As men age, their bodies produce less testosterone. When levels of testosterone in the blood drop below normal levels, this is known as low testosterone. Low levels of testosterone can affect body composition unfavorably, and as people age, generalized fatigue can set in from the declining testosterone levels. Researchers and medical professionals have a proper understanding of what constitutes “low levels” of testosterone. Nevertheless, few can agree on how much testosterone is “normal” for a healthy man. The testosterone levels that are deemed healthy have a wide variation, and where a man may fall on this range can depend on many different factors.
Testosterone is a hormone produced by the testicles and is responsible for the correct development of male sexual characteristics. It is also important for maintaining muscle bulk, adequate levels of red blood cells, bone density, skin thickness, feelings of well-being, and sexual and reproductive functions. Testosterone is the most important sex hormone that men have. It is responsible for the typical male characteristics and helps maintain sex drive, sperm production, pubic and body hair, muscle, and bone. A drop in testosterone is a natural part of aging. However, a drastic drop in the hormone can lead to symptoms such as lack of sleep, erectile dysfunction, depression, and issues with pain or concentration.
Understanding Testosterone
We all know that testosterone has something to do with male sex drive. That’s why guys want the jabs of the hormone when they think their levels are too low. Right here are the basics on this important part of manhood.
It’s manufactured in the testes. Testosterone is produced by the testicles, which is why the condition of low T is named “hypogonadism.”
It is the manager of male lifestyle. The powerful hormone is responsible for the growth of the male sexual organs in the fetal state. When testosterone levels spike during puberty, it’s responsible for physical changes, including the deepening of the voice, growth of the facial and pubic hair, and the eruption of the guy’s sex drive. Later in a man’s life, it also helps maintain his sex drive and brain power, muscle strength, and a sense of well-being, according to Harvard Medical School.
Other parts of the body make testosterone as well. Both men and women produce testosterone in their adrenal glands. However, women make a much smaller amount of the hormone than men.
Why guys feel low. When men experience never-ending fatigue, low mood, and low sex drive – and test results show that they have an abnormally low level of testosterone – they are considered hypogonadal. It is estimated that 39 percent of men over 45 years have low testosterone, according to one U.K. study.
What is Testosterone?
Testosterone is a hormone responsible for the growth of male sexual characteristics during puberty and is the major male sex hormone. Subsequently, it is responsible for the maintenance and regulation of most activities of the male reproductive system, but also acts on many tissues and organs throughout the body. Sometimes, testosterone levels peak when men are in their early 20s, and it is normal for them to gradually decrease and remain constant in adulthood. However, it has been observed that in recent decades, for unclear reasons, men’s testosterone levels have declined slightly. Lower total levels of endogenous (age-specific) testosterone are observed at all ages across the adult lifespan. While these different levels are observed among aging men, relatively few men who have decreased total testosterone have symptoms of low levels.
In general, low testosterone levels occur in older men as a consequence of aging, but they can also be influenced by several factors. It is necessary to conduct accurate evaluations of high quality to identify the real needs of testosterone replacement in patients with borderline levels of circulating total testosterone and symptoms of deficiency. The introduction of testosterone treatment in some men may have substantial clinical effects. Additionally, measurement errors may have important implications for the clinical use of testosterone, as well as epidemiological implications for some diseases hypothesized to have low testosterone bases and for population predictions. In this review, we provide evidence and clinical practice recommendations for assessing testosterone in clinical practice, treatment, and extreme cases of testosterone deficiency.
Importance of Testosterone
When most people hear the word testosterone, they most often think of a hormone produced in men, important for men’s health. However, the influence of this hormone on the organism is by no means limited to one sex, as its impact is large in women as well. Testosterone produces a wide range of effects throughout the body. It is responsible for the development of male sex organs and plays a crucial role in the whole process of puberty. In adulthood, this hormone effectively balances muscle and fat mass in the body, playing an important role in the manner and maintenance of body weight, energy levels, and physical and mental abilities and health as well. It also has several important physiological functions that are directly related to maintaining male health.
Similar to other hormones, testosterone is a chemical messenger that controls other organs and tissues. It is produced mainly in male testicles and, in small amounts, in the female ovaries. In men, the testicles are exclusively responsible for the production of testosterone. In both sexes and in both stages of their lives, testosterone has great physiological importance in each individual. It plays an important role in both stimulating the immune system and preserving and enhancing skeletal health, leading to more and stronger bones, as well as contributing to an overall greater sense of well-being. Concerning sexuality, testosterone is the hormone that promotes sex drive and encourages erectile function and sperm production, having great importance for fertility. Finally, as this hormone is able to affect the appearance and athletic performance of both sexes, depending on the levels of testosterone they present, it is possible to observe largely opposite effects.
