Replacement testosterone does more than treat symptoms
To Your Good Health | stltoday.com
Dr. KEITH Roach Mar 27, 2018
Dear Dr. Roach • I am a 69 year old male with low testosterone levels. My doctor started me on a testosterone cream and increased the frequency of application twice, trying to get my testosterone blood levels to “normal” without success. He then switched me to injections, increased the amount of the injections, then the frequency, and finally settled on 200 mg, every three weeks. The problem is that I don’t feel like I need the “normal” levels of testosterone; the very lowest frequency of the cream is sufficient. It makes me more ambitious, and I add muscle mass more readily with exercise.
Is there some benefit to the higher “normal” levels of testosterone? Or can I just go with the lower dosage? — R.D.
Answer • Testosterone replacement is given to men with symptoms of low testosterone who also have low testosterone levels as evidenced by laboratory tests. Common symptoms of low testosterone include low libido and erectile dysfunction, decreased bone mineral density and loss of body hair. The loss of muscle mass and fatigue you mention also may be due to low testosterone, but those symptoms are less specific.
There are two reasons to treat low testosterone: One is to relieve symptoms; the other is to treat or prevent metabolic problems, such as the loss of bone and possibly harmful effects on blood cholesterol levels.
Returning blood testosterone levels to normal, as your doctor recommended, is the best goal. While your symptoms may get better with only a small dose, it’s possible that you are having a placebo response (i.e., you’re getting better because you think you should be getting better, not because of the medication).
I think you will get more benefit from levels in the normal range. Some people have side effects, so your doctor has to find the optimum level for you.
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Men and Testosterone: What Blood Test Is the Gold Standard?
I have been frustrated for the last ten years by doctors who continually criticize and contradict my method of determining whether a man needs testosterone. This week in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism confirmed the way I evaluate testosterone deficiency with the lead article that proved that it is FREE TESTOSTERONE (the testosterone that is active and not bound to a protein) and not Total Testosterone, that determines whether a man is deficient in testosterone, and should be treated.
Most men have been told that if their Total Testosterone is over 400, or 300 or 280 ng/ml, depending on the doctor’s age and training, that he is “FINE”, despite all the symptoms of testosterone deficiency that he displays. I have a few problems with this method: a) These doctors use a number on a lab sheet and not symptoms to diagnose or withhold treatment from a man who is suffering; b) They do not realize that the total T drops with age but the binding of T increases with every passing year, so the same total T number in a 30 year old and a 60 year does not feel the same!; and c) Free testosterone, is the active form of the hormone and is the only level that parallels a man’s feeling of well-being and health! We now have a large study to prove what we already know in the Anti-Aging Community—that it is Free Testosterone below 129 that indicates a deficiency in men, no matter what the total testosterone is!
Many of my male patients have gone from one doctor to another trying to be treated but because of the old school adherence to a NUMBER on a lab sheet, even though they feel ill they are turned away! I don’t know when they began to teach medical students to read the lab, stop talking to the patients, and to ignore symptoms, but that training is the exact opposite of what I was taught at Mizzou medical school in the 1970s. In fact, my daughter received her medical degree from AT Still School of Osteopathy in Arizona and she was trained to listen to patients and treat their symptoms and only use lab as a baseline, not a wall to assist in blocking patients from necessary treatment!
If you, your spouse or friend have been turned away from other medical offices because your Total Testosterone is too high, then please come to BioBalance Health where we will listen to you and treat you according to your symptoms and your Free Testosterone! Now we have a large, mainstream research study to back our treatment protocol for men.