TRT...Fact vs Reality
It's well known by medical
professionals (less so by the general public that both men and women BOTH need
testosterone in order to live a normal healthy life. As we age or get
sick, our body’s natural T levels decline. Often at a rate of 1-2% annually!
Often this will lead to symptoms such as depression, low levels of energy, lowered
libido, gains in body fat with decreases in lean muscle mass, poor sleep
quality, lack of sexual performance and more.
Much misinformation exists as a
great number of people equate the use of TRT to that as the same thing as an
athlete who takes steroids for performance enhancement. Men with normal levels
of testosterone boosting what they had to gain an unfair advantage over their
competition. People also believed (and
still do) that taking therapeutic doses of testosterone will cause aggression,
or “roid rage”, cause a man to develop breasts, lead to heart attacks and early
death. These are all scientifically proven to be untrue and in all actuality,
the benefits of TRT has been linked to IMPROVED health and longevity in men.
Men who have optimal levels of testosterone live better, longer and healthier
lives.
It wasn’t until the late 2000’s
that physician guided and administered testosterone therapy became more widely
accepted. Back then, there was still a lot of misconception and that STILL
exists to this day, however enough medical journals, peer reviewed articles and
scientific research exists to show the amazing health and life benefits of TRT.
But due to years of scrutiny and misinformation, many physicians are reluctant
to prescribe testosterone and know very little about the actual treatment. That’s
why having an expert in the field of TRT to guide and monitor you through the
process of diagnosis, treatment and protocol is paramount towards the overall
potential success of a patient. We have heard many stories of patients who
doctors prescribed TRT with little or no formal experience in that particular
field of medicine. The results were underwhelming. With a clinic like
NovaGenix, we can assure that the patient experience will be geared towards
maximizing the therapy’s benefits in order to help the patients reverse the
negative symptoms of andropause.
The numbers don’t lie.
Testosterone levels are dropping from generation to generation. Debate rages on
as to whether it’s from environmental factors such as lotions, deodorants and
medication. Or perhaps from the preservatives and hormones found in the foods
we eat. It may also be due to differences in lifestyles and lack of physical
activity. Some other factors that may cause low testosterone could be things
like chronic illness, alcoholism, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, a high fatty diet,
smoking cigarettes and marijuana, elevated estrogen levels, Hair loss
medications, drug usage (recreational and prescription). Whatever the cause is,
the end result is that men today have lower T levels than their fathers and
grandfathers did respectively. Fortunately we can treat causes and bring men
back to the levels that they should be at, and experience the life changing
benefits as a result. It’s thought that over 60% of men over 50 years of age
have a deficiency in testosterone and possibly 50 million American men total. It’s
now possible to prevent our senior population from suffering from the chronic
conditions that arise from sedentary lifestyles, which can be prevented with optimization
of hormone levels, thus allowing people to enjoy their lives well into their
golden years.
Testosterone production begins in
the brain, which can help explain why our levels will often fluctuate based on
our levels of stress and happiness. Substances like alcohol and cortisol
(stress hormone) destroy our T levels. In a health male (or female) the process
looks like this. Gonadotropins are produced by the pituitary gland which then
produces SHBG (Sex-Hormone Binding Globule) stimulates FSH (Follicle
Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Luteinizing Hormone), which will then stimulate
the testes in the male and the ovaries in the female to produce natural testosterone.
A small amount of testosterone (usually less than 10%) can be produced by the adrenals.
So as you can see, there are multiple factors at play when it comes to the
production of testosterone and it’s difficult to determine what exactly can be
causing low testosterone. As a result, you’ll see many doctors shy away from
this area of medicine. It’s easier to treat the symptoms that arise from low T
than to actually treat the andropause directly. You’ll even hear of physicians
buying into the misinformation and perpetuation stories like “TRT causes
prostate cancer” If high levels of testosterone caused prostate cancer, why is
it virtually non-existent in men between the ages of 17-24, who have the
highest natural levels of testosterone? Or in the athletes who uses
testosterone for performance enhancement who have a much lower rate of prostate
issues than the same age group that live a less active lifestyle? Studies have
shown that there is no link between TRT and prostate cancer. See related article
from the urology times…
(http://urologytimes.modernmedicine.com/urology-times/content/tags/aksam-yassin/no-link-found-between-testosterone-replacement-therapy-prost?page=full)
Problems associated with low testosterone
levels can be often me primary from the testicles and secondarily related to
the organs which are responsible for controlling hormone production. It
can truly be difficult in determining the actual cause of low testosterone.
Sometimes, starting TRT for the sake of raising levels isn’t getting to the
true heart of the problem so careful monitoring and medication adjustment is
necessary. As most of our testosterone is bound to our blood, we need to run
careful lab panels to get the picture. Free vs. available and SHBG vs. Albumin
binding testosterone will be factored in to determine the best treatment plan
for a patient. So blood alone is NOT the answer. A physician consultation to
review several factors like past medical history, current medical status,
medication and lifestyle will paint a much broader picture that an experienced
Symptoms of “low testosterone”
are common and rater tell tale; loss of drive (in work, life and the bedroom)
less energy, loss of sex drive, problems achieving and maintaining erections,
lack of quality sleep, loss of mental clarity (fogginess), anxiety and mood
swings, irritability, loss of lean muscle mass, low HDL and high
LDL, increase in body fat and overall lowered general and physical activity
levels.
After a patient has been seen,
evaluated, diagnosed and begins therapy, the patient starts to see improvement
almost overnight, yet the benefits typically can start to peak several weeks
after. A clinical manager once told me, “…most patients don’t even realize how
crappy they feel, because they’ve been run down for so long…TRT gives them a
new lease on life.”
For more information, come in for a free consultation and
see how you can get started on testosterone replacement therapy. The process is
easy, painless and affordable. Call us at 561-277-8260 for more information and
check us out at NovaGenix.org
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