Contents:
- Medical Video: Patient Education Video: Low Testosterone
- Old male testosterone levels
- Do elderly men who need testosterone supplements?
- Natural way to increase testosterone levels
Medical Video: Patient Education Video: Low Testosterone
It is common knowledge, the more age increases the body functions will also decrease, including male sex drive. Testosterone is a hormone that regulates the ups and downs of male sexual arousal. That is why, men who have decreased sexual interest, often choose to take testosterone supplements to restore the desire to make love again.
Actually, should testosterone supplements be consumed by men who are elderly?
Old male testosterone levels
Testosterone is one of the main sex hormones in men, which is responsible for regulating male growth such as wider shoulder development, broad chest, facial hair, and denser muscles. Testosterone levels will change with age. Generally, testosterone levels begin to peak during adolescence and enter early adulthood.
As you get older, testosterone levels in your body will gradually decrease. Reported from the Healthline page, the average testosterone level will decrease by about eight percent every 10 years or 16 percent every 20 years.
This condition then results in decreased male sex drive accompanied by loss of muscle strength, increase in abdominal fat, bone loss, and decreased cognitive function.
Do elderly men who need testosterone supplements?
In order to avoid a decline in sexual function and various health problems, not a few elderly adult men who then choose to take testosterone supplements. Not without reason, besides aiming to increase sex drive, this supplement is also believed to help treat hypogonadism, a condition when the body is unable to produce enough testosterone.
Starting from this, in 2010 researchers at the National Institute of Aging conducted a testosterone test to find out whether testosterone supplementation could improve health problems associated with low testosterone levels in old age.
The results show that there are indeed benefits to be obtained by taking testosterone supplements, but on the other hand this can also pose health risks. Easily, the sexual function of an elderly adult man will increase to the normal range, but does not support a man's physical abilities in a better direction.
The discovery was also supported by scientists from Utrecht Medical Center, who gave testosterone supplements to 237 men aged 60 to 80 years with low testosterone levels. According to the study, male body muscle mass increased which was accompanied by a decrease in fat mass, but was unable to improve male muscle strength.
Besides that, men who take testosterone supplements actually have lower HDL cholesterol levels, even though the type of cholesterol is classified as good and needed by the body. If left for a long time, elderly men are likely to develop metabolic syndrome, which is a "collection" of various health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Not only that, testosterone supplementation was found to have less role in improving cognitive function, increasing bone mineral density, and overall quality of life. In fact, as mentioned earlier, a decrease in testosterone levels not only affects sexual function, but also results in various other bodily functions.
So, the consumption of this supplement should be able to fix the problem thoroughly, but in fact it isn't. That is why, taking supplements to increase testosterone levels for elderly men is actually not too recommended.
Natural way to increase testosterone levels
Testosterone supplementation is not the only solution to increase testosterone levels in elderly men. So, there are still other ways that are considered more natural and of course you can easily try, such as:
- Meet the body's zinc needs. Research shows that zinc minerals play an important role in regulating testosterone levels in a man's body.
- Meet the needs of body potassium. Potassium is believed to support the work of testosterone in the body.
- Exercise routine. The goal is to increase testosterone levels naturally.
- Enough sleep.
- Manage stress well.
Preferably, also consult with your doctor to get the best way if you want to increase testosterone levels.
