Testosterone For Men, And, Yes, For Women,Too
In middle age, men will begin very slowly to notice a group of symptoms attributable to the decline of their male hormone testosterone. The medical term for this is “andropause” sometimes called “male menopause.” I see billboards along the expressways referred to “low T.” Here’s andropause: a loss of your sex drive (libido); erectile dysfunction; mood swings; reduced ability to exercise and develop muscles; general lack of enthusiasm; fat redistribution (“belly fat”); grumpiness (really!), memory loss, insomnia.
There’s been some debate among physicians about the value of giving middle aged and older men supplemental testosterone. Should men just accept these changes as inevitable or do something? I’m in the “do something” camp and Big Pharma was almost, but not quite, helpful. Several products came out, quite expensive of course, often not covered by insurance, and from both the doctor’s and the patient’s point of view, sort of disappointing in their effectiveness.
Sure, these products raised your testosterone a few points, but most men didn’t notice anything dramatic. With insurance often denying coverage out of pocket costs became an issue. Then, when one study showed increased heart attacks among users (since disproven and actually low testosterone turned out to be a real heart risk). Another study was concerned about prostate cancer (again disproved) testosterone replacement started losing favor.
However, testosterone is back, and patients are liking it.
The problem had been threefold...
