Library in Battle Creek.

Young & Gifted: A Tribute to Black Heroes Past and Present will be presented at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, at Willard Library, 7 W. Van Buren St.

Participants will learn about the achievements of African Americans in society. Past and present heroes will be highlighted in the areas of space, inventions and business, said Angela Maddox-Bonner, who works in Willards Youth Services Department.

The program, which is geared to children in kindergarten through fifth grade and their families, will feature heroes Mae Jemison, Garrett Morgan and Madam CJ Walker.

Jemisonis an Americanengineer,physician and formerNASAastronaut. She became the firstblackwoman to travel into space when she served as amission specialistaboard theSpace ShuttleEndeavour.

Morgan was aninventorand businessman as well as an influential political leader. His most notable inventions were the three-positiontraffic signalandsmoke hood.

Walker was an entrepreneur,philanthropist, and a political and socialactivist. Walker made her fortune by developing and marketing a line ofcosmeticsandhair-careproducts forblack womenthrough the business she founded, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Co.

I chose these three people because we hear about others such as President Barak Obama, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and tennis player Serena Williams, so I decided to highlight people who are not spoken of often, Maddox-Bonner said.

Activity stations will spotlight each persons contributions:

Willard Library programs are free and open to the public.

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Unsung Black Heroes in the Spotlight at Willard Library Children' - wbckfm.com

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Hey Honey, whos that at the door? I asked my husband as we sat at the dining room table.

Im not sure, he said. My x-ray vision isnt working through this cement wall.

Very funny, Superman. Could you look out the window?

Um, it looks like Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts? Oh-no! We have to pretend were not home!

Why? Theyre about 10-years-old. They dont look dangerous.

Do they have boxes with them?

Boxes? Um, yeah. You think they have some sort of weapons cache in the boxes.

No! Cookies.

Cookies?

Yes, Girl Scout cookies.

Are they explosive Girl Scout cookies?

NO! Theyre FATTENING Girl Scout cookies.

Ah. Im beginning to see the light.

Lets hide.

They already saw me look out the window twice.

Rats.

You can just say no.

Its not that easy. When they look at you with those big, pleading eyes and hold out the box of Thin Mints, you cant say no.So just buy some cookies. Whats the big deal?

The big deal is that I gained seven pounds over the holidays and my New Years resolution was to get back in shape and I CANT LOSE WEIGHT IF THERE ARE GIRL SCOUT COOKIES IN THE HOUSE!

They arent going to jump out of the pantry and yell eat me, you know.

You dont understand. I love Thin Mints. And those Tagalongs are sooo good. Not to mention the Lemon-ups

You know them all by name?

Actually, I think the Do-si-dos were my favorites when I was little.

This is so sad.

Of course, now I like to have the Toffee-tastics with my coffee.

Maybe you should talk to someone about this you know, professionally?

I wonder if they still have those yummy chocolate and caramel ones?

Oh, you mean the Juliettes? Those arent available anymore.

Theyre not? Wait a minute how do you know that? Ahhhh! Theyve already been here!

They sold you some cookies! Theyre not here to take orders Theyre delivering the cookies you already bought! You traitor!

Er, um I got them for the kids!

Fine. But I get the Thin Mints.This is a repeated Lost in Suburbia column, which has appeared in GateHouse Media newspapers since 2008. As Tracy Beckermans main column is shifting focus - her kids are grown and she has moved back to the city - we are rerunning her earlier work for readers who may have missed these the first time around. You can follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LostinSuburbiaFanPage/ and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tracybeckerman.

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REBEL Wilson turned heads at the Oscars Vanity Fair party on Sunday night - as she showcased her impressive weight loss and slimmed down waist.

The Pitch Perfect star, 39, looked remarkably trimmer as she sported a slinky pink gown for the star-studded bash.

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And many fans, desperate to follow in her footsteps, were left asking exactly how Rebel, who played Fat Amy, managed to trim down.

Here, we talk through the main ways the Aussie actress has managed to shed the pounds in the space of just a few months.

Rebel, real name Patricia, has given her fans an insight into her fitness regime - by sharing videos of her gym workouts.

In one clip, Rebel can be seen doing circuit training including weight exercises, squats and lunges - before finishing off with ab exercises.

She captioned the post: Gotta keep up that stamina! Heres a part of my gym workout today.

