What is Low-T?

[Ravioli]

Hypogonadism is often called low-T or low testosterone, but what does it mean?

Hypogonadism- Hypo: Prefix meaning "low, under, beneath, down, below normal" as in hypocalcemia (low calcium in the blood), hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyposensitivity. The opposite of hypo- is hyper.

Gonads- are the testicles.

So we know it basically means our testicles are not producing enough testeosterone, or much less than they use to.

Low-T can happen to anyone and is usually diagnosed as early onset hypogonadism, late onset hypogonadism or anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH).

Early or late just means if you got it sooner than the average or later than the average. ASIH obviously meaning that it happened early due to the use of anabolics.

So now that we know what it is, lets talk about the 2 different kinds, and why it is important to know the difference.

Primary Hypogonadism- This means that your testicles are not responding to LH (Leutinizing Hormone) and FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone).

Secondary Hypogonadism- This means that your pituitary is not sending out adequate amounts of LH and FSH.

Whoa Whoa what is LH and FSH you say? Lets take a quick step back and learn how our body determines how much testosterone the testicles will produce.

Your testosteorne porduction is controlled by the HPTA (hypothalimic pituitary axis) using a negative feedback loop. The system itself is very complicated but learning what we need to know for this discussion makes it pretty easy to under stand.

You pituitary sends out LH and FSH to the testicles, the more it sends it, the more testosterone your testicles will make. Think of the negative feedback loop as a sytem that automatically checks to see how much testosterone you have in your blood, and reports back to the pituitary. If the report says "we have plenty of testosterone in the blood' then the pituitary slows production of FSH and LH. This in turn slows production of testosterone, since the testicles are not receiving as much LH and FSH. Now the amount of testosteorne un your blood drops.

This feddback loop is very complex and controls many hormones in your body, not just testosterone.

Recap:
Primary Hypogonadism means that the testicles are no longer responding to FSH and LH, regardless of how much the pituitary sends out, they are just not willing to do their job anymore.

Secondary Hypogonadism means that regardless of what report the pituitary gets, its just not willing to do its job anymore and send out LH and FSH.

So how do these things happen to me?

We talked about 1 way that it happens earlier, from the use of anabolics, but what about guys that have never touched those?

One way that it can happen is from age, after time the system just doesnt work as good as it use to. It can happen from years of lack of exercise and poor diet as well. It can also never work right in the first place.

People ask me quite often how it happens from lack of exercise and diet, they are hesitiant to beileive something that simple could cause their testicles to stop performing like we want them to. Its really not hard to beleive though, we know that exercise stimulates Growth Hormone and Testosterone production, so why wouldnt a lack of exercise cause it to under perform?

Then there is the food side of it, which is much more scientifically backed. Certain foods increase estrogen, people with higher body fat have been proven to convert more testostoerone to estrogen, when we eat carbohydrate enriched meals our GH productions is decreased, and since GH production stimulates testosterone production, or testosterone levels also suffer.

Now your probably thinking what the hell does estrogen have to do with all this, and why does a man care about estrogen? estrogen is very important to men, it influences our immune system, plays a role in brain function, helps to control water retention, and even plays a role in our sexual desire and function.

On top of all that when estrogen gets too high, for any reason, it can have serious impacts on our body. When your estrogen is too high it can do things like harm your libido, cause acne, make you cry when watching forrest gump, increase bodyfat, and even cause your testosterone to drop.

How does estrogen cause my testosterone to drop? Well the first hing we need to know is our body makes estrogen from testosterone. There is an enzyme in our body called the aromatase enzyme, when this enzyme attaches to testosterone it turns the testosterone into estrogen. So basically it is a tetor tottor effect, as my estrogen increases, testosterone decreases in the blood, since it is the raw material for estrogen.

To add to that now the negative feedback reports to the piruitary saying we have plenty of estrogen, so in turn it slow testosterone production, in order to have less raw material for eestrogen to be made, in hopes of lowering estrogen.

So now that we have made such a big deal about what it is, why is it so bad? Other than the obvious unwanted physical appearance effects? Hypogonadism has now been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and osteoperosis. It has been shown that people with higher testosterone levels live longer, and are less prone to CVD. This is because low testosterone can negatively impact your HDL cholesterol.

So how do I fix this? Well if its ASIH you can try to optimize the HPTA with the use of medications. If it happened naturally or from diet, exercise or aging there is a chance you can optimize the HPTA through diet and exercise, but if the damage is already done, the only way to increase your testosterone levels is by getting on a successful TRT regimen.

[Zeek]

Great info Ravioli! that breaks it down into something ordinary folks will understand.

[Ravioli]

thanks Zeek!!!!!! i tried to spell check it after i wrote but it kept kicking me out and wouldnt let me!!! so sorry for the errors everyone.

trying to get this forum going, there is a 100 people looking at it at any given time, DONT BE AFRAID TO REGISTER AND POST PEOPLE!!!!!!! WE DONT BITE!!!!!!