Causes of Low Testosterone
There are a number of potential causes of low testosterone levels in men, some of which can be avoided altogether. While many aspects of testosterone decline are the result of natural, aging processes, others, such as life choices, are within a man’s control. Diseases, problems, and genetic circumstances are often beyond a man’s control, though it is important that they be promptly addressed. Low testosterone does not have to be a necessarily unpleasant part of aging, and with the right steps, treatments, and support, men can better manage and understand their experience, while maintaining a happy and active sex life. That said, there are many ways testosterone loss can be treated.
Virtually all men will experience a natural decline in testosterone over their lifetime. For some men, however, low testosterone can be a troublesome, difficult, and possibly unanticipated problem. Most significant is its impact upon sexual performance and enjoyment. Symptoms less explicitly linked to sex, such as muscle density, energy, and emotional stability, can also change for the worse, altering male body and lifestyle functions. In rare cases, testosterone levels can fall to severely low levels due to genetically based or illness-based problems. Regardless of the cause, men experiencing these problems can seek relief by reaching out to their primary physician or urologist, and they should not be embarrassed to do so.
Ageing
Men’s testosterone levels usually peak in their late teens or early twenties and decline as they grow older. Many different symptoms can be related to low testosterone, but they are not necessary to tell whether the level of testosterone in the blood is low. Some men with low testosterone do not have any symptoms.
In order to measure the level of testosterone in the blood, a blood sample is needed. It is possible to obtain a blood sample at any time of the day, as the testosterone levels usually remain constant throughout the day. After the age of 50 and especially after 70, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned of larger risks compared to benefits of testosterone replacement therapy. Despite that, medicine does not allow using testosterone replacement therapy in elderly men. If a man does not show symptoms and is not ill, a low testosterone level does not mean that he needs treatment. With aging, the amount of testosterone in the blood starts to decline. After the age of 35, the level of testosterone starts to decrease by 1% each year.
Medical Conditions
Your hormonal system has many intricacies, and the secretion of one hormone can set off a cascade of reactions. Low testosterone is often associated with more serious conditions such as:
Type 2 Diabetes Diabetes is a serious disease that is most often the result of insulin resistance. And guess what? Testosterone helps with insulin sensitivity. Several studies have shown that when men regain normal testosterone levels after having low testosterone, they also experience improvement in (or resolve) their insulin resistance. This further supports the high likelihood of the development of type 2 diabetes among men with low testosterone levels.
Treatment: At this time, testosterone replacement therapy for the specific and only reason of treating insulin resistance isn’t widely recognized.
High Cholesterol Cholesterol is, in part, produced by testosterone levels, and for men with low testosterone, triglycerides, a type of fat, go up. Cholesterol that is out of balance for a prolonged period of time leads to heart attacks and heart disease. It’s been suggested that low testosterone is a risk factor and not the cause of high cholesterol, but once estrogen begins being produced in men, it can start to have beneficial effects on cholesterol.
Lifestyle Factors
During early adulthood, many men are interested in beginning muscle-building-related behaviors. In general, higher body mass is positively associated with testosterone levels. However, evidence is accumulating that muscle-building behaviors, such as regular protein intake, exercise type and intensity, and meal composition, might acutely affect numerous aspects of testosterone secretion. Although the long-term consequences of these interventions are still under investigation, if any do have the potential to affect testosterone levels, then, to maintain lifelong health, the consumption of lean animal proteins should be encouraged, especially at breakfast. If following the Anabolic Window hypothesis (e.g., “feed me within 30 minutes” post-exercise), then these conditions could potentially be further exacerbated, for instance, by the use of post-exercise large amounts of fat, fiber, and fructose.
Furthermore, with regard to muscle health maintenance, the aforementioned information should extend to the muscle-building-related interventions incipient in young adulthood. The aforementioned message should be made especially explicit for those following vegetarian or vegan diets. In addition, alcohol consumption and sleep restriction could affect muscle health maintenance. In grandfathers, the positive association between body mass and testosterone is unlikely to be predominantly driven by muscle. Consequently, the aforementioned interventions and advice are not expected to improve or protect from decline the relationship between muscle mass and hormone levels. Instead, these tips are likely to inadvertently trigger other forms of behavior that double up as life course advice and protective hormonal factors, resulting in a halo effect for optimal muscle health.