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I also did 60 minutes of cardio (which is boring to film) and stretching to end it all right."

Another video posted by the star shows her running on a treadmill while on the top deck of a boat.

She captioned it: "Gotta get in that at sea workout x"

Rebel has a personal trainer, called Jono Castano Acero, who encourages Rebel to do some form of cardio every single day.

I encourage all my clients to do an extra bit of cardio during the day to keep moving, he said.

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A little tip is get a watch or use your phone to count steps and aim for 10,000 steps a day. If youre on 9,000 steps at 10 p.m. you have to get it done.

Jono recently bragged about Rebel's grit on Instagram, saying: "Rebel Wilson has been putting in the yards seven days a week. Proud of you gurl."

Rebel made a New Year's resolution at the start of 2020 to ditch her unhealthy eating habits and kickstart "The Year of Health".

She wrote on Instagram: "Okay so for me 2020 is going to be called The Year of Health.

"So I put on the athleisure and went out for a walk, deliberately hydrating on the couch right now and trying to avoid the sugar and junk food, which is going to be hard after the holidays Ive just had but Im going to do it! Whos with me in making some positive changes this year?"

Rebel lost weight while filming the movie Cats - due to all the rigorous and demanding dance routines she had to learn.

On top of that, the set was kept at a steamy 100 degrees to ensure that the dancers did not cool down between takes and injure themselves when they got back at it.

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All that led to a quick eight pound loss in just four days.

"I lost eight pounds, shooting my number, in four days," Rebel said.

"One, because theres a lot of physicalities but also, they heated up the set very high, to almost 100 [degrees] Fahrenheit, so that we could never cool down."

Rebel previously revealed that she has stopped counting her total calorie intake, and instead focuses on her fibre intake.

In particular, a minimum of 35 grams of fibre is a must to maximise weight loss.

Experts say high fibre foods are complex carbohydrates that offer energy for long durations and prevent cravings. It also controls your blood sugar and keeps you feeling full for a longer time.

Rebel recently attended a luxury weight loss, wellness, and fitness retreat in Malibu called The Ranch.

She spent four days there learning how to switch up her lifestyle and Rebel says she lost eight pounds while spending time there.

Speaking about the retreat on Instagram, Rebel wrote: OMG just finished four fantastic days at #TheRanch4.0 so challenging but very rewarding!

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"Not to mention I lost 8 pounds from marathon hiking over the four days! Thanks to the amazing staff and masseuses (free daily massages are part of the program)!! Feeling great!!"

Other celebs who have spent time at The Ranch include Julianne Hough, Selma Blair and Mandy Moore.

Even before her weight loss, Rebel Wilson was well known for her self-confidence and body positivity.

Health experts say that confidence is key to shedding the pounds as when when you recognise that your self-worth is not dependent on your weight, it frees you to focus on what is most important (your physical and mental health).

Speaking about her body type, Rebel previously said: "Being unique and different was a really good thing.

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"I walked into my agents office for the first time, they looked at me and said, Wow, we have nobody on our books like you.

"And they signed me on my second day here I wouldnt ever want to compete with what I call the glamours the really gorgeous people.

"Im about the brain, the heart and whats on the inside. I feel really lucky to be the body type I am."

Original post:
Rebel Wilsons two-stone weight loss how the Pitch Perfect star shed the pounds - The Sun

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When you think of testosterone, what comes to mind? Macho men? Aggressive, impatient, type A behavior? Road rage? Violence?

Testosterone's role in bad behavior is largely a myth. What's more, testosterone plays other important roles in health and disease that may surprise you. For example, did you know that testosterone is a key player in prostate cancer? Or, that women need testosterone, too? There's more to testosterone than guys behaving badly.

Testosterone is the major sex hormone in males and plays a number of important roles, such as:

Adolescent boys with too little testosterone may not experience normal masculinization. For example, the genitals may not enlarge, facial and body hair may be scant and the voice may not deepen normally.

Testosterone may also help maintain normal mood. There may be other important functions of this hormone that have not yet been discovered.

Signals sent from the brain to the pituitary gland at the base of the brain control the production of testosterone in men. The pituitary gland then relays signals to the testes to produce testosterone. A "feedback loop" closely regulates the amount of hormone in the blood. When testosterone levels rise too high, the brain sends signals to the pituitary to reduce production.

