Testosterone is the drug of the future • Hacker News Board

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#241

Post by sliverstorm » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 8:50 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #140

davak wrote: post #55

MD here. Just remember that women live longer than men. Although it'll never be proven that hormones are part of that provess, I think it's a good assumption. Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. There are a ton of health issues such as balding, coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, obstructive sleep apnea that are related to testoste…

>>Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. I resent that. I don't have low testosterone but I'd still say I was a loving father and husband and a generally good person. Being "manly" doesn't mean being a dick, quite the opposite.

I don't have low testosterone

That doesn't mean your testosterone hasn't declined since your roaring bachelor early 20's.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#242

Post by ajarmst » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 8:52 PM UTC

This article seems pretty imbalanced. Modifying your natural endocrine levels (and the decline of testosterone with age in men is natural) can have significant unanticipated long-term effects (witness the problem with estrogen replacement therapy in women).

A quick Google Scholar search pops up paper with titles like "Serum testosterone is associated with aggressive prostate cancer in older men", "Increased heart attacks in men using testosterone: the UK importantly lags far behind the US in prescribing testosterone", "High Estrogen in Men After Injectable Testosterone Therapy" and "A review on the relationship between testosterone and life-course persistent antisocial behavior". There is clearly medical literature that contradicts the rosy view indicated by the article's sources.

I would have liked to see the article discuss those issues and the associated studies.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#243

Post by sliverstorm » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 8:53 PM UTC

freshfey wrote: post #10

As someone who went from 430 ng/dl to 1024 ng/dl naturally in about two years time (from age 23 to 25) the only thing I can say is don't jump to too many conclusions here. - Your testosterone should be naturally high if you're below 30 (and male) - If not, something is wrong and you need to fix it (start with blood work, check your diet, move) - If you testosterone is in the normal ranges (blood work recommends betwe…

Naturally? What did you do?

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#244

Post by tomsthumb » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:07 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #178

gadders wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. I resent that. I don't have low testosterone but I'd still say I was a loving father and husband and a generally good person. Being "manly" doesn't mean being a dick, quite the opposite.

I just turned 40 and I get a lot more wound up by incompetent workmates or similar things than I did 20 years ago.

Your "get off my lawn" levels have likely gone through the roof. Ask your doctor for a screening.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#245

Post by nether » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:29 PM UTC

johnward wrote: post #107

I'm 28 now and I have hypogonadisn and have experience using T and other options like clomid. My total T was I finally went to the doc. Got the blood work and was put ona low dosage of Testosterone. Enough to get me to the 500ng/dl range. My quality of life improved dramatically and I was the happy and productive person I used to be. I felt like I did in my early 20s instead of like I was approaching 50. Now I have t…

I got measured for low T. My urologist refused to approve TRT because according to him, there is no real "correct level" of testosterone, and that measurement is highly variable depending on the time of day. He kept telling me testosterone is not an antidepressant. Found another urologist who disagreed and told me to go through dhtcream.com. Still depressed, but I am growing more facial hair.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#246

Post by camouso » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:30 PM UTC

chrisbennet wrote: post #182

jriley wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fairly confident, although I do believe there is snake oil on the same aisle. I've used brands Natrol and Nature's Bounty. I understand DHEA as a steroid hormone that is a precursor to testosterone. I consider the drug's banned status in athletic competition as a signal it might be effective. From Wiki: "DHEA is legal to sell in the United States as a dietary supplement. It is currently grandfathered in as an "Old Di…

While DHEA may indeed be effective, if 80% of the natural supplements that were tested did not contain what the label said, one might conclude that there is an 80% chance that a bottle labeled "DHEA" really doesn't contain DHEA.

80% of /store brand herbal/ supplements. This is an important distinction. Brand names were fine.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#247

Post by JohnBooty » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

freshfey wrote: post #10

As someone who went from 430 ng/dl to 1024 ng/dl naturally in about two years time (from age 23 to 25) the only thing I can say is don't jump to too many conclusions here. - Your testosterone should be naturally high if you're below 30 (and male) - If not, something is wrong and you need to fix it (start with blood work, check your diet, move) - If you testosterone is in the normal ranges (blood work recommends betwe…

   TRT is a problem if you keep going for too long, because your body just doesn't produce testosterone as it used to, because it expects it from the outside, so below 35 or rather below 40 year olds: don't sign up for this too quickly.

This is the reason why my doctor wouldn't prescribe it for me (38 year-old male, hoping to have a kid with my wife in the next year or two). When on testosterone supplements, the body can start to rely on the outside testosterone and gradually stops producing its own. He said it can result in a situation where you're essentially locked into taking testosterone forever.

Strangely, I didn't see that risk mentioned in the linked article. Did I simply miss it?

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#248

Post by narrator » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

davak wrote: post #55

MD here. Just remember that women live longer than men. Although it'll never be proven that hormones are part of that provess, I think it's a good assumption. Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. There are a ton of health issues such as balding, coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, obstructive sleep apnea that are related to testoste…

Replacing testosterone is just covering up for the fact that the cells that originally created it in the first place are slowly losing function due to aging. You want to keep those cells healthy if you want to live forever and that's what all the telomere hubbub is about.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#249

Post by driverdan » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:38 PM UTC

repsilat wrote: post #163

woofyman wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zinc, magnesium and vitamin D are essential for the production of testosterone.

The fact that they're necessary conditions for its production doesn't mean they're sufficient, though. It doesn't follow that you can just take a vitamin pill and get some sunlight and you'll naturally have high levels of testosterone.

If you're deficient you'll have lower test levels. That doesn't mean you can megadose vitamin D to get high test levels, just that if you don't have adequate supply you'll have lower than normal levels.

Re: Testosterone is the drug of the future

#250

Post by ryanmarsh » Wed, Feb 04, 2015, 9:43 PM UTC

davak wrote: post #55

MD here. Just remember that women live longer than men. Although it'll never be proven that hormones are part of that provess, I think it's a good assumption. Many males as they get older become more lovable and more pleasent to be around because of natural hormone declines. There are a ton of health issues such as balding, coronary artery disease, prostate cancer, obstructive sleep apnea that are related to testoste…

I just finished a run of pro hormones designed to increase T. See my twitter as proof. Within a week my shoulders got bigger and I dropped 6lbs. I had no other change in diet and swam (my workout) less because I'm developing swimmer's shoulder. The downside? I just couldn't take it any more. My mind raced about sex (complete with random boners) and raged about everything else. It was like being 18 again. I realize now why I did so many crazy stupid things when I was 18-24. I ended the supplements and can again focus on work without getting pissed off at everything. Although I must say random boners at 36 came as an oddly pleasant surprise, also my wife enjoyed the extra attention.