The Male Hormone Testosterone

EXERPTED FROM THE LIFE EXTENSION MAGAZINE

Male Hormones and Aging

As men age past year 40, hormonal changes occur that perceptibly inhibit physical, sexual, and cognitive function. The outward appearance of a typical middle-age male shows increased abdominal fat and shrinkage of muscle mass, a hallmark effect of hormone imbalance. A loss of feeling of well being, sometimes manifesting as depression, is a common psychological complication of hormone imbalance.(94-97,271 )

Until recently, these changes were attributed to "growing old, " and men were expected to accept the fact that their body was entering into a long degenerative process that would someday result in death.

A remarkable amount of data has been compiled that indicates that many of the diseases that middle-aged men begin experiencing, including depression, abdominal weight gain, prostate and heart disease are directly related to hormone imbalances that are correctable with currently available drug and nutrient therapies. To the patients' detriment, conventional doctors are increasingly prescribing drugs to treat depression, elevated cholesterol, angina and a host of other diseases that may be caused by an underlying hormone imbalance.

If doctors checked their male patients' blood levels of estrogen, testosterone, thyroid, and DHEA (instead of prescribing drugs to treat symptoms.

Testosterone is much more than a sex hormone. There are testosterone receptor sites in cells throughout the body, most notably in the brain and heart. Youthful protein synthesis for maintaining muscle mass and bone formation requires testosterone. Testosterone improves oxygen uptake throughout the body, helps control blood sugar, regulate cholesterol, and maintain immune surveillance. The body requires testosterone to maintain youthful cardiac output and neurological function. Testosterone is a critical hormone in the maintenance of healthy bone density, muscle mass, and red blood cell production.

Of critical concern to psychiatrists are studies showing that men suffering from depression have lower levels of testosterone than control subjects. For some men, elevating free testosterone levels could prove to be an effective anti-depressant therapy. There is a basis for free testosterone levels being measured in men suffering from depression and replacement therapy initiated if free testosterone levels are low normal or below normal.

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