11 ms·

MD here. Just remember that women live longer than men. Although it'll never be proven that hormones are part of that provess, I think it's a good assumption.

by davak 12y ago

MD here. Just remember that women live longer than men. Although it'll never be proven that hormones are part of that provess, I think it's a good assumption. Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. There are a ton of health issues such as balding, coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, obstructive sleep apnea that are related to testosterone. Whether these clinics can find the correct cocktail to find a healthy balance isn't clear. I'm neither pro nor con. I've seen people who have been positively and negatively impacted by steroid supplementation.

blfr 12y ago
There are a ton of health issues such as balding, ..., obstructive sleep apnea I thought balding is primarily genetic (men respond differently to some metabolite of testosterone) and obstructive sleep apnea only a serious issue for overweight people. Could you, or someone else, elaborate, maybe link a longer explanation?
- o_____________o 12y ago
  Your predisposition is genetic, but like many things, it's not an on/off switch, and will land you in a gradient. Beyond that, there are lots of variables like how much of your T is albumin/SHBG bound, glucocorticoids, 5a-r, etc. Our endocrine and inflammatory responses are crazy complex. That said, it's easily the leading causal agent, and most people will experience some form of hair loss in their life. Women experience loss at levels that might surprise you. Tellingly, the first defense for women is usually an antiandrogenic (anti-T) called Spironolactone.
return0 12y ago
Indeed there is evidence for it. For some people though, i guess longevity is not the best indicator of the good life. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19699266 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19699266
mironathetin 12y ago
I am happy that an expert without a bias reports about this. What you noted down came back into my mind immediately. These were the reported risks for professional athletes (back in the days when I decided to study physics instead of taking more of this junk and go pro). There are also natural ways to keep your own T level high, like healthy food, enough sleep, everything that increases your muscle mass (weightlifting), not too much stress, staying lean, and of course the most enjoyable thing you can do with your partner ;o). All this desn't cost a 1000$ a month, its free and its good for you too. No enhanced risk for cancer, no bad wakeup after 20 years of taking it.
- golemotron 12y ago
  I don't think so. If testosterone is the culprit for increased risk of coronary artery disease, prostate cancer and sleep apnea, then doing things that naturally increase testosterone will increase risk also. Don't succumb to the naturalistic fallacy. The body doesn't care where it gets its chemicals from.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - atlantic 12y ago
    It's not the chemical. It's the dosage, and the way the body knows how to regulate it.
  - tcfunk 12y ago
    > Don't succumb to the naturalistic fallacy. The body doesn't care where it gets its chemicals from. Even if that's true, our bodies are also great at offloading tasks. If you train your body to think that Testosterone (or anything else, for that matter) will come from external sources, it will stop producing it naturally, and will become worse at regulating it's own T levels.
    - sanoli 12y ago
      This. Pro bodybuilders take a bunch of other stuff to regulate what their bodies regulated naturally, before they jacked up their levels with external stuff.
Lio 12y ago
"Women live longer than men" is interesting though. Does that take into account the horrendous levels of male suicide? Statistically does this bump the average life expectancies down for men? I'm definitely not disagreeing with you. It seems very plausible that human growth hormone could be linked to some cancers. On a side note, is baldness actually a "health issue"? I mean I know mainstream media doesn't like to show balding men (40% over the age of 30. In TV and film not so much) but still, it's not actually life threatening.
- omegaham 12y ago
  This is a good point. Men do more dangerous jobs, are much more likely to be murdered, do riskier behavior, and commit suicide more often. On the other hand, women bear children, which historically would have been a huge cause of early death. Not as much these days, though.
  - will_work4tears 12y ago
    That makes me wonder though, is the statistic that women live longer than men a first world, modern thing, or is it a historical trend? I'd think as little as a hundred years ago it might not have been as true, or am I off base?
    - ashworth 12y ago
      I would think the ratio would have been MORE skewed in the past because war and violence were much more prevalent.
      - nl 12y ago
        No where near. WW1 (which was by far the most deadly war prior to WW2) killed around 10 million military personal[1]. Assume they were all male. World population in 1918 was about 1.8B. Breaking those 10 million deaths over the 4 years of WW1 gives around 1.4 deaths per 1000 people on earth. Maternal mortality in England and Wales was around 40 deaths per 1000 births in the same period (England and Wales probably had as good a health system as anywhere on earth at this point, so most places were worse). I'm not sure how to convert from deaths per birth to deaths per people. Women generally had multiple children. By comparison, a place like Somalia currently has a death rate of around 10 per 1000 births[4]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties [2] http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+was+the+world+population+in+1918 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+was+the+world+popu... [3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1633559/figure/fig1/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1633559/figure/f... [4] http://kff.org/global-indicator/maternal-mortality-ratio/ http://kff.org/global-indicator/maternal-mortality-ratio/
