Does HE have nervousness, depression, impaired memory, inability to concentrate, fatigue, insomnia, hot flushes, sweating, decreased libido? It could be because of low testosterone level as in 'midlife crisis' or 'climacteric' or 'male menopause' [1]or andropause. There is dramatic improvement on giving testosterone provided the above is due to lowered testosterone levels in the body. [Heller and Myers]
Less known FACT
The male sex hormone, testosterone, is normally produced in women, too, in the adrenal cortex and ovaries as well as placenta. It is responsible for her sexual desires and prevents depression and low energy level.
O! boy.
The boy blossoms to become a fertile man due to the flow of testosterone in blood.
On average, an adult human male body produces about eight to ten times more testosterone than an adult female body.
Do I require testosterone?
Key words:
testosterone, low testosterone, supplement testosterone, low level testosterone, testosterone buccal, injection testosterone, cream testosterone, testosterone level, replacement testosterone therapy, low testosterone symptoms, testosterone therapy,
gel testosterone, cypionate testosterone, increase testosterone, replacement testosterone, booster testosterone, natural testosterone, patch testosterone, buy testosterone, boosters testosterone, find guy month peak testosterone, pill testosterone, testosterone woman, enanthate testosterone, nation testosterone,
cause low testosterone, syndrome testosterone, testosterone treatment,
normal level testosterone, deficiency testosterone, naturally increase testosterone,
increase level testosterone, side effects testosterone, depo testosterone, low level, symptom and testosterone, boost testosterone, propionate testosterone, cream testosterone, woman, man, boy, secondary sex characteristics, free testosterone, food testosterone, testosterone undecanoate, hypogonadism, facial hair, body odor, pubic hair, steroid testosterone, adam's apple, change in voice, masculine, testosterone in woman
WHAT IS TESTOSTERONE?
Testosterone is a steroid hormone, C19H28O2,responsible for the development and maintenance of male secondary sex characteristics. It belongs to the group 'androgens'. It can be synthesized from 'cholesterol'.
EFFECTS
key roles in health and well-being. Examples include enhanced libido, energy, immune function, and protection against osteoporosis.
WHAT DOES TESTOSTERONE DO?
Testosterone is the principal male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid. In both males and females, it plays key roles in health and well-being. Examples include enhanced libido, energy, immune function, and protection against osteoporosis.
In general, androgens promote protein synthesis and growth of those tissues with androgen receptors. Testosterone effects can be classified as virilizing and anabolic effects, although the distinction is somewhat artificial, as many of the effects can be considered both.
* Anabolic effects include growth of muscle mass and strength, increased bone density and strength, and stimulation of linear growth and bone maturation.
* Virilizing effects include maturation of the sex organs, particularly the penis and the formation of the scrotum in unborn children, and after birth (usually at puberty) a deepening of the voice, growth of the beard and axillary hair. Many of these fall into the category of male secondary sex characteristics.
Adult testosterone effects are more clearly demonstrable in males than in females, but are likely important to both sexes. Some of these effects may decline as testosterone levels decline in the later decades of adult life.
* Maintenance of muscle mass and strength
* Maintenance of bone density and strength
* Libido and clitoral engorgement/penile erection frequency.
* Mental and physical energy
As testosterone affects the entire body (often by enlarging; men have bigger hearts, lungs, liver, etc.), the brain is also affected by this "sexual" advancement; the enzyme aromatase converts testosterone into estradiol that is responsible for masculinization of the brain in a male fetus.
EFFECTS OF HIGH DOSES OF TESTOSTERONE
Animal models of the effects of supraphysiological doses of testosterone suggest that it alters aggression, sexual behaviors, anxiety, reward, and learning and the neurotransmitter systems and brain areas that underlie these behaviors. A number of studies and reviews have linked testosterone use in humans to significant psychiatric disturbances including depression, psychosis, and aggression.
LATEST RESEARCH
Researchers of the University of Rome concluded in 2007 that testosterone only amplifies neuronal death at very high concentrations (10 muM or above), whereas testosterone was protective at low concentrations (10 nM or below) and inactive at intermediate concentrations.
