Testosterone is a normal hormone produced in the bodies of both men and women. In men, Testosterone power libido, energy and aggressive tendencies both in work and in play. In women, testosterone is a calming hormone that regulates mood and libido. As men and women age, testosterone levels fall, changing not only the mood balance, but possibly good health.
Women, unlike men, slowly lose testosterone levels over a long period of time ending in
Menopause. After menopause, as the body gets used to performing without testosterone, estrogen and progesterone, women tend to lose the calm nature they once had and replace that nature with a commanding sense of self.
Men, on the other hand, have more to lose when testosterone levels drop off than women. Men, who also produce estrogen, maintain a balance within their bodies of more testosterone and less estrogen. After the age of 50, testosterone levels can drop dramatically year after year. This drop may eventually lead to a flip of the hormone script. This flip causes the estrogen levels to be higher than the testosterone levels. The result is a
Metabolic disorder that can lead to Type 2
Diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary arterial disease, heart failure, and raised
Cholesterol levels.
One 20-year study of male testosterone levels found that middle aged men lost nearly 2% of their overall testosterone levels each year. These lowering levels go hand in hand with a second study of 18 years that showed men with prolonged low testosterone levels had a 33% greater chance of death than those with higher testosterone levels.
While time and aging are the number one reason for lowering levels of male testosterone, life choices are of importance, as well. Married men tend to have lower levels of testosterone than single men. These lowering levels show an even greater decline in men who are married to more than one woman concurrently.
In order to combat the effects of lowering testosterone levels in men, doctors suggest seeking testosterone replacement therapy. Used by women after menopause to combat loss of libido and energy, testosterone replacement can prevent the effects of too little testosterone in the body for men, as well.
For men seeking testosterone replacement therapy, less is sometimes more. Just as in menopausal female patients, hormone replacement therapy is not an exact science. The correct dosage requirements will need to be tweaked and changed before the correct dosage is found in many cases. Testosterone replacement is available in gel, patch and pill forms for both male and female patients.