kghose 12y ago
>Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. Is your medical practice anecdote based too?
q-base 12y ago
Then there is the quality vs. quantity aspect of living. Longer living should not be the goal in itself.
- lukas099 12y ago
  No, but it should be a goal in itself. If you enjoy life, there's nothing wrong with wanting to live longer.
Loic 12y ago
Studies[0] do support that eunuchs live longer than average men. You have also a study of the eunuchs of China's Emperor were living way longer than the men having the same lifestyle in the Forbidden City. I sadly can't find the study at the moment. [0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch#Eunuchs_in_the_contemporary_world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch#Eunuchs_in_the_contempor...
- drzaiusapelord 12y ago
  I wonder if this could be attributed to STDs, jealous lovers, and other risks a sexual active person might be exposed to compared to a sexually inactive person.
  - jkscm 12y ago
    This does not explain the differences between man and woman. Especially because infection chances are higher for women. Assuming that males and females have the same number of average sexuall contacts.
  - michaelbarton 12y ago
    This is an excellent point that made me think. Perhaps you could examine through how the data is collected. You could hypothesise that the mean age of death is affected by non-testosterone increased aging such as murder by a jealous lover. These would pull down that average, where as the mode might show the more the 'typical' lifespan. However you might also hypthesise that high levels of testosterone might cause you to engage in behaviors that would make make other people want to kill you! Also including other risky behaviors such as driving fast this could also be a direct effect of testosterone. A very interesting thought!
  - slantyyz 12y ago
    Or it could simply be reduced stress. After my second orchiectomy related to cancer, I had to wait several weeks before I could see an endocrinologist about testosterone replacement, so in that time my bioavailable testosterone basically declined to nearly nothing. At one point I became so mellow that stuff that would normally bother me just got ignored. In some ways, it was a kind of a bliss-- I even considered not having testosterone replacement therapy. That was short lived, however. My endocrinologist told me that I needed testosterone to continue being healthy -- to maintain bone strength, etc., so I ended up doing the TRT.
ThomPete 12y ago
As far as I understand there is a lot of estrogen in Soya? Could the higher estrogen level also be the reason asians seem to live longer? (i hear they don't normally get sick until they reach their 70ies) Or have I been completely misinformed?
- mrlase 12y ago
  No, the aromatization of soy protein is far over blown.
gadders 12y ago
>>Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. I resent that. I don't have low testosterone but I'd still say I was a loving father and husband and a generally good person. Being "manly" doesn't mean being a dick, quite the opposite.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- parennoob 12y ago
  > Being "manly" doesn't mean being a dick I think it is mildly amusing that you are saying being manly doesn't equal the organ that is literally the representation of masculinity (albeit often disguised, as in the Mars symbol).
  - gadders 12y ago
    Yeah. I am so deeply oppressed by the matriarchy they're even affecting my language choices ;-) You get the idea though. To be gender neutral, I should swap dick for arsehole.
- collyw 12y ago
  I just turned 40 and I get a lot more wound up by incompetent workmates or similar things than I did 20 years ago.
  - tomsthumb 12y ago
    Your "get off my lawn" levels have likely gone through the roof. Ask your doctor for a screening.
    - collyw 12y ago
      screening for what?
- slantyyz 12y ago
golemotron 12y ago
> Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. Misandry much?
billsimpson 12y ago
> health issues such as balding Thanks, doc. Though I agree most men would prefer to avoid it, I never really regarded my balding as a health issue before now (and especially not the one I'd lead with over cancer and heart disease).
- lukas099 12y ago
  He probably led with balding because it is the most common symptom. An 80% chance of going bald is more important to a lot of men than a 0.1% chance of heart disease.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
undrcvr-lagggal 12y ago
> There are a ton of health issues such as balding, coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, obstructive sleep apnea that are related to testosterone. So then, could it be true that getting your protein from soy based foods (e.g., tofu, tempeh, miso) presents an obstacle to being hit by these?
narrator 12y ago
Replacing testosterone is just covering up for the fact that the cells that originally created it in the first place are slowly losing function due to aging. You want to keep those cells healthy if you want to live forever and that's what all the telomere hubbub is about.
- wavegeek 12y ago