Anabolic muscle does not function and will not exist for long without the essential help from other constituents. Insufficient inflammation and suppressed IGF-1 levels are prevalent in the muscle cells of sarcopenic patients when compared with their healthy counterparts. Excessive protein intake might affect muscle mass further upstream by activating intracellular molecular sensors that regulate inflammation. Just as the nature of muscle tissue allows for the early identification of declining testosterone levels, some aging-related interventions could potentially attenuate some of the most incapacitating aspects of hypogonadism. This approach might be less concerning to those individuals who are worried that the quest for healthy aging creates a new “counterproductive focus on frailty, sickness, and decrepitude,” as this advice may promote gender-independent “moderately late-life-dependent” rather than disease-dependent issues.
Symptoms of Low Testosterone
Low testosterone can lead to a reduction in the volume of the beard and body hair, but it is not a dominant symptom. The balding of the scalp is associated with low T and is closely related because the genetic factors determining hair loss easily change through the androgen hormone. The weakening of testosterone levels reduces bone density.
A person is more likely to suffer a proportion in his bones through hypotestosteronemia, which is higher than those present with hyperestrogenemia, are much stronger. Testosterone increases bone density through the activation of myocyte signal transduction, leading to anabolic bone growth.
Great increases in the levels of testosterone can be a method of increasing both tibia injections and LABC, but only the first method actually increases bone size. Low T has been linked to a reduction in muscle strength and an increase in fat mass. Clinical studies have shown the relationship between the consequence of hypotestosteronemia, reduced muscle mass, and muscle protein synthesis. In addition, muscle strength, compared with lean body mass, is very well correlated with testosterone levels. High doses of testosterone can meet the increase in isometric strength and muscle mass.
Physical Symptoms
Different people experience the symptoms of low testosterone levels in different ways. However, typical changes may include the following: decrease in energy level. The larger decrease in energy level is most commonly witnessed in young men in their late twenties and early thirties. Signs for the lack of testosterone levels in mature men are not so expansive and are usually linked to performance of everyday activities. A decline in testosterone production is also associated with osteoporosis. This is because testosterone helps sustain bone density, which supports the growth of stronger bones. Men with low levels of testosterone may face problems like tender and swollen breasts. A very common complaint among males signals for the lack of libido, or low sex drive. Some men might experience other problems related to sexual performance, such as premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, or infertility.
At any rate, with the little amount of physical activity that is undertaken, it is hard to evaluate a direct cause of the testimony problem from this aspect. This feebleness is expressed mainly upon waking up from sleep in the early morning hours. Even when enough sleep was achieved, a constant state of fatigue can be felt. In an unexpected appearance, some men start regularly sweating from their face at the most inappropriate moments. BoxFit conducted research in order to evaluate the reasons for all these changes and has some data to share: the participants of the research who were put on testosterone-based pills registered a smaller decrease in libido. It is also important to note that these physical symptoms and bodily changes are not only experienced by older men. This drop in confidence is generally accompanied by anxiety and insomnia.
Emotional Symptoms
Low testosterone levels can cause a great deal of physical and emotional symptoms. The list below compiles the most common ones for each group. If you have identified yourself with these symptoms, find a urologist or endocrinologist to show your list. The professional will guide you through the necessary exams and follow your treatment. You are not alone. Take care of yourself and your health. The simple fact of taking the initiative to seek help is already something to be very proud of. You deserve a better quality of life. Many people feel this way and are currently following the appropriate treatment. So come with a focus on achieving results with tranquility and discipline. And anyone who has already gone through such an experience, please leave a message to provide guidance. This is a delicate matter, but we must give it the necessary importance.
Feeling sad or blue, depressed, having a feeling of weakness or fatigue are all possible signs of low testosterone levels. The first is the most common mood change identified by men who have the amount of this hormone below the ideal number for their age. Having testosterone levels too low or too high can cause changes in mood, emotional imbalances, and even anxiety or mental health disorders such as depression. It is essential for male health that the testosterone dose is between the values known as normal range or reference values for the patient’s age group. To find out if your level is correct, seek an endocrinologist or urologist to carry out diagnostic tests. And if necessary, do the appropriate treatment to improve your life and health.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Testosterone levels are checked in the blood, and treatment can restore them to normal. If testosterone levels are normal, other specific medical conditions can be considered as causes of low T levels. One of the problems with diagnosing low testosterone is that it is often diagnosed in a way that is not specific – based on symptoms alone! It is important not to over-diagnose and over-treat low T. Testosterone levels naturally become lower as a person gets older; causes of symptoms include many factors related to age and health, and treatment of low T might not be necessary.
If you are concerned about your own testosterone levels or those of someone who is important to you, consult your doctor about what these symptoms could mean. In the case of the hormone testosterone, the diagnosis can be made easily by the measurement of serum testosterone in a blood sample. There are several different ways to measure testosterone, requiring different blood tests; if the results are abnormal, the doctor might need additional tests to obtain results to tailor the treatment.