Health. iyouproject » USEFULLY

The musical activity to keeping the mind sharper.

laimisk — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:07:30 +0000

The study recruited 70 healthy adults age 60 to 83 who were divided into groups based on their levels of musical experience.
The musicians performed better on several cognitive tests than individuals who had never studied an instrument or learned how to read music, according to the research findings published Wednesday online in the APA journal Neuropsychology.(...)
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The recommended daily intake of vitamin D and calcium…

laimisk — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:06:26 +0000

Taking extra vitamin D and calcium doesn’t seem to prevent bone-thinning in older men, according to Australian researchers.

However, exercise did boost bone mineral density, a proxy for bone strength, their report shows.

Despite the findings, people still need to get enough calcium and vitamin D to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, or bone thinning, said Dr. Mone Zaidi, an osteoporosis researcher at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the study.

“It’s like the four legs of the stool: vitamin D and calcium, exercise, medications if a person is losing bone, and the fourth leg is telling people how to prevent fractures,” Zaidi said.

More than 40 million people in the US are affected by osteoporosis. It’s most common in older women, but about seven percent of white men and five percent of black men are affected, according to the American College of Physicians.

In the new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Robin M. Daly from the University of Melbourne, Australia and colleagues randomly assigned men aged 59 to 70 to an exercise program, drinking milk fortified with calcium and vitamin D, doing both, or doing nothing.

They measured the men’s bone density before and after the study, which took place over 18 months, but they didn’t look at fractures.

At the end of the study, men who exercised had higher bone density than those who had supplemented their diet with 1000 milligrams of calcium and 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day.

Adding the supplements to the exercise program provided no extra benefit, hinting that the men already had enough vitamin D and calcium in their diets to be able to boost their bone strength through exercise alone.

The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 600 IU in adults up to age 70, and 800 IU for older people, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A 6-month supply of vitamin D supplements can be bought for less than $10, and many multivitamins contain the recommended daily dose of vitamin D.

As for calcium, the NIH advises 1,000 mg per day for men ages19-70, and then 1,200 mg per day for men older than 70.

To build bone density, weight-bearing exercise is needed, such as running or weight-lifting, according to the NIH.

In animal studies, a lack of vitamin D has been linked to several diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and some types of cancer. However, there isn’t enough data to say if vitamin D can help treat or prevent these diseases, Zaidi said.

To reduce the risk of bone weakening, the NIH recommends not smoking, drinking less alcohol and exercising more.

Zaidi said that both vitamin D and calcium are extremely important for human health, so people should follow the previous vitamin D and calcium recommendations.

“You’ve got to have it to build a wall,” he said. “Adding more might not strengthen the wall, but you have to take enough to keep the wall strong. Otherwise it might fall apart.”

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The question of human origins…

laimisk — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 17:45:47 +0000

This article examines the field of human genetics, and will be followed by features on breakthroughs in zoology, paleontology, astronomy, and the genome.

The Splicing Code

The genetic code is part of a functioning language. It has all the features of communicated information, including symbols, grammar, meaning, and purpose. And it’s all contained in DNA, providing the information to build proteins.

Researchers have long suspected that this first code was just one part of the process, since it only specified the production of proteins. Another code or codes must tell cells when to start and stop production, as well as how fast to produce the needed materials.

This year, researchers worked hard to piece together critical parts of an entirely different code, one that transmits information using certain DNA sequences, the three-dimensional shapes of many RNA molecules, and other components in the cell.

A team recently found that some systems are activated by many tiny signals added together. Once enough signals convey the same message along different pathways, production is switched on.
The researchers also found that many systems are regulated by “antagonistic” signals. One RNA carries information that is “pro” production, while another RNA signals “anti” production.

When more of one type of RNA is present than the other, the majority signal is added to the regulation network. In a study published in Nature, information in “the splicing code” was found to be deeply complicated and involved many layers of communication.

What does this have to do with origins?

Every single example of coded information, or language, is always produced through rational, intentional will or volition. There are no books without authors, and all known computer programs came from programmers who knew the proper language.

