Treatment for Low Testosterone Symptoms

Where id was, ego shall be.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

July 28, 2011 - Lately ads for testosterone therapy have begin to rival ads for Viagra and Cialis. I refer to IsitlowT.com and Ageless Male,T.M. ads on television and talk radio.

Testosterone pitches for youthful rejuvenation are based on this premise. As you age, your testosterone levels drop, your strength ebbs, your energy levels decline, your concentration suffers, and your sexual potency goes away.

• The AAG (Anti Aging Group) out of Miami, who run the isitlowT.com ads, describes your aging problem this way.

“You’re lethargic and your energy level is not what it was….Your body is becoming soft and flabby….You’re having problems with focus and concentration….Your sex drive is down and you may be having difficulties achieving an erection.”

AAG offers these treatment solutions:

ESTOSTERONE THERAPY FOR MEN WITH LOW T (LOW TESTOSTERONE) SYMPTOMS. TESTOSTERONE INJECTIONS, CREAMS & GELS TO TREAT EFFECTS OF MALE MENOPAUSE (ANDROPAUSE) OR HORMONE DEFICIENCY WITH DOCTOR PRESCRIBED HORMONE MEDICATIONS FOR HRT - HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY AT AAG HEALTH.COM - THE BEST TESTOSTERONE TREATMENT CENTER AND HORMONE DOCTORS. TESTOSTERONE PRESCRIPTIONS FOR INJECTABLE TESTOSTERONE REPLACEMENT OR PRESCRIPTION TESTOSTERONE CREAM / GEL REQUIRES A COMPLETE MEDICAL EVALUATION AND PROPER DIAGNOSIS OF HORMONE DEFICIENCY BY A PHYSICIAN AT THE MALE HORMONE CENTER.

• Ageless Male, TM, out of Arlington, Texas, offers an alternative – “an all natural dietary supplement clinically proven to increase testosterone levels by 61%, but still with a normal health range.” It says this supplement “helps Support Normal Testosterone Levels, Which in Turn, Helps support:

• Healthy Sex Drive

• Energy Production

• Positive Mood

• Lean Muscle

• Strong Bones

• Concentration

• More Zest for Life!"

In other words,if you want to become a lean, mean, energetic, sexual machine, take testosterone nutritional supplements and return your testosterone levels to "normal."

Much of this advertising may succeed because of the psychological placebo effect. The placebo effect is defined, as “a sense of benefit felt by a patients that arise solely from the knowledge that that treatment has been given.” If you believe something works, it may indeed work. The male ego may think testosterone treatments will restore his id.

Judging from the volume of ads promising youthful testosterone rejuvenation, the message is powerful, profitable, but it may also be potentially dangerous.

Perhaps no danger exists from dietary testosterone supplements. I do not know, because the ingredients of these “natural dietary supplements” are unknown and unregulated. The caveat or hedge phrase with testosterone supplements is that they help support “normal testosterone levels” as opposed to elevated levels, which can be harmful.

As it turns out, elevated testosterone levels induced by human growth hormone and testosterone injections or gels can be downright dangerous by raising the risk of heart attacks and stroke in vulnerable males.

A July 28 2010 New England Journal of Medicine article, “Adverse Events Associated with Testosterone Administration,” by 28 academics, found in a study of 209 men (mean age 74), with a high prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipemia, and obesity, that 23 of the 209 testosterone treated group had “cardiovascular events” compared to 5 in the placebo group. The testosterone group, however, had significant improvements in leg-press, chest press, and climbing stairs while carrying a load.

Taking testosterone to build your muscles, increase your stamina, increase your feeling of youthfulness, and restoring your id may damage your blood vessels. Your choice of whether to take testosterone depends on your present health, how strong you want to become, and how long you want to live.

If I were a poet and a testosterone ad man, my ad copy might read,

Hey, you guys with an ego,
Don’t your youth forego.

Restore your id.
Stop the age skid.

Let those juices flow.
With youth again glow,

But be aware,
Be fair.

High testosterone levels,
Can be blood vessel devils.