  This is utter rubbish. The natural age-related fall in T levels is only a few tenths of a percent per year. Healthy men tend to retain good T levels well into old age. J Clin Endocrin Metab.doi:10.1210/jc.2012-3842 Longitudinal changes in testosterone over five years in community-dwelling men (abstract at end) However for many other reasons, T levels can dramatically fall. Some of these reasons in include medications, stress, various diseases. A common example is men who are on cortico-steroid medication for inflammatory or auto-immune conditions. Cortisol reduces T levels, reduces its effectiveness, and operates in the opposite manner (ie catabolic versus anabolic). Longitudinal changes in testosterone over five years in community-dwelling men Zumin Shi 1 *,MD, PhD, Andre B. Araujo 2 ,PhD, Sean Martin 1 , Peter O’Loughlin 3 ,MD, PhD, and Gary A. Wittert 1 ,MD, FRACP 1 Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide, S Australia; 2 Epidemiology, New England Research Institutes, Inc., 9 Galen St, Watertown, MA 02472, United States; 3 Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science Pathology, Adelaide, S Australia Context. There are few population-based studies reporting longitudinal changes in total tes- tosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels, and limited information on risk factors for their change. Objective. The objective of the study was to examined 5-year changes in serum T, LH, FSH, and SHBG levels among Australian men. Design. A randomly selected, community based cohort of 1,588 men age 35 or older at recruit- ment (mean age 54؎11y), with available data at two visits. Men on medications known to affect, or with established pathology of, the hypothalamo-pituitary gonadal axis were excluded, leav- ing 1,382 for analysis. Results. Mean baseline and follow-up T levels were 16.2؎1.4nmol/L and 15.6؎1.4nmol/L; a change of -0.13nmol/L/y. Annualized T changes were associated with being unmarried, obesity, and smoking at baseline, but not diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease. T declined in men with persistent depression, or who developed chronic disease, and increased in men who were married, as compared to unmarried, at both time points. In the multivariate analysis, smoking cessation, development of central (waist >100cm) or generalised (BMI > 30) obesity resulted in T decreases of 0.36, 0.25, and 0.20nmol/L/y respectively. Quitting smoking, developing obesity, and having persisting depression were inversely related to SHBG change. Conclusions. An age-related decline in T levels is not inevitable but largely explained by smoking behaviour and intercurrent changes in health status, particularly obesity and depression."
ryanmarsh 12y ago
I just finished a run of pro hormones designed to increase T. See my twitter as proof. Within a week my shoulders got bigger and I dropped 6lbs. I had no other change in diet and swam (my workout) less because I'm developing swimmer's shoulder. The downside? I just couldn't take it any more. My mind raced about sex (complete with random boners) and raged about everything else. It was like being 18 again. I realize now why I did so many crazy stupid things when I was 18-24. I ended the supplements and can again focus on work without getting pissed off at everything. Although I must say random boners at 36 came as an oddly pleasant surprise, also my wife enjoyed the extra attention.
- cgh 12y ago
  I had a look at your Twitter feed but I didn't see where you named the specific supplements you used. Can you list them here? Curious to see what they are. I've only ever found tongkat ali to produce a noticeable effect.
  - ryanmarsh 12y ago
    http://i.imgur.com/bwNeqiQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/bwNeqiQ.jpg
bootload 12y ago
"... health issues such as balding ..." health issue? MD in what, from where?
lectrick 12y ago
Obstructive sleep apnea increases cortisol levels which in turn decrease testosterone levels. Source: I have obstructive sleep apnea and low testosterone, both of which are being treated finally, and my income rose by... triple? quadruple? ever since
- zdc 12y ago
  What did you do to take care of your sleep apnea? Just curious, as a sufferer of OSA as well.
  - lectrick 12y ago
    I use a CPAP machine. But I don't like it that much, and complicating matters are allergies which stuff up my nose and make it less effective. I'm looking into getting an operation at some point, but first I have to lose a few more pounds, which I am in the process of doing. I CAN say that being ON cpap vs. OFF cpap is already a world of difference... as unsexy as that thing is. See if you can get used to one. The latest ones have a "soft nasal pillow" thing that doesn't cover your entire nose (thank God), look into ResMed Swift FX and any later lines. The available operations, unfortunately, do not have a 100% success rate... except for one, which is kind of drastic (and basically separates your jaw and moves the whole thing forward and requires like a 6 month recovery).
    - dcotton 12y ago
      Thanks for posting about the ResMed Swift FX, I use a Mirage Activa, and kind of want to change so I don't have to shave my upper lip everyday. I might try the Swift FX out shortly, my current mask needs replacing. I will also add for the other poster(s), properly treating sleep apnea is huge for overall health, and helps you feel a lot better everyday. Risk of stroke goes down and a lot of other big health impacts.
      - lectrick 12y ago
        oh, dude. Swift FX all the way. I have a friend whose doctor didn't recommend it (probably recommended one like yours) and I practically forced him to push back on his doc and prescribe this one. It's quite a bit of comfort difference. I'm actually trying to lose a bunch of weight so that I (hopefully) don't have to use a machine at all (although I have a very strong suspicion that I still had this issue back when I was very skinny, I was always a snorer and always had to take mid-afternoon naps) but mostly because I might want to get one of the operations, but they won't do one until I'm back at a "fit" weight.
gambler 12y ago
Just remember that women live longer than men. I find it remarkable that people state and accept this in such matter-of-fact fashion, rather than seeing it as an issue. Pretty much all statistics that go the other way around are seen as a problem that needs fixing. (If you disagree, please provide a counter-example. I.e. something that shows higher disease or death rates among women that is discussed as a matter-of-fact without any controversy.) When there is a difference in life expectancy, there is possibly an opportunity for improvement.
- Padding 12y ago
  I completely agree. We should drive more women into suicide.

