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What problems does a low testosterone in adult males cause and how can it be treated?

Questions & Answers -

Low testosterone is relatively common in men especially as they become older. The condition is also known as Hypogonadism, the Male Menopause or Andropause. Low testosterone can cause a number of problems. The most obvious is of a sexual nature with low sex drive and erectile dysfunction. It also causes more non-specific problems such as fatigue, poor sleep patterns, memory loss, depression and anxiety. The ADAM questionnaire can be useful to document to document these symptoms. Testosterone has a beneficial effect on the way the body handles some fats and sugar with low testosterone recognised as one cause of early diabetes and high cholesterol.

The condition can be detected by measuring the blood level of testosterone. This is best measured in the morning as testosterone levels vary and are at their highest in the morning. If levels are low or borderline low, especially if there are symptoms such as erectile dysfunction or low sex drive, then testosterone replacement therapy can be beneficial.

Testosterone replacement therapy can be prescribed as a gel, which is rubbed onto the skin once daily, a patch, which is stuck to the skin, or a surgically implanted pellet that slowly releases testosterone over several months. Blood levels of testosterone should be monitored to ensure that the correct dose is being used. The commonest side effect of the gel and patch is skin irritation at the site of administration. High levels of testosterone can cause aggressiveness, and may make prostate cancer worse.

Men’s Health evening

News -

A very enjoyable and informative evening was spent on 3rd April 2012 at the Leek Golf Club discussing Men’s Health issues. About 35 members of the club joined 3 Consultants from the Staffordshire Urology Clinic and a senior Nursing Sister from the University Hospital of North Staffordshire to discuss a number of topics. The meeting was introduced and chaired by Mr Liu.

Mr Luscombe first talked about the prostate including it’s position, function and problems that it might cause, such as a poor urinary flow, prostatitis and prostate cancer. He went on to talk about appropriate tests, including the use of PSA testing, and treatments ranging from monitoring, drug therapy and surgery for each of the problems. This generated a large number of questions from a very interested and enthusiastic audience, especially concerning prostate cancer and surgery such laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and laser prostate surgery.

Mr Gommersall then talked about a number of conditions including blood in the urine, erection problems, low testosterone and testicular swellings. Questions from the audience came thick and fast, with particular interest in the effects and treatment of low testosterone.

Informal discussions before and after the formal presentation were of great interest and the Staffordshire Urology Clinic would like to thank the Chairman and members of the golf club for their invitation, interest and warm hospitality.

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