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What Is Testosterone And Its Role In A Man’s Body
Testosterone is a hormone found in much greater amounts than exists in women.
It is made primarily by the testicles and results in the function of many male activities, including:
• Chest hair and body hair
• Male libido
• Erections
• Sperm production and motility
• Muscle mass
Low T Syndrome
Increasingly, men are being diagnosed as having “Low T syndrome” or a condition of low testosterone. This is, in part, due to a greater awareness of erectile dysfunction so that many more men are being tested for low testosterone syndrome and are being found to be low. Because there is less stigma round erectile dysfunction, there is also less stigmatization around having a low testosterone condition.
More men are seeing an endocrinologist or urologist and are concerned about depression, weak muscles, lack of libido, and excessive fatigue, which are all symptoms of low T syndrome. In some cases, it isn’t the testosterone at all and is instead thyroid dysfunction but this can be tested for, too.
After the age of 30 years, the testosterone level begins to drop. Men confuse this testosterone loss with part of the aging process but this is simply not the case. Men assume that, as they age, libido is supposed to decrease and erectile dysfunction is a normal part of the process. Many of these men have low T syndrome, which can be treated so that their symptoms can improve.
Diagnosing Low T Syndrome
Doctors treating men with testosterone problems must first rule out other causes of their syndrome. Part of the work up of these symptoms includes determining the man’s testosterone level. The normal amount of testosterone in men is 300 ng/dL. The upper limit for testosterone is 800 ng/dL.
Causes of low T syndrome include the following:
• Testicular cancer or its treatment
• Testicular injury
• Hormonal imbalances
• HIV/AIDS
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• An infection
• Being overweight
• Certain medications
• Klinefelter’s syndrome
• Advanced age
Not every man experiences symptoms from having low T syndrome. Levels of 100-200 ng/dL, however, usually these levels do produce symptoms. Low T syndrome, if left untreated, can lead to bone loss and osteoporosis so it should be treated even with few or tolerable symptoms.
Treatment Of Low T Syndrome
Low testosterone should be treated if it is contributing to infertility or if it is causing physical symptoms like erectile dysfunction or osteoporosis. Testosterone does not survive the acidic environment of the stomach so regular pills cannot be given. Instead, testosterone is used in injectable form, as a patch, lozenges, gels, or as a paste that absorbs through the skin. For severe problems, injectable testosterone is considered the most effective. The injections are designed to be given every few weeks.
They stimulate sperm production and improve sperm motility. Gels or patches are used for people with fewer symptoms of low T syndrome. Another treatment involves the use of pellets of testosterone injected into the buttocks. The pellets are able to release a steady amount of testosterone over a period of 3-4 months.
Testosterone treatment for low T syndrome usually kicks in after a couple of weeks, although the results are not considered very dramatic in some cases. There are risks for taking testosterone that every man should know about. This includes an increased risk of prostate cancer or worsening of already developing testosterone cancer. There is possibly an increased risk of developing heart disease from taking in too much testosterone.
Because of the risks of developing negative effects from taking testosterone, the man with low T syndrome and his doctor should have an honest discussion about the pros and cons of taking the hormone before embarking on treatment.
Enlarged Prostate Treatments
The prostate gland is responsible for secreting fluid that aids in discharging sperm. It is located below the bladder and surrounding the urethra – the tube that transports urine from the bladder through the penis. When the prostate gland enlarges, it gives stress on the urethra, narrowing the passage of the urethra. As a result, men with enlarged prostate glands experience problems associated with urination.
A male’s prostate gland commonly starts to enlarge upon reaching the age of forty. Considered as the most common prostate treatment performed among men aged at sixty and older, this condition is called BHP, which stands for benign prostatic hyperplasia.
When the prostate starts to grow, muscles of the bladder powerfully push urine into the narrow urethra. Because of this, these muscles become relatively thicker and more sensitive, causing patients to urinate more frequently. Without proper prostate treatments, the patient’s condition can lead to kidney problems, repeated urinary tract infection and bladder damage.
Majority of patients suffering from enlarged prostate reported no symptoms. Some men had trouble starting and stopping the flow of urine, leaking or dribbling urine, frequent urination, blood in the urine and a feeling that the bladder does not empty.
Surgical and Non-Surgical Enlarged Prostate Treatments
Choosing between surgical and non-surgical prostate treatments depend on the level of inflammation, defects associated with the prostate enlargement and other factors. For earlier stages of enlarged prostate, one of the most used non-surgical treatments is thermotherapy.
This therapy uses different kinds of energy for heat to destroy tissues of the enlarged prostate. Before recommending other enlarged prostate treatments, most doctors prescribe medication to alleviate the symptoms and reduce swelling. Unfortunately, drugs used for treating enlarged prostate should be taken each day for the patient’s entire life. The large costs of medication and associated side effects like dizziness, fatigue, headache, loss of sex drive and impotence can be a problem to most people.
When the swelling of a patient’s prostate gland do not respond to non-invasive treatments, a surgical prostate treatment is the best option. Although surgery is the most effective treatment for prostate inflammation, not only is it costly, but it comes with possible risks like incontinence, erectile dysfunction, blood transfusion and retrograde ejaculation. Two most common types of surgical prostate treatment include transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and laser surgery.
Both treatments are very effective, but traditional TURP requires the patient 2 to 3-day hospitalization and restriction of activities for weeks. Because of this, laser surgery is now commonly used because since the tissues are removed using laser, only a day of hospitalization is needed with the same results provided by TURP. Prostate treatment to cure inflammation is important to decrease the risks of kidney or bladder damages, defects of prostate glands and prostate cancer. If you are having problems with urinating, it is best to seek medical attention and undergo examinations to check if your prostate gland is free from unwanted swelling.
