Andropause and Low Testosterone in Men

Men suffer from hormonal imbalances too. As men age, their testosterone levels begin to decline at a rate of 3% per year beginning at about age 30. This can significantly effect their quality of life in their 40’s and 50’s.

If you feel like you struggle to get through each day due to low energy and fatigue, have difficulty maintaining focus, and can’t lose fat and build lean body mass despite adequate exercise, then you are most likely suffering from andropause- male menopause.

Testosterone supplementation can give you back energy, zest for life, sex drive, and erectile function like when you were in your twenties! It’s a fact that declining testosterone levels are responsible for many of the undesirable effects of aging.

Testosterone supplementation with bioidentical hormones can:

• Improve erectile function
• Increase orgasm intensity
• Increase sexual desire
• Increase lean body mass
• Increase muscle tone
• Increase energy levels
• Decrease fatigue and lethargy
• Improve mental clarity and focus
• Improve sleep patterns
• Decrease body fat
• Improve cholesterol profile
• Reduce migraine
• Improve insulin resistance / treat diabetes
• Improve cardiovascular health issues
• Increase bone strength

Hormone Replacement in Men is Gaining Popularity

Healthy, aging men can expect to have a predictable decline in the male sex hormone, testosterone, which can lead to decreased energy and fatigue, weight gain, loss of muscle mass, and loss of sex drive or erectile function. They will also have increasing risk for heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and dementia. Yikes!

Take heart, men, for there is something you can do about it!

Men can supplement their hormones, just like women. The decline in male hormones is called andropause, with a decline in hormones similar to menopause in women, but it occurs over 10-15 years instead of the few years it takes for menopause.

Men don’t usually have hot flashes or night sweats and unlike the mood swings noted with the wildly fluctuating hormone levels during menopause, men tend to just get more and more apathetic, with decreasing motivation, security, and confidence. Feeling so blah causes many men to feel anxious or depressed. Insomnia is also common with low testosterone.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) is a well established science and there are hundreds of studies documenting the safety and effectiveness of TRT. Some of the largest studies simply observe that men who are low in testosterone have about a 50% increased death rate over the subsequent decade when compared to men with normal testosterone levels.

Heart disease is the number one killer in men. Testosterone helps prevent heart disease by improving the cholesterol profile, discouraging blood clots, and by keeping blood vessels open and elastic. Testosterone can be given to men with advanced heart disease and is shown to improve their functional ability to stress the heart.

Sarcopenia is the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. Muscle is replaced by fat and fibrous tissue. Hormone decline — particularly androgens like testosterone — is one of the biggest reasons for sarcopenia in men and women. Maintaining muscle mass means less frailty, more energy and more stamina.

Testosterone indirectly prevents diabetes by preventing sarcopenia. But, TRT also has a direct effect on helping insulin work better. Several studies show men who replace testosterone need about 50% as much insulin. Adding TRT to an exercise program results in much better blood sugar control than exercise alone.

Osteoporosis or “brittle bones” is not as common in men as women, ince men build stronger bones in the first place because of testosterone. However, the mortality and disability caused by osteoporosis in men in worse than in women. Again, TRT has a direct stimulating effect on bone — testosterone will build bone!

Dementia and depression are much higher in men with low testosterone levels. Testosterone has both protective and growth-stimulating effects on nerve tissue in the brain, and is shown to have a regulating effect on the plaque that accumulates in the brain with Alzheimer’s dementia. TRT improves cognition and mood, especially abstract and spatial skills such as reading a map, coordination and balance, and motor control.

The myth of testosterone causing prostate cancer has been thoroughly debunked. In fact, at the time of diagnosis, men with prostate cancer tend to have a lower testosterone level than average. Men with low testosterone also tend to have more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. TRT does not increase the risk of cancer, and recent studies show it is even safe to use TRT after treatment of prostate cancer.

This all sounds great, but what are the risks of TRT? The main risk is if a man already has an existing prostate cancer, then TRT will stimulate the cancer. We monitor this through routine blood testing and it is very rarely an issue. TRT will also cause an increase in the production of red blood cells, which alone does not cause blood clotting like other syndromes of increased bone marrow cells, so this is not a big issue.

When replacing T, only use bioidentical hormones. This means the molecular structure of the hormone supplement is exactly the same as the hormones produced by your body. The best method for TRT is the placement of small pellets placed easily under the skin that releases testosterone in response to cardiac activity.

This method allows for steady testosterone levels which can self adjust to your needs in times of stress or exercise. Furthermore, you don’t have to remember to rub on  a messy cream daily which can rub off on others, have uncomfortable weekly injections which cause wild fluctuations in your testosterone levels resulting in a roller coaster of  mood and energy, or swallow a daily pill which is poorly absorbed and can cause liver damage and elevated cholesterol. Elite Health and Wellness offers all methods to suit our patients’ needs, but recommend the pellets.

Improved mood, energy, sleep, sex drive and general outlook will usually start within a few weeks of TRT. It may take a few months to fully appreciate the improved stamina, muscle-building, fat-burning and erectile function effects of TRT. TRT prevents disease and helps maintain quality of life, and like other age-management strategies, it is changing the paradigm of normal aging.