What has been discovered about the genetic code has been clearly sufficient to infer the presence of a great Creator of life. Now, the splicing code, which appears to be orders of magnitude more complicated, argues even more forcefully for a rational and intentional mind behind the processes of life.

How Fast Human Mutations Accumulate

As mutations accumulate in populations of animals and people, they act as ticking time bombs primed to go off when the organisms can no longer function because of degraded genetic information.
An accurate measurement of the rate of mutations would enable researchers to estimate how many “ticks” are left before the bomb explodes, and how many ticks have already taken place.

According to a study published in January 2010, humans accumulate mutations at a rate of 1 to 5 percent per generation.
Another 2010 DNA base-by-base analysis yielded a smaller number, finding that 60 new, irrevocable mutations add up each generation.

Either result shows that the human genome clock has been counting down fast. These data set reasonable limits to the total duration of mankind on earth. Those limits are incompatible with “millions of years,” but they fit just right with the thousands of years history that the Bible provides. The human genome looks very young indeed.

Human DNA Is Unique

One common argument used to support the evolutionary concept that humans and chimpanzees shared a common ape-like ancestor was that the two species share so many of the same genes.
In 2009, a counterargument held that these studies focused only on the genes and ignored the equally critical regulatory DNA sequences.
Thus, the “we share the same genes as chimps” argument can only be supported by extremely biased studies.

But in 2010, the first direct, sequence-for-sequence comparison of any of the corresponding chimp and human chromosomes was published.
The new work was made possible by powerful new techniques that are able to quickly compare reams of data, unlike prior spot-check estimates of DNA sequence similarity.

The results showed that the human “Y” chromosome is totally different from the chimp’s, containing large sections of coded information that were unique to man, and very large portions that had a unique layout and arrangement. In other words, humans and chimps look to be in no way related.

Conclusion

Discoveries from 2010 have brought confirmation of clear biblical teaching that mankind is a distinct and unique high-tech creation that is locked into a long-term pattern of decay.

Who knows what 2011 will bring to bear on the question of human origins? It would be no surprise, however, if further unforeseen specified complexities are discovered.

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People life is movement

laimisk — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 18:24:34 +0000

European authorities do their best to propagandize healthy lifestyle. Even such renowned and popular chefs as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay found themselves in the line of criticism: specialists determined that their dishes were too fat and heavy.

Fat Panel scrupulously analyzed the recipes of the world-famous chefs and came to conclusion that the cooks, who have countless fans all over the world, exacerbate the problem of obesity and cardiovascular diseases with their activities.(...)
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The new standard for cribs

laimisk — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 11:00:25 +0000

The US government outlawed drop-side cribs on Wednesday after the deaths of more than 30 infants and toddlers in the past decade and millions of recalls.
It’s the end of the traditional crib that has cradled millions of babies for generations.

It was a unanimous vote by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban the manufacture, sale and resale of the cribs, which have a side rail that moves up and down, allowing parents to more easily lift their child from the crib.

The new standard requiring cribs to have fixed sides would take effect in June. The move by CPSC would also prohibit hotels and childcare centers from using drop-sides, though those facilities would have two years to purchase new cribs.

CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum hailed the new standard for cribs as one of the strongest in the world.

“I believe these new standards will markedly reduce crib-related hazards and help to ensure that young children sleep more safely in their cribs,” Tenenbaum said after the vote.

Around for decades, drop-side cribs have come under scrutiny in recent years because of malfunctioning hardware, sometimes cheaper plastics, or assembly problems that can lead to the drop-side rail partially detaching from the crib.

When that happens, it can create a dangerous “V”-like gap between the mattress and side rail where a baby can get caught and suffocate or strangle.

In all, drop-side cribs have been blamed in the deaths of at least 32 infants and toddlers since 2000 and are suspected in another 14 infant fatalities. In the past five years, more than 9 million drop-side cribs have been recalled, including cribs from big-name companies such as Evenflo, Delta Enterprise Corp., and Pottery Barn Kids.

