When a man experiences abnormal fatigue, decreasing libido and starts to gain weight around the middle, often the cause is a deficiency in the male sexual hormone testosterone.
Though this is typically a problem among older men, it is being diagnosed increasingly in younger men. Sometimes, however, the cause of the symptoms is unclear and a treatment is not necessary.
The problem affects a lot of men. The testosterone level in an estimated 20 percent of German men being treated by their general practitioner is too low.
“We have determined that 30 to 40-year-old men also can have low testosterone when certain factors combine,” said Harald Joern Schneider, an endocrinologist at the University of Munich. These include weight gain, particularly at the waistline, and chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, elevated blood lipids and obesity.
The reason overweight plays such a role is fatty tissue contains an enzyme that transforms testosterone into estrogen, the female hormone, said Jens Jacobeit, a physician in a Hamburg clinic that specializes in endocrinology.
Stress also enters into the picture as a possible trigger for the condition. The stress hormone cortisone suppresses testosterone production, Jacobeit said. A testosterone deficiency, however, can have other more clear-cut causes such as dysfunction of the pituitary gland or the testicles.
But the diagnosis can still raise questions because the symptoms vary and there is no symptom that without a doubt points to a testosterone deficiency, Schneider said. A series of things come into question, for example a reduction in sexual desire, difficulty in getting an erection, fatigue, a decline in muscle mass and an increase in body fat. There are, however, people with reduced to low testosterone values who live completely without problems.
“When a man wants a prescription for a testosterone supplement just because of low libido or erectile dysfunction, it counterproductive because these symptoms often have entirely different causes,” said Harald Klein, professor of general endocrinology at Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. He rejects the idea of using testosterone as a lifestyle and anti-aging medicine. Too much testosterone can cause liver damage and any other risks of taking it are not yet known.
But a man who clearly has a deficiency should take a testosterone substitute. Otherwise, bone density can be affected, causing irreparable damage. A key point is that the patient should see an expert such as an endocrinologist or an andrologist, a physician who specializes in men’s health.
“The diagnosis does not belong in the hands of an internist or general practitioner,” Jacobeit said.
And the specialist must carefully weigh the gains and the risks of a therapy. Often it’s possible to resolve the problems without medicine.
“When the patient loses weight, he has a good chance of getting his testosterone level back to normal,” Schneider said.
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
POINTING FINGERS: The two countries have accused each other of firing first, with Bangkok accusing Phnom Penh of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis yesterday. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported that one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and
‘OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE’: Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen are to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss EU-China relations and geopolitical challenges Top leaders from China and the EU are to hold a summit in Beijing this week, as the major economic powers seek to smooth over disputes ranging from trade to the Ukraine conflict. Beijing and Brussels have been gearing up to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, but a suite of squabbles over state subsidies, market access and wartime sanctions have dampened the festivities. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would visit on Thursday. The statement came after the EU