Differences in
MALE AND FEMALE
There are some differences in a male and female brain (the result of different testosterone levels); a clear difference is the size, the male human brain is on average larger, however in females (who do not use testosterone as much) the corpus callosum is proportionally larger. This means that the effect of testosterone is a greater overall brain volume, but a decreased connection between the hemispheres.
Early infancy androgen effects
INTERESTING PUZZLE - TESTOSTERONE AND INFANT BRAIN
Early infancy androgen effects are the least understood. In the first weeks of life for male infants, testosterone levels rise. The levels remain in a pubertal range for a few months, but usually reach the barely detectable levels of childhood by 4-6 months of age. The function of this rise in humans is unknown. It has been speculated that "brain masculinization" is occurring since no significant changes have been identified in other parts of the body.
NORMAL LEVELS
Optimal range is [3]
500 to 1000 ng./dl. of total testosterone for men, and
50 to 100 ng./dl. of total testosterone levels for women.
Normal level vary with labs.
Thus, values ranging from the low 200s to over 1200 ng./dl. considered normal for men and from 15 to 70 ng./dl. considered normal for women.
On average, an adult human male body produces about eight to ten times more testosterone than an adult female body.
INSURANCE
Insurance covers testosterone level blood check up.[4]
EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON PRODUCTION OF TESTOSTERONE
This secretion increases after exercise but decreases with over training. Rapid weight loss may also lead to lower testosterone levels.
NATURAL PRODUCTION IN BODY
Like other steroid hormones, testosterone is derived from cholesterol. The largest amounts of testosterone are produced by the testes in men. It is also synthesized in far smaller quantities in women by the thecal cells of the ovaries, by the placenta, as well as by the zona reticularis of the adrenal cortex in both sexes.
Testosterone is synthesized in the testis in male. Testosterone is also synthesized in small quantities in the ovaries, cortices of the adrenal glands, and placenta, usually from cholesterol.
In the testes, testosterone is produced by the Leydig cells. The male generative glands also contain Sertoli cells which require testosterone for spermatogenesis. Like most hormones, testosterone is supplied to target tissues in the blood where much of it is transported bound to a specific plasma protein, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).
TESTOSTERONE IN THE HUMAN BODY
"Testosterone within the circulation is principally bound to proteins, the most important of which is sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Only about 2 percent of testosterone is unbound (bio-available) and therefore free to enter cells in order to effect its biological actions by binding to androgen receptors...." "Hypotestosteronaemia levels [that is, low levels] quoted in papers vary between around 300 ng/dl (10.4 nmol/L) and 400 ng/dl (13.9 nmol/L)."
HYPOGONADISM - WHAT IS A LOW LEVEL OF TESTOSTERONE? www.wellmanclinic.org/paper2.htm
"Bioavailable testosterone refers to the 'free' portion of the hormone unbound to carrier proteins which is able to act directly upon target tissues." Sexual Dysfunction and Male Hormones http://www.gsdl.com/assessments/finddisease/sex/male_hormones.html
"The ideal therapy should consist of creating physiologic testosterone concentrations (400 to 700 ng/dL in blood taken in the morning) and restoring circadian variations." Hormone Replacement Therapy for Aging Men http://www.urologytreatment.com/article21.htm
"Of great interest is a recent finding that men with coronary artery disease have significantly lower levels of plasma testosterone than controls and that intracoronarv testosterone infusion in men with coronary artery disease increases coronary blood flow. Such findings suggest that age related declines in testosterone in men may be associated with heart disease ...." http://www.wellmanclinic.org/paper2.htm
www.answers.com
[1]What is andropause?
Andropause popular as 'male menopause' is an incorrect word because there are no menses in men nor is there reduction of sex hormones as dramatic as in women during menopause. the book Male Menopause, written by Jed Diamond[1]. It should be noted that Diamond is neither an MD nor a PhD.
www.thebody.com [3]
Jon Kaiser, M.D., [3]author of Healing HIV
Sources
Wikepedia.com
Answer.com
| target="_blank">ALL POSTS | ASK THE DOCTOR |
