Testosterone is the primary androgen produced by the testes and it plays an essential role in the health of the male. Statistically, men are consistently more at risk of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease than women, and the gender-specific effects of sex hormones are implicated in this inequality.
Reliable current studies now show that optimal testosterone levels in men also contribute to a decrease in the risk of coronary artery disease by 60%. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Aug 2002. Vol. 87, No. 8 3632-3639)
In both men and women, circulating androgen levels decline with advancing age. Until now, results of several small studies on the relationship between endogenous androgen levels and atherosclerosis have been inconsistent.
The association of DHEA levels and testosterone was investigated in the Rotterdam Study, on a non-smoking population, men and women over 55 with aortic atherosclerosis. The study proved the existence of an independent inverse association between levels of testosterone and aortic atherosclerosis in men.
Natural aging along with stress, lack of sleep and a poor diet cause a gradual decline in male hormones, so that by age 70, most men have less than a quarter of their optimal testosterone levels. While men with normal testosterone levels sometimes exhibit some of the symptoms, which may very well stem from other causes besides hypogonadism, the fact that androgen therapy usually alleviates these symptoms suggests a hormonal deficiency as the root cause of such deterioration in health.
Interesting enough, researchers in the U.S. are finding testosterone levels to be substantially lower, by about 15% to 20%- than they were fifteen years ago. Scandinavian studies show similar declines, and in younger men too; a man born in 1970, for example, had about 20% less testosterone at 35 than a man of his father's generation at the same age!
Being informed and aware will help us overcome the shortcomings of our modern society and stressful lifestyle. It is really easy and worth it to make an appointment with an expert in bioidentical hormone therapy and find out what is really happening in your body. Most diseases can be indeed prevented and your health protocol will most likely include hormonal balancing.
Resources:
Testosterone and cardiovascular disease in men
Testosterone Decreases Heart Disease by 60 Percent