Michele Witte of Merrick, N.Y., lost her 10-month-old son, Tyler, in 1997 when the drop-side rail on his crib came loose, partially detached and then trapped his neck between the rail and the headboard.

“It’s been a long 13 years,” said Witte. “I feel like it’s a celebratory time because things are finally being done about the issue.”

Witte appeared at a news conference on Capitol Hill with Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., all of whom have pushed for stronger crib safety rules.

The new standard mandates tougher safety testing for cribs, tests that more closely mimic a child in a crib. As children get older, they can apply more force to the crib a^–” shaking on it, running around in it, jumping up and down. The new tests aim to make sure the cribs can take that kind of pressure.

Better labeling on crib pieces will also be required — a measure that aims to cut down on the misassembly problems that some parents have encountered, problems that can lead to the death of a child.

Parents who lost their children in drop-side cribs say Wednesday’s ban couldn’t come soon enough.

Chad Johns, whose 9-month-old son, Liam, died in a drop-side crib in 2005, said he was a little relieved.

“Yes, it’s a long time coming,” said Johns from Roseville, Calif. “But the fact that it is happening — that’s what is important.”

Crib makers were already phasing out drop-side cribs over the last couple years, amid increasing problems with them. And last year, the organization that sets voluntary industry standards — ASTM International — approved a drop-side ban.

Many parents, however, still have drop-sides in their homes. They can also be found at secondhand stores.

Parents who are using drop-side cribs are advised to check the hardware on the cribs to be certain it’s working properly and to make sure their crib has not been recalled.
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, which represents over 90 percent of the crib industry, says properly assembled drop-sides that haven’t been recalled can be safely used.

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The sexual differentiation and kid

laimisk — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 15:22:40 +0000

If they occur, surgeons have to perform operations on little babies. Needless to say that it is impossible to find out, whether such a baby would like to grow as a man or a woman.
Fortunately, doctors rarely come across cases of abnormal sexual differentiation – the term that is now applied to the phenomenon of hermaphroditism in accordance with international standards.

That the term of ‘hermaphroditism’ is entirely unacceptable in the modern society.

This is an extremely rare situation, but this is a huge misfortune to a family when such children are born. Doctors have to solve the gender-related issue of a baby during the first week of a child’s life. A child begins to identify themselves with a certain sex after they turn two years.

A child is absolutely intersexual before this age, before they are two years old. But if only you try to tell a three-year-old boy that he is a girl, you will hurt him a lot.

Doctors are not supposed to be under the parents’ thumb at this point. In most cases, parents do not simply understand what is going to happen. Sex pathology surgery is the work that defines a person’s future. We see a week-old baby, but we are supposed to form the future of the baby, to predict his or her social adaptation.

Unfortunately, the development of a person according to the male pattern is not always successful, a well-known surgeon, described several situations, when a child was operated on at age ten or eleven to become a male. He conducted the surgery to form male genitals for the child, but the child, for some reason, grows to realize that he wants to be a woman.
So a young man, a former androgyny, comes back to Doctor and says that he does not want to have the penis.

Social adaptation must be planned. Sexual development disorder is a very subtle subject with so many nuances and sophisticated details in it, and parents may not have any idea about them.
For example, it is physically easier for us, doctors, to make a child become a boy. However, the anatomical success does not imply the psychological success.

A tiny mistake that a doctor can make in this situation may push a child towards committing suicide in the future, when he or she will not be able to perform the usual functions that other people around them perform. Such a child will have serious problems with the reproductive function in the first place.
More importantly, when the social adaptation becomes impossible, when a person finds out that he or she is unable to live a normal sex life – these factors, as a rule, make a person feel suicidal.

There is another very important factor. People prefer to keep such things a secret. A happy couple has a baby boy, but then it turns out that he is actually a girl, and that the son will have to grow to become a woman. Surgeons will do their work properly – this is what they have to do, but parents face a very serious problem at this point.

