Many studies show testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to be safe, restorative, and protective. But, some people remain unaware of TRT's potential benefits for long-term health. Modern studies1 show TRT is perfectly safe, yet stigma still holds many people back.
It is time to see the facts for what they are – TRT is nothing to fear.
What Does Testosterone Do?
The adrenal glands and testes secrete the hormone testosterone and, in women, the ovaries. As we age, testosterone production slows, and symptoms of aging start to set in. This decline is hugely significant because testosterone contributes to maintaining muscle mass and fat loss. It improves mood, supports sexual function, and protects against certain diseases. So, as it declines, the protection it provides to your mind and body starts to diminish. We can avoid many uncomfortable and often dangerous symptoms by replacing these lost hormones.
Testosterone replacement therapy can offer protection from:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Stroke
- Heart attacks
- Excess body fat
- Erectile disfunction
- Type 2 diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
- Alzheimer's
- Hypertension
- Osteoporosis
- Arthritis
- Certain cancers
- Inflammation
The benefits don't just stop there. Testosterone also helps improve lean muscle mass, increase bone density, improve skin tone, increase libido, and in some cases reverse erectile dysfunction.
What is Testosterone Deficiency?
In the 1940s, doctors recognized that testosterone deficiency (TD) adversely impacts men's health. When men reach their 30's and 40s, testosterone and thyroid hormone levels slowly decline. As hormone production slows, symptoms associated with TD can appear.
All men are different and experience signs of low T at various hormone levels. But, in their 40's many experience symptoms often blamed on 'getting older.' The truth is that it may not be just symptoms of old age they are experiencing. Hormone decline is often to blame.
What are the typical symptoms of low testosterone?
- Decreased energy and vigor
- Loss of bone and muscle mass
- Metabolic syndrome 2
- Insulin resistance
- Heart Attack and stroke risk 3
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Obesity 4
- Dyslipidemia 5 (high cholesterol)
- Sexual dysfunction
- Poor sleep
- Sarcopenia (muscle loss) and frailty
- Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
- Reduced motivation
- Fatigue
- Depressed mood
- Joint pain
- Anemia
- Inflammation 6
- Reduced quality of life (QoL)
- Increased mortality
- Coronary artery disease 7
- Atherosclerosis (plaque in your arteries)
TRT has a Long History
Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) has been around since the beginning of the 1940s. For various reasons, since then, it's taken the world a while to realize the true potential of this incredibly effective form of treatment. For the past 70 or 80 years, fears that TRT causes prostate cancer, blood clots, and heart attacks have hindered progress in this field of medicine. Still, even after years of research and knowing that these worries are untrue, many remain hesitant about TRT.
It's Time to Embrace Your Hormones
Many now believe bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is completely safe. When following the correct protocols, BHRT has the potential to change the direction of modern medicine completely. Doctors no longer have to wait for people to get ill before treating them. Using hormones, they can protect patients from many age-related issues and diseases.
The fact is that testosterone deficiency, not hormone replacement, causes many adverse conditions. Testosterone replacement therapy can help reverse and avoid the many pitfalls of aging. In a perfect world, all men over 45 would use TRT. It's time to debunk the myths surrounding TRT so people can live in the knowledge that TRT is safe and effective, and the clinical evidence shows it!
What do Studies Say About the Benefits of TRT?
Testosterone Therapy Builds Muscle, Reduces Fat, and Improves Body Composition
The leading cause of many age-related diseases in men is visceral fat. Evidence also shows that many men who are overweight have lower testosterone levels. Add to that the countless studies showing TRT helps combat weight gain and reduces visceral fat, and the answer seems pretty obvious.
TRT increases muscle mass and reduces fat. TRT also improves skeletal muscle and bone density. Long-term, TRT reduces waist circumference, helps stop fat cells forming, and improves body mass index.
These benefits are not surprising when you consider that testosterone regulates your metabolism. It also aids the conversion of proteins into muscle, potentially reversing muscle loss. Studies 10 showed higher testosterone levels reduce the loss of lean body mass in older men: meaning, more strength, stronger bones, and less fat.
Testosterone Improves Sexual Function
Recent clinical studies provide solid evidence8 that testosterone plays a significant role in maintaining sexual function. Erectile dysfunction, low libido, and low testosterone are closely linked. Plenty of evidence shows that TRT can restore sexual function for many men who suffer from it.
With all the evidence and trials demonstrating testosterone's power over sexual function, we can no longer ignore TRT as a remedy. Studies 9 show testosterone affects nitric oxide (NO) production and how you gain an erection. You may find that standard ED medication may not even work with low T due to a lack of testosterone and nitric oxide.