If you thought testosterone was only important in men, you'd be mistaken. Testosterone is produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. It's one of several androgens (male sex hormones) in females. These hormones are thought to have important effects on:

The proper balance between testosterone (along with other androgens) and estrogen is important for the ovaries to work normally. While the specifics are uncertain, it's possible that androgens also play an important role in normal brain function (including mood, sex drive and cognitive function).

Testosterone is synthesized in the body from cholesterol. But having high cholesterol doesn't mean your testosterone will be high. Testosterone levels are too carefully controlled by the pituitary gland in the brain for that to occur.

Having too much naturally-occurring testosterone is not a common problem among men. That may surprise you given what people might consider obvious evidence of testosterone excess: road rage, fighting among fathers at Little League games and sexual promiscuity.

Part of this may be due to the difficulty defining "normal" testosterone levels and "normal" behavior. Blood levels of testosterone vary dramatically over time and even during the course of a day. In addition, what may seem like a symptom of testosterone excess (see below) may actually be unrelated to this hormone.

In fact, most of what we know about abnormally high testosterone levels in men comes from athletes who use anabolic steroids, testosterone or related hormones to increase muscle mass and athletic performance.

Problems associated with abnormally high testosterone levels in men include:

Among women, perhaps the most common cause of a high testosterone level is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This disease is common. It affects 6% to 10% of premenopausal women.

The ovaries of women with PCOS contain multiple cysts. Symptoms include irregular periods, reduced fertility, excess or coarse hair on the face, extremities, trunk and pubic area, male-pattern baldness, darkened, thick skin, weight gain, depression and anxiety. One treatment available for many of these problems is spironolactone, a diuretic (water pill) that blocks the action of male sex hormones.

Women with high testosterone levels, due to either disease or drug use, may experience a decrease in breast size and deepening of the voice, in addition to many of the problems men may have.

In recent years, researchers (and pharmaceutical companies) have focused on the effects of testosterone deficiency, especially among men. In fact, as men age, testosterone levels drop very gradually, about 1% to 2% each year unlike the relatively rapid drop in estrogen that causes menopause. The testes produces less testosterone, there are fewer signals from the pituitary telling the testes to make testosterone, and a protein (called sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) increases with age. All of this reduces the active (free) form of testosterone in the body. More than a third of men over age 45 may have reduced levels of testosterone than might be considered normal (though, as mentioned, defining optimal levels of testosterone is tricky and somewhat controversial).

Symptoms of testosterone deficiency in adult men include:

Some men who have a testosterone deficiency have symptoms or conditions related to their low testosterone that will improve when they take testosterone replacement. For example, a man with osteoporosis and low testosterone can increase bone strength and reduce his fracture risk with testosterone replacement.

As surprising as it may be, women can also be bothered by symptoms of testosterone deficiency. For example, disease in the pituitary gland may lead to reduced testosterone production from the adrenal glands disease. They may experience low libido, reduced bone strength, poor concentration or depression.

There are times when low testosterone is not such a bad thing. The most common example is probably prostate cancer. Testosterone may stimulate the prostate gland and prostate cancer to grow. That's why medications that lower testosterone levels (for example, leuprolide) and castration are common treatments for men with prostate cancer. Men taking testosterone replacement must be carefully monitored for prostate cancer. Although testosterone may make prostate cancer grow, it is not clear that testosterone treatment actually causes cancer.

Men can experience a drop in testosterone due to conditions or diseases affecting the:

Genetic diseases, such as Klinefelter syndrome (in which a man has an extra x-chromosome) and hemochromatosis (in which an abnormal gene causes excessive iron to accumulate throughout the body, including the pituitary gland) can also affect testosterone.

Women may have a testosterone deficiency due to diseases of the pituitary, hypothalamus or adrenal glands, in addition to removal of the ovaries. Estrogen therapy increases sex hormone binding globulin and, like aging men, this reduces the amount of free, active testosterone in the body.

Currently, testosterone therapy is approved primarily for the treatment of delayed male puberty, low production of testosterone (whether due to failure of the testes, pituitary or hypothalamus function) and certain inoperable female breast cancers.

However, it is quite possible that testosterone treatment can improve symptoms in men with significantly low levels of active (free) testosterone, such as:

However, many men with normal testosterone levels have similar symptoms so a direct connection between testosterone levels and symptoms is not always clear. As a result, there is some controversy about which men should be treated with supplemental testosterone.