They take their boy to a hospital for a sex-change surgery and then come back home with the same child, albeit of the opposite sex. It’s much easier if it all happens in a large city, but only try to imagine what is going to happen if the story takes places in a small town.
People can be very mean in their nature. That is why, doctors recommend parents to change their place of residence to keep their secret from the public. If the secret is unveiled, the life of such a child will turn into a nightmare overnight.

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The traditional Chinese medicine

laimisk — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:12:02 +0000

People suffering from serious constipation may get some relief from a Chinese herbal medicine consisting of hemp seeds and other herbs, a new study finds.

Participants who took 7.5 grams of hemp seed pills (HSP) twice a day, consisting of six different herbs, reported some improvements in their symptoms of constipation and fared better than people taking a placebo pill.

“We believe HSP works to alleviate constipation,” says study author Dr Bian Zhaoxiang of Hong Kong Baptist University.

HSP is a classic formula in traditional Chinese medicine and has been used to treat constipation for more than 1,000 years. In theory, the herbs work in combination, acting as a purgative and laxative, and also improving the additional problems associated with constipation, such as dry mouth and trouble sleeping, Bian explains.

All of the participants had a form of constipation known in traditional Chinese medicine as the “excessive syndrome,” in which qi, or energy, accumulates, causing the bowels to dry out. People with this form of constipation have trouble passing stools, feel as if they have not emptied completely, develop a dry yellow coating on their tongue and have abdominal swelling or pain.

During the study, Bian and colleagues first tested different doses of HSP on 96 people with constipation and found that 7.5 grams twice per day, in the form of granules dissolved in 150 milliliters of hot water, appeared most effective.

They then randomly split 120 people with constipation into two groups – a placebo and treatment group, both of which consumed their assigned regimen twice per day for eight weeks.

Forty-three percent of people who received HSP reported an increase in complete bowel movements, an improvement seen in only 8 percent of those taking the placebo. Those receiving HSP were also more likely to say they felt better, the authors note in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

However, people taking HSP were also more likely to report potential side effects, such as stomach pain, cramping or bloating. Bian explains that upon investigation, HSP users rated the symptoms as less severe than before beginning treatment and most were just as bad as what the placebo group reported.

The authors also took blood samples from all participants and did not notice any effect on the liver or kidneys. “Thus, we concluded that HSP was safe for alleviating constipation.”

The cost for each dose is roughly $1. HSP can be purchased online without a prescription, but just because herbal medicine is “natural” doesn’t mean it’s always safe, the researcher cautions. Some sellers fail to ensure the medicine contains the right ingredients and lacks contaminants.

As a result, the authors recommend patients only purchase herbal medicine from a reputable seller, and “only under the guidance of registered Chinese medicine practitioners”.

Dr John Johanson of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, who did not participate in the study, says he was pleased to see that the researchers tested the therapy “rigorously” by comparing it to a placebo.

However, the patients included in the study were very constipated, and even though they appeared to improve while taking HSP, they were still technically constipated, Johanson notes.

The standard definition of constipation is 3 or fewer complete bowel movements per week, Johanson explains. People who took HSP increased their bowel movements from an average of less than 1 per week to more than 1.5 – an improvement, but not a dramatic one, he notes.

People with constipation are typically advised to first try a high fiber diet, sometimes with fiber supplements, drink more water and exercise, Johanson notes. If these steps don’t work, they can try other over-the-counter products such as stool softeners, milk of magnesia, and laxatives.

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Our brain is very optimized

laimisk — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 05:37:13 +0000

If someone put you in an empty white room with no furniture, no doors or windows, no clock … you would begin to lose track of time. For a few days, your mind will detect the passage of time feeling the internal reactions of the body, including heart rate, sleep cycles, hunger, thirst and blood pressure.

This is because our notion of the passage of time derives from the movement of objects, people, signs and natural cyclical repetition of events such as sunrise and sunset.

Understanding this point, there is another thing you have to consider: Our brain is extremely optimized. It avoids doing the same work twice. An average adult has between 40,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. Any of us would go crazy if the brain had to consciously process this amount.

