Your testicles produce an androgenic hormone called testosterone, which declines by approximately 1% a year usually starting in your 30s.
Testosterone helps you maintain a healthy sex drive, achieve erections, and produce sperm. It also keeps your bone mass, muscle mass, and red blood cell counts high while minimizing fat distribution.
Testosterone replacement therapy restores your circulating testosterone levels to that equivalent of younger, healthy men. Drs. Rahul Mehan and Harpreet Wadhwa at EVU may prescribe testosterone replacement therapy if you have late-onset hypogonadism. You can choose from a variety of delivery systems, including injections, subdermal pellets, and patches.
ate-onset hypogonadism (LOH) is a medical condition characterized by low testosterone levels accompanied by symptoms such as:
Dr. Mehan or Dr. Wadhwa must determine that you have LOH before recommending testosterone replacement therapy. Other conditions — including normal aging and diseases such as diabetes — may cause identical symptoms.
Testosterone replacement therapy is the first-line treatment for erectile dysfunction caused by LOH. Treating LOH with testosterone therapy should restore your sex drive, increase the number and longevity of your erections, and reverse other symptoms.
You can also expect a decrease in body fat and an increase in muscle and bone mass, and you may notice a mood boost.
Although many men report feeling energized and rejuvenated after testosterone replacement therapy, it’s not a “fountain of youth.” Testosterone replacement therapy is appropriate only in cases of medically established LOH.
You can also boost your testosterone levels naturally by losing excess weight and increasing your muscle mass with weight training and resistance exercise. You should not treat normal age-related decreases in testosterone with testosterone replacement therapy.
To find out if you qualify for testosterone replacement therapy, call the friendly staff at EVU for an evaluation or use the online system to book an appointment.