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Testosterone and Health
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. It is the male sex hormone, secreted
by the testicles, but also synthesised in small quantities in the adrenal glands. In the foetus
testosterone is necessary for the development of male genitalia. During puberty, increased levels
of testosterone result in the further growth of genitalia and the development of male secondary
sex characteristics such as facial hair. Though testosterone is known as the male sex hormone,
small amounts are also produced in women by the ovaries and the adrenal glands. On average, the
adult male body produces about twenty times more testosterone than an adult female body does.
What does testosterone do? It is very important for both female and male health. Being an androgen,
testosterone promotes protein synthesis and growth of certain tissues, with androgen receptors.
Testosterone effects in our bodies can be virilizing or anabolic. Virilizing effects refer to
maturation of the sex organs, particularly the penis and the the scrotum, and the above mentioned
male secondary sex characteristics: the deepening of the voice, growth of the beard and axillary
hair. Anabolic effects include growth of muscle mass and strength, increased bone density and
strength, and stimulation of linear growth and bone maturation.
In the adult male, testosterone is also important for having a healthy sex life. Testosterone
levels can very much influence a man's libido and ability to get and maintain an erection.
It is common knowledge that andropausal men, in which testosterone level is low, suffer from
lack of sex drive. And strange as it may seem, testosterone supplements can even boost female
libido.
Actually there are many therapeutical uses for testosterone. Since it was first isolated form
a bull, in 1935, testosterone has been available in many pharmaceutical forms: injectable, oral,
transdermal patches and gels. Testosterone containing medicines were first designed to treat male
hypogonadism, that is male inability to produce a suficient quantity of testosterone, and to
maintain normal serum testosterone levels in the ageing man.
However, over the years, testosterone has been thought to have important effects in the treatment
of many other conditions. These incude: lack of libido in both male and female, erectyle disfunction
and penis enlargement, infertility, anemia. During the late 1940s, the male hormone was considered
a revolutionary anti-ageing drug.
Given its above mentioned virilizing effects, testosterone is also prescribed to transmen female to
male transgender) who need to achieve growth of the beard and chest hair, maturation of sex organs
and deepening of the voice. Transwomen are prescribed anti-androgens, that is substances that stop
the production of testosterone to allow the effects of female hormones to develop.
However, testosterone is not a miracle-medicine as many people would think. There are many conditions
in which testosterone administration is not recomended. In males, breast and prostate cancer do
not allow the use of teststerone replacing therapies. A number of other conditions (liver disease,
kidney disease, enlarged prostate, edema) require carreful medical exams before administering
testosterone.
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