Testosterone therapy may make sense for women who have low testosterone levels and symptoms that might be due to testosterone deficiency. (It's not clear if low levels without symptoms are meaningful; treatment risks may outweigh benefits.) However, the wisdom and effectiveness of testosterone treatment to improve sexual function or cognitive function among postmenopausal women is unclear.

People with normal testosterone levels are sometimes treated with testosterone at the recommendation of their doctors or they obtain the medication on their own. Some have recommended it as a "remedy" for aging. For example, a study from Harvard Medical School in 2003 found that even among men who started out with normal testosterone results noted loss of fat, increased muscle mass, better mood, and less anxiety when receiving testosterone therapy. Similar observations have been noted among women. However, the risks and side effects of taking testosterone when the body is already making enough still discourages widespread use.

Testosterone is so much more than its reputation would suggest. Men and women need the proper amount of testosterone to develop and function normally. However, the optimal amount of testosterone is far from clear.

Checking testosterone levels is as easy as having a blood test. The difficult part is interpreting the result. Levels vary over the course of the day. A single low level may be meaningless in the absence of symptoms, especially if it was normal at another time. We need more research to know when to measure testosterone, how best to respond to the results and when it's worthwhile to accept the risks of treatment.

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Disclaimer:As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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Testosterone What It Does And Doesn't Do - Harvard Health

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Testosterone is a sex hormone often associated with males, though females have small amounts. If a male has a low level of testosterone, the symptoms can include erectile dysfunction, and reduced bone mass and sex drive.

The hormone has many important functions, including:

Testosterone production can slow as a person ages, and many older men have symptoms of low testosterone.

The American Urology Association define low testosterone as less than 300 nanograms (ng) of the hormone per deciliter (dl) of blood. They also reported that about 2 in every 100 men have low testosterone.

Below are common signs and symptoms of low testosterone in males. Females may also experience some of the following.

Low testosterone can make it difficult to get or maintain erections.

Testosterone stimulates the penile tissues to produce nitric oxide, which starts several reactions that result in an erection.

If levels of the hormone are too low, a man may not be able to get an erection.

The following are other factors that can cause erectile dysfunction:

Many men experience hair loss as a natural part of aging, and age-related hair loss can also affect women.

Authors of a study from 2012 found that testosterone implants supported the regrowth of hair in some women who were receiving treatment for symptoms of sex hormone deficiency.

Testosterone helps to produce bone tissue and maintain bone volume.

Low testosterone can lead to a reduction in this volume, which can make the bones more susceptible to fractures.

A male with low testosterone may notice a reduction in the size of their testicles that is not related to cold temperatures.

The scrotum may also feel softer than usual.

Semen is the fluid that makes up the majority of male ejaculate. This type of fluid helps the sperm move toward the egg.

Testosterone helps stimulate the production of semen, and reduced levels of semen can indicate a reduction in testosterone. It can also lead to trouble with fertility.

Men with low testosterone may find it difficult to fall or stay asleep.

Many males with low testosterone also have sleep apnea. This potentially severe disorder causes a person to temporarily stop breathing, which can disrupt sleep.

Men with low testosterone often experience a reduction in sex drive.

A diminishing sex drive occurs naturally with age, but when the cause is low testosterone, a man will notice a significant decrease in the desire for sex.

Testosterone plays a role in the development of muscle mass, and reduced levels of the hormone can result in a significant loss of muscle mass.

However, as low testosterone causes a decrease in mass, the function and strength of the muscles do not diminish, according to the findings of a 2016 review.

While many people associate hot flashes with estrogen levels that fluctuate during menopause, low levels of testosterone may also cause this symptom.

Low testosterone can lead to reduced levels of energy and fatigue.

A person may feel tired, even after adequate rest, or they may develop a diminished interest in exercise or movement.

A reduction in testosterone can lead to an increase in body fat.

In some cases, men with a deficiency of the hormone develop gynecomastia, which causes an enlargement of the breasts.

Some evidence suggests that men with low levels of testosterone are likely to experience a lack of focus, irritability, and depression.

Low testosterone does not always present symptoms, and some people only learn about it after a routine physical examination with bloodwork.

However, anyone who experiences one or more of the symptoms listed above should seek medical attention.

To diagnose low testosterone, a doctor will often perform a physical evaluation and review the person's symptoms. The doctor may also request testing to look for additional signs.

