The Brain Function and The Level of TESTOSTERONE

“Neuroactive steroids are crucial regulators of nervous functions. In the brain, progesterone, testosterone, and their metabolites exert their functions through complex regulation…” - Dr Giatti Silvia, April, 2022

“Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with lower testosterone…” - Dr Liu, P.Y., 2022

"...lower T in male patients is associated with increased Covid-19 severity and mortality” - Dr Yassin, A, 202

“...I’m not asking for a man to stop a bullet with his beard, or for Jeremiah Johnson himself to proposition me with an impressive collection of pelts; but please, for the love of God, at least let him have some hair on his chest” - Jenna Martin for Outside Bozeman

For some reason, TESTOSTERONE has a really negative stigma in human eyes. When most think about testosterone, a ‘macho’ looking man appears in front of their eyes, constantly looking to start a fight or for a sexual adventure.

The truth about testosterone is it is a vital hormone for both: men and women. It has to do with hair growth, bone strength, physical strength, cognitive abilities, and mental clarity. It is known, to be used to treat multiple conditions in men and women, including breast cancer and depression. Fluctuations in the level of testosterone are associated with aging, overweight, and depression.

Extremely high level of testosterone are rare conditions that can cause adverse effects, like cardiovascular disorders and muscle dysfunction. But this situation can happen only in the case of artificially high dosage created in a lab. Professional athletes, unfortunately, got mistreated by high dosage, which plays a negative role in their overall performance and quality of life.

I love experiments, and a few months ago, I decided to get an herbal-based supplement that increases the level of testosterone. And I can tell, after taking a week of a small dose, my focus and attention to the details increased noticeably. It was an interesting finding for me.

What is testosterone?

From biochemical perspective sex hormones androgens (testosterone) and estrogens (estradiol) both go from the same precursor progestins (progesterone) with the help of dehydroepiandrosterone, androstenedione, and androstenediol. The last ones get produced from cholesterol (it gets to our body from food fats) by the action of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which together with cortisol gets released because of the appearance of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in the anterior pituitary gland of our limbic brain as the response on stress.

In other words, there is a direct link and inverse relationship between sex hormones and cortisol. The less stressed your body is the more sexual hormones it produces. And your body eats fat to produce testosterone. Can you believe it?

The healthy amount of testosterone in the male body is about 6-10 ng.ml-1on - consistently on a daily basis. For the female body, it is 8-10 ng.ml-1 but this happens only a week or two after ovulation.        

“Testosterone is delaying nerve cell death, improving nerve cell regrowth after damage, reducing the effects of nerve damage, having anti-inflammatory actions on the nerves” - Healthline.com

Testosterone is a natural Sleep Aid

According to the study conducted by Dr. Liu at the University of California LA, the sleep quality has a lot to do with testosterone levels. To be precise, testosterone-cortisol balance during the day. Our bodies are very sensitive to night-day rhythms. The quantity of hormones fluctuates during the day naturally. If some artificial factors appear, like stress or certain supplements and/or drugs it can cause a distraction in the balance and make you have a bad sleeping pattern.

Testosterone is a natural Hair Growth Remedy

Testosterone level and hair growth are directly connected… for women too. The British Journal of Dermatology published an article a while ago with the statement that “Subcutaneous testosterone therapy was found to have a beneficial effect on scalp hair growth in female patients treated for symptoms of androgen deficiency. We propose this is due to an anabolic effect of testosterone on hair growth.” The authors started their research discussions with the numbers that show that thinning of hair is a common complaint in women and its frequency in the female population increases with age. Two studies in caucasian women in the U.K. and U.S.A. reported prevalence rates of reduced hair density of 3–6% in women aged under 30 years, increasing to 29–42% in women aged ≥ 70 years.

The research results demonstrated that testosterone therapy can improve the quality of the hair and its growth.

Testosterone is a natural Antidepressant

"Testosterone deficiency can lead to depressive symptoms in humans” Dr. Li for Cell Host & Microbe. Dr. Li’s group published the results of observations, demonstrating that a certain bacteria develops in the human gut that decomposes the testosterone and causes a decrease of testosterone level in the human brain.

Also, the study conducted by Dr Culbert for the JCPP Advances shows that "puberty-driven increases in the secretion of testosterone may be a biological factor that protects males against the development of depression. Although all males produce testosterone, there are substantial between-person differences that could contribute to differential vulnerability to depression among pre-adolescent and adolescent boys, particularly after pubertal onset. Indeed, experimental animal and human data have shown that low testosterone increases the risk for depressive-like symptoms in males, whereas higher levels of testosterone may be protective."

Testosterone is a natural anti- Aging remedy

“Testosterone plays a key yet double-edged role in the regulation of several neuroplasticity alterations. Research has shown that testosterone levels are affected by numerous factors such as age, stress, surgical procedures on gonads, and pharmacological treatments. There is an ongoing debate about testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in aging men; however, TRT is more useful in young individuals with testosterone deficits and more specific subgroups with cognitive dysfunction. Therefore, it is important to pay early attention to the testosterone profile and precisely uncover its harms and benefits.” - Dr. Saeki for Reviews in the Neurosciences, 2022

In other words, the way how fast the body ages and rehabilitates after injury or stress depends on the level of Testosterone.

Testosterone improves Bones Strength

“Testosterone has an important role in maintaining bone mineral density (BMD) among men. Some testosterone molecular mechanisms on bone metabolism have been currently established by much experimental data. Concurrent with a decrease in testosterone with age, various clinical symptoms and signs associated with testosterone decline, including decreased BMD, are known to occur in elderly men. However, the relationship between testosterone levels and osteoporosis development has been conflicting in human epidemiological studies. Thus, testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is a useful tool for managing clinical symptoms caused by hypogonadism. Many recent studies support the benefit of TRT on BMD, especially in hypogonadal men with osteopenia and osteoporosis, although a few studies failed to demonstrate its effects. However, no evidence supporting the hypothesis that TRT can prevent the incidence of bone fracture exists. Currently, TRT should be considered as one of the treatment options to improve hypogonadal symptoms and BMD simultaneously in symptomatic hypogonadal men with osteopenia.”?- Dr. Kazuyoshi Shigehara for the journal of clinical medicine

In other words Testosterone is proven to be helpful in improvement of bone quality.?

Testosterone improves Immune Response

Dr. Salonia recently concluded that “Circulating testosterone levels are reduced in men with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections, COVID-19, with lower levels being associated with more severe clinical outcomes.”

Notably, such connection was found for patients with HIV as well. Men with lower levels of testosterone tend to respond to the treatment a lot worse and have fewer chances for survival.