Sexual health is such an integral part of overall well-being. Sexual dysfunction is closely associated with depression, low self-esteem, and reduced mood. Therefore, one should no longer ignore that TRT is an effective therapy to improve men's quality of life.
By restoring testosterone levels, you can increase the effectiveness of drugs like Viagra and Cialis. In many cases, you can improve your mental and physical health, so you won't need to rely on ED medication at all.
Testosterone Therapy Reduces Cardiovascular Risk
Plenty of evidence indicates that you are more likely to have coronary artery disease if you have reduced testosterone. A particular problem is plaque forming in your arteries (atherosclerosis), which is directly affected by lower testosterone levels 11
One study states:
"There is an urgent need among the medical community and public for greater awareness of the positive impact of TD on general health in men with TD."
Traish A. 2017 Jan
The use of testosterone began in the 1940's TRT was used to treat testosterone deficient men with angina. One of the earliest studies was in 1946. 91% where subjects with angina showed improvements in their condition using testosterone. It was also effective for treating a common condition called peripheral vascular disease, a disease 12 where a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries restricts blood supply to leg muscles.
Testosterone protects and maintains cardiovascular function. As levels fall, it is hardly surprising that obesity, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, and diabetes cases increase. Testosterone therapy improves overall body composition. It reduces waist size, and BMI, all risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome.
TRT combats the causes of metabolic syndrome such by:
- Improving lipid profiles
- Reducing blood glucose
- Improving insulin sensitivity
- Reducing inflammation
- Drastically improving cardio-metabolic function.
This impressive list of benefits shows TRT's potential impact on cardiovascular health.
Testosterone Therapy Improves Mood and Depression.
Multiple studies report TRT's enormous positive impact on patient emotional well-being. Conversely, the adverse effect reduced testosterone has on men is wide-reaching. It thus plays a significant role in depression.
If you consider obesity, ED, loss of libido, loss of muscle, and reduced energy as the most common symptoms of low T. It is unsurprising that TRT will significantly boost your mood if it offers relief from these.
Testosterone Therapy, Protects You from Muscle Loss and Frailty.
As men age, many lose strength, stamina, lean muscle, and bone density. As a natural process due to aging, this can result in reduced physical function, known as sarcopenia. This condition usually causes slow gait speed (walking) and low grip strength and is central to the development of frailty. Sarcopenia causes limited mobility and a higher risk of falls and fractures. It also impairs physical function, causing disability, loss of independence, and increased mortality. Ultimately sarcopenia is one of the biggest causes of people requiring home care or even moving into permanent care homes.
This decline in strength is different for men and women. Studies13 show that men lose muscle mass faster than women of the same age. So why is this? Researchers now believe there is a link between loss of muscle in men and falling testosterone levels as they age. Men with higher testosterone14 levels suffer less muscle loss, slowing the effects of physical decline.
If men retain their muscle strength, they can often avoid many pitfalls associated with natural aging. These include broken bones, balance problems, risk of falls, and loss of confidence.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you can contact our friendly team for the best advice. They can help you regain your strength and confidence.
The False Fear of Hormones
Fears over testosterone causing prostate cancer have long been put to bed, but stigma continues. Rest assured, no modern studies prove any connection. Due to lingering misinformation, many doctors and their patients remain fearful of hormone replacement therapy. If testosterone did cause cancer, all young men (with naturally high levels) would suffer the so-called ill-effects of testosterone.
TRT Does Not Cause Prostate Cancer
Studies on the relationship between testosterone levels and prostate cancer risk have failed to find any association 15 16. Prostate cancer rates between those on TRT and those who aren't are very similar. With that in mind, you can safely say TRT does not cause prostate cancer.
There was no link between testosterone and prostate cancer risk in a large meta-analysis17of 18 prospective studies, including over 3500 men.
The modern understanding is that the prostate is like a sponge for testosterone 18. Once it is saturated (as it was when you were younger), there is no room for any more testosterone to soak in. Therefore, the androgen receptors are full, and prostate growth becomes insensitive to changes. The evidence clearly suggests there is a limit to the ability of androgens to stimulate prostate cancer growth.
However, if testosterone falls, the prostate can grow.18 This theory may explain why testosterone does not directly cause prostate cancer, 19 but it in some cases can accelerate its development. Testosterone naturally converts in the body into a type of estrogen called estradiol. This crucial hormone has powerful protective benefits for the prostate. Because estradiol is a by-product of testosterone, you are more exposed to prostate cancer risk if levels fall too low. The answer is to keep your testosterone levels optimized throughout life for the best protection.
