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Sometimes I think medicine has lost its mind.  Or at least, it is not thinking things through.  To give IV estrogen to decrease Testosteorne in men with prostate cancer is devoid of the pathophysiology of prostate cancer and cardiovascular disease in men.  Elevated Estradiol in men increases CRP, IL-1beta, and TNF-alpha to name a few cytokines.  The proported purpose of the IV estrogen is to prevent the cardiovascular complications associated with ADT.  Yet, elevated aromatase activity and low T in men are both shown to be associated with increased CVD in men.

Article highlights the problems with the definition of low T.  This article finds consistent decline in Total Testosterone and FAI with increasing age groups, with a significant portion of men > 60 meeting the required levels for "low T".  This study found a decrease in total T and FAI at a consistent rate independent of variables, such as BMI.    This study did find a decrease in SHBG and total T with obesity; in contrast to other studies.

No surprise, testosterone in men and women have different effects.  I just wrote a post on this.  Testosterone is positively associated with increased risk of diabetes in women, but inversely with men.  That is increased T in women equals increased Diabetes in women; contrast with increased T associated with decreased Diabetes in men.   But the interesting point is SHBG.  This study found a strong inverse association between SHBG with diabetes in women when compared to men.  Meaning: low SHBG is associated with an increased risk of type II Diabetes.  This is at the same time that testosterone is associated with an increased risk.

Study of Korean men finds late onset of hypogonadism to be 16.8% in their study of 1,235 men older than 40.  This is a higher rate than other studies, but lower than others (38.7% in American men).  The test definition of low T was set at 3.2 ng/ml.  Abdominal obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and increasing age were associated with low T. Low T is clearly not a problem unique to America.  It definitely appears that a decreasing Testosterone level is a marker of poor health in men.  

Penile Yeast infections in men are generally not known due to their lack of awareness. This severe illness can cause a range of infections that will affect hygiene and the fertility rate. And due to increasing cases of infertility in men, it becomes significant to acknowledge cautious infections in men to combat the rising infertility cases.

Good deep look into the testosterone and CVD link.

great review of hormone changes associated with aging in men.

Those men with higher estradiol levels found to have increased stroke risk.  This study only looked at elderly men > 71.  This should come as no surprise as E2 in men is know to increase inflammatory signaling.

men with UGT2B17 found to be poor metabolizers of endogenous Testosterone.  Normally, epi-Testosterone and Testosterone exist in a relative 1:1 ratio,  However, in these individuals with this SNP, they will have slightly elevated Testosterone levels due to disrupted phase II testosterone metabolism (glucuronidation).  This is found in 60% of Asian men, 50% of black men, and 1% in white men.

Methadone use in men is associated with significant reduction in serum Total Testosterone levels in men.  In women, just the opposite is true, though this did not reach statistical significance.  The higher the dose of methadone in men, the lower the Testosterone.  The link between opiates and low T in men is very strong.  This is the first that I am aware of that points to the opposite effect in women.

Time that physicians start following the science.  Study using data from the Multi-ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis was used to assess hormones and fatty liver in men and women.  Increasing bioavailable Testosterone levels in women was found to be associated with increasing fatty liver in post-menopausal women.  The opposite was found to be true in men.  Higher Estradiol levels were found to be associated with increased fatty liver in both sexes.  However, the statistical significance was higher with men.  Higher SHBG was associated with lower fatty liver incidence in men.  

Men with Obesity are found to have lower SHBG and Testosterone levels.  This study found that suppression of insulin resulted in an increase in SHBG production from the liver in both obese and normal weight Men.  Of note, the decrease in insulin resulted in a decrease in male Testosterone in both normal weight and obese Men.

Leptin appears to be a good marker of low Testosterone.  This study proposes that the mechanism of action is potentially 2 fold: first, a decrease in LH release by leptin (kisspeptin?) and 2nd, a directed decrease in Testosterone production by the leydig cells in the testes.

Three month study of men with low T, found that Testosterone therapy improved insulin sensitivity and reduced leptin levels.  The group of men here were described as "healthy, non-obese men".   Remember, low T is a biomarker of poor health in men, so the authors statement about the study group is inaccurate.  This also points to a relatively quick metabolic effect by Testosterone and a direct effect on insulin receptor effect and adipocyte leptin release.

Total Testosterone in men decreased by 30% over the lifetime of men in this study compared to 64% decrease in bioavailable Testosterone in men.  Decreased BMD was associated with this loss.  Similar findings for Estrogen was also noted in men.

Testosterone given to elderly men with low "serum" testosterone shown to increase IGF-1 and increased muscle growth and strength.  So, this study shows that testosterone in men, seems to increase HGH production and thus increase IGF-1 production.  This may be the mechanism by which testosterone promotes muscle growth and increase in strength in men.

Great review of the Hypogonadal-obesity-adipocytokine hypothesis.

2012 study that shows a slight uptick in sperm count/concentration in Danish men.  However, as the conclusion states, on 25% have optimal sperm quality.  When you look at the numbers deeper, the current general population sperm count/concentration was lower than that of men of infertile couples from 1940-1943 cohort.  Additionally, when the general population sperm count/concentration was lower than that of compared recent fertile men.

insulin resistance has different effects in men versus women.  In men, insulin resistance is associated with low T in men, but in elevate T in women.

Testosterone therapy in men prolongs time to myocardial ischemia.  The follow of this study was 12 months and the number of men was small (15 men).  This was continually therapy during the duration of 12 months.