by davak 12y ago

blfr 12y ago

There are a ton of health issues such as balding, ..., obstructive sleep apnea I thought balding is primarily genetic (men respond differently to some metabolite of testosterone) and obstructive sleep apnea only a serious issue for overweight people. Could you, or someone else, elaborate, maybe link a longer explanation?

o_____________o 12y ago
Your predisposition is genetic, but like many things, it's not an on/off switch, and will land you in a gradient. Beyond that, there are lots of variables like how much of your T is albumin/SHBG bound, glucocorticoids, 5a-r, etc. Our endocrine and inflammatory responses are crazy complex. That said, it's easily the leading causal agent, and most people will experience some form of hair loss in their life. Women experience loss at levels that might surprise you. Tellingly, the first defense for women is usually an antiandrogenic (anti-T) called Spironolactone.

return0 12y ago

Indeed there is evidence for it. For some people though, i guess longevity is not the best indicator of the good life. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19699266 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19699266

mironathetin 12y ago

I am happy that an expert without a bias reports about this. What you noted down came back into my mind immediately. These were the reported risks for professional athletes (back in the days when I decided to study physics instead of taking more of this junk and go pro). There are also natural ways to keep your own T level high, like healthy food, enough sleep, everything that increases your muscle mass (weightlifting), not too much stress, staying lean, and of course the most enjoyable thing you can do with your partner ;o). All this desn't cost a 1000$ a month, its free and its good for you too. No enhanced risk for cancer, no bad wakeup after 20 years of taking it.

golemotron 12y ago
I don't think so. If testosterone is the culprit for increased risk of coronary artery disease, prostate cancer and sleep apnea, then doing things that naturally increase testosterone will increase risk also. Don't succumb to the naturalistic fallacy. The body doesn't care where it gets its chemicals from.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- atlantic 12y ago
  It's not the chemical. It's the dosage, and the way the body knows how to regulate it.
- tcfunk 12y ago
  > Don't succumb to the naturalistic fallacy. The body doesn't care where it gets its chemicals from. Even if that's true, our bodies are also great at offloading tasks. If you train your body to think that Testosterone (or anything else, for that matter) will come from external sources, it will stop producing it naturally, and will become worse at regulating it's own T levels.
  - sanoli 12y ago
    This. Pro bodybuilders take a bunch of other stuff to regulate what their bodies regulated naturally, before they jacked up their levels with external stuff.