For example, a bone density test can show diminished bone mass, one result of low testosterone.

The most common treatment is testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

A doctor will typically only prescribe TRT if the person has several symptoms of low testosterone as well as blood test results that indicate a deficiency.

There are several delivery methods of TRT, including:

Most people will notice relief from symptoms within 46 weeks of starting TRT.

Weight loss and exercise can often increase testosterone levels.

While changes to the lifestyle and diet alone may not raise levels sufficiently, they can often help.

It is important to keep in mind that men typically lose testosterone as they age, and the potential benefits of lifestyle changes also decrease over time. Exercise, for example, often shows more significant results in younger people.

To support a boost in testosterone levels, the diet should be rich in nutrients. It may help to incorporate some of the following foods into the diet:

Avoid natural supplements that promise to increase levels of testosterone. While they may not harm the body, they are unlikely to produce the desired results.

A doctor can often suggest other safe ways to boost testosterone levels.

The American Urology Association report that low testosterone affects around 2 out of every 100 men. The risk increases with age, though most men naturally lose testosterone as they grow older.

Most cases of low testosterone are treatable, and being aware of the symptoms can help a person to receive an early diagnosis and treatment.

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Low testosterone: 12 signs and symptoms

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Testosterone is a steroid, mainly a male sex hormone that causes the growth of secondary sex attributes in men. Even so, testosterone is developed by women, but in small quantities. Combined with estrogen, testosterone aids the growth and repair of the reproductive system in women.

New research published in the journal Nature Medicine has discovered the fact that women who have genetically greater testosterone amounts are at bigger risk of developing cancer, diabetes, as well as metabolic conditions.

Scientists from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge stated that the connection has been discovered in women and not in men. Moreover, the risk of cancer and diabetes decreased in men who registered higher levels of testosterone.

The study suggested that women with genetically higher testosterone levels have a 37 percent bigger possibility of developing type 2 diabetes. In addition, they had a 51 percent greater risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Besides, the scientists found that women with high testosterone levels are more prone to develop cancer, such as breast and endometrial cancers. In men, high testosterone levels have been associated with an increased chance of prostate cancer.

The paper proved that the genetic factors of testosterone levels differ between sexes.

Dr. John Perry from the University of Cambridge said, Our findings that genetically higher testosterone levels increase the risk of PCOS in women is important in understanding the role of testosterone in the origin of this common disorder, rather than simply being a consequence of this condition.

Likewise, in men, testosterone-reducing therapies are widely used to treat prostate cancer, but until now, it was uncertain whether lower testosterone levels are also protective against developing prostate cancer, he added. Our findings show how genetic techniques such as Mendelian randomization are useful in the understanding of the risks and benefits of hormone therapies.

The team of scientists detailed that the research suggests the significance of sex-specific assays on testosterone and its impacts on health. They also explained the high effects of testosterone in the body and how to defeat irregular levels in order to avoid metabolic conditions, cancer, and diabetes.

Paula is an outstanding reporter for Henri Le Chat Noir, always finding new and interesting topics to bring to the portal. She mostly crafts Science and Technology news articles, covering everything one needs to know about those niches. Paula studied at Concordia University.

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High Levels of Testosterone in Women Associated With Greater Risk of Cancer and Diabetes - Henri Le Chat Noir

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In 2029, the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market is spectated to surpass ~US$ xx Mn/Bn with a CAGR of xx% over the forecast period. The Testosterone Replacement Therapy market clicked a value of ~US$ xx Mn/Bn in 2018. Region is expected to account for a significant market share, where the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market size is projected to inflate with a CAGR of xx% during the forecast period.

In the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market research study, 2018 is considered as the base year, and 2019-2029 is considered as the forecast period to predict the market size. Important regions emphasized in the report include region 1 (country 1, country2), region 2 (country 1, country2), and region 3 (country 1, country2).

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The global Testosterone Replacement Therapy market study covers the estimation size of the market both in terms of value (Mn/Bn USD) and volume (x units). Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used to calculate and authenticate the market size of the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market, and predict the scenario of various sub-markets in the overall market. Primary and secondary research has been thoroughly performed to analyze the prominent players and their market share in the Testosterone Replacement Therapy market. Further, all the numbers, segmentation, and shares have been gathered using authentic primary and secondary sources.

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