Therefore, most of these thoughts are automated and do not appear in the index of the day’s events and therefore, when you live an experience the first time, it devotes many resources to understand what is happening.

It’s when you feel more alive.

As the same experience repeats itself, it will simply put responses in automatic mode and ‘erase’ duplicate experiments.

If you understand these two points, will now understand why it seems that time accelerates as we get older and why Christmas comes faster and faster.

When we started driving cars, it all seemed very complicated, our attention seemed to be most requested.

Then one day you are driving, switching gears, watching the lights, reading the signs or even talking on the phone all at the same time.

How so?

Simple: the brain already knows what’s written on cards (you do not read with the eyes, but with the previous image in mind), the brain already knows which gear change to make (it just takes your past experiences and uses, instead of really repeating the experience).

In other words, you did not experience that experience, at least for the mind. Those critical seconds of changing gears, reading signs …

Are erased from the notion of the passage of time …

When you begin to repeat something exactly, the mind erases the repeated experience. As we age, things begin to repeat themselves – the same streets, people, problems, challenges, television programs, claims … finally … new experiences (those that make the mind stop and think of truth, make your day seem to have been long and full of news), and they are decreasing.

Until that is repeated so much that it is difficult to say what we had as a novelty in the week, year or, for some people in the decade.

In other words, what makes time seem to accelerate is a. ..

ROUTINE

Do not misunderstand me.

Routine is essential for life and optimizing is a great thing, but most people love routine so much that, throughout life, their diary ends up being a one chapter book, repeated every year.

Fortunately there is an antidote to the acceleration of time: M & M (Change and Mark). Move on, do something different and check, make a ritual, a feast or records with pictures . Change your scenery, take a vacation with your family (I suggest you take a vacation whenever you can, and preferably a warm place for one year and cold the next) and mark it with photos, postcards and letters.

Have children (they destroy routines) and always have birthday parties for them and for you (marking the event, and differentiating the day).

Use and exaggerate rituals to make special moments different from the usual moments.

Have engagement parties, wedding, 15 years, wedding this or that, send-offs, please join the anniversary of their graduation class, visit distant relatives, change hair color, shave the beard, grow the beard, buy different decorations for Christmas, go to concerts, cook a new recipe taken from a new book.

Choose different clothes, don’t paint the house the same color, do something different.

Kiss your significant other and live differently with him or her at different times.

Go to different markets, read different books, seek different experiences.

Be different.

If you have money, especially if you are already retired, go with your husband, wife or friends to other cities or countries, see other cultures, visit weird museums, taste weird dishes ….. in other words .. V-I-Va. !

Because if you live with intensely different experiences, time will seem longer.

And if you are lucky to be married (a) to anyone willing (a) to live seeking different things, your book will be much longer, much more interesting and more alive … than most books of life out there.

Surround yourself with friends. Friends with different tastes, coming from different places with different religions and liking different foods.

Anyway, I think you’ve got the message, right?

Good luck on your experiences to expand time with quality, emotion, ritual and life ..

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Pregnant women and cup of coffee

laimisk — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:13:14 +0000

A research review by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had found that moderate caffeine consumption probably won’t increase the risk of a miscarriage or premature birth.

Until recently, studies have had conflicting findings about the effect of moderate caffeine consumption on pregnancy complications but a College committee has reviewed the evidence.

“I think it’s time to comfortably say that it’s OK to have a cup of coffee during pregnancy,” Dr. William Barth, the chair of the College committee, told Reuters Health.

The College’s Committee on Obstetric Practice said that 200 milligrams of caffeine a day — about the amount in a 12-ounce cup of coffee — doesn’t significantly contribute to miscarriages or premature births.

That definition of “moderate caffeine consumption” would also include drinking about four 8-ounce cups of tea or more than five 12-ounce cans of soda a day, or eating six or seven dark chocolate bars.

The committee said the evidence was not clear on whether consuming more than 200 mg of caffeine a day might increase pregnancy risks.

The group considered two recent studies, each of which followed more than 1,000 pregnant women.

