Male Hormonal Cycles

5 Things You Need to Know About the Male Hormonal Cycle

Anouare Abdou
November 8, 2022

This article is a repost which originally appeared on AskMen.

Edited for content. The opinions expressed in this article may not reflect the opinions of this site’s editors, staff or members.

Early testing can help identify low testosterone.

‧ Unknown to many, men also have hormonal cycles.

‧ There is a correlation with optimal health and well being and optimal hormone levels.

‧ Testosterone is a stress resistance hormone.

When you hear the words “hormonal cycle,” the menstrual cycle might come to mind. You may be aware that women ovulate or have periods, for example. But men have cycles too — and it’s important to understand yours.

“Many men have little understanding of their hormonal cycle and are often dismissive of the impact it can have on both body and mind. Although most men know that hormones play a massive role in regulating sex drive and libido, the effects of the male hormonal cycles are often overlooked,” according to Dr Chia Tan, founder of Harley St M.D., a clinic that provides testosterone replacement therapy and a range of men’s health tests and treatments.

“Optimal testosterone and hormone levels help create the best version of ourselves. We feel youthful, energic, vibrant, and capable of making quick cognitive decisions. We recover quickly after exercising, keep belly fat at bay, and have a passionate libido as well as the ability to gain and maintain a strong erection,” says Ross Tomkins, co-founder of a men’s hormonal health clinic called Alphagenix.

From the impact of your lifestyle on your hormones to the effects of low testosterone, here are five things you need to know about the male hormonal cycle.

How Often Does the Male Hormone Cycle Reset?

While the average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, the male hormonal cycle is actually built around the typical workday and resets within a 24-hour time span.

“Testosterone levels are elevated in the morning, reduce slightly in the afternoon, and are lowest late at night,” says Tan. “This basically means men tend to have more energy in the morning and afternoon, the natural time of the day when they would have been out hunting, which is when motivation, assertiveness and strength are needed the most.”

Can You Use Your Hormonal Cycle to Your Advantage?

You can therefore use that knowledge to your advantage. For example, Tomkins suggests working out or doing your most important work tasks first thing in the day to benefit from the surge of testosterone you experience in the morning. Your testosterone levels will start to decrease around lunchtime, so the period of time before that is prime time for being productive.

How Important is Testosterone?

You’ve gathered that testosterone plays a crucial role in your hormonal cycle. Its impact cannot be understated. Common signs of low testosterone levels include reduced sex drive and difficulty getting erections, fatigue, increased body fat, and mood swings, according to Tan.

Testosterone is not only responsible for your sex drive. It plays a big role in how you deal with stress and how efficient your metabolism is. “Testosterone is a stress hormone, it helps us resist stress. Low testosterone therefore often is linked with low mood, low motivation, and low vigor in life. Body fat distribution may change and one may find it harder to maintain lean muscle mass and easier to gain body fat due to a reduction in metabolism,” adds Tan.

Can Men Go Through Early Andropause?

You should also be aware of the fact that men experience the equivalent of menopause — andropause. And it can happen earlier than normal. For instance, Tomkins was diagnosed with low levels of testosterone in his early thirties, which led him to embark on a wellness journey.

Although men will always produce testosterone, they reach peak levels of the hormone in early adulthood. As they age, their testosterone levels decrease. “In some cases, these symptoms can be reported as early as in their late 30s or early 40s, but the majority of men may only start to notice it in their 50s or 60s,” says Tan.

How Does Lifestyle Affect Your Hormones?

Keep in mind that it’s not all luck and genetics. Your habits can have a huge impact on your hormonal cycle. “It’s really important to realize that this cycle is easily disrupted by poor lifestyle choices including poor diet, alcohol, smoking, no exercise and lack of quality sleep,” says Tomkins.

“If you recognize any symptoms I would start by looking at your diet, lifestyle and sleep. If these are all good, consider speaking to a specialist or at least taking a blood test to check biomarkers,” he recommends.

That being said, a blood test might not tell the full story, so trusting yourself and your awareness of your body is key. “Being within the normal range may not be sufficient for optimal well-being. The normal range determined by a laboratory takes no account of symptoms and is derived purely based on a statistical calculation of standard deviation and normal distribution curve,” says Tan.

What Can You Do to Address Low Testosterone?

If you do get diagnosed with low testosterone or embark on a journey to optimize your hormones, there are things you can do in conjunction with lifestyle changes.

Tomkins says that he now feels stronger and fitter than in his twenties after changing his diet and starting Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). TRT is designed to bring back hormone levels to a healthy range by giving the body testosterone until symptoms start to reverse. “Restoring testosterone levels to an optimal level will significantly improve a man’s quality of life,” says Tan.

However, you’ll want to find experienced and knowledgeable doctors who will be able to diagnose you and create a personalized treatment plan. “Good TRT requires regular monitoring and tweaking, as all men are different,” adds Tan. “Everyone has a different height, body mass, and physical activity level, therefore treatment needs to be bespoke and individualized to make sure you get the best out of it.”

