THE IMPORTANCE OF HORMONE BALANCE

• For decades, hormone therapy for men has been a common practice to address the symptoms of aging. Male bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) may help men feel like themselves again. It may also help men who have always suffered from unbalanced hormones feel better for the first time. 

• Male hormone replacement may also lower the severity of ailments not directly associated with reproductive symptoms. Biote has helped many patients with our unique approach to hormone therapy for men using pellet hormone therapy.

• Bioidentical hormones are identical to those present in the human body and closely resemble the molecular structure of human hormones.

• Pellets used for male BHRT are high-quality and custom-compounded with bioidentical testosterone. In an in-office appointment, these pellets are inserted subcutaneously in a patient’s upper buttocks. Within up to two to four weeks after a pellet insertion, the hormone therapy for men may begin to alleviate some unwanted symptoms. However, everyone’s body is different, and some patients report feeling the full benefits after the second insertion.

Testosterone is a sex hormone that plays important roles in the body. In men, it is thought to regulate sex drive (libido), bone mass, fat distribution, muscle mass and strength, and the production of red blood cells and sperm. 

Testosterone levels in men start to decline about 1% per year, beginning at ages 30-40. Testosterone therapy is associated with decreased total cholesterol, fat mass, waist circumference, and proinflammatory cytokines associated with atherosclerosis, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Whereas low testosterone is associated with excess abdominal fat, loss of insulin sensitivity, and atherosclerosis. Testosterone enables HDL (the "good" cholesterol) to remove excess cholesterol from the arterial wall and transport it to the liver for disposal. This effect of enhancing HDL is termed "reverse cholesterol transport" and is vital to preventing arterial occlusion and cardiovascular disease. 

As per the American Urological Association (AUA) 2018 Guidelines in the Evaluation and Management of Testosterone Deficiency, low testosterone is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. 

The most common type of specific mortality associated with low testosterone is cardiovascular (CV) mortality, which includes mortality due to coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmia, sudden cardiac death, thrombosis, and stroke. A 2011 published study of 2,416 men showed a 30% reduction in cardiovascular events when total testosterone levels exceeded 550 ng/d. Men with increasing levels of testosterone had a lower prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and body fat mass. 

Any level of total testosterone less than 550 ng/dl resulted in significant increased risk. Another study evaluated men under age 45 who presented with coronary artery disease compared with an age-matched control group. The findings revealed that a free testosterone level of less than 17.3 pg/ml resulted in greater than a 3-fold increased risk of developing premature coronary artery disease compared with men who had testosterone levels above 17.3 pg/mL.

Many patients and practitioners are concerned about testosterone therapy and the risk of developing prostate cancer and/or increasing the risk for aggressive prostate cancer. According to the 2018 AUA Guidelines, there is no evidence linking testosterone therapy to the development of prostate cancer.