One study, led by Dr. David Savitz of The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, found no increased rate of miscarriage for women who consumed low, moderate, or high levels of caffeine at different points in their pregnancy.

In the other, Dr. De-Kun Li and his colleagues at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland found a higher risk of miscarriage in women who consumed more than 200 mg of caffeine per day, but no extra risk at lower levels.

The committee also pointed to two other studies that found that a mother’s moderate caffeine intake did not make it any more likely she would deliver a baby prematurely.

Research has shown that caffeine is able to cross the placenta, which led to worries that it could cause miscarriage or premature birth.

In the United States, about 16 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage and about 12 percent of babies are born prematurely.

Barth said previous studies were mixed and unclear about the link between caffeine and pregnancy risks. It was the new findings from large groups of women that allowed the committee to feel confident that moderate caffeine intake was safe.

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The problems with erectile dysfunction

laimisk — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:03:34 +0000

Some men like eating ample tasty meals and drinking in a cheerful company, others are regular smokers, while some work to rapidly build muscle mass, using hormones and anabolic.

Such careless attitude to health, according to urologists, will inevitably reflect on male strength over time.

Beer lovers are at a great risk since regular consumption of beer significantly reduces the amount of male sex hormones. But beer is not the only beverage that negatively affects men’s health.

Alcohol affects three targets at once. It causes loss of functional testicle cells, reduces the number of viable sperm and interferes with the interaction between the brain and sexual organs.

Nicotine, in turn, affects the blood supply, constricting blood vessels. Two cigarettes with high nicotine content are enough to ruin a promising night. However, the detrimental effect of nicotine accumulates over time.

While today you may enjoy a cigarette after some passionate action, over the time you will need a cigarette to hide the disappointment.

In addition, toxic substances which get into the lungs and spread throughout the body in large numbers interfere with maturation of sperm, which changes shape and becomes inactive.

Incidentally, it has been proved that smoking combined with hypertension increases risk of impotence by 27 times.

Seemingly the weakest of drugs, marijuana, dramatically reduces the level of testosterone in the blood and interferes with proper emission of hormones responsible for the erection.

Furthermore, marijuana, like other drugs, damages chromosomes, causing genetic mutations.

Anabolic are structurally similar to the main male hormone, testosterone, and posses all its positive and negative effects. Yes, it helps build muscle mass, but it also leads to impotence.

Why does this happen? The body mistakes a high concentration of anabolic steroids in the blood for elevated testosterone. As a result, development of natural male sex hormones is inhibited.

Potency can be also affected by diseases. Atherosclerosis affects not only heart and brain vessels but also arteries leading to the genitals. Often, impotence is the first signal of bad blood vessels. Before you start taking drugs, get your blood tested to make sure your cholesterol level is normal.

Doctors believe that one of the major risk factors for impotence is high levels of glucose in blood. Due to the fact that glucose molecules inhibit the function of nerve endings, the “top” and the “bottom” stop understanding each other and refuse to interact. But this does not mean that diabetes inevitably leads to impotence. Strict control over sugar consumption keeps nerve fibers in working condition and allows them to keep working for many years.

The research conducted in the U.S. does not leave much room for joy. It revealed that out of 200 most common drugs, 16 can cause impotence. The black list includes drugs used to treat hypertension, antispasmodic, sedative, hypnotics, and even allergy drugs.

How can one protect themselves from erection problems? First and foremost, through the diet control.

For example, even our ancestors knew that honey and nuts enhance potency. Chinese have been using almonds for a long time to enhance erections, while the Aztecs ate avocadoes rich in vitamins A and K before going to bed.

Coconuts are known to increase the amount of sperm, dates improve its quality, and asparagus, which contains an abundance of phosphorus, calcium and potassium, helps to preserve potency in presence of the prostate gland diseases.

The easiest and most enjoyable way to avoid problems with erectile dysfunction is, of course, regular sex. Only under one condition – if you do not get infected. Sexually transmitted diseases and chronic inflammation of the prostate (hence, difficulty with erection) are closely related. If problems still occur, then you should pay a visit to a doctor.