What is Testosterone, and How Does It Affect Your Health?: Advanced Urology Medical Offices: Urologists

Your Guide to What Testosterone Is and What It Does for Your Body

Discover how personalized care can transform not just the way you feel,but how you live. Some people might also have lower energy, memory problems, and trouble focusing. It’s possible for your testosterone to be too low or too high—each end of the spectrum brings its own set of symptoms. But to define it purely in terms of sex would be misleading – it’s also a major regulator of sugar, fat and proteins in the human metabolism. Injectable testosterone or the pellets are long-lasting—they can last anywhere from ten weeks to three months. You would come into the doctor’s office and get a long-lasting testosterone shot for ten to twelve weeks. Or you would get little pellets implanted, which takes about two minutes in the office, and then you would be good to go for about three months.

Make an appointment with your doctor at Ross Medical Group to check your testosterone. A blood test is the only way to diagnose a low testosterone level. Certain blood tests can also be performed to check for other causes of low testosterone. Because of natural fluctuations in testosterone levels during the day, it is best to check your levels in the morning when you are fasting. If we identify a testosterone deficiency, you could be a candidate for testosterone therapy. Testosterone therapy optimizes your hormone levels with the goal of improving your symptoms and your quality of life.

TRT seems to be more effective in young men with very low testosterone levels. This treatment is called testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT. TRT can be given as a pill, gel, patch, injection, or implant. Your provider will likely have you get a blood test to check your testosterone level. These include medicine side effects, thyroid problems, or depression. Beginning around age 30 to 40, testosterone levels may start to slowly decrease.

Testosterone tests can help diagnose health conditions in children and adults. Doctors also use tests to monitor hormone levels in patients receiving testosterone replacement therapy and transgender men who are on hormone therapy. Many clinics and doctors offer testosterone replacement therapy, but you may not need it.

Oral contraceptives like birth control pills can be a cause of testosterone deficiency in younger women. It’s a good idea to talk to a family doctor or OBGYN to discuss another contraceptive method. UPMC HealthBeat is the publishing website for UPMC, an integrated health care system based in Pittsburgh. Articles published on this site go through several rounds of review before publishing, including a clinical review conducted by UPMC medical experts. Doctors don’t always recommend TT if you have a normal age-related drop in testosterone. Testosterone affects your thinking ability, mood, and memory. Men with low levels of testosterone may suffer from depression, fatigue, and general irritability.

Although it’s much rarer – it’s usually found in those using anabolic steroids but can be a side effect of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) or adrenal or testicular tumours. Women also produce testosterone, in lower levels, and as well as affecting their sex drive, it helps with energy levels and general sense of well-being. Testosterone increases muscle bulk as it encourages protein formation and induces the retention of nitrogen. Testosterone controls sperm production, sexual drive and sexual performance throughout a man’s life. The amount of testosterone in the bloodstream peaks in a man’s twenties. By age 30 or 35, testosterone levels decrease by about 1% each year.

Men taking testosterone replacement must be carefully monitored for prostate cancer. Although testosterone may make prostate cancer grow, it is not clear that testosterone treatment actually causes cancer. As surprising as it may be, women can also be bothered by symptoms of testosterone deficiency. For example, problem with function of pituitary gland or adrenal glands may lead to reduced testosterone production. Affected women may experience low libido, reduced bone strength, poor concentration or depression. So, if you’re living with high testosterone levels, it probably makes sense for each of these main functions to be amplified, right?

In females, half of the testosterone is produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands. The remainder is produced through conversion of adrenal androgens in other parts of the body. These latter two hormones stimulate the testis to synthesize testosterone. Finally, increasing levels of testosterone through a negative feedback loop act hcg while on trt the hypothalamus and pituitary to inhibit the release of GnRH and FSH/LH, respectively. Attention, memory, and spatial ability are key cognitive functions affected by testosterone in humans.