Got Testosterone?

[yugo308guy]

Makes much more sense, and even then, I'm surprised. Do you get tested the day the next injection is due and at the same time in the am? Over 800 at 100mg per week is still unusually high. Not a bad thing at all, just unusual. Most wish they could hit that level at that dose, which does not include the docs that for reasons not supported by science, seem to want to keep people 500 ish.

I Inject on Tuesday evening, and get blood drawn on Thursday around 4:00pm.

[WillBrink]

A interesting study this. This was done in a mouse model, so keep that in mind. However, there are some studies that simply can't be done in humans and this one likely a human equivalent study:


Chronic depletion of gonadal testosterone leads to blood-brain barrier dysfunction and inflammation in male mice.
J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2016 Jan 1:271678X16683961

Abstract

A dysfunction in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is associated with many neurological and metabolic disorders. Although sex steroid hormones have been shown to impact vascular tone, endothelial function, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses, there are still no data on the role of testosterone in the regulation of BBB structure and function.

In this context, we investigated the effects of gonadal testosterone depletion on the integrity of capillary BBB and the surrounding parenchyma in male mice. Our results show increased BBB permeability for different tracers and endogenous immunoglobulins in chronically testosterone-depleted male mice.

These results were associated with disorganization of tight junction structures shown by electron tomography and a lower amount of tight junction proteins such as claudin-5 and ZO-1. BBB leakage was also accompanied by activation of astrocytes and microglia, and up-regulation of inflammatory molecules such as inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF).

Supplementation of castrated male mice with testosterone restored BBB selective permeability, tight junction integrity, and almost completely abrogated the inflammatory features. The present demonstration that testosterone transiently impacts cerebrovascular physiology in adult male mice should help gain new insights into neurological and metabolic diseases linked to hypogonadism in men of all ages.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28256950

[WillBrink]

Recent study not only did not find an association between CVD and TRT, it found a statically significant drop in those on TRT.

LONDON — Testosterone replacement therapy does not appear to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease or thromboembolic events in middle-aged men, but it does increase the risk for obstructive sleep apnea, results from a large cohort study suggest.

In fact, the risk for a cardiovascular event was lower in men taking supplemental testosterone than in those who were not, said lead investigator Julian Hanske, MD, from Ruhr University Bochum in Herne, Germany, who collaborated on the study during a fellowship at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.

But physicians should know whether a patient suffers from obstructive sleep apnea before prescribing testosterone, Dr Hanske said here at the European Association of Urology 2017 Congress.

Cohort studies of the cardiovascular and thromboembolic consequences of supplemental testosterone have generally relied on sources such as the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare database, which is limited to an older population, he told Medscape Medical News.

To get a better handle on the relative risks associated with testosterone replacement therapy in a younger population, Dr Hanske and his team searched the TRICARE American military insurance database, which covers all retired and active-duty military personnel and their dependents.

Cont:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/877786

Source: European Association of Urology (EAU) 2017 Congress: Abstract 256. Presented March 25, 2017.

[WillBrink]

inguinal hernias may be hormonal, at least in older men. A most interesting finding. Needs additional data for sure but if correct, yet another reason to track and balance hormones as we age:


The Endocrine Society.Public Release: 3-Apr-2017

Hormones are behind hernias of the groin in elderly men, study suggests


"Researchers have identified an apparent cause of inguinal hernia, or groin hernia, in older men: altered sex hormone levels that weaken and scar muscle tissue in the lower abdomen. "We have discovered that both increased estrogen action and decreased testosterone action leads to inguinal hernia formation," said Hong Zhao, MD. As men age, their estrogen levels increase and their testosterone levels drop. The researchers found that their mouse model mimics the increased estrogen formation in the tissue and the decreasing blood testosterone levels seen in elderly men. Furthermore, when they looked at the rodents' muscle tissue from the lower abdomen, they found tissue atrophy (weakening) and fibrosis (scarring), comparable to that observed in human muscle tissue specimens from patients who had undergone inguinal hernia operations."

Cont:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...-hab040117.php

[WillBrink]

interesting finding here, TRT delay progression of chronic kidney disease:

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) may delay progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and lower the risk of death in men with hypogonadism, new findings presented at the National Kidney Foundation's 2017 Spring Clinical Meetings suggest.

Archana Goel, MD, of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and colleagues analyzed data from a large cohort of veterans diagnosed with low total testosterone (TT). The investigators divided patients into 2 groups: those treated and who had normalization of TT (38,708 men) and those who were not treated (9755 men) and continued to have low TT. The treated and untreated groups had follow-up times of 6.1 and 5.1 years, respectively.

The groups did not differ significantly in the number of days until patients had a 30% or greater increase in serum creatinine or doubling of serum creatinine from baseline, the investigators reported in a poster presentation. The treated group, however, showed a significant delay in the progression of CKD as measured by days to serum creatinine increases of 1.5 or higher and 3.0 mg/dL or higher. TRT delayed the time to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), as defined by a serum creatinine level greater than 6.0 mg/dL) by 284 days and time to death by 328 days. Compared with the untreated men, the treated men had a 24% decreased risk of ESRD and 25% decreased risk of death.

Dr Goel's group concluded that “TRT does not associate with significant disadvantages at earlier stages of CKD, but rather a significant decrease and delay in all-cause mortality and delay in progression toward ESRD.”

Cont:

http://www.renalandurologynews.com/n...AwMTgwNTI4OAS2

[joffe]

I'm gonna go have my bloodwork done, but I sorta doubt it's low.. my only symptoms are constantly being tired and being small and weak, but I guess that's just who I am.

[WillBrink]

I'm gonna go have my bloodwork done, but I sorta doubt it's low.. my only symptoms are constantly being tired and being small and weak, but I guess that's just who I am.

It may be involved, but only way to know is you test it. It's either something to address, or something to rule out.

[Hmac]

inguinal hernias may be hormonal, at least in older men. A most interesting finding. Needs additional data for sure but if correct, yet another reason to track and balance hormones as we age:


The Endocrine Society.Public Release: 3-Apr-2017

Hormones are behind hernias of the groin in elderly men, study suggests


"Researchers have identified an apparent cause of inguinal hernia, or groin hernia, in older men: altered sex hormone levels that weaken and scar muscle tissue in the lower abdomen. "We have discovered that both increased estrogen action and decreased testosterone action leads to inguinal hernia formation," said Hong Zhao, MD. As men age, their estrogen levels increase and their testosterone levels drop. The researchers found that their mouse model mimics the increased estrogen formation in the tissue and the decreasing blood testosterone levels seen in elderly men. Furthermore, when they looked at the rodents' muscle tissue from the lower abdomen, they found tissue atrophy (weakening) and fibrosis (scarring), comparable to that observed in human muscle tissue specimens from patients who had undergone inguinal hernia operations."

Cont:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...-hab040117.php

Another rat study from "the lab" addressing a problem that we're not even sure exists.

Are you aware of ANY studies that associate inguinal hernia with testosterone levels in humans?

[WillBrink]

Another rat study from "the lab" addressing a problem that we're not even sure exists.

Not sure I follow that one. is inguinal hernias not a thing?

Are you aware of ANY studies that associate inguinal hernia with testosterone levels in humans?

Not that I'm aware of. Proof of concept often starts in animal models and moves to RCTs and or correlational human data. Per above, I was very clear it should be taken with a grain O salt at this time, but interesting I thought. The study is highly suggested but far from conclusive. Comes under interesting but needs more data

[Hmac]

Not sure I follow that one. is inguinal hernias not a thing?

Inguinal hernia in rats is not a thing.

Not that I'm aware of. Proof of concept often starts in animal models and moves to RCTs and or correlational human data. Per above, I was very clear it should be taken with a grain O salt at this time, but interesting I thought. The study is highly suggested but far from conclusive. Comes under interesting but needs more data

Incidental rat observations in the lab more often results in a clinical dead end when trying to apply to humans, however. Don't interpret any of this to mean that I'm pooh-poohing the problem...I'm pooh-poohing the drawing of any conclusions without any correlative data in humans. It would be an exceptionally easy thing to study. So easy that I think that the fact that it hasn't been studied is telling.



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