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Very low calorie diet over 12 weeks increased endogenous Testosterone levels in men via improved Testicular production and reduced aromatase activity due to decreased adipose tissue.

Startling study on the knowledge of Testosterone and cardiovascular disease in general practitioners and cardiologists in Canada.  Eight-eight percent did not screen patients with cardiovascular disease for low Testosterone.  A whopping 67% of physicians did not know that low T was a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, yet 62% believed Testosterone would increase exercise tolerance. The lack of knowledge displayed by physicians today is staggering and is an indictment of the governing bodies.  This was a survey conducted in Canada so there are obvious limitations to the strength/conclusion of this study.

Good discussion of the arousal/sexual response differences between men and women from a physiological perspective.  

Good read on the gonads contribution to hormones in men.  One important statistic listed is that men only make 4-10 mg daily.

another awesome article dealing with hormone metabolites. Physicians that don't understand metabolites and receptors may be doing more harm than good.   One of the mainstays of the treatment of metastatic prostate disease is androgen deprivation therapy.  This article requires a reassessment of this due to the DHT metabolite 3-beta androstanediol.  This metabolite is produced from DHT production via the enzyme 3beta HSD.  This metabolite binds to ER beta, an estrogen receptor, and inhibits proliferation, migration, promotes adhesion (limits spreading), and stimulates apoptosis.  This is contrast to 3-alpha androstanediol.  Androgen deprivation therapy will decrease 3-beta androstanediol.  This is the likely reason for the increased aggressive prostate cancer found in those men using 5 alpha reductase inhibitors.

MS-LS show to be highly sensitive in the dual identification of testosterone and cortisol in saliva. These hormones were found to be stable up to 28 days at room temperature. This disproves the argument that saliva, as a test medium, has a very short shelf life.

aromatase knockout mice, thus elevated androgens without estrogen production, develop BPH but not prostate cancer.  This points to estrogen as the important hormone in carcinogenesis of the prostate. Granted this is a animal model.

Serum evaluation of Testosterone and DHT poorly correlates with intraprostatic hormone levels.  Must look to saliva to get better clinical picture.

Serum evaluation of hormones is useless from a functional perspective.  This study finds that post-castration, despite a 94% decline in serum androgens, intraprostatic androgens stay much higher.

Testosterone therapy is complex in hypogonadism.  Much of the marketing-based medicine of Low T today is in fact doping.  Increasing weight is clearly associated with a declining T level in men.  Testosterone therapy should be approach individually and therapies that use the one size fits all approach never work.  This is the case whether the use of synthetics or natural hormones are employed.  Testosterone has been shown to improve dysglycemia, MetS, reduce fat and increase muscle mass.  

Endocrine Disrupting chemicals, xenoestrogens, alter the hormone receptors very early. Increased estrogenic load with the change in ER increase prostate cancer.

This study found that lower TT and E1 associated with more "poor health" as defined by questionnaire.  The conclusion might lead one to think that Estrogen therapy is need in men.  Eightly percent of estrogen production in men occurs from Testosterone.  If Testosterone declines, then estrogen production will likewise decline.  A simple fact that the authors did not comment on.  Also, E1 binds with high affinity to ER alpha, which is pro-inflammatory and pro-proliferative: neither of which is a positive health benefit.   This appears to point more to a broad HPA suppression as an association to the "poor health".

low Total Testosterone associated with increased BMI, systolic blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL apolipoprotien B and A1. Low Testosterone is associated with increased cardiovascular disease.  Men at risk for cardiovascular disease must be evaluated for hormones.

Testosterone therapy followed over 5 years in hypogonadal men found physiologic replacement of Testosterone decreased Total cholesterol, decreased LDL, increased HDL, decreased blood pressure, decreased blood glucose, decreased HgbA1c, decreased CRP, ALT, and AST. All men with metabolic syndrome  should have appropriate hormone evaluation done.

This study confirms what we know about Testosterone, but this study finds that Estradiol aids libido and fat loss.  The conclusion on Estradiol I believe to be extremely premature.  First, it flies in the face of all the accumulative data on estradiol, second, what normal physiology is being replicated with goserelin???  Goserelin has been shown to decrease Prolactin which can effect libido also.  What about the potential there?  The men included in the study were described as "healthy".  So, you are taking "healthy" normal funcitoning men, throwing in a monkey wrench and looking at the effects of your monkey wrench.  Sorry, not physiologic.  In all my practice, I have seen one man with low Estradiol levels.  There is no reference to the hormone levels in the men preceding the suppression with goserelin.  This is a study that lacks application.

Older men, 70-89, Testosterone in the middle range of normal and higher DHT was associated with the lowest death rates.  Estradiol was not found to be associated.  This study only looked at Total levels, free bioavailable levels were not assessed.  This study also highlights the basic thought, that more is not always better as it pertains to Testosterone.  It also highlights the importance of DHT.  Testosterone is a pro hormone.

meta-analysis finds reduction in fat mass from DHEA in elderly men.  The authors propose that it is due to the conversion to other hormones.  

Higher base-line Testosterone levels associated with longer overall survival in men with prostate cancer.  The comparison was 32.7 months with higher T levels versus 22.4 months with lower T levels.  Anemia was also a poor prognostic variable.  Whether exogenous Testosterone therapy will change this is still unclear, but the authors suggest that this should play a role in whether to use salvage hormone therapy.

Again, Testosterone and here Estradiol are merely there for libido and sex.  What tunnel vision?!  What about hsCRP?  What about fibrinogen?  What about IL-1beta?  What about TNF-alpha?  These inflammatory cytokines have all been reported to elevate as a result of estrogen production in men.   And PSA?  No mention of it here.   This linear, tunnel vision thinking on hormones has got to stop! The study points out that all clients were using AIs and SERMs irregardless of whether they had elevated estrogens or not.  That is not a well designed study.  One group should have had AI's if elevated estrogens were present and another group should not--this would compare the effects of aromatase activity.  Second, this was simply a retrospective chart review.  Third, a 50% conversion of 34,000 + men is very high when you look at the literature.  Fourth, they point to gynecomastia as a means of negative?  The cardiovascular implications are more significant.  These studies just seem to focus on superficial things.  Fifth, did libido problems exist before?  What were the free levels?   This falls in the paucity of data (2 studies) that point to excessive lowering of estradiol effecting libido and sexual performance.

Study used saliva to measure Testosterone levels in men.  Testosterone levels were inversely associated with age, but positively associated with CAG repeat sequences in the AR.