Men’s health: Employers must tackle low testosterone levels

by Helen Lake

Low testosterone is sapping the energy levels of two million men in the UK. Helen Lake discusses some of the issues and misconceptions surrounding low testosterone, as well as outlining the actions that employers can take to support their staff who are suffering with this hard-to-spot condition.

27th Jul 2022

This article is a repost which originally appeared on HRZone.

Edited for content. The opinions expressed in this article may not reflect the opinions of this site’s editors, staff or members.

Our Takeaways:

· A large percentage of men suffer from emotional concerns in silence.

· 40% of men aged 45 or older have clinically low levels of testosterone.

· Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) should be considered a tactic of last resort for men with hormonal issues.

It’s estimated that around two million men in Britain suffer from low testosterone levels, making it a very real issue for a large proportion of the UK workforce.

For those working men suffering with it, symptoms can include low energy levels, poor concentration, memory loss and side effects that are often misdiagnosed as depression. Longer term, men living with a testosterone deficiency are more susceptible to serious health issues including cardiac arrest, infertility and osteoporosis.

Recent research by Peppy found that 39% of employees experience disruption due to men waiting until a health problem becomes severe before talking to their HR team.

With low testosterone impacting a man’s general wellbeing, as well as his performance at work – increasingly, there are calls for greater workplace support and awareness around male testosterone deficiency.

Men’s Health Awareness Week recently took place, but we shouldn’t only focus on men’s health during this time. At any point in the year, organisations should examine what can be done to raise the bar for men’s health, including their ‘t-levels’.

Who is impacted by low testosterone?

The research also revealed that an estimated 40% of men aged 45 and older have low testosterone. But, since this is an issue unique to men, it’s likely that the true figures are much higher than are reported.

Testosterone is the male hormone produced that boosts bone strength, powers sex drive, and helps to maintain muscle mass.

An estimated 40% of men aged 45 and older have low testosterone, with the true figure thought to be much higher.

It is mostly produced in the testicles, with production rising rapidly during puberty, triggering a whole host of teenage side-effects in young males and peaking around the 20s.

Levels begin to decline naturally in men by around 2% a year from their mid-30s. By their 40s, the more common symptoms – such as mood swings, low energy, loss of muscle mass, and poor concentration – are more likely to occur.

The imbalance of such a crucial part of a man’s hormonal make-up can have wide-ranging implications, both for him and his workplace.

A wide range of symptoms

While concerns around the impact menopause can have upon women in the workforce have taken deserved precedence in recent years, the issue of low testosterone in men of a working age is a cause for increasing concern among medical professionals.

And it should be for employers, too.

The ‘andropause’, as it’s been dubbed, may not present with as severe a set of symptoms as those experienced by some women during menopause, but the gradual decline in testosterone levels can have a devastating impact on the long-term health of men.

At the heart of the problem, is the fact that low testosterone isn’t always correctly diagnosed. Symptoms are commonly attributed to ‘working too hard’ or just getting older, and are often mistaken for depression – or else not identified at all.

The gradual decline in testosterone levels can have a devastating impact on the long-term health of men.

The symptoms of low testosterone vary between individuals. In some cases, low levels of testosterone do not appear to cause many symptoms for reasons that are not clear.

Impacts on men’s mental health and emotional wellbeing include poor sleep quality, mood swings and irritability – making it an issue employees and employers need to be aware of. Erectile dysfunction is another common sign, but is often viewed as an embarrassing issue that contributes to men suffering in silence.

In more severe cases, a decline in testosterone can affect sperm count and cause men to grow ‘moobs’ or man boobs, due to changes in the body’s fat distribution. The knock-on effect of low testosterone can therefore impact body image, self-confidence, and even family plans.

Most cases are caused by ageing, or through being overweight or type 2 diabetes – both of which are prevalent in the male population of the UK. In addition, low levels of testosterone can affect younger men as a result of stress, lack of sleep, poor diet and lack of exercise.

The impact on male mental health

For many men, low testosterone levels are the real culprit for that general feeling of low mood and exhaustion that so many experience.

But, when men are half as likely as women to visit their GP, many go years if not decades experiencing high levels of fatigue and decreased energy levels without finding out that it is hormone related and treatable.

In the UK today, one in eight men struggle with a common mental health problem such as anxiety or depression, and this is likely to be higher than is officially recorded. One in three men also attribute poor mental health to their job, making this a serious issue for workplaces.

In the UK today, one in eight men struggle with a common mental health problem such as anxiety or depression.

Directly or indirectly, the impact low testosterone levels can have on a man’s health and lifestyle – from loss of libido, to weight gain, to lack of quality sleep, to low mood – is very likely to trickle through to their mental and emotional wellbeing.