Lio 12y ago

"Women live longer than men" is interesting though. Does that take into account the horrendous levels of male suicide? Statistically does this bump the average life expectancies down for men? I'm definitely not disagreeing with you. It seems very plausible that human growth hormone could be linked to some cancers. On a side note, is baldness actually a "health issue"? I mean I know mainstream media doesn't like to show balding men (40% over the age of 30. In TV and film not so much) but still, it's not actually life threatening.

omegaham 12y ago
This is a good point. Men do more dangerous jobs, are much more likely to be murdered, do riskier behavior, and commit suicide more often. On the other hand, women bear children, which historically would have been a huge cause of early death. Not as much these days, though.
- will_work4tears 12y ago
  That makes me wonder though, is the statistic that women live longer than men a first world, modern thing, or is it a historical trend? I'd think as little as a hundred years ago it might not have been as true, or am I off base?
  - ashworth 12y ago
    I would think the ratio would have been MORE skewed in the past because war and violence were much more prevalent.
    - nl 12y ago
      No where near. WW1 (which was by far the most deadly war prior to WW2) killed around 10 million military personal[1]. Assume they were all male. World population in 1918 was about 1.8B. Breaking those 10 million deaths over the 4 years of WW1 gives around 1.4 deaths per 1000 people on earth. Maternal mortality in England and Wales was around 40 deaths per 1000 births in the same period (England and Wales probably had as good a health system as anywhere on earth at this point, so most places were worse). I'm not sure how to convert from deaths per birth to deaths per people. Women generally had multiple children. By comparison, a place like Somalia currently has a death rate of around 10 per 1000 births[4]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties [2] http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+was+the+world+population+in+1918 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=what+was+the+world+popu... [3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1633559/figure/fig1/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1633559/figure/f... [4] http://kff.org/global-indicator/maternal-mortality-ratio/ http://kff.org/global-indicator/maternal-mortality-ratio/

kghose 12y ago

>Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. Is your medical practice anecdote based too?

q-base 12y ago

Then there is the quality vs. quantity aspect of living. Longer living should not be the goal in itself.

lukas099 12y ago
No, but it should be a goal in itself. If you enjoy life, there's nothing wrong with wanting to live longer.

Loic 12y ago

Studies[0] do support that eunuchs live longer than average men. You have also a study of the eunuchs of China's Emperor were living way longer than the men having the same lifestyle in the Forbidden City. I sadly can't find the study at the moment. [0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch#Eunuchs_in_the_contemporary_world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunuch#Eunuchs_in_the_contempor...

drzaiusapelord 12y ago
I wonder if this could be attributed to STDs, jealous lovers, and other risks a sexual active person might be exposed to compared to a sexually inactive person.
- jkscm 12y ago
  This does not explain the differences between man and woman. Especially because infection chances are higher for women. Assuming that males and females have the same number of average sexuall contacts.
- michaelbarton 12y ago
  This is an excellent point that made me think. Perhaps you could examine through how the data is collected. You could hypothesise that the mean age of death is affected by non-testosterone increased aging such as murder by a jealous lover. These would pull down that average, where as the mode might show the more the 'typical' lifespan. However you might also hypthesise that high levels of testosterone might cause you to engage in behaviors that would make make other people want to kill you! Also including other risky behaviors such as driving fast this could also be a direct effect of testosterone. A very interesting thought!
- slantyyz 12y ago
  Or it could simply be reduced stress. After my second orchiectomy related to cancer, I had to wait several weeks before I could see an endocrinologist about testosterone replacement, so in that time my bioavailable testosterone basically declined to nearly nothing. At one point I became so mellow that stuff that would normally bother me just got ignored. In some ways, it was a kind of a bliss-- I even considered not having testosterone replacement therapy. That was short lived, however. My endocrinologist told me that I needed testosterone to continue being healthy -- to maintain bone strength, etc., so I ended up doing the TRT.

