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Men and testosterone therapy have been a hot topic in the news recently. Stories are filled with cautions about the use of testosterone therapy in men causing heart attacks and leading many doctors to question testosterone supplementation. A closer look at the study may provide more insight. The study released is referenced at the end of this post. (1) This study looked at 55,593 men who started testosterone therapy. Some were over the age of 65 and a smaller number were under 65. There are two important subgroups - those with cardiovascular disease and those without. The study also looked...

BY Dr. Allison Smith ZRT Laboratory SHBG, or Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, controls testosterone effect in both men and women by modulating changes in sex steroid levels. When SHBG goes up, free testosterone goes down. I like to think of SHBG as a sponge that soaks up androgens and to some degree estrogens as well. Since it binds so specifically and tightly to testosterone, it makes up part of the equation that equals androgen excess or androgen deficiency. Knowing how to manipulate SHBG can be a useful tool in a number of scenarios. Role: Bind to and carry testosterone (and less strongly...

The testicles of a man in his 20s are known to contribute about 5-10mg of testosterone per 24-hour day and levels of total testosterone in the venous blood with that amount are observed to yield roughly 300-1200 ng/dL in the morning at the diurnal peak. Testosterone, whether endogenous or given exogenously, negatively feeds back on the hypothalamus, limiting GnRH and thus LH and FSH from the pituitary. A man taking supraphysiological doses of testosterone can expect to have very low or undetectable levels of LH and FSH in the serum. What happens when the prescription dose overshoots the patient's optimal...

Single nucleotide variations (SNVs – formerly single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) are the most common genetic variations in individuals. Research shows that some SNVs can help predict an individual’s risk of developing certain diseases, such as breast cancer. Although future studies are necessary to further characterize the involvement of SNVs in the etiology of breast cancer, this blog will review up to date literature of what science has discovered so far regarding SNVs within the steroid metabolism pathway and their relationship to breast cancer. First things first – a crash course in genetics. To make an enzyme, just as for any...

Hormone Health Educator Candace Burch hosted an informational webinar explaining how hormones affect our weight - specifically, how they inhibit our ability to lose weight and keep the pounds off. During the webinar, we received many great questions from the audience and Candace has answered them below. I've reduced my stress and eat well, but still have high cortisol levels. What else can I do? It sounds like you are making progress in reducing your stress and eating well, but as someone once said - "it's not always what you're eating, but what's eating you that is the real problem."...