Click Here To Learn More about Keeping Your Prostate Healthy
Make Sure to Test Your Prostate
As we work to study cancer and try to educate about the different kinds of cancer, as well as how these cancers affect the body, discussion about prostate cancer has grown. The mere mention of cancer tends to bring up images of situations that are often life-threatening, but as it turns out, prostate cancer is one of the few kinds where doctors need to balance the need to test your prostate with situations where it’s not necessary. While you have every right to be worried about prostate cancer, knowing some facts about it will help you to understand when the time is right to test your prostate.
It’s a Matter of Time
With prostate cancer, timing seems to be everything. It affects more men over age 50 than any others, which is why doctors recommend this as the magic age when you start to test your prostate regularly. But prostate cancer is a slow-moving disease, and one of the big balancing acts among doctors is whether or not to work to rid the body of cancer when the treatment may in fact shorten life expectancy. It moves so slowly that many men who have prostate cancer never have the disease develop to where they show symptoms from it. Because of this, the older the individual is, the less likely doctors are to suggest treatment. Men over the age of 75 in particular often do not test their prostates anymore because it’s more likely that they will die of other things before prostate cancer is advanced enough to kill.
The Tests
There are two tests for prostate cancer that are common today, the digital rectal examination (DRE) and the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. The DRE is just what it sounds like, a test for your prostate that involves inserting a gloved, lubricated finger into the rectum in order to check for lumps. If you’re over the age of 50, this test might be part of your annual exam. While this particular prostate test isn’t very pleasant, it can catch the most advanced and life-threatening cancers.
The PSA test, in contrast, can alert physicians to prostate cancer well before the advanced stages. The advantage to this prostate test is that it can also detect other conditions, such as infections of the prostate, that also have adverse effects on your health. The drawback to the PSA test, from a physician’s point of view, is because it detects problems at such an early stage, some patients will demand treatment for prostate cancer before the benefits outweigh the health risks.
Just as mentioned before, prostate cancer is a slow-moving disease, so be sure to talk with your physician about the risks and benefits of the different kinds of prostate tests as well as what he recommends in the event that prostate cancer is found. With a little care and sound medical advice, both you and your prostate will remain healthy for years to come.
Click Here to Learn More About Keeping Your Prostate Healthy
Do these testosterone supplements really work?
Are you one of the many people who have asked this very question?
Well I must admit I did and I actually tested several of them which is why I must disagree with the conclusion of the article that just appeared in the Los Angeles Times about the study on this subject.
Below the excerpt I will give you a link to one of the supplements that definitely boost my libido when I tried it recently so maybe you’ll want to try it for yourself
For men on testosterone therapy, some good news and bad
New research offers both reassurance and disappointing news to men who take testosterone supplements to improve their energy levels, libido and general health: The popular therapy does not appear to hasten progression of cardiovascular disease; neither, however, does it appear to improve sexual function or overall health-related quality of life.
The new trial results counter the findings of a welter of recent studies that has linked testosterone supplementation to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
At the same time, they suggest that the roughly 3% of American men over 40 taking prescription testosterone supplements may be getting little benefit for the $1.6 billion spent annually on those treatments. Over the study’s three-year span, men taking testosterone reported no greater sense of well-being, nor better erectile or ejaculatory function, sexual desire or partner intimacy, than did those getting a placebo.
Reported Tuesday in JAMA, the clinical trial looked for changes in two measures of cardiovascular disease risk – coronary artery calcium levels and narrowing of the carotid artery that supplies oxygenated blood to the brain. Over three years, researchers at three centers in the U.S. made those measurements in men 60 years or older taking testosterone and a similar group of men who received packets of placebo gel.
All the men had low- or low-normal testosterone levels. For those taking the real thing, the study investigators sought to establish and maintain levels of circulating testosterone to those typical of young men…
Click here if you want to learn more about the supplement
that seemed to work fine for me
Click here if you want to read the rest of the article
Click on this link for more information about low testosterone and what you can do about it
Viagra And Other Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Vary In Effectiveness, Side Effects
Interesting story about Viagra and similar treatments but I must admit being put off by the list of possible side effects, so unless you really do have a serious problem in this sensitive area you may want to think twice before “jumping in”
Viagra is the most effective treatment for erectile dysfunction, but it also has a higher rate of side effects than other options, according to an analysis of more than 150 trials.
Viagra is known generically as sildenafil. Men concerned about possible side effects of Viagra like headaches, flushing, indigestion and nasal congestion may want to start on Cialis, which is known generically as tadalafil, researchers report in European Urology. If that’s not effective, men in some countries can try Zydena (udenafil).
Many men have trouble getting or keeping an erection, especially as they age, but erectile dysfunction – also known as ED – is not a natural part of aging, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The new review compares seven common ED therapies, all belonging to a class of medications called phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i’s). They work by inhibiting an enzyme that may reduce the potency of an erection.
Viagra, Cialis, Levitra (vardenafil) and Stendra (avanafil) all work this way and are approved for use in the U.S. The additional drugs Zydena, Helleva (lodenafil) and Mvix (mirodenafil) are only approved for use in other countries.
PDE5i’s are considered the first-choice therapy for ED, but they’re only effective for 60 to 80 percent of men who try them, and many will stop taking them, according to Dr. Alexander W. Pastuszak of Baylor College of Medicine’s urology department in Houston, Texas. He was not part of the new study.
Researchers at the University of Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands reviewed 82 studies of the drugs’ effectiveness and 72 studies exploring side effects.
These treatments are all more effective than placebo for treating erectile dysfunction, and are generally safe and well tolerated, the authors note…
Full story at this link https://www.medicaldaily.com/viagra-and-other-erectile-dysfunction-drugs-vary-effectiveness-side-effects-328360
Rather than risk any of the above inconveniences I think I would prefer to try something like Virility EX