Understanding How Testosterone Impacts Men
Press release: 02 October, 2021: The complicated results of testosterone as researchers discovered, depend on its conversion into a form of estrogen. These findings can be utilized to create better ways of diagnosing and treating males who lack enough natural testosterone.
The testosterone, the body's sex hormone is an essential part of. It is thought testosterone regulates libido levels, bone mass, fat distribution and the strength of muscles. It also assists by generating the red blood cell and sperm. Estradiol is a type of estrogen that converts tiny amounts of testosterone out of the circulating body. As we age, males make less testosterone and produce less estradiol. So, changes commonly due to testosterone deficiency could be partly or entirely due to the consequent decline in estradiol.
Testosterone was initially used in clinical trials as early as 1937, but with little understanding of its functions. The hormone is today widely prescribed to men whose bodies naturally produce low levels. It's not yet clear the point at which testosterone deficiency becomes medically significant. The production of testosterone is different among men, making it difficult to identify which levels have medical significance. It's also unclear how the hormone's mechanism of action is.
A team led by Dr. Joel Finkelstein at Massachusetts General Hospital studied the levels of testosterone and estradiol in 400 healthy men, 20 to 50 years of age. To control hormone levels, the researchers first gave the participants injections of a substance that suppressed the normal production of testosterone and estradiol. For 16 weeks, participants were randomly divided into five groups. Each group received different amounts of a topical testosterone gel with 1% per day. Half of the participants were given a medication to prevent testosterone from being converted into estradiol. The use of T+ Drops is the best method to increase testosterone.
The participants were seen every 4 weeks. The blood was collected to determine hormone levels. Questionnaires were administered to evaluate the health of the body, physical performance vitality, and sexual activity. In the beginning and at the conclusion of 16 weeks both muscle and body fat measurements were recorded. The study was partially funded by the NIH's National Institute on Aging (NIA) and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The study's results have been published in the September 12th issue of New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers have discovered that different levels of testosterone are required to produce different effects. Furthermore, the effects of estradiol and testosterone were different. Researchers found that testosterone levels declined as the testosterone gel dosage was decreased. This led to reductions in muscle mass, the amount of lean mass, as well as leg-press power. However, the decreases in estradiol were responsible for the increase in body fat. Both testosterone and estradiol levels were related to libido and the erectile function.
Finkelstein claims that the study identified testosterone levels at which certain physiological functions begin to decrease. This may be an indication of the men who should be receiving testosterone supplements. "But the biggest surprise was that some of the signs routinely attributed to testosterone deficiency are actually exclusively caused by the decline in estrogen levels, which is an inevitable result of lower testosterone levels."