What is testosterone?
Testosterone is a male-prevalent hormone that helps build muscle, assists in the growth of body hair, strengthens bone mass, and especially constructs reproductive tissue. It’s often called men’s sexual hormone. And for good reason, as it is the foundation to a man’s sex drive. Though this hormone is dominant in men, females’ adrenal glands and ovaries also produce minute amounts of testosterone in their adrenal glands and ovaries.
Are your testosterone levels low?
In the last few decades, studies are showing more and more the connection between aging and low testosterone levels. Symptoms in men that correlate include little or no sex drive, erection dysfunction, mood and emotion changes, loss of body mass, loss of strength, and increase in body fat. Another major indicator of low testosterone is alterations in bone solidity, a condition called osteoporosis. When low testosterone is present and these symptoms go untreated, they can lead to diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, short life length, and weak heart health.
Un-similarly, women have only a couple outcomes when their minuscule testosterone levels are even lower. They have sudden lack of sex drive and satisfaction during intercourse, and this usually follows removal of their ovaries or problems with their adrenal or pituitary gland. This makes sense since those are the primary places where testosterone is produced in the female body.
What can you do about it?
Several options exist to treat low testosterone, but if you’re only seeing the beginning stages of a combination of these conditions and are worried about your testosterone levels, consider making some lifestyle changes to regulate and maintain your testosterone health. By getting enough sleep to rejuvenate your energy and exercising to maintain a healthy weight, you will do your body, and testosterone levels a major service. Furthermore,de-stressing can help reduce the production of cortisol, a hormone that hogs your body; you’ll leave room for your testosterone production to flourish. Also,be aware of medications that effect testosterone, and avoid supplements claiming to bolster Testosterone. They are scams, and do little to raise this vital hormone’s levels.
If you’re beyond what you think is safe testosterone maintenance and need medical help to correct it, there are several replacement therapies on the market. Body gels and creams can be used to help additional hormones into your body. These do come with the caution to avoid contact with family members for a few hours following application. Nasal gels have been created to avoid such exposures to others.
Woman can also have testosterone therapy in a much lower dose then men, but it’s not approved by FDA. Usually, doctors are only willing to prescribe it if women have a low sex drive that does not seem to be caused by a medicine, nor by relationship or stress-related problems, or if the above mentioned conditions apply to their situation.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, testosterone is vital to both men and women’s health. It regulates many parts of the body, and not having enough effects the entire body. Consider the information given and if you think that your testosterone levels are lower than they should be, consider scheduling an appointment with your health provider.
Please Note: This article is for informational purposes and is not a diagnosis. Always consult a health care profession before starting a health regiment or making changes to your lifestyle.
