Testosterone and erection health

I was just browsing through back copies of the ISSM (International Society for Sexual Medicine), and found this little nugget:

The take home message:
Build your lifestyle/exercise/nutrition/sleep in such a way that supports healthy levels of testosterone, as a lack of it can allow physical changes to your unit that will almost certainly hinder your PE goals, and possibly also negatively affect erectile function that not even viagra may be able to overcome.

Link:

Would you like to explain some more? This seems interesting but I am being too dumb to understand =)

It says that testosterone deprivation caused loss of smooth muscle (suggests diminished Corpus Cavernosum), and increased connective tissue content (suggests stronger more stubborn Tunica Albuginea). In other words, a less functional erection process and tougher fibres to boot. To top it off, even a PDE-5 inhibitor could not overcome the limitations induced by these changes. That means that drugs like Viagra and Cialis won’t necessarily provide wood if the machinery is dysfunctional.

If I have heavy night of drinking, I wont have morning wood. So I can see how lifestyle playes a role , I guess if i stopped drinking all together I would have better dick longevity.

Shiver, do you have any good suggestions for ways in which one can have better testosterone production?

Interesting, but deprivation is pretty extreme. Perhaps problems don’t occur unless testosterone is practically eliminated, not just low.

Exercise, balanced diet, quality sleep. The usual really. Short term, things like green oats are purported to reduce SHBG, but I can’t speak from experience. Then there’s a whole boat load of herbs that are claimed to affect LH/LHRH.

For a simple test you could just try heavy squats. There’s something magical about that exercise that has whole body implications. I’ll leave it to others to elucidate how exactly that happens, as to be honest I haven’t a clue!

Very possibly, but don’t you think it sounds even slightly like the effects you might see in advancing years? I suspect in real world rather than laboratory conditions, it would not only be the levels of Testosterone (either free or bound), but also the ratio of various hormones that determine their net effective punch. I’m a big believer that that ratio of estrogen to testosterone is the state that causes all manner of age related disorders, including but no limited to, prostate problems (conventional wisdom says DHT, but time will tell).

>Very possibly, but don’t you think it sounds even slightly like the effects you might see in advancing years?

Yes, but T-deprived mice and human men with low T aren’t exactly apples and apples. I suspect degenerative changes come from various factors. Hormones may play a part, directly or indirectly. Reduced frequency and duration of erections with advancing age, from whatever cause, may contribute.

For example, say your hormones go out of whack enough that you no longer have regular nocturnal erections. The lack of erections may be causative, not the screwed hormones themselves.

I don’t know. All else being equal it’s certainly better to have hormones at good levels.

I couldn’t count the number of times a fantastic breakthrough has been made in mice that didn’t translate well to humans (rabbits and pigs seem to correlate somewhat better).

I’d agree that it’s better to maintain good levels. The above quote wan’t meant to be conclusive, I just thought it was an interesting nugget.

I agree it’s interesting, but I know some people will want to jump to conclusions. The supplement industry is built on such leaps.

I am taking a supplement called Tribulus which supposidely stimulates the areas that produce testosterone. I guess it can take up to 6 months to really kick in though.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2005 Jun 30; [Epub ahead of print]

The aphrodisiac herb Tribulus terrestris does not influence the androgen production in young men.

Neychev VK, Mitev VI.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Medical University, 2 Zdrave str., Sofia-1431, Bulgaria.

OBJECTIVE:: The aim of the current study is to investigate the influence of Tribulus terrestris extract on androgen metabolism in young males. DESIGN AND METHODS:: Twenty-one healthy young 20-36 years old men with body weight ranging from 60 to 125kg were randomly separated into three groups-two experimental (each n=7) and a control (placebo) one (n=7). The experimental groups were named TT1 and TT2 and the subjects were assigned to consume 20 and 10mg/kg body weight per day of Tribulus terrestris extract, respectively, separated into three daily intakes for 4 weeks. Testosterone, androstenedione and luteinizing hormone levels in the serum were measured 24h before supplementation (clear probe), and at 24, 72, 240, 408 and 576h from the beginning of the supplementation. RESULTS:: There was no significant difference between Tribulus terrestris supplemented groups and controls in the serum testosterone (TT1 (mean+/-S.D.: 15.75+/-1.75nmol/l); TT2 (mean+/-S.D.: 16.32+/-1.57nmol/l); controls (mean+/-S.D.: 17.74+/-1.09nmol/l) (p>0.05)), androstenedione (TT1 (mean+/-S.D.: 1.927+/-0.126ng/ml); TT2 (mean+/-S.D.: 2.026+/-0.256ng/ml); controls (mean+/-S.D.: 1.952+/-0.236ng/ml) (p>0.05)) or luteinizing hormone (TT1 (mean+/-S.D.: 4.662+/-0.274U/l); TT2 (mean+/-S.D.: 4.103+/-0.869U/l); controls (mean+/-S.D.: 4.170+/-0.406U/l) (p>0.05)) levels. All results were within the normal range. The findings in the current study anticipate that Tribulus terrestris steroid saponins possess neither direct nor indirect androgen-increasing properties. The study will be extended in the clarifying the probable mode of action of Tribulus terrestris steroid saponins.

Hobby, good find! I guess I’ve been victim to BB hype AGAIN.