September Addendum-Schedule Change and More on Testosterone

The office will be open this Saturday (9/18/10) due to a change in my seminar schedule.  It will be closed next Saturday 9/25/10 and will be out of town.

More on Low Male Testosterone (source LEF):

• Obesity causes men's testosterone to drop due to aromatase in adipose (fat) tissue converting testosterone to estrogen.
• Falling testosterone levels predict and cause obesity and metabolic syndrome.  C-reactive Protein (CRP) increase is linked to declining testosterone (CRP indicates inflammation which plays a critical role in obesity, cancers and atherosclerosis).
• Testosterone impacts metabolism of glucose, insulin and fat.
• Decreasing testosterone may explain why men beyond middle age may have trouble shedding weight even with diet and exercise.
• Experts now recommend checking testosterone levels regularly as an early risk indicator for metabolic syndrome.  All men should be checked in middle age even if not overweight.  Why don't doctors do labs for testosterone more often?  Men don't seem to have as many or as strong symptoms that are as strong as women needing hormone replacement. Men may also not be as likely to let the doctor know about all their symptoms or even seek medical advice when things like low libido, abdominal obesity or fatigue set in.  The changes are also gradual, 1-2% decline per year after age 30.  We likely play them off to aging.
• Testosterone replacement therapy is effective in reducing body weight, fat content and insulin resistance.   Dr. Morgentaler of Harvard's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center contends that new evidence suggests that low testosterone is responsible for prostate cancer risk, not high testosterone.