ThomPete 12y ago

As far as I understand there is a lot of estrogen in Soya? Could the higher estrogen level also be the reason asians seem to live longer? (i hear they don't normally get sick until they reach their 70ies) Or have I been completely misinformed?

mrlase 12y ago
No, the aromatization of soy protein is far over blown.

gadders 12y ago

>>Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. I resent that. I don't have low testosterone but I'd still say I was a loving father and husband and a generally good person. Being "manly" doesn't mean being a dick, quite the opposite.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
parennoob 12y ago
> Being "manly" doesn't mean being a dick I think it is mildly amusing that you are saying being manly doesn't equal the organ that is literally the representation of masculinity (albeit often disguised, as in the Mars symbol).
- gadders 12y ago
  Yeah. I am so deeply oppressed by the matriarchy they're even affecting my language choices ;-) You get the idea though. To be gender neutral, I should swap dick for arsehole.
collyw 12y ago
I just turned 40 and I get a lot more wound up by incompetent workmates or similar things than I did 20 years ago.
- tomsthumb 12y ago
  Your "get off my lawn" levels have likely gone through the roof. Ask your doctor for a screening.
  - collyw 12y ago
    screening for what?
slantyyz 12y ago

golemotron 12y ago

> Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. Misandry much?

billsimpson 12y ago

> health issues such as balding Thanks, doc. Though I agree most men would prefer to avoid it, I never really regarded my balding as a health issue before now (and especially not the one I'd lead with over cancer and heart disease).

lukas099 12y ago
He probably led with balding because it is the most common symptom. An 80% chance of going bald is more important to a lot of men than a 0.1% chance of heart disease.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

undrcvr-lagggal 12y ago

> There are a ton of health issues such as balding, coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, obstructive sleep apnea that are related to testosterone. So then, could it be true that getting your protein from soy based foods (e.g., tofu, tempeh, miso) presents an obstacle to being hit by these?

narrator 12y ago

Replacing testosterone is just covering up for the fact that the cells that originally created it in the first place are slowly losing function due to aging. You want to keep those cells healthy if you want to live forever and that's what all the telomere hubbub is about.

wavegeek 12y ago
This is utter rubbish. The natural age-related fall in T levels is only a few tenths of a percent per year. Healthy men tend to retain good T levels well into old age. J Clin Endocrin Metab.doi:10.1210/jc.2012-3842 Longitudinal changes in testosterone over five years in community-dwelling men (abstract at end) However for many other reasons, T levels can dramatically fall. Some of these reasons in include medications, stress, various diseases. A common example is men who are on cortico-steroid medication for inflammatory or auto-immune conditions. Cortisol reduces T levels, reduces its effectiveness, and operates in the opposite manner (ie catabolic versus anabolic). Longitudinal changes in testosterone over five years in community-dwelling men Zumin Shi 1 *,MD, PhD, Andre B. Araujo 2 ,PhD, Sean Martin 1 , Peter O’Loughlin 3 ,MD, PhD, and Gary A. Wittert 1 ,MD, FRACP 1 Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide, S Australia; 2 Epidemiology, New England Research Institutes, Inc., 9 Galen St, Watertown, MA 02472, United States; 3 Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science Pathology, Adelaide, S Australia Context. There are few population-based studies reporting longitudinal changes in total tes- tosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels, and limited information on risk factors for their change. Objective. The objective of the study was to examined 5-year changes in serum T, LH, FSH, and SHBG levels among Australian men. Design. A randomly selected, community based cohort of 1,588 men age 35 or older at recruit- ment (mean age 54؎11y), with available data at two visits. Men on medications known to affect, or with established pathology of, the hypothalamo-pituitary gonadal axis were excluded, leav- ing 1,382 for analysis. Results. Mean baseline and follow-up T levels were 16.2؎1.4nmol/L and 15.6؎1.4nmol/L; a change of -0.13nmol/L/y. Annualized T changes were associated with being unmarried, obesity, and smoking at baseline, but not diabetes, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease. T declined in men with persistent depression, or who developed chronic disease, and increased in men who were married, as compared to unmarried, at both time points. In the multivariate analysis, smoking cessation, development of central (waist >100cm) or generalised (BMI > 30) obesity resulted in T decreases of 0.36, 0.25, and 0.20nmol/L/y respectively. Quitting smoking, developing obesity, and having persisting depression were inversely related to SHBG change. Conclusions. An age-related decline in T levels is not inevitable but largely explained by smoking behaviour and intercurrent changes in health status, particularly obesity and depression."

ryanmarsh 12y ago

I just finished a run of pro hormones designed to increase T. See my twitter as proof. Within a week my shoulders got bigger and I dropped 6lbs. I had no other change in diet and swam (my workout) less because I'm developing swimmer's shoulder. The downside? I just couldn't take it any more. My mind raced about sex (complete with random boners) and raged about everything else. It was like being 18 again. I realize now why I did so many crazy stupid things when I was 18-24. I ended the supplements and can again focus on work without getting pissed off at everything. Although I must say random boners at 36 came as an oddly pleasant surprise, also my wife enjoyed the extra attention.

cgh 12y ago
I had a look at your Twitter feed but I didn't see where you named the specific supplements you used. Can you list them here? Curious to see what they are. I've only ever found tongkat ali to produce a noticeable effect.
- ryanmarsh 12y ago
  http://i.imgur.com/bwNeqiQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/bwNeqiQ.jpg

bootload 12y ago

"... health issues such as balding ..." health issue? MD in what, from where?

lectrick 12y ago

Obstructive sleep apnea increases cortisol levels which in turn decrease testosterone levels. Source: I have obstructive sleep apnea and low testosterone, both of which are being treated finally, and my income rose by... triple? quadruple? ever since

zdc 12y ago
What did you do to take care of your sleep apnea? Just curious, as a sufferer of OSA as well.
- lectrick 12y ago
  I use a CPAP machine. But I don't like it that much, and complicating matters are allergies which stuff up my nose and make it less effective. I'm looking into getting an operation at some point, but first I have to lose a few more pounds, which I am in the process of doing. I CAN say that being ON cpap vs. OFF cpap is already a world of difference... as unsexy as that thing is. See if you can get used to one. The latest ones have a "soft nasal pillow" thing that doesn't cover your entire nose (thank God), look into ResMed Swift FX and any later lines. The available operations, unfortunately, do not have a 100% success rate... except for one, which is kind of drastic (and basically separates your jaw and moves the whole thing forward and requires like a 6 month recovery).
  - dcotton 12y ago
    Thanks for posting about the ResMed Swift FX, I use a Mirage Activa, and kind of want to change so I don't have to shave my upper lip everyday. I might try the Swift FX out shortly, my current mask needs replacing. I will also add for the other poster(s), properly treating sleep apnea is huge for overall health, and helps you feel a lot better everyday. Risk of stroke goes down and a lot of other big health impacts.
    - lectrick 12y ago
      oh, dude. Swift FX all the way. I have a friend whose doctor didn't recommend it (probably recommended one like yours) and I practically forced him to push back on his doc and prescribe this one. It's quite a bit of comfort difference. I'm actually trying to lose a bunch of weight so that I (hopefully) don't have to use a machine at all (although I have a very strong suspicion that I still had this issue back when I was very skinny, I was always a snorer and always had to take mid-afternoon naps) but mostly because I might want to get one of the operations, but they won't do one until I'm back at a "fit" weight.

gambler 12y ago

Just remember that women live longer than men. I find it remarkable that people state and accept this in such matter-of-fact fashion, rather than seeing it as an issue. Pretty much all statistics that go the other way around are seen as a problem that needs fixing. (If you disagree, please provide a counter-example. I.e. something that shows higher disease or death rates among women that is discussed as a matter-of-fact without any controversy.) When there is a difference in life expectancy, there is possibly an opportunity for improvement.

Padding 12y ago
I completely agree. We should drive more women into suicide.