Male hormone health risk warning

The core risk of abnormal male hormones (clinically refers to serum total testosterone) has never been as simple as the "decreased sexual desire" that everyone ridicules - it is a hidden warning signal for metabolic disorders, bone loss, emotional and cognitive impairment, and even cardiovascular disease. After the age of 30, annual physical examination of serum total testosterone is one of the most cost-effective investments in men's health.

A while ago, a 38-year-old Internet programmer, Xiao Zhang, was admitted to the outpatient clinic. When he came in, he said that he hadn't touched his wife in half a year. He always felt tired. He tossed and turned at night and couldn't sleep. He was distracted during meetings during the day and missed several project requirements. He also always lost his temper with his colleagues. He thought it was a "mid-life crisis + high work pressure", so he just got over it. It wasn't until he recently gained 20 pounds and had a big belly that he couldn't fit into his previous pants, that he thought to come and take a look. A blood test showed that the total serum testosterone was only 6.8nmol/L, which was less than two-thirds of the lower limit of the normal reference range for adult men (9.9nmol/L). A glucose tolerance test also showed that he had reached the standard of prediabetes.

Regarding the intervention threshold for abnormal testosterone, there have been different opinions in the academic community. Even the slow decline of testosterone with related symptoms that occurs after the age of 30 is known as late-onset hypogonadism (LOH), and the diagnostic standards have not yet been completely unified. The traditional view of endocrinology is more cautious: Only when total serum testosterone is consistently lower than 8 nmol/L and is accompanied by clear symptoms such as erectile dysfunction, loss of libido, and bone pain, medical intervention needs to be initiated. Otherwise, it is easy to cause excessive medical treatment and inhibit one's own testosterone secretion. However, many practitioners in the fields of men's medicine and sports medicine prefer "early warning": After the age of 30, men's testosterone will naturally decline at a rate of 1%-2% per year. Although the value is still stuck in the reference range, many people have already experienced symptoms of "functional testosterone deficiency" such as persistent fatigue, abdominal obesity, and depressed mood. At this time, it is much more useful to adjust their lifestyle in advance than to wait for the indicator to fall below the critical value before supplementing with hormones. Many 30-40-year-old men I have come into contact with fall into this situation of "seeming to have normal indicators, but in fact their condition has collapsed." After adjusting their work and rest and adding regular strength training for 3 months, testosterone can increase by about 20%, and the whole person's condition is completely different.

Many people's understanding of testosterone is still at the level of "regulatory sexual function". In fact, its impact on the whole body is much greater than you think. There used to be a 42-year-old business executive whose blood lipids and blood pressure were stuck at the critical value during the annual physical examination. He usually felt nothing but occasional chest tightness. He always felt that he was young and could handle it. Until he had chest pain after a social event and sent him to the doctor. An angiogram showed that his coronary arteries had been blocked by 40%. When he went back to check his hormones, he found that his testosterone was 40% lower than the normal value for the same age group. Later, we jointly followed him up with the cardiology department, adjusted his lifestyle and supplemented with low-dose hormones. Half a year later, his low-density lipoprotein dropped directly to the normal range, and even the antihypertensive drugs he had taken before were reduced by half. There are also many people in their 50s and 60s who develop osteoporosis and fracture frequently. After searching and searching, they could not find the cause. Finally, it was discovered that bone loss was caused by long-term low testosterone. This situation is especially common in men who smoke, drink, and sit for long periods of time.

Nowadays, there are a lot of confusing opinions about testosterone supplementation on the Internet, and there are also many people who misstep it. Many young fitness guys secretly buy anabolic steroids to build muscle quickly. It seems like they can build muscles in a few months. In fact, many people suffer from hair loss, 0 sperm motility, and testicular atrophy in their 20s. This kind of irreversible damage cannot be saved no matter how much conditioning is done. There are also some people who blindly buy testosterone undecanoate when they feel tired, and do not go to the hospital for a check-up. They take it for a long time and overdo it. Instead, they develop problems such as increased red blood cells and prostate hyperplasia. As for the "food supplements" that everyone often talks about, the views of nutrition and men's medicine are also different: Nutritionists believe that zinc and selenium in oysters and animal offal are indeed necessary elements for the synthesis of testosterone. However, as long as you are not partial to an eclipse in your daily diet, you will basically not be lacking. No matter how much you eat, it will not make your testosterone exceed the normal range. ； However, many andrology clinicians will feel that if you always eat high-fat and high-sugar takeaways and have insufficient trace element intake, eating more of these foods will indeed help maintain testosterone levels. There is no need to completely deny the role of food supplements, just don't regard it as a "miracle drug".

In fact, to put it bluntly, testosterone is a barometer of your physical condition. Problems with it are never isolated. Every late night you stay up, every drink you drink, and every pound of fat you gain on your belly will eventually be reflected in your hormone levels. Oh, by the way, I would like to remind those who want to check their testosterone to get their blood drawn on an empty stomach between 8 and 10 o'clock in the morning. The testosterone level during this time period is the highest in the day. If you go to check it in the afternoon, the value will naturally be lower, which will scare you for a long time for no reason. Don’t always think that “low testosterone means kidney deficiency.” Eat kidney-tonifying health products indiscriminately. Many illegally added health products contain Viagra. Taking too much will aggravate hormone disorders. If you really feel that something is wrong, go get a blood draw first. It costs more than 100 yuan and is more accurate than anything else.