In recent years, men have been inundated with messaging about low T, or low testosterone, or male hypogonadism — they’re all the same. The condition is genuine and can have a significant effect on a man’s life, but it’s being incorrectly blamed for a host of issues that may not be related to hormones.
To set the record straight on male hypogonadism, which we’ll refer to as low T, the team of men’s health experts at Arizona Urology presents the following information.
When we refer to testosterone, we’re referring to hormone levels in your blood. Once men pass through puberty, they enjoy the highest levels of testosterone they'll have — between 300 ng/dL to 1000 ng/dL (ng/dL stands for nanograms per deciliter).
These higher levels typically last through a man’s 20s. Testosterone production gradually decreases starting in men’s 30s, but not by much — about 1% a year. In most cases, even with the decrease, men stay within the range we provided above. However, if you drop below 300 ng/dL, you cross over into clinical low T.
One of the issues we’re seeing today is that men are being prescribed testosterone treatments without relying on numbers. In fact, the American Urological Association released a report that found that up to 25% of men who receive testosterone therapy weren’t tested first.
If we were to go by the numbers, only about 2% of men have clinical low T, which jumps to 8% for men between 50 and 79.
Yet more men are being treated for low T than the numbers indicate because the treatments are based on symptoms alone. These symptoms often include:
The problem is that these symptoms are associated with many other conditions, including simple aging. Since people are looking for a quick fix, however, low T has become the catchall for a wide range of symptoms that are otherwise challenging to address — it's easier to take part in testosterone therapy than it is to lose weight and exercise.
Even though testosterone therapy is likely being overprescribed, the condition is on the rise.
There are two types of male hypogonadism:
It’s this second one that we want to focus on — low T due to issues outside your gonads. These issues include obesity, sleep apnea, alcoholism, and diabetes, which are conditions that influence your metabolic health and suppress testosterone. These issues are widespread in today’s population, which explains why there’s an uptick in low T, especially among younger men.
When we approach low T, we perform a comprehensive evaluation, which includes measuring your testosterone levels and figuring out what’s behind the deficit, if one exists.
If we find that secondary hypogonadism is to blame, a good approach might be to address these underlying causes first, such as losing weight, getting enough sleep, and curbing alcohol consumption.
If you can benefit from testosterone replacement therapy, of course, we fully support this approach, too. Bear in mind, however, that when you take testosterone, your body suppresses the natural production of the hormone, so you’ll need to keep up with the therapy.
Our overall point here is that testosterone replacement therapy isn’t a magic bullet. It’s important to first have us thoroughly investigate your symptoms to determine whether there’s a hormone imbalance or whether your symptoms stem from other health issues.
To learn more about low T or to have us check your testosterone levels, please contact one of our locations in Phoenix, Goodyear, Gilbert, or Glendale, Arizona, to schedule an appointment.