For organisations committed to improving their male workforce’s mental health, tackling testosterone must become part of the conversation.

How workplaces can tackle the problem

At present, accessing specific support is difficult for men suffering with low testosterone. Tests are only available on the NHS to those with severe symptoms, and these people must firstly have made an appointment with the GP and made it through the system, just in order to be diagnosed with low testosterone.

Workplaces are uniquely placed to give employees the practical and emotional support they need – and this starts with raising awareness.

Employees of all genders, ages and life stages should be made aware of the signs, symptoms and risks of low testosterone, so they know what to look out for in themselves, their colleagues and even their partners. Providing resources in the workplace for improved physical and mental health for employees should also be a priority.

Organisations should make the pathway to support as easy to access as possible by giving employees access to specialist men’s health support, including highly-trained urology specialist nurses, as well as nutritionists and fitness experts. Crucially for men, support should be available remotely and entirely confidentially to maximise uptake.

The help provided should include access to at-home hormone tests and personalised, expert advice on how to treat the side-effects of low testosterone.

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) should always be the last resort.

There is no ‘quick fix’ when it comes to low testosterone levels. Simple lifestyle changes like diet, exercise, sleep and work-life-balance can have a miraculous impact on an individual’s testosterone levels and should be explored first.

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) should always be the last resort, with any potential underlying medical cause excluded.

Leading employers are transforming men’s health

Forward-thinking employers and their employees are already reaping the rewards of connecting their people to a team of real, human experts.

With the right tools at their fingertips, individuals from leading consultancy firms, high street retailers and law firms are able to work alongside nutritionists, personal trainers, urology specialists and mental health experts – building the habits that can help to restore healthy testosterone levels.

Because eliminating the unwanted effects of low testosterone won’t just benefit the individual, but their workplace as well.

With the right holistic support and wellbeing initiatives, employees can spot the signs, identify the causes and take immediate, practical steps towards rebalancing their hormone levels, enabling them to bring their best selves to work each day.

Men: Ageing and Sexual Health Myths

Men: Ageing and Sexual Health Myths

[email protected] (healthxchange.sg)
Health Xchange4 September 2020

This article is a repost which originally appeared on Yahoo SG

In conjunction with World Sexual Health Day (4 Sep 2020), the departments of Psychiatry and Urology from Singapore General Hospital (SGH), a member of the SingHealth group, help dispel common myths about male ageing and sexual health.

Top 5 myths on male ageing and sexual health

Myth 1: Is something wrong with me as my friends don’t seem to have complaints about their erections?

Fact: Every man’s erection becomes weaker with age. However, men with medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol may experience erectile dysfunction earlier in their lives.

Myth 2: A short penis is not good for sex.

Fact: Many men have this misconception that good sex requires a long penis. Procedures to lengthen the penis are merely cosmetic and do not enhance erection. In fact, they may even impair erections in some cases! (Alprazolam)

Myth 3: Is not being able to have multiple erections a problem?

Fact: Most men do not have multiple erections. After ejaculation, the penis will have a refractory period whereby it cannot become erect.

Myth 4: Using erection drugs will improve my sex life.

Fact: Erection drugs do not increase sex drive. They increase blood flow in the penis, allowing erections to be stronger and more rigid.

Myth 5: It is possible to die from taking erection drugs.

Fact: Deaths from erection drugs are very rare and they happen when the drugs are taken without medical supervision. Victims may also have underlying medical conditions like heart problems. When taken properly under medical supervision, erection drugs are actually very safe.​

Treatment for erectile dysfunction

The most common treatment for erectile dysfunction is taking drugs such as Viagra, Levitra or Cialis under medical supervision. The most drastic treatment is a surgical procedure which involves inserting a penile implant.

Reduced libido caused by a lack of testosterone can be confirmed with a blood test and treated with testosterone supplements. The treatment can be given in an oral form or via a series of injections, with regular follow-ups to ensure that the patient’s testosterone is replaced adequately and safely.

Prevention is better than treatment

That is why it is important to maintain a well-balanced lifestyle – physically, emotionally and financially – as it is the first step towards graceful ageing and a healthy sex life.

If you have any chronic medical problems such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and depression, they need to be managed well so as to prevent long-term complications.

Experts warn against drug and alcohol abuse as these have a toxic effect on the nervous system, damaging nerves that are critical to sexual desire. Smoking causes early atherosclerosis (which leads to premature erectile dysfunction and is also associated with heart attacks, strokes and many cancers) and should be avoided.

Exercising regularly will also help improve your self image (which increases desire and boosts sexual hormones) and promote healthy blood vessels (which means delaying the onset of erectile dysfunction).

On the emotional front, focus on relationships with important people in your life and let go of past grievances. Also, be mentally and financially prepared for retirement. If one enters the golden years possessing financial stability, companionship and meaningful hobbies, one will be well equipped to lead a more fulfilling life in the later years.