"In this collaborative analysis of the worldwide data on endogenous hormones and prostate cancer risk, serum concentrations of sex hormones were not associated with the risk of prostate cancer."
Roddam AW, Allen NE, Appleby P, Key TJ. 2008
TRT Does Not Cause Heart Attacks (In Fact, It May Protect You From it)
The next fear is that TRT increases the chances of developing cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. These claims come from flawed studies and falsehood publicized by the press, and a lack of understanding in the medical profession. Studies 20 now say the opposite, that TRT is more likely good for your heart and cardiovascular system.
"There are no large long-term, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials to provide definitive conclusions about TRT and CV risk. However, there currently is no credible evidence that T therapy increases CV risk and substantial evidence that it does not. In fact, existing data suggests that T therapy may offer CV benefits to men."
Goodale T, Sadhu A, Petak S, Robbins R. Testosterone and the Heart. Methodist Debakey Cardiovasc J. 2017
TRT Does Not Cause Blood Clots
Another unfounded fear is that TRT causes blood clots and strokes. New extensive observational studies 21,22 investigated the effect of T therapy on 30,572 middle-aged older men. It showed that those prescribed TRT were not at increased risk from blood clots compared to others.
In 2014 the FDA passed a law requiring all testosterone manufacturers to include a product warning of a potential risk of blood clots. This change in law resulted from case reports and post, marketing surveillance on the effects of testosterone on patients; however, the evidence was conflicting.
The FDA ruling was entirely based on a single flawed study by Glueck. He took men who already had blood clotting disorders and gave them testosterone. To no surprise, some of them developed blood clots. There was no control group, and the participants were already likely to get blood clots.
Unfortunately for many men, this has steered them away from seeking help for their low testosterone symptoms. Meaning they are more at risk from the severe side effects of low T, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, decreased muscle, and sexual dysfunction. Men should feel safe in the fact that we cannot find a single verified study that confirms TRT causes blood clots, yet there are many saying it does not.
Testosterone Replacement Therapy. If it's so Good, Why Doesn't Everyone Take it?
The simple answer is because of insufficient and flawed evidence.
The constant reference by the medical profession and media alike to weak studies shows they are not looking at the evidence. All the media's scare stories scream of a paranoid fear of hormones, with a fitting description' hormonophobia.' Millions of men and women may have had the wool pulled over their eyes by nothing more than insufficient evidence. The truth is more likely that their health and quality of life would significantly improve with TRT.
Hormones are Good for You
With Male Excel's TRT program, all we are doing is replacing hormones lost through natural causes. By replacing lost hormones such as testosterone, most people experience significant improvements in sexual desire and erectile function. Men receiving testosterone therapy also often report better mood and fewer depressive symptoms.
The benefits of testosterone therapy include:
- Relief from metabolic syndrome
- Reduction in fat mass and increased lean body mass
- Increased insulin sensitivity
- Improved lipid profile
- Improved blood pressure
- Reduced inflammation
- Improved LUTS (lower urinary tract symptoms)
- Reduced mortality
- Improvement in overall quality of life.
Is Testosterone Safe to Take For Life?
The unfounded argument that the benefits of T therapy remain unproven should be laid to rest once and for all. The studies in this article suggest we can no longer deny the health benefits of testosterone therapy.
Findings in all the studies quoted in this article should serve as a reminder to those fearful of TRT. Men should feel reassured, and physicians should gain new confidence that TRT fears are unfounded. The available studies should remind people to bring common sense to the discussion. This study 1 and the others we have looked at in this article should give everybody belief in TRT as safe, effective, and life-changing.
With all the new studies showing how truly effective TRT can be, it should be clear that maintaining your hormone levels may do nothing but good. Low testosterone is a significant risk marker for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
In summary:
Testosterone replacement therapy helps restore oxygen and nutrient supply throughout your entire vascular symptom. Increased blood oxygen enables the removal of metabolic waste and reverses inflammation. TRT also reduces fat, aids glucose metabolism, increases lean body mass, and improves the overall quality of life.
But is TRT safe? The latest data proves no increased risk of prostate cancer, heart disease, or blood clots. Hormone replacement therapy needs to be the new normal. A preventative, restorative tonic all men should have in later life. Replacing hormones is affordable, easy to administer, and easy to monitor. At Male Excel, we feel the current medical 'set standards' ignore significant proportions of the population. Men who could benefit significantly from this BHRT.
How YOU feel tomorrow starts today.