In middle age, you, as a man, or your sexual partner (keeping this observation to her\/himself), might notice a group of symptoms due to a slow but inevitable decline of your male hormone testosterone. As the movie director Martin Scorsese put it well, \u201cSex becomes memory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not necessarily. Not by a long shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medical term for this hormonal mischief is \u201candropause\u201d <\/strong>sometimes called \u201cmale menopause.\u201d <\/strong>I see billboards along the expressways referring to \u201clow T.\u201d <\/strong>One storefront in a strip mall on the drive to my cabin is called \u201cAgeless Male.\u201d Several stores down (really!) is, \u201cGeneral Cremation Service,\u201d in the event the testosterone (and everything else) finally gives out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In case you\u2019re young enough, or oblivious enough never to have noticed anything amiss, here are some symptoms you might experience down the \u201cLong Lonesome Low T Road,\u201d trails of which vary among men themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You know for certain that pressing urgency you once had for sex (a\/k\/a your libido) is steadily declining. The \u201cstirring\u201d isn\u2019t there like it used to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NOTE: This is not the same as your new discovered disappointment in your once platinum-hard erection. That\u2019s a different department altogether usually held up with Viagra or Cialis, neither of which do anything for libido.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With low T, libido just isn\u2019t what it was. When you were 18, you could get an erection walking by a lamppost or looking at a billboard. Now, it\u2019s just not there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, in the privacy of your bedroom, you look in the mirror and you see your body is changing. Despite your best intentions at the health club, your muscles are flabby, you\u2019re getting a potbelly, you\u2019ve lost a lot of your scalp, pubic and armpit hair and (Heaven forfend!) your genitals look smaller! And the amount of sperm you\u2019re shooting out? Don\u2019t even ask!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emotionally, you might feel grumpier and impatient, depressed, less creative, have minor problems with memory (like word finding, or not remembering a name), and experience some insomnia. And then there\u2019s the chronic tiredness. With what once was a normal day\u2019s activity, you now want to stay in bed longer, have an afternoon nap, go to bed earlier, fall asleep while watching TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As one patient described it well: \u201cMy get up and go, got up and went.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n CAUSES OF LOW T<\/p>\n\n\n\n The usual cause of Low T is simply the passage of time and, in fact, your testosterone level will drop by 1% every year starting at AGE 30. And, unfortunately, a variety of medical conditions can speed this along:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, let\u2019s talk about testosterone replacement therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, let\u2019s clear the air about testosterone myths and half-truths, especially if you\u2019re a man with symptoms or you\u2019re living with a guy who\u2019s beginning to get on your nerves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myth #1: heart disease. There was a large kerfuffle with much publicity after a 2013 study published in JAMA <\/em>reported increased heart disease risks among testosterone users. Days after the study was published, readers and researchers wrote letters pointing out that the study\u2019s arithmetic was faulty. Subsequent studies<\/a> have shown no increase in heart disease among testosterone users. Here\u2019s one<\/a> from the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latest research is now showing that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myth #2: prostate cancer. Just as the Women\u2019s Health Initiative years ago incorrectly concluded that hormone replacement therapy caused breast cancer (it does not), the myth that testosterone replacement causes prostate cancer (it does not) has hung on. Based on what turned out to be a single opinion about one patient, it has never been confirmed in long-term studies using large numbers of patients. What is <\/em>true is that sex hormones\u2013whether estrogen for women or testosterone for men\u2013can hasten the growth of existing breast and prostate cancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is why women are screened with a mammogram and men with a PSA test before being prescribed hormones. The PSA test can be useful as a baseline when tracking testosterone use. If it starts out normal and suddenly shoots skyward with testosterone, the testosterone is stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myth #3: T is overprescribed because of pharmaceutical advertising. Actually, the opposite is true. If anything, testosterone is under prescribed. Levels aren\u2019t measured during routine exams and patients often must pressure their doctors to order the test. In addition, the test is virtually never suggested by primary care physicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Too many doctors, their brains hard-wired into the faulty testosterone\/heart risk association, discourage both testing and prescribing. Also, because testosterone is overpriced, insurance companies make every effort to deny coverage. Many insurers actually request your testosterone test results to verify that your level is low enough to merit covering your prescription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If anything, in my view, testosterone is vastly under-utilized. A lot of men are missing out on a valuable therapy that has the potential to benefit their overall quality of life and reduce some significant health risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Testosterone and Longevity<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most interesting new developments in restoring testosterone to healthy levels is how doing so will affect your longevity. Several articles have appeared during the past few years analyzing the data of men receiving testosterone therapy and have found improvement of lifespan<\/a> of 5-10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has been attributed to a variety of factors: better energy means better ability to exercise and improved heart health, better overall sense of well-being, improved sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT TESTOSTERONE FACTS<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Big Pharma Testosterone Products (TestIm, Androgel, Fortesta, etc.) if not covered by your insurance can be very expensive ($500 a month). Generic options are now available ($140 a month) but there is no (repeat \u2018no,\u2019) clinical testing done on these products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Big Pharma Products are all 50 mg\/ml (read this as \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d). Many men need a stronger product. Compounding pharmacies will make you testosterone cream based on your personal need and can adjust your dose concentration based on blood tests. The out-of-pocket price is about $75 a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you receive your \u201cT\u201d treatment at WholeHealth Chicago, we will also monitor your testosterone levels, PSA (prostate), your blood count, and if the testosterone levels are not to our mutual satisfaction, suggest testosterone injections and\/or peptide therapies like sermorelin or GHK-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SIMULTANEOUS ANTI-AGING INFUSIONS<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although not required for successful treatment of low testosterone, you should consider twice monthly adding on Anti-Aging Infusions. The most popular is this<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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