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Your Body Maintains Itself Through Homeostasis
Homeostasis is the regulation of your body's internal environment so that you can stay alive, generate energy, grow and
reproduce. It regulates, for example, temperature, salinity, acidity, and the concentrations of nutrients and wastes in your
body.
We are concerned here with how the body maintains masculine characteristics.
Hormones Are Messengers From Your Glands To The Cells
Hormones are messenger chemicals produced by your glands to achieve homeostasis. Hormones circulate in the bloodstream
and are recognized by receptors in cells which are like reserved parking lots for hormones in cells.
Here are properties of receptors:
* Only found in particular types of cells
* Particular types of cells may only exist in particular organs of the body
* Particular receptors may only be activated by a specific hormone
* Activation of these receptors causes the cells of a particular type to perform a function such as:
* Producing energy
* Growing muscle tissue
* Producing sperm (cells in the testicles which produce sperm are called the Leydig cells).
Testosterone Is A Hormone To Maintain Masculine Body Traits
Testosterone is a hormone produced in a man's testicles and adrenal glands, and in a woman's ovaries and adrenal glands.
Women also create it by converting other steroid hormones.
Effects Of Testosterone
Note that nearly all research on testosterone is done with men and very little is known about its effect on women. Maybe
this is because women only need a tenth as much as men.
In the case of a man, it helps the body produce sperm and develops and maintains the male sexual characteristics:
* Development of the male sex organs: the prostate, seminal vesicles, penis and scrotum
* Facial, pubic, chest and axiliary hair
* Enlargement of the larynx
* Vocal chord thickening
* Growth of musculature
* Changes in fat distribution
In the case of both men and women, it maintains sexual function and drive, bone strength and muscle mass. Women only have
one-tenth as much as men. Children have very low levels of testosterone.
Not Enough Testosterone
When a man's glands do not secrete enough testosterone, the result is a lower concentration of serum testosterone in the
bloodstream. Testosterone levels fall below the bottom of the 'normal' range so that homeostasis breaks down and the body
no longer functions as well as it could. The cells whose receptors react to testosterone do not perform their functions as
well and the man begins to show symptoms of hypogonadism:
* Decreased sexual desire
* Loss of energy
* Depression
* Regression of the male sexual characteristics described earlier
* Osteoporosis
Hypogonadism becomes more likely as men age or following a major injury, illness or extreme stress.
Most men produce less testosterone as they get older and consequently, the medical profession has different ranges of
what is consider 'normal' depending on your age.
My preference is to keep the levels I had when I was in my thirties: I do not accept aging gracefully. There is more
detail on the negative effects of low testosterone in a separate article.
Too Much Testosterone
When a man's testosterone levels exceed the 'normal' levels because they have supplemented with too much, otherwise known
as 'gyno rebound', it is converted to the estrogen group of hormones: estradiol, estrone and estriol through a process called
aromatization. Therefore, a man cannot have excessive levels of testosterone as such.
The conversion of testosterone to estradiol and estrone manifests itself in feminization and increased risk of heart attacks
and stroke.
Indeed, advertisements in body building magazines for supplements that claim to boost testosterone levels also mention
products to reduce estrogens.
As for excess testosterone causing aggression and even 'roid rage', if the men have increased their testosterone levels
through taking natural testosterone transdermally or sublingually (by rubbing a gel on the skin or taking some under the tongue)
rather than through injecting synthetic anabolic steroids, they do not show increased aggression or 'roid rage'.
Units Of Measurement
The levels of testosterone in your bloodstream are usually measured in units of mass per units of volume: the number of
nanograms (ng equals billionths of a gram) per deciliter (dl equals one tenth of a liter or a 100 cubic centimeters).
These numbers represent your total testosterone, some of which is free or active, meaning it is free to impact your psychology
and body, and some of which is bound or inactive, meaning it is attached to a protein molecule and is not having any effect
for the time being.
Typically, only about 5% of your testosterone is free. Little is known about how much this percentage varies and whether
it is related to age and health.
'Normal' levels are typically between 250 and 1200 ng/dl for men aged between 20 and 39 years old but there is no hard
and fast rule. As men get older, the medical profession adjusts the ranges downwards to account for age-related decline in
levels.
Members of the medical profession adjust the definition of what is 'normal' downwards as we get older because they accept
this decline, but we know now that low levels correlate with poor mood, poor health and early death.
Methods Of Administration
You can only increase testosterone levels in a safe and effective way by having your doctor prescribe natural testosterone.
This is free testosterone that is not a synthetic salted ester form such as propionate, enanthanate or undecanoate. It usually
comes as a transdermal gel (that you apply to your skin) or as a sublingual solution (that you put under your tongue). Taking
any form as a tablet or as an injection is not the best way.
You used to be able to order 1,000 mg of testosterone enanthate or propionate from the internet and use 3 mg a day sublingually
by mixing it with DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide) which enhances absorption. This may not be possible now because search engines
will not return information on this.
These pages are for information only and are not medical advice. They do not purport to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent
any disease. Always consult a physician before taking any supplement or undergoing any procedure described here.
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