Friday, February 28, 2014

Effects of Testosterone


Testosterone is a steroid hormone and it belongs from the group of androgen. It is the hormone found in birds, mammals and vertebrates. In mammals, ovaries of females and testicles of males secrete testosterone. Testosterone is the sex hormone in male and a basic anabolic steroid as well. Testosterone has its significance in the male reproductive tissues in which testis and prostate are included and it deals with the growth of the hair of the body. It is an essential component for health and well-being of a person.

Normally concentration of testosterone is greater in adult males as compared to females and it is nearly believed to be 7-8 times greater. Normally, the female body is more receptive and sensitive to hormones. It is the hormone, which is present in most vertebrates including the fish. That is the reason why Testosterone is an essential part of the body of human as well as other mammals and vertebrates.

Testosterone provides both the virilizing as well as the anabolic effects and some effects are considered both, as it is very difficult to make a distinction between them. When you talk about the anabolic effects, you see the strengthening of body and muscle mass and linear growth stimulation as well as the bone maturation. The virilizing or androgenic effects deals with the enhancement as well as the maturation of the organs related to sex in which the fetus scrotum and penis is of utmost importance. It also deals with the deepening of the voice, growth of different kinds of hair of the body. Other than these male secondary sex characteristics, they also deal with the postnatal effects in the case of both males as well as females and in that case, they are dependent on the duration of the circulation of the testosterone.

Normally the effects of testosterone are more in male adults as compared to the female adults but they are equally important for both the sexes at the same time. However, it is a fact that testosterone level may decrease in the adult life in the later part.

Among other uses of testosterone, it is the highly important and necessary ingredient for the sperm development in males. This hormone helps in activating the genes in the cells for the differentiation of Spermatogonia. Testosterone provides the physical energy and it maintains the trophism for the muscles. If high androgen levels are found in females, then it makes the menstrual cycle irregular and abnormal and that can happen in the healthy women as well.

Testosterone plays an important role in the maintenance of cardiovascular health. If testosterone level in controlled in the elderly men, then it can decrease the total cholesterol level and decrease fat body mass. It is not known to cause any kind of deleterious effects on the cancer of prostrate. It can play a role in the fight responding time as well. Normally the men who have high level of testosterone are likely to have the high blood pressure and in that way their chances of getting heart attack decreases. However, they are more receptive towards injuries, infections transmitted sexually and other bad habits like smoking.

Along with many other uses, testosterone has its significance in medical use as well. Main use of testosterone is for the treatment of males who have the problem of endogenous testosterone production. This type of disease is known as hypogonadism. In this case, normally the treatment is done through the testosterone therapy in which the replacement is done and then the testosterone levels are maintained in the normal range. However, the replacement therapy may work well for some people, and in other cases, it may cause some problems. It can help in reducing the infertility, it can correct the erectile dysfunction and it can reverse the effects of anemia as well.

Testosterone is effective in giving treatment for the low libido level during the women post-menopausal. Sometimes, the strategies of testosterone are done to prevent loss of bone mass and to deal with any kind of depression. However, some women may face the side effects like increase in their weight and in that case their body fat is not increased but they may face some changes in muscle density. Another risk is that if a woman goes through testosterone therapy then they might face risk of getting breast or any other kind of gynecological cancers up to some extent.

There are many benefits and some adverse effects of testosterone therapy. It can really help in managing the diabetes of type 2. Sometimes, low testosterone level may increase the risk of diseases of high intensity, so therapy is necessary and advised in that case. However, it must important to note that some health risks are also involved with the testosterone therapy and prostate cancer may come apparent after few months of the testosterone therapy treatment.

Testosterone can also be very useful for athletes as well in order to improve their performance drastically. However, it is commonly considered as the doping case in many sports of players use the testosterone. Many other anabolic steroids including the testosterone can be used to strengthen the muscle development. If testosterone is used properly then it makes the fastening repair of the of the muscles fiber.

There are many methods that have been deployed for the detection of testosterone in the athletes and the most common one is the urine test. Among many administration routes for the testosterone the ones that are being used mostly commonly are injectables, buccals, transdermal creams, and some kinds of gels along with few others as well. It is believed that some other methods and nasal sprays will come soon for this purpose.

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