people (both men and women) become meek, withdrawn, and uncertain of them- selves. This often results in frustration, anxiety, irritability, and angry outbursts. In addition, low testosterone can im-


pact a man's risk for other diseases and overall health. There is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pres- sure, high cholesterol, increased clotting, infertility, obesity, type 2 diabetes, Al- zheimer’s disease, depression and osteo- porosis when testosterone levels drop.


Erectile Dysfunction Is a Red Flag for a Heart Attack


Erectile dysfunction isn’t just a problem with your penis.


It’s a sign of vascular problems and


may be a warning sign of a heart attack. The arteries to your penis are smaller than those to your heart, so they clog up sooner


than your coronary arteries. Men who have heart attacks frequently have erectile dysfunction for 6 to 18 months before their heart attacks.


Testing Testosterone Many men who experience the symp-


toms I've described go to the doctor to have their testosterone tested and are told their levels are normal. They then assume the real cause of their changing health is simply old age. If this has happened to you, don't


resign yourself to the idea that your body's changes can't be addressed. You should


know that a "normal" reading on a standard testosterone blood test doesn't necessarily mean your testosterone level is where it should be. For many men, testosterone levels


technically fall in the normal range but are so close to the bottom of that range they might as well be abnormal. If your testos- terone is within normal limits, but in the bottom 10 percent, that's like being one step above the basement. Also some men naturally need higher


levels of testosterone. Tall men, for ex- ample, ideally should have levels in the upper range of normal or even 10-25% above “normal range”. Optimal range is much narrower and is influenced by age and height. Men who are tall (over 6 feet) had to have a high testosterone (and growth hormone) during puberty to reach that height. So even mid-range levels may be low for them.


Also, there are other tests that can give a doctor insight into a man's testosterone level. Doctors may recommend testing estradiol, prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH), thyroid, sex hormone binding globu- lin (SHBG), prostate specific antigen (PSA) and zinc levels. Any number of imbalances in the


body can make testosterone levels func- tionally lower. That means that the levels are “normal” but the man is clearly defi- cient in available, functioning testosterone. For example, high levels of estradiol can interfere with testosterone. This happens when men drink too much alcohol or get fat. The body makes too much estrogen instead of testosterone.


High prolactin levels suggest a pitu-


itary tumor, not a cancer, which com- presses the remainder of the pituitary gland and testosterone production falls off. This will be accompanied by low LH; the mes- senger made by the pituitary gland that tells the testicles to produce more testos- terone.


Elevated LH means your brain wants more testosterone than your testicles are making. So a low testosterone level with a high LH suggests the problem is low production of testosterone in the testicles. This may be due to trauma, damage from having the mumps as a child, varicocele and getting older. Low thyroid function can lower the


body’s ability to utilize or respond to tes- tosterone. And lots of things can make someone hypothyroid...even a low Vitamin D!


Lastly, high SHBG binds up testoster- one, making it unavailable to your cells. Because of these possibilities, additional tests paint a more accurate picture of tes- tosterone’s effectiveness and the type of treatment needed. Other causes of low or poorly func- tioning testosterone that should be dis- cussed during a medical exam include:


• Exposure to environmental estrogenic toxins like BPA, pesticides and herbi- cides


• Loss of or damage to a testicle • Varicocele (large varicose vein in the scrotum) • Vasectomy • Long-distance running, cycling and


Compounding


Bio-Identical Hormones: creams, capsules and PLO gels


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JUNE 2012 9


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