Feb
01
2004

Low Testosterone Linked To Alzheimers

By | Alzheimer’s disease, Hormones, Mental Health

A recent publication in the medical journal Neurology by Dr. Susan Resnick revealed a surprise link between a lack of testosterone and Alzheimer’s disease.

574 men from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who had been followed for about 19 years were analyzed with respect to hormonal factors and their neurological status was also observed. Of these men who ranged in age from 32 to 87 years initially 54 were diagnosed with Alzheimers disease.

When the researchers looked at the hormone status of the men whose mental functioning stayed stable versus those who developed Alzheimers, it was clear that the height of the free testosterone level in the blood (expressed by dividing testosterone by the sex hormone-binding globulin) was a significant predictor for not getting Alzheimers. In other words, if men could maintain a stable level of free testosterone with aging they were significantly protected from Alzheimers disease. The effect was so marked that the blood test could predict 10-years in advance whether a man would develop Alzheimers in future or not. There was a 26% reduction in the risk of Alzheimers with each 10-unit increase in free testosterone.

The same edition of Neurology contains a second report by Dr. Gian Benedetto Melis and coworkers (University of Cagliari, Italy) where around 100 patients (males and females) with Alzheimers were compared with a similar number of patients without Alzheimers. All of their body mass index was in the normal range (20 to 22). These researchers found that the Alzheimers group (both male and female) had an extremely high sex hormone-binding globulin.

Low Testosterone Linked To Alzheimers

Low Testosterone Linked To Alzheimers

The testicles in males and the adrenal glands in males and females can produce testosterone. Dr. Resnick remarked that free testosterone can enter the brain tissue (via the blood brain barrier) easily and act directly on the brain or can be converted to estrogen. Estrogen has been shown in other studies to have a protective effect against Alzheimers. Dr. Resnick cautioned that another study where males with low testosterone levels are getting testosterone supplementation has to be done first before a male should be advised to get treated with testosterone for prevention of Alzheimers disease.

This article is based on a publication by Dr. Resnick et al. in Neurology 2004;62:188-193,301-303.

Comments: It is interesting to note that the “old fashioned” remedies such as weight loss, exercise (particularly anaerobic exercises such as weight training) and a low glycemic diet will naturally increase testosterone levels and vitality in both sexes. A comprehensive program such as the zone diet (by Dr. Barry Sears) or a similar such low glycemic program when combined with exercise will automatically make you lose weight down to a normal body mass index and allow you to maintain it without hunger pangs. It will also normalize hormones in most people on its own as previously elevated insulin levels normalize and the sex hormone-binding globulin will normalize as well. This will make the necessary hormones available to you whether female or male, will prevent osteoporosis (from exercise) and provide enough hormones before and after menopause or andropause to most people. Only a minority of patients will need to get blood tests from their doctors depending on symptoms and those need to seek medical advice to see whether they might benefit from bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Further information can be found here: bioidentical hormone replacement.

Last edited October 26, 2014

Dec
01
2003

Fat Cells Secrete Hormones That Raise Blood Pressure

By | Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Obesity, Prevention

Fat cells are known to secrete a number of substances that affect the lining of the arteries and that are also known to be associated with the metabolic syndrome. One of the observations that physicians were aware of for some time is that aldosterone, a hormone from the adrenal glands, is often elevated in patients with high blood pressure and obesity or people who are overweight.

Dr. Ehrhart-Bornstein and her group from the University Medical Center, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf in Germany investigated this interaction between fat cell metabolites and the cells of the adrenal cortex in more detail. They used a tissue culture model with human adrenocortical cells (NCI-H295R). To their surprise they found two separate hormone factors that were produced by fat cells and that showed in the tissue culture system a 7-fold increase in aldosterone hormone release. As aldosterone is a mineralocorticoid hormone they called these new releasing hormones mineralocorticoid-releasing factors. Further characterization of these factors demonstrated that one was of a higher molecular structure and was heat-sensitive, the other one was smaller in size and was more heat resistant. Each factor alone lost much of the aldosterone releasing activity, but when recombined they had 93% of the original action. Synthesis of messenger RNA inside the adrenocortical cells was stimulated by a factor of 10-fold from the action of the mineralocorticoid-releasing factors. Other hormones were also somewhat stimulated such as release of cortisol by a 3-fold increase and DHEA by a 1.5-fold increase. Other known substances from fat cells were entirely ineffective in this testing system.

Fat Cells Secrete Hormones That Raise Blood Pressure

Adipose cells secreting aldosterone releasing factor

When asked how this new research might fit in with the observation that loss of fat through calorie restriction has a beneficial effect on high blood pressure, the authors commented that with less fat storage in fat cells during weight loss the production of mineralocorticoid-releasing factors would go down significantly and aldosterone would be released at a much lower rate thus decreasing blood pressure through the aldosterone/angiotensin/renin mechanism.

Nov. 12, 2003 paper on which this write-up is based: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC283571/

Last edited October 26, 2014

Dec
01
2003

Help For Patients With Iron Overload

By | Abdominal Pain, Gastrointestinal Disease, Heart Disease, Hormones, Prevention

Patients who are born with an inborn enzyme defect that leads to iron overload (hemochromatosis) and others with secondary hemochromatosis due to sickle cell anemia will benefit from new research by Dr. Gavin Oudit, Dr. Peter Backx, Dr. Peter Liu and others. The researchers at the University of Toronto and Toronto General Hospital have published their findings in the Sept. 15 issue of Nature Medicine.

In animal experiments they found that the same calcium channels that transport calcium to vital organs are also the channels through which poisonous levels of iron are introduced with iron overload disease. In both animal experiments and in the clinical situation, human iron overload affects mainly the pancreas, the heart muscle and the pituitary gland. The authors of this study found that in hemochromatosis patients the calcium channel blockers, such as amlodipine (Norvasc), verapamil or diltiazem will stop the accumulation of toxic levels of iron in these organs.

Dr. Peter Backx, professor of physiology and medicine at U of T in the Heart & Stroke/Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence and senior author of the paper, explained that more detailed research determined that the L-type calcium channels that play a role in the normal calcium transport across the cell membrane are the same channels that allow the iron molecules into the heart muscle cells and into the cells of the other organs that get damaged with hemochromatosis. By using calcium channel blockers, heart drugs that are already on the market, it is possible to prevent accumulation of iron to the point of toxic levels. Up to now the only approach to therapy was to remove excessive iron from the body by expensive iron chelation medication that had to be given intravenously.

Help For Patients With Iron Overload

Further clinical trials on a larger patient population are necessary to determine who will benefit most from this approach of treating iron overload conditions with calcium channel blockers and what dosage to take. Dr. Peter Liu is another senior author regarding this study and is a cardiologist at the Toronto General Hospital and director of the Heart & Stroke/Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence and professor of medicine and physiology at U of T. He stated that this alternative therapy for heart failure from iron overload cardiomyopathy will likely open the doors for those patients worldwide who could not afford to have expensive chelation done, which is presently the only treatment method to remove the excessive iron. People of North American, European, Mediterranean or Asian descent are more prone to genetic hemochromatosis, thalassemia and sickle cell anemia that can all lead to iron overload requiring this type of therapy.

Last edited December 9, 2012

Nov
01
2003

Osteoporosis In Males Is Common

By | Fitness, Health, Hormones, Prevention, Vitamins and supplements

A new study from the University of Toronto/Ontario has shown that contrary to the conventional teaching ostoporosis is not only a problem in females, but also a problem in males. The Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos) showed according to the epidemiologist Natalia Diaz-Granados that in Canada 16% of all women above the age of 50 and 5% of men above the age of 50 developed osteoporosis.

In the past men were thought to be more or less immune to osteoporosis, but this is not so. The results of this study were presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Minneapolis. 1,768 of the 2,884 men who were recruited into CaMos were eligible for the study, because they had not taken oral corticosteroids for three months, and bone scans were taken to measure bone density of their upper femurs (upper thigh bones). 89 men (or 5% of the group of 1768) showed osteoporosis. The mean age of this group was 65 years ranging from 50 to 96.

The researchers studied the high risk factors in men with osteoporosis and found that they were remarkably similar to the risk factors in women with osteoporosis. I have summarized the findings here in tabular form.
The study also showed that for men hip fractures seem to be more lethal than for women as within a year after a hip fracture from osteoporosis more men die. If a physician sees a patient and notices 2 or more of the risk factors identified in the table above, a bone scan to screen for osteoporosis should be done.

Osteoporosis In Males Is Common

Osteoporosis In Males Is Common

There are many more unanswered questions with regard to life styles and nutritional information. It is not known from this study whether the men were physically less active and whether there was a higher alcohol abuse and /or nutritional dysbalance with associated vitamin deficiencies. The authors stated that future research will focus on these factors and on whether biphosphonates (alendronate or Fosamax) are as useful in men with osteoporosis as they are in women.

Risk factors for osteoporosis in men
Risk factor: Explanation:
weight less than normal this may point to poor nutrition, lack of calcium, vit. D etc.
older men bone loss occurs slowly with age, both in men and women
history of smoking smoking reduces blood supply to the nutritional vessels in the bone. This leads to less bone forming cells (osteoblasts)
family history of osteoporosis one or more genes code for osteoporosis. More research needed in this field to develop new medications
history of fracture beyond the age of 50 osteoporosis leads to brittle bones with more fractures. A fracture in this age group should make the physician suspicious of osteoporosis or a metabolic bone problem

Based on an article in The Medical Post, page 78, Oct. 14, 2003.

Link to a chapter of osteoporosis in my Net Health Book.

Last edited December 9, 2012

Aug
01
2003

Newly Detected Hormone May Help Obesity

By | Health, Hormones, Obesity

At a recent meeting of the Endocrine Society in Philadelphia new findings by British researchers were presented regarding hormone interactions with weight problems.

Dr. Simon Aylwin, a consultant from the King’s College Hospital in London, England, presented data showing that peptide hormone PYY levels were much lower in patients who were significantly obese versus normal weight controls.

As Dr. Stephen Bloom’s research group from Imperial College, London, UK had shown earlier, with a meal rich in calories the gut produces the PYY hormone in a way that with higher amounts of calories in food consumed more of the hormone PYY is secreted into the blood stream. The new information that was discussed at the meeting of the Endocrine Society was the fact that these hormone signals are registered in the hypothalamic tissue, a part of the brain situated just above the pituitary gland. It has been known for a long time that weight is regulated by a satiety centre in the hypothalamus. Now it has been appreciated that there are at least two or more pathways of registering weight related hormone signals: one being the gut related PYY hormone that tells the brain that enough food was consumed in a meal, and secondly leptin hormone signals where the hormone leptin is secreted from the fatty tissues in the body, which tells the satiety centre of the brain that not as much food needs to be consumed when our weight has reached a certain threshold.

Newly Detected Hormone May Help Obesity

Newly Detected Hormone May Help Obesity

Dr. Aylwin measured PYY hormone levels in a number of different groups of patients such as in patients who were obese, in patients who had gastric bypass surgery done and in a group who only had gastric banding done. They observed that the group who had bypass surgery done had a higher than normal response of PYY hormone release as a response to a meal. This enabled them to adhere to low calorie meals without any hunger pangs and this group of patients did well in terms of weight control on the longterm.

In contrast to this the group with gastric banding had a flat response curve to the stimulus of a meal with respect to the PYY hormone as did patients with obesity. The low PYY levels in response to meals likely explains why these patients continue to eat too much making their weight loss efforts more difficult.

Dr. Aylwin explained that with future research efforts new forms of medications could be developped that mimic the effects of the PYY hormone leading to satiety and allowing patients to control their weight easier. Dr. Linda Fish, an endocrinologist from the University of Minnesota, mentioned that for excessive obesity with a body mass index of more than 45 the only effective therapy right now would be the invasive gastric bypass procedure. With an anologue type medication that would have the same effect as the PYY hormone, many patients might be able to have persistent weight loss with these new medications allowing them to lose weight persistently without bypass surgery. However, results of this type of research likely would take about 10 years before a new drug would be available to the public.

This summary is based on an article in the July 15, 2003 issue of the Medical Post (page 50) as well as on the newsdesk article entitled “Obesity-is it all in the mind?” in The Lancet Neurology Volume 2, Number 1, January 2003.
Link to related topic (nasal spray for obesity).

Last edited December 9, 2012

Aug
01
2003

HRT; Findings From The British Million Women Study

By | Cancer, Hormones, Women’s Diseases

 

In the latest issue of the Lancet (Lancet 2003;362:414-415,419-427) a study from Great Britain was published regarding the risk of breast cancer. Over 1 million women were followed from 1996 to 2001. They were in the age group of 50 to 64. Of these 80% were postmenopausal, and these formed the basis of the study. Dr. Valerie Beral (from the Cancer Research group UK in Oxford) was the lead investigator. About half of the women were on various forms of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the others were not and served as a control. Risks were always expressed in comparison to the controls without any hormone replacements. Here is a tabular summary of the various hormone replacement therapies and their risks of leading to breast cancer.

The relative risk of developing breast cancer did not significantly change whether HRT was taken orally, transdermally or through implanted formulations. Tibolone is a synthetic steroid used for postmenopausal symptoms and treatment of endometriosis.

Dr. Beral’s group has estimated that in Great Britain in the past 10 years about 20,000 additional cases of breast cancer were caused by HRT for menopause among women aged 50 to 64. Out of these about 75% were due to the use of the combination of estrogen/progestin.

HRT; Findings From The British Million Women Study

HRT; Findings From The British Million Women Study

An accompanying editorial by Dr. Chris van Weel stated that “general practitioners should discourage HRT for their patients” and, if used, should last “no longer than 3-6 months”. The investigators of this study suggested that “discontinuing HRT should be suggested in as supportive a way as possible, because no one will benefit from panic or over-reaction”.

Findings from the British Million Women Study on HRT
Detail of hormone replacement: Breast cancer risk compared to control:
overall risk of HRT for all groups of HRT 1.66-fold
women who stopped HRT the previous year 1.14-fold
estrogen only use currently 1.30-fold
estrogen-progestagen combination
 1.88-fold
tibolone users
 1.45-fold
combination HRT user less than 5 years 1.7-fold
combination HRT user more than 5 years 2.21-fold
equine estrogen combined with medroxyprogesterone acetate and taken at least 5 years 2.42-fold
death rates from breast cancer associated with current use of HRT 1.22-fold

Discussion: Please keep in mind that the British authors of this study were using the drug manufactured synthetic hormone-like substances and NOT bio-identical hormones. The outcome with bio-identical hormones would have shown the opposite, namely that women would not have developed heart attacks, strokes or cancer and they would not have died prematurely. Read more about bio-identical hormone replacement in the links below.

Here is a link to a chapter on menopause from Dr. Schilling’s Net Health Book.

This link deals with bioidentical hormone replacement (see lower half of that page).

Last edited October 26, 2014

Jul
01
2003

Obesity And Metabolic Syndrome

By | Diabetes, Health, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Hormones, Obesity

In the June 10, 2003 edition, following page24, of The Medical Post there was a minisymposium on obesity and the metabolic syndrome (also known as the “syndrome of hyperinsulinism”).

Four specialists had a discussion about this topic: Dr. Ehud Ur (endocrinologist, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada), Dr. Robert Dent (Director of the Weight Management Clinic, Ottawa Hospital, Ont.), Dr. Dominique Garrel (Director of Department of Nutrition and endocrinologist, University of Montreal, Quebec), and Dr. Arya Sharma (Prof. of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.).

Introduction:

Obesity is now a health threat that about 25% of the North American population is suffering from. There is still a lot of discussion what the exact criteria should be, but the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (ATP III) has simplified the detection of the metabolic syndrome.

Obesity And Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity And Metabolic Syndrome

The experts agree that when three or more of the criteria mentioned in this table are positive the person would be considered to have metabolic syndrome.

There is a wide age-related variety: in one study only 7% had metabolic syndrome in the age group of 20 to 29. The same study found 40% of study participants had the metabolic syndrome in the age group of 70 years and older. It is thought that too many calories coupled with too little activity over a longer period of time, perhaps coupled in some people with a genetic tendency to develop metabolic syndrome, leads to an accumulation of abdominal (so-called”visceral”) fat.

Because fat cells have their own hormone systems (leptins etc.) there is a change of metabolism including an elevation of the insulin level with associated loss of “insulin sensitivity”. So, the more obese a person becomes, the less effective insulin becomes in transporting blood sugar through cell walls. At the same time the liver metabolism is changing with the good cholesterol (HDL) being less produced and the bad cholesterol (LDL) being overproduced. The liver will produce a different mix of coagulation factors, which leads to a tendency to form clots in the veins of the legs and in the lungs. As the pancreatic capacity for insulin production gets exhausted over a period of time, the patient eventually develops type 2 diabetes mellitus. Due to the risk of the coronary arteries clogging up with the cholesterol changes and the accelerated hardening of arteries from diabetes, the risk for getting severe heart attacks in obese people with the metabolic syndrome when compared to a normal weight population is about 4-fold.

Elements leading to the diagnosis of “metabolic syndrome”
Finding: Comments:
abdominal obesity waist circumference more than 102 cm in men or more than 88 cm in women
elevated triglyceride level level of 150 mg/dl or higher
low HDL cholesterol level under 40 mg/dl in men or under 50 mg/dl in women
elevated blood pressure systolic or diastolic blood pressure exceeding 130/85 mm Hg
high fasting blood glucose level fasting glucose higher than 110 mg/dl

Treatment of metabolic syndrome:

The experts agreed that a reduction of only 5% to 10% of the body weight through a sensible combination of a mild exercise program (e.g. walking 30 to 45 minutes every day) and a calorie reduced food intake will make a significant difference in terms of normalization of the body chemistry. It is my estimate that perhaps 70% to 90% of all cases of obesity and metabolic syndrome can be treated this way.

However, the remaining cases should continue to see their physician and be followed like the doctor would follow someone who has high blood pressure. There are two types of medications available and they have nothing to do with the Phen-Fen diet pills from not too long ago that were found to cause pulmonary hypertension. These new diet pills are fairly safe and show weight loss results provided the patient co-operates with regard to a modified to low fat diet and some degree of regular exercise.

1. Sibutramine (brand name: Meridia) is a specific brain hormone inhibitor in the area where the appetite zone is located (serotonine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor). This medication helps the patient by experiencing satiety sooner so that the patient does not feel deprived despite less calorie consumption.

It is the medication of choice for those who tend to eat a lot. Like with other anti-depressants side-effects are a dry mouth, heart rate increases and sleep loss (insomnia).

2. Orlistat (brand name: Xenical) inhibits fat uptake at the level of the gastrointestinal wall (gastrointestinal lipase inhibitor). This leads to an inhibition of fat absorption by about 30%. The patient needs to keep the fat intake down to about 2 oz. (=60 gm) per day. If the patient consumes more fat, the side-effect of orlistat will be flatulence, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. If the patient is on a strict low fat diet, there would not be enough fat in the gut for the medication to be effective.

At this point it is not known how long the patient should be on such weight loss medication, if this was the chosen route. The experts felt that 1 year would be reasonable, but that the patient should be observed by the treating physician and it may be necessary after some intermission to go for another year of therapy all the way attempting to permanently change eating and exercise habits as an ongoing maintenance program.

Here is a link to another reference about the metabolic syndrome (syndrome of insulin resistance).

Last edited December 9, 2012

 

Jun
01
2003

Hormones After Menopause (HRT) Not For Everybody

By | Hormones, Prevention, Women’s Diseases

Lately there have been several review articles published in the medical literature about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause for women. A number of longterm follow-up studies have shown that HRT with a combination of estrogen and progesterone hormones is associated with a higher risk of stroke, heart attacks, blood clots and pulmonary embolism. The WAVE trial has recently shown that estrogen replacement does not lead to protection from heart disease or strokes, however exercise and weight loss (from calorie restriction) does.

Two more recent studies add to the story: the one is a study showing that urinary incontinence (=bladder leakage) is much worse on estrogen replacement (HRT) than without it. The other study showed that estrogen replacement leads to dementia of the Alzheimers type.

Here are the details: Dr. Jodi Steinauer (University of California at San Francisco) reported about the findings during the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology meeting at New Orleans. The study was designed to see whether estrogen/progestin hormone replacement would improve bladder function with aging. Episodes of urine loss when coughing, sneezing or running (urinary incontinence) were observed by the 1208 women from the HERS trial (Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study) who were followed along for 4 years. The women were either given a hormone tablet (estrogen/progestin) or a “fake” pill with no hormones (placebo pill). To the surprise of the investigators the opposite of what was expected happened: The HRT group did much worse than the placebo group.

Hormones After Menopause (HRT) Not For Everybody

Hormones After Menopause (HRT) Not For Everybody

After one year urinary incontinence was up 2 to 3-fold in the HRT group and after 4 years this number was up 3 to 5-fold. Of the women who did not have stress incontinence in the beginning, only 38% of the placebo group developed it over 4 years, whereas in the HRT group 54% developed it. The authors concluded that HRT replacement therapy in menopause should be avoided (reported in The Medical Post, page 1 and 86, May 13, 2003).

Recently a new study (JAMA 2203;289:2651-62) showed that dementia was double the rate in older postmenopausal women on HRT than in the placebo group. 4532 postmenopausal women aged 65 years or older from the Women’s Health Initiative’s memory study (“WHIMS”) were followed by researchers for 4 years. The HRT therapy consisted of Prempro (Premarin and Provera). None of the women had dementia in the beginning of the study. After 4 years 21 of the placebo group had developed it (age related), the Prempro group developed 40 dementia cases. It is unclear why the HRT group had developed dementia, but the authors of the study theorize that perhaps a series of mini-strokes would be responsible for this.

In summary, it appears now with more evidence from the literature that HRT should only be given to postmenopausal women in a few selected patients under close medical supervision, but that the majority of women likely should not take it. Osteoporosis can be prevented by regular brisk walks, dietary changes with fat reduction and avoidance of refined sugar etc. as another powerful tool to achieve longevity. Keep in mind that these “hormone” replacement trials were regarding Premarine and Provera, both products of the drug industry. The body reads these hormone-like susbstances as estrogen-like substances and gets an overdose with the regular dosaging. Only bio-identical hormones in the right mix will be heart and brain protective and will work against osteoporosis. In short, the study described above was done with the wrong “hormones” and should have been done with bio-identical hormones. In menopause there are all kinds of reasons why a woman should use bioidentical hormones to return to her previous hormone balance, but it needs to be supervised by a knowledgeable physician with experience in this.

Read the truth about bio-identical hormone replacement under the “menopause” link below.

Here is a link to “menopause”: http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/menopause.php

Last edited December 9, 2012

Apr
01
2003

Menopause And Perimenopause In Women

By | Hormones, Women’s Diseases

In the February 19, 2003, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association there was an extensive review of the topic of menopause and the time before and after menopause, called “perimenopause”.

The authors, Dr. Lori A. Bastian, from Duke University, and colleagues critically reviewed 1,246 articles on this topic and identified 16 studies that were accepted as being reliable regarding the review of this topic.

They were interested in finding menopause symptoms, signs and blood tests that would be reliable in terms of assessing whether a woman would be approaching menopause or would be in menopause. The result was that no single test or symptom was reliable, but that a number of tests and symptoms in combination were very helpful.

Menopause And Perimenopause In Women

Menopause And Perimenopause In Women

They measured reliability by “likelihood ratios (LRs)”. What this means is that any value above 1.0 is significant, but the higher the number, the more reliable and important is this fact or sign. I summarized the findings in table form below.

Results of a Review Study on Menopause in Women
(modifed according to Feb.19, 2003, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association)
Findings:
 Likelihood ratio (LR): Comments (by Dr. Ray Schilling):
self assessment of going through the transition 1.83 this is based on the effects of the changing hormones on the woman and how she feels it
is affecting her
symptoms of hot flashes 3.10 lack of estrogen from ovaries leads to a lability of the skin blood vessels with increased skin perfusion as well as stimulation of the sweat glands
night sweats 1.90
 sleep pattern is changed and there is a loss of the day / night rhythm of skin perfusion
vaginal dryness 2.64 due to lack of estrogen
high follicle-stimulating
hormone levels		 3.06 feedback from estrogen missing, which stimulates the hypothalamus of the brain to produce more
FSH hormone
low inhibin levels 2.05 this is a newer test, which is more specific than the FSH test and also has some importance in fertility work-ups
Self-assessment of perimenopausal status 0.25 this is not a reliable test as it is below 1.0. It was included to show how good the other tests are in comparison

The authors concluded that there is no need for blood tests for menopause diagnosis in a woman, if several points of the first 4 findings are positive (top part of the table).

Here is a link regarding menopause.

Last edited December 9, 2012

Mar
01
2003

Men Need Testosterone For the Male Menopause

By | Hormones, Men's Health

Introduction

Men need testosterone for the male menopause as their testicles no longer produce enough of the male hormone. At a recent continuing education meeting at the University of Calgary in Alberta/Canada, which was reported in the Jan. 14, 2003 edition of the Medical Post, Dr. Norman Wong (professor of medicine, biochemistry and molecular biology) reviewed the symptoms, investigations and treatment modalities available for men who experience andropause (the male equivalent of menopause). They are as follows (my summary in table form).

Here is a link to the ADAM questionnaire regarding andropause by Dr. Morley, a geriatrician at the St. Louis University in Missouri. If you answer “yes” to question #1 and #7 (sexual dysfunction or lack of sex drive) or if you answer “yes” to any three of the other total of 10 questions, you should see your physician and ask for a testosterone blood test.

The testosterone blood test

What should you know about testosterone blood tests? What counts is the free testosterone or bioavailable testosterone. Dr. Ronald Swerdloff, professor of internal medicine and endocrinology at the UCLA School of Medicine in Torrance, California, stated at this conference that testosterone production decreases with aging, but is actually also one of the causes of aging. Testosterone levels decrease 1% to 2% every year from the age of 30 onwards. However, the sex hormone binding protein (SHBP) can buffer these changes for a certain period of time, if the SHBP is binding less testosterone thus keeping the free or biologically available testosterone relatively stable for a number of decades or years.

Replacement of missing testosterone

Often, however, the andropausal men who need testosterone replacement have high SHBP levels. Nobody knows why some men have problems earlier than others. So, if the free testosterone serum level is low (and the LH and FSH hormones are low or normal) this means that this man should have testosterone replacement therapy, if there are also clinical signs and symptoms of hormone deficiency.

Testosterone For Male Menopause (Andropause)

Testosterone For Male Menopause (Andropause)

Gonadotropins

As can be seen from this link to menopause in women , the pituitary hormones LH and FSH, which are also known as gonadotropins, should be high to indicate that the feedback mechanism between the estrogen (or in the male the testosterone) no longer suppresses the production of these gonadotropins. The fact that this mechanism is lost in most older men shows that the hormone deficiency is likely much more profound than a simple deficiency, it may actually be indicative of the aging process of the hormone glands themselves. The good news though is that with a simple testosterone patch this can be fixed. Your doctor can discuss this further with you.

Injections of testosterone

Other possibilities are injections every 3 to 4 weeks with a Depo-testosterone hormone preparation or tablets. However, with the tablets the problem is that this will get metabolized in the liver and higher amounts of hormone are required to overcome the liver barrier. Liver cancer has been reported in a small percentage of men taking tablets for a long period of time.  I think that testosterone tablets are not safe for this reason. Prostate cancer is the other worry and regular PSA tests and prostate exams should be done by your doctor. No clinical trials are available regarding the safety of long term testosterone replacement in andropausal men. Dr. Swerdloff recommended to replace only in the lower dose range to the point where the free testosterone serum values are just barely in the normal range and the clinical signs and symptoms disappear. Avoid overtreatment with testosterone.

Andropause symptoms (male menopause)
Symptoms: Comments:
loss of sex drive (libido) testosterone from the testicles, is responsible for a normal sex drive
erectile dysfunction
(impotence)		 inability to have sustained erections
loss of male characteristics loss of male type hair distribution, deep voice, muscle mass etc.
fatigue and depression brain hormones dysbalanced from low testosterone levels
decrease in muscle mass, increase in fat mass lack of testosterone responsible for muscle loss and change in bone metabolism
oligospermia or azoospermia too little sperm count or no sperm present

Additional information about effects of testosterone

Addendum Nov. 2, 2012: At the 19th Annual World Congress Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine in Las Vegas (December 8-10, 2011) Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, a Harvard trained urologist explained that with bio-identical testosterone replacement there is no longer any concern about prostate or liver cancer with long-term use. It has been one of the “medical myths” that has been around. Dr. Morgentaler also noted that testosterone replacement is safe and actually prevents prostate cancer. He suggested replacement of testosterone with blood values being in the higher range of normal.

See also link to andropause/male menopause from the Net Health Book.