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Ageless Forever Anti-Aging News Blog

Testosterone - Men

6 Best Foods to Help Increase Low Testosterone

boost low testosterone

Having adequate levels of testosterone is a vital factor in determining your quality of life. For beginners, testosterone is a male sex hormone found in men and women found to be important for energy, fertility, healthy sexual functions, and building muscle. Testosterone is one of the main causes of physical changes for boys during puberty, like promoting deeper voice and hair growth. Generally, a person’s testosterone level will steadily decline as you age, depending on medical conditions, lifestyle choices, and other factors. A decreasing T level can result in a lot of changes in your body, including a lower sex drive.

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5 Signs Your Testosterone is Too Low

low testosterone


Like all hormones, testosterone plays an important role in regulating a host of different processes in the body. There is no question maintaining optimal levels of testosterone is ideal to a healthy lifestyle. Testosterone is an essential hormone responsible for male development, masculine characteristics, building muscle, fueling sex drive, and receptors exists throughout the body. This hormone is primarily produced in the male testicles and womens’ adrenal glands. As we age, testosterone production begins to slow down. If you have low levels of testosterone, the consequences can greatly affect your health.

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5 Ways to Naturally Boost Your Testosterone

testosterone

 

When you see the term “testosterone,” we typically associate it with masculinity and men. However, women generate testosterone too. So, what exactly is testosterone? Testosterone is a steroid hormone that plays a significant role in the male sperm production and produced in women’s ovaries in much smaller amounts. Rising levels of testosterone stimulates physical and chemical changes for boys and men such as increased muscle, pubic hair growth, deeper lengthened vocal chords, and increased sexual desire.


Testosterone production significantly spikes during puberty and starts to drop after age 30. Having optimal levels of the steroid hormone is essential from puberty throughout adulthood for general health, aids in preventing certain chronic diseases, and increases energy levels. As our levels of testosterone naturally decrease over time, rest assured there are ways to naturally boost it back up.

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Hematocrit (blood thickness) elevation following testosterone therapy – does it increase risk of blood clots?

 

In discussions about side effects of testosterone treatment, prostate cancer and heart disease get most attention. However, as we have described in several study reports published here in the “Research News” section, the widespread fear of prostate cancer and heart disease is unfounded and not supported by medical research.

The expected potential side effect of testosterone treatment - which in fact is a therapeutic effect in men with anemia [1-3] - is an increased level of red blood cells, known as erythrocytosis or polycythemia.[4-7]  In the context of testosterone treatment, erythrocytosis and polycythemia are used interchangeably to refer to an abnormal increase of red blood cells or hematocrit, which may increase blood viscosity (“blood thickness”).[8, 9]


However, it should be pointed out that technically, erythrocytosis is just red blood cell elevation, while polycythemia involves elevation of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Using these terms as synonyms can cause confusion. In polycythemia, it is likely the increase in platelets that is the major culprit of blood clots.


Elevated hematocrit is the most common side-effect of testosterone treatment.[4-7] The clinical significance of a high hematocrit level is unclear, but it may theoretically be associated with an increased risk of thrombosis (blood clots).[4]

Here I summarize the results of an analysis of the effect of different testosterone preparations on hematocrit elevations, published in the journal Sexual Medicine Reviews.[10]

 
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Is there a protective role of testosterone against high-grade prostate cancer?

 


Historically, testosterone has almost been a synonym for prostate cancer, and therefore many men have been - and still are - denied testosterone therapy, despite having testosterone deficiency.[1]

A rapidly growing number of studies have challenged the long-standing belief about a putative detrimental association between testosterone and prostate cancer development and/or progression.[2-5] Here I summarize the results of a study published in The Aging Male, which investigated the incidence and severity of prostate cancer in testosterone treated versus non-testosterone treated patients who underwent prostate biopsy.[1]

 
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Effects of testosterone treatment on body fat, lean mass, symptoms and leptin resistance in obese men on a calorie-restricted diet

Effect of testosterone therapy on body composition and leptin resistance

 

It is well-documented that the relation between testosterone deficiency and body fat is bi-directional; low testosterone levels contribute to the development of excessive body fat accumulation, and an excessive amount of body fat contributes to a reduction in testosterone levels.[1-3]

Here I present a series of three reports from a study that specifically investigated if testosterone therapy has beneficial effects on body composition, symptomatic response, adipokines (hormones secreted by fat cells, such as leptin and adiponectin) and gut hormones, over and above caloric restriction alone.[4-6]

 

Key Points

-    Compared to diet alone, combining diet + testosterone therapy results in a greater reduction in fat mass (-2.9 kg) and visceral fat, and a reduced loss of lean mass after 1 year.

-    Dieting men who receive testosterone therapy display higher physical activity levels than dieting men not receiving testosterone therapy.

-    The elevation in testosterone levels by diet alone is not enough to optimize body composition results. Diet alone results in less body fat reduction and more lean mass loss than diet + testosterone therapy. 

-    Diet + testosterone therapy ameliorates symptoms long-term after a diet. Diet alone does not confer long-term symptomatic improvements.

-    Diet + testosterone therapy, but not diet alone, reduces leptin resistance.

 
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Long-Term Testosterone Therapy Improves Cardiometabolic Function and Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Real-Life Results

 
Most men with testosterone deficiency need testosterone therapy for the rest of their life in order to achieve and maintain best possible health outcomes. Therefore, studies that investigate the effects of testosterone therapy in real-life are needed, to shed light on adherence and health outcomes in routine clinical practice.[1] While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are gold standard in medical research [2, 3], RCTs are conducted in highly controlled environments and therefore their results may not carry over to the uncontrolled setting of real-life.[1] It is increasingly recognized that conclusions drawn from RCTs are not always a useful aid for decision-making because evaluating the value of a drug or technology requires an understanding of its impact on current clinical practice and management of patients in a real-life setting.[4]
 
A series of “real-life studies” have been conducted, all showing numerous health benefits of testosterone therapy in testosterone deficient (hypogonadal) men and confirming its safety, with an observation period of up to 17 years.[5-23] Here I summarize the results from the most recent real-life study, published February 9th 2017 in the Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics which investigated the long-term effects and safety of testosterone therapy for up to 8 years in testosterone deficient men attending a urological office.[5] Differences in cardiovascular risk factors and deaths with testosterone therapy were compared to those seen in testosterone deficient men not receiving testosterone therapy but attending the same urological office.[5] 
 
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Testosterone treatment is NOT associated with risk of adverse cardiovascular events – the RHYME study

It is well-documented that testosterone therapy effectively restores testosterone levels in hypogonadal men and improves many health outcomes, such as quality of life [1-4], libido [4, 5], metabolic parameters [5-9] and body composition.[4, 5, 9, 10]
 
However, a few conflicting studies raised concerns about the cardiovascular safety of testosterone therapy [11, 12], which in 2015 prompted the FDA to issue warnings to physicians and patients about potential cardiovascular risks of testosterone therapy.
 
In contrast, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) acknowledged the flaws of the conflicting studies and concluded that there is no consistent evidence of harm associated with testosterone therapy, regardless of mode of delivery.[13]
 
Here I summarize the cardiovascular results of the notable RHYME (The Registry of Hypogonadism in Men) study, which contrary to prior clinical trials, enrolled men with a wide range of comorbid illnesses and cardiovascular risk factors.[14] The aim was to evaluate the safety of testosterone therapy in a sufficiently diverse population to reflect real-world, clinical experience.[14]
 
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Testosterone Therapy in Men with Prostate Cancer – Yes or No?

Historically, prostate cancer – both active and treated - has been an absolute contraindication to testosterone therapy and – from a regulatory perspective – still is. The incidence of prostate cancer is higher in older men, in whom prostate cancer accounts for one in five new cancer diagnoses.[1]
 
Thanks to improvement in early detection and treatment of prostate cancer, prostate cancer mortality has decreased 50% during the past two decades, and more men are living with a history of prostate cancer. 
 
The aging of the male population and the increasing number of prostate cancer survivors have resulted in a significant increase in the number of men presenting with hypogonadism and treated prostate cancer. Therefore, it is important to consider the growing number of recent studies which have challenged the long-standing belief that prostate cancer is an absolute contraindication to testosterone therapy.[2-4]
 
Here I summarize the results of a notable study which investigated the effects of testosterone therapy in men with treated and untreated prostate cancer [5], and conclude with the latest recommendations on managing testosterone deficiency in men with history of prostate cancer.
 
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How is anabolic steroid use different from testosterone replacement therapy?

One main reason testosterone replacement therapy (aka testosterone treatment) is surrounded by controversy is that testosterone can be abused, both in athletic populations and the general public.[1] Scientific evidence is undisputed that testosterone y potently enhances physical performance and increases muscle growth.[1-3]
 
The ethical issue of fair play in sports, coupled with the well-known adverse health effects of supra-physiological doses of anabolic steroids [4-14], has given medically legit testosterone replacement therapy (aka TRT, testosterone therapy or testosterone treatment) a bad reputation and is depriving many suffering men with testosterone deficiency from receiving medically needed testosterone treatment.[15] 
 
In this article I will point out the salient differences between use testosterone replacement therapy – a.k.a. testosterone therapy or testosterone treatment - and abuse of anabolic steroids, and explain why testosterone treatment - which per definition is medically provided and supervised - has no parallel with abuse of anabolic steroids.
 
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