Response of Sex Hormones and Different Functions to Exercise and Diet in Elderly Women

PURPOSE:

to determine the effect of aerobic exercise and diet on sex hormones and different functions and markers, and if is there correlation between two factors effect in postmenopausal elderly women

BACKGROUND:

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, accounting for more than 50% of all dementia types. Its twice more common in females which could be due to increased longevity and sex difference in brain size .Estrogen has neurotrophic action in areas involved in memory and cognition. Post-menopausal women are at increased risk than their male counterpart. Women with Alzheimer have lower endogenous estrogen level which lead to the hypothesis that estrogen could be neuroprotective. Estrogen and androgen receptors are widely distributed throughout the brain e.g. in the cerebral cortex, amygdala, hypo-thalamus and also in the hippocampus which is important for cognitive functioning. There are shown clear associations between sex hormones and activities in memory, emotional and rewarding circuits in the brain measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, several significant correlations were found between serum hormone levels and spatial ability. High absolute estrogen levels, a high estrogen/testosterone ratio and increasing levels during estrogen treatment were all associated with lower spatial ability. This is in agreement with many previous reports of sex differences where women in general tend to perform worse than men in this specific aspect of cognitive function. In menstruating women, a deterioration of spatial ability was demonstrated during high levels of circulating estrogen, and it was improved during the menstrual phase of the cycle when hormone levels are lowest.

HYPOTHESES:

There is no correlation between sex hormones and different functions and markers in response to aerobic exercise and diet in elderly postmenopausal women

RESEARCH QUESTION:

Is there correlation between sex hormones and different functions and markers in elderly postmenopausal women in response to aerobic exercise and dietary restriction?

Inclusion criteria

• • Sixty Postmenopausal women (60-70 y)

• Body mass index (BMI) ranged from 30 to 39.9 kg/m2

Exclusion criteria

• • regular medications(e.g., β-blockers, α-blockers, digoxin, diuretics, aspirin, nitrates, Presently using sex hormones)

• having active chronic illness (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and inflammatory bowel disease) and diabetes mellitus or other (unstable) endocrine-related diseases
• presence of malignant disease
• blood donation within the last 30 days
• Participation as a subject in any type of study or research during the prior 90 days