TESTOSTERONE

Accademia del Fitness – Wellness – Antiaging / april 2013

Testosterone is the main sexual hormone in men – even if it is also produced in small amounts by women – and it is synthesised by the testicles in the endocrine cells of Leying starting from cholesterol. The biological effects of testosterone become visible at the level of the sexual organs and of the secondary sexual features (hairs, adipose tissue, muscles, laryngeal and skeletal cartilages) but they also have non-sexual effects. The metabolic effects of testosterone are quite ubiquitous. It has an anabolic action on protein metabolism, increasing the level of incorporation of amino acids above all in muscle and skeletal proteins. As for lipid metabolism, it regulates cholesterol, favours the use of fats for energy purposes and in case of caloric excess it favours the deposit in the upper part of the body. At the level of glycidic metabolism, it favours the accumulation of muscle glycogen and it improves insulin sensitivity. Moreover, testosterone stimulates erythropoietin (EPO) and favours sodium and calcium retention, it helps the efficiency of the immune system and has a neurotrophic effect at brain level.

While women experience the sudden decrease of sexual hormones through menopause around the age of 50, in men, due to aging, testosterone starts decreasing around the age of 40, more or less gradually. This condition of hypogonadism connected to age is defined “andropause” in analogy to women’s “menopause”. In about 50% of healthy men aged between 50 and 70 the testosterone level is below the minimum level compared to men aged 20-40. It is estimated that the testosterone level in one out of five men over 50 is actually compatible with the diagnosis of hypogonadism.

The symptoms of andropause are the following:

• Fatigue and energy decrease;
• Depression and bad mood;
• Tension and anxiety;
• Difficulty in concentration and loss of memory;
• Lack of sexual arousal or decrease in libido;
• Erectile dysfunction or problems in sexual intercourse;
• Tendency to accumulate fat at abdominal level;
• Sleep disorders;
• Worsening of insulin sensitivity;
• Increase in the level of estrogens compared to the levels of testosterone;
• Decrease in strength, muscle tone and fitness level;
• Worse stress management;
• Decrease in work ability;
• Less self-confidence;
• Decrease in physical ability;
• Decrease in bone density;
• Increase in cholesterol;
• Cardiovascular diseases;
• Irritability, rage or what can be defined “bad-temper”;
• Backache and articular pain.

Most of these symptoms are common in the majority of men over 50. A therapy of hormonal balance with biosynthetic testosterone is able to reverse all these conditions. Unfortunately, conventional medicine mainly tends to limit the use of testosterone to cases of sexual dysfunction, which is actually only one of the aspects – perhaps not even one of the most important ones – from an anti-aging perspective aiming at fighting chronic-degenerative diseases.

The use of testosterone, also in this case, has been replaced in the last 10 years by “VIAGRA” or similar medicines which actually favour the erectile function but not libido. Some studies demonstrate that the combination of testosterone and Viagra improves the quality of sexual intercourse even with lower doses of Viagra in people suffering from erectile dysfunction.

However, testosterone is not just for men. In menopausal women testosterone integration has a trophic and stimulating effect on the brain, the bones, the muscles, the articulations and, above all, it restores the normal levels of libido which often decrease in menopause.