In a press release, the Endocrine Society notes a new study which shows that "men with borderline testosterone levels have higher rates of depression and depressive symptoms than the general population." The study of 200 adult men between the ages of 22 and 77 had levels of testosterone between 200 and 350 nanograms per deciliter. According to a table based on a 1996 study the average for a 35-44 year old male is 668 ng/dl and declines with age to an average of 376 ng/dl for men 85-100.
In the newer study, the men with borderline low testosterone had depressive symptoms or a diagnosis of depression, and/or use of an antidepressant. Their rates were significantly higher than the general population, 56% of men with borderline low testosterone versus 15-22% among a sample of primary care patients.
The population also had a high prevalence of overweight (39%), obesity (40%) and physical inactivity; other than walking, 51% of the men did not engage in regular exercise. The most common symptoms reported were erectile dysfunction (78%), low libido (69%) and low energy (52%).
This would seem to indicate men with depression should get their testosterone levels checked, especially if they have some of the above symptoms.
We previously discussed bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure and its link to Autism Spectrum as well as its estradiol-like effects which may lower testosterone.
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A newly published study is the first to report an association between bisphenol-A (BPA), a common plasticizer used in a variety of consumer food and beverage containers, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.
"It has been suspected for a lot of years that BPA is involved in autism, but there was no direct evidence," said T. Peter Stein, of RowanSOM and the study's lead author. "We've shown there is a link. The metabolism of BPA is different in some children with autism than it is in otherwise healthy children."
The research team -- which included Margaret Schluter and Robert Steer, of RowanSOM who were responsible for laboratory analysis, and child neurologist Xue Ming, of NJMS who recruited and ascertained the study populations -- examined urine specimens from 46 children with ASD and 52 healthy control children for both free BPA and total BPA concentrations. Like many chemicals, BPA becomes water soluble when it is bound to glucose in the liver -- a process called glucuronidation. Conversion to a glucuronide and then excretion of the glucuronide in the urine is a major pathway for removing toxins from the body.
Back in the day some major chemical companies were telling everyone "Better living through Chemistry" (duPont) and wanted to build everyone plastic houses (Monsanto)... now it appears they are building chemically modified humans. The part of the (evil) back story about BPA can be found in a story from 2009 at Fast Company: http://www.fastcompany.com/1139298/real-story-behind-bisphenol
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2015, @03:02AM
Men with low testosterone don't give a phuck.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Saturday March 14 2015, @03:06AM
Testosterone 'could prevent heart and diabetes deaths' [bbc.com]
Coincidence or low-T stealth marketing campaign?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2015, @03:41AM
They had to do something to counter the other recent news that the T patch causes heart attacks. Lets see, depression or heart failure? It depends who I'm banging.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Hartree on Saturday March 14 2015, @03:28AM
Consider the population of this site and Slashdot. Do a bunch of computer geeks in their mothers basements that are depressed because they are horny and frustrated really have "low" testosterone levels?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2015, @05:20AM
Well when I used drugs to lower my testosterone to undetectable levels I got less depresed.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 14 2015, @09:12AM
Seems just as likely (if not more) that low testosterone levels are a result of depression.
Depressed people are not so likely to exercise or pump iron:
http://www.webmd.com/men/features/exercise-and-testosterone [webmd.com]
Where are their victories?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130514185338.htm [sciencedaily.com]
Does increasing their testosterone levels reduce/remove their depression?
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday March 14 2015, @11:29AM
The summary doesn't actually suggest that low testosterone causes depression. It just points out the link.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 4, Insightful) by E_NOENT on Saturday March 14 2015, @09:57AM
"Before You Diagnose Yourself With Depression Or Low Self Esteem, First Make Sure That You Are Not, In Fact, Simply Surrounded By Assholes."
- Wm Gibson (I think)
I'm not in the business... I *am* the business.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 14 2015, @06:57PM
People with low testosterone should first get their thyroid levels checked (at a very minimum, Free T4 -- testing TSH alone doesn't cut it).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15142373 [nih.gov]
Too often hypothyrodism is not considered and other symptoms are treated as separate disorders, even tho they follow directly from low thyroid. This is likely to push the system more out of balance rather than fixing it.
A partial list of symptoms that are not typically recognised by general practitioners (and sometimes not even by specialists) but are indeed common with hypothyroid conditions, as noted in various articles published in the Journal of Endocrinology:
asthma (this will sometimes manifest with partial but inadequate thyroid replacement)
persistent headache
shortness of breath/inability to take a deep breath
pounding heart
tinnitus
fibromyalgia, or other persistent joint/bone pain without apparent source
paranoia
depression
'brain fog'
insomnia
"restless leg syndrome"
low blood sugar
"irritable bowel syndrome" (should *always* be investigated as probable Hashimoto's thyroiditis)
uterine fibroids (100% correlated with hypothyroidism; fibroids are thyroid receptor tissue)
infertility
erectile dysfunction
fading/absent sex drive
incontinence (urinary or anal sphincter, which can present solely as hemorrhoids or itching)
sugar craving especially as response to depression
muscle wasting
enlarged spleen
persistent low-grade sore throat (symptom of Hashimoto's autoimmune attack)
and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head. A lot of this boils down to "poor glucose transport".
The classical "weight gain and hair loss" symptoms do not occur in many hypothyroid individuals.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 14 2015, @07:07PM
http://www.renewman.com/male-hormones/thyroid/ [renewman.com]
A few more symptoms that come to mind:
high cholesterol
vertigo
gingivitis
sensitivity to cold
heat intolerance
irritability/short temper
"chronic fatigue syndrome"
dry skin
brittle nails
talking to yourself on SN
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 15 2015, @03:43AM
My dyslexia read "enlarged spleen" as "enlarged penis"