Low Natural Testosterone-Low T - Robert Seik, PharmD

There are many different ways that our hormones can become imbalanced. Endocrine disruptors, nutrient deficiencies, stress and the use of anabolic steroids, which can cause permanent irreversible damage. All these can cause Low Natural Testosterone-Low T.   A simple overview on how our body produces Testosterone in the testes is as follows. It starts in the brain. The hypothalamus in the brain releases Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH). Underneath the hypothalamus is the pituitary and the GnRH causes the front portion called the anterior pituitary to release Luteinizing Hormone (LH). This Luteinizing Hormone then travels to the testes and causes them to release Testosterone.   This whole system is self-regulating. When Testosterone is at the right level it creates a feedback to the hypothalamus to stop releasing GnRH. This means less LH is released and then testicular production of Testosterone is reduced. This is called negative feedback or feedback inhibition. If the Testosterone level is too low then GnRH is stimulated for release, which increases LH, which then increases testicular production of Testosterone.   The causes of hormone depletion can occur any where along the entire cascade pathway just described. Dr. Seik learned a lot from Dr. Edward Lichten, who lectures on what a dramatic effect that endocrine disrupting chemicals (environmental toxins that disrupt our endocrine system) have on our HPGA Axis. HPGA stands for Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Gonadal Axis.   Many of these endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are very similar to Estrogen, such as Dioxin and Bisphenol A (BPA) from plastics. There are thousands of chemicals in our environment, toiletries, cosmetics, cleaners and housing materials that we are exposed to on a daily basis. Since 1975 till today, the average sperm count in men has reduced by 50% and this coincides with hormone decline. EDCs are at fault. These EDCs that act like Estrogen can mimic and inhibit the release of hormones causing an imbalance in the body.   Another factor that can disrupt our hormones is stress. Stress can actually cause hypogonadism, where the testicles are not producing enough testosterone. There are many different kinds of stress that can cause this such as emotional stress, physical stress from environmental toxins and there is also overtraining stress that you find in athletes that leads to exercise-induced hypogonadism.   One of the most prevalent of the endocrine disrupting chemicals is Anabolic Steroids. They are typically synthetic chemicals, which means they are not structures made by the human body. There can be prescription anabolic steroids, which have a good therapeutic application, but there are an enormous amount of advertisements in magazines that offer quasi-steroids, or knock-off molecules that are very similar to testosterone. Many athletes are looking for the benefits that testosterone offers, like building muscle, increased strength, energy and increased workout production.   The problem with these chemicals is that there is not a good way to test for the presence of all of them in the blood and there is also not enough knowledge on the effects that these quasi-steroids have on the system because they do not act the same way that testosterone does. They can cause a permanent malfunction of the HPGA Axis.   Another example of how delicate this system is with regards to nutrient deficiency is how Zinc deficiency can decrease Testosterone. Zinc acts in many different ways. It is needed for the production of Testosterone and it prevents the conversion of Testosterone to Estrogen by inhibiting the aromatase enzyme. Why this is important is because Estrogen is a very strong inhibitor of LH. So, if you don't have zinc then you have Testosterone conversion to Estrogen and then Estrogen inhibits the release of LH, which then means the testicles are not going to be producing as much Testosterone.   Now think about this in regards to chemicals in our environment that mimic Estrogen and you can see how they can cause lowered Testosterone levels.   by Robert Seik, PharmD