Powerlifting USA Magazine | Ask the Doctor

ASK THE DOCTOR

January/February 2012 - Vol. 35 No. 3

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

by Mauro DiPasquale, MD | mauro[at]metabolicdiet.com

www.metabolicdiet.com and www.maurodipasquale.com

To download Dr. Mauro's latest Elite Performance Newsletter, go to:

www.eliteperformancenewsletter.com

DEAR MAURO: It's been a while since we last spoke. I hope that you are well. The family and I are doing well.

I have a question for you. I graduated from college in 1995 and since then concentrated on my lifting and living my life. I'm no longer lifting and other than the occasional weekly pickup basketball game at my local YMCA, I'm pretty sedentary. But the learning bug has caught me again and I'm seriously considering doing post graduate studies. I'm in the process of studying for some standardize admissions test and notice that I'm not as "sharp" as I used to be. My dad, who is a professor, agreed that I may just be intellectually "rusty." He suggested that a frequent and consistent study schedule would help get my mental acumen to return. I am noticing the benefits of his advice.

However, you crossed my mind today because I remember that when I was using your products when I competed and up to a few years ago, a side effect appeared to be increased mental stimulation. We spoke about it at that time and you seemed to concur with my observation. I know that you're usually on the cutting edge of these things, so I am wondering if there are any supplements that you can recommend for me to use as I study which improve mental alertness.

I've had my blood work checked and have attached a copy of the results. As you can see, there's nothing of consequence. I look forward to hearing from you.

Isaac

ISAAC: It's good to hear from you. There are a number that would help, including MVM, EFA+, and GHboost. I use all three consistently and for me they do help. You can have a look at them in detail in my store at www.MauroMD.com.

Here's how I would take them: take 2 MVM and 2 EFA+ in the morning and with supper. Take 2–3 GHboost about an hour before studying twice a day. You can also use the GHboost before training if you decided to get back into it, which I think you should at one level or another—see included article.

I've been training for over half a century so it's not an option for me not to do something physical almost every day, whether it's riding my bike 10–20 or so miles, or weight training. I find it helps me physically and mentally even if things are hectic and it's only as little as 15 minutes at a time.

Let me know how things work out.

Mauro

DEAR MAURO: I've been powerlifting for almost two decades and have used steroids on and off during most of that time. I've retired from competition and have gone off the steroids on the advice of my doctor since tests he did while I was on them showed I wasn't healthy on them as far as my cholesterol, heart and liver. Since going off them I used my usual PCT, which is tamoxifen, to get my testosterone going again. The only problem is that between cycles I never really checked to see if my PCT was working as I usually got back on the steroids after about a month or so. I assumed it was helping my system normalize before my next cycle. The only problem is that my doc checked my testosterone levels six weeks after going off and again two months later and both times my total and free testosterone were below normal with my LH being in the normal range. The last few months haven't been good for me as I'm tired out, and my libido is in the basement, which isn't going over too well with my wife. My doc doesn't know what to do other than start me on testosterone therapy, which he says I'll have to stay on for the rest of my life. I'm not too keen on that as I'm just barely out of my 30s. I've looked this stuff up on the internet and it's pretty confusing so I thought I'd email you and see if you could give me some solid advice since I respect you and your knowledge and have followed your column in PL USA for almost as long as I've been powerlifting. For example, do you know if combining something with the tamoxifen might do the trick. Any advice will be deeply appreciated.

James

JAMES: Over the last four decades I've been aware of, treating, and writing about the effects of anabolic steroids on the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis and how to deal with the hypogonadotropic hypogonadism that is one of the most troubling adverse effects of the chronic use of anabolic steroids, although it can also occur in some after short term use. Although I'd been using various treatments much before that, I outlined some potential therapies in my 1986 book, Anabolic Steroid Side Effects, Fact, Fiction and Treatment. The information in that book is still amazingly relevant but it is out of print. While I intend to update and expand that book in a second edition within the next year, there are a number of articles and information on the topic on my new master site, www.MauroMD.com. There information under the Education tab in the Q&A, blog, and articles.

For example in the articles have a look at the following:
- Testosterone Series - Article One
- Getting Off the Steroid Roller Coaster
- Boosting Endogenous Testosterone Naturally with the New TestoBoost version IV
- If you search under ghrh in the Q&A section, you'll also find some useful information.

It might be a good idea to show Getting Off the Steroid Roller Coaster to your doctor. If he has any questions, he can email me, as have many doctors in the past.

The bottom line is as I've stated in the article Getting Off the Steroid Roller Coaster, that I have used various combinations of drugs and hormones to treat persistent hypogonadotropic hypogonadism secondary to the use of anabolic steroids. This includes the sequential or combination use of GnRH analogs, estrogen receptor modulators such as tamoxifen and clomiphene, aromatase inhibitors, such as anastrazole, Letrozole, and exemestane. Depending on the individual and their condition and response various combination usually worked better than monotherapy.

Mauro

ARTICLE ON BRAIN FATIGUE

September 19th, 2011 in Research
Have brain fatigue? A bout of exercise may be the cure.
American Physiological Society, "Have brain fatigue? A bout of exercise may be the cure." September 19th, 2011. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-brain-fatigue-bout.html
Article—Researchers have long known that regular exercise increases the number of organelles called mitochondria in muscle cells. Since mitochondria are responsible for generating energy, this numerical boost is thought to underlie many of the positive physical effects of exercise, such as increased strength or endurance. Exercise also has a number of positive mental effects, such as relieving depression and improving memory. However, the mechanism behind these mental effects has been unclear. In a new study in mice, researchers at the University of South Carolina have discovered that regular exercise also increases mitochondrial numbers in brain cells, a potential cause for exercise's beneficial mental effects.

Their article is entitled "Exercise Training Increases Mitochondrial Biogenesis in the Brain." It appears in the Articles in Press section of the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative, and Comparative Physiology, published by the American Physiological Society.

The researchers assigned mice to either an exercise group, which ran on an inclined treadmill six days a week for an hour, or to a sedentary group, which was exposed to the same sounds and handling as the exercise group but remained in their cages during the exercise period. After eight weeks, researchers examined brain and muscle tissue from some of the mice in each group to test for signs of increases in mitochondria. Additionally, some of the mice from each group performed a "run to fatigue" test to assess their endurance after the eight-week period.

Confirming previous studies, the results showed that mice in the exercise group had increased mitochondria in their muscle tissue compared to mice in the sedentary group. However, the researchers also found that the exercising mice also showed several positive markers of mitochondria increase in the brain, including a rise in the expression of genes for proxisome proliferator-activated receptor-{alpha} coactivator 1-alpha, silent information regulator T1, and citrate synthase, all regulators for mitochondrial biogenesis; and mitochondrial DNA. These results correlate well with the animals' increased fitness. Overall, mice in the exercise group increased their run to fatigue times from about 74 minutes to about 126 minutes. No change was seen for the sedentary mice.

These findings suggest that exercise training increases the number of mitochondria in the brain much like it increases mitochondria in muscles. The study authors note that this increase in brain mitochondria may play a role in boosting exercise endurance by making the brain more resistant to fatigue, which can affect physical performance. They also suggest that this boost in brain mitochondria could have clinical implications for mental disorders, making exercise a potential treatment for psychiatric disorders, genetic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases.