PROCESAMIENTO ESTADÍSTICO Y ANÁLISIS DE DATOS

68 Day 7 Action Plan

Read today’s discussion.

Measure the level of your major hormones. If you need direction in this area, then go to my website or call me at 251-625-2612 or send me an e-mail.

3. Go to my website for further reading on hormone replacement for men (updated regularly).

69 Day 7 Discussion

The next step to improve your sexual function is to optimize your body’s major hormones.

Many things can cause hormones to become too low or too high. Causes of lower levels (leading to decreased libido) include head trauma (even without loss of consciousness), testicular trauma, infections (viral and bacterial), and aging.

When levels are checked, there’s a broad range within which doctors will consider levels to be normal but the response of your body to different hormonal levels within this normal range can be tremendous. So micromanaging this hormonal system to the optimal level not only for each hormone but also as each hormone relates to the others gives better results (for example testosterone levels should be 12 to 15 times as much as Estradiol levels for optimal libido in a man). Even moving levels up and down within the normal range can be beneficial.

There is no evidence that high testosterone levels are associated with prostate cancer.

There’s a greater association with prostate cancer and eating meat than there is with high testosterone levels.

Some mail order salivary testing is available. I prefer blood testing, but salivary testing can be useful. Consider the definition of concentration (which is what you’re checking when you do a blood hormonal or salivary hormonal test). You’re looking at the parts of solute compared with the volume of solution. If you put 3 ping-pong balls into a gallon of water, then you would have 3 balls per gallon of water. Then if you take out ½ gallon of water (as water would be taken out of the salivary gland if you were dehydrated) then you would have 3 balls per ½ gallon or 6 balls per gallon.

When you measure hormone levels (like testosterone levels), you’re measuring amounts per volume of blood. If you measure the level in saliva, then you’re measuring the amount of hormone per volume of saliva. The tricky part of salivary testing of hormone levels is that the volume of saliva is not controlled as precisely as the volume of blood. If you’re a little

dehydrated your mouth becomes dry but your blood volume will stay the same because your kidneys conserve water. Salivary testing can correlate well; just be sure to stay well hydrated (drink 8 to 10 glasses of water) on the day you collect the saliva.

If you’re curious, I can arrange for someone to come to your house or place of business to draw your blood for testing. When I report the values back to you, if you find that things are not as they should be I can make further recommendations about where to go to have the abnormalities corrected.

The High Octane Hormones

The hormones to measure are as follows:

DHEA-S: a precursor to testosterone and estrogen but with effects of it’s own. High dosages unpredictably raise either estradiol or testosterone. Adequate levels of testosterone are difficult to achieve by simply taking this hormone. Better to replace the DHEA for it’s own effects and replace testosterone and estrogen separately as needed.

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Testosterone: corrected up to 700 to 900 (around the 70^th percentile). This level should be 12 to 15 times greater than your estradiol levels (if you’re a man).

IGF-1: this gives an idea of growth hormone production and should be above 200 and less than 250. Some physicians will push as high as 300, which can be acceptable in some cases. Levels less than 90 are associated with disease but Blue Cross and other carriers have arbitrarily ruled within the past couple of years that they will not pay for growth hormone replacement unless there are other hormones that are low. Don’t think cost doesn’t have something to do with this one. Can you imagine Blue Cross ruling that they would not pay for thyroid replacement unless other hormones are low? But then thyroid only costs a few dollars per month and growth hormone can cost a few hundred dollars a month. Another case where money and not science and your best interest has determined insurance policies.

Estradiol: shoot for a goal of around 40 to 60. Levels less than 40 are associated with dementia even in males. It’s a know carcinogen and still many women take estrogen without ever having a level drawn. If women aren’t routinely checked, you can bet there’s a good chance you’re level’s never been checked if you’re a man. This one’s important because if it’s too high, testosterone replacement will not have its desired effect. Testosterone replacement can inadvertently raise estrogen levels so both levels should usually be checked when testosterone dosages are increased.

Thyroid: should check a Free T3 and a Free T4 and TSH. If you think you’ve had your thyroid checked, look and see which tests were done. If all three of the above tests were not done, you could still have undiagnosed hypothyroidism. Your thyroid levels should be corrected up to the upper 75%. The lower 25% of normal (even though technically normal) is associated with increased risk of dementia and heart disease.

All of the hormones are interrelated. For example, if you add testosterone to your body, you’ll see a decrease in thyroid binding globulin, which can cause an increase in active thyroid levels. Adding testosterone can also increase growth hormone production. Supplementing a low thyroid level can also cause an increase in growth hormone production. Your liver converts testosterone into estradiol, so if you increase your testosterone level you will usually see and increase in estradiol levels. These are a few of the changes in hormone levels that occur with changing testosterone levels. I think you can see that supplementing several hormones can sometimes lead to a variety of forces that can sometimes be unpredictable. There’s a fine art to manipulating hormone levels within the normal range to optimize function and avoid complications. You will head of problems and maximize benefit if you take hormones supervised by a physician who understands the interrelation of the hormones.

If your physician gives you testosterone without keeping up with the other important hormones or if you’re buying your hormones on the internet and self medicating you may see sub maximal results or even detrimental results.

Hormone Worries

Let’s address some of the concerns people have with hormone replacement:

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If I take testosterone, will it make me more aggressive? Answer: Low testosterone levels are associated with anxiety and irritability. Low levels probably cause more fights and aggression between spouses than do high levels.

Replacing low testosterone levels back up to normal usually calms people. When I give testosterone to males or to females, they usually find more peace and less aggression in their homes. Things that irritated them at one time no longer have any effect.

Why do I need to check growth hormone levels since I’m an adult and finished growing? Answer: Low levels can cause dementia, fatigue, increased arteriosclerosis, and obesity around the abdomen, increased heart disease, high cholesterol, depression, and decreased firmness of erection. Although replacing low testosterone levels back to normal boosts libido the most; replacing growth hormone levels back to normal does the most for firmness of erection.

Will I need to be on these hormones for the rest of my life? Answer: It