What is Testosterone?

What is testosterone?

How is testosterone made?

Testosterone is made naturally inside your body. It is an Androgen sex hormone that is derived from Cholesterol. Most hormones are derived from cholesterol. Testosterone is mainly made by the ovaries I (in women) or testes (in men) but production is also helped along by the adrenal glands. Approximately 95% of testosterone in men is produced by the testes. In women the ovaries produce around 60% of testosterone.

What does cholesterol have to do with testosterone production? Well, the way that the ovaries and testes make testosterone is by converting cholesterol, found in the blood, into testosterone. Without cholesterol there can be no testosterone and without the ovaries/testes, there can be no conversion into testosterone. Good levels of cholesterol and fully functioning ovaries/testes are essential for the natural production of testosterone in the body.

What is the role of testosterone?

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Men need more testosterone than women but that doesn't mean you should underestimate the role testosterone plays in women’s health.

Testosterone plays an important role in sexual health, mental health and physical health.

The core function of testosterone is to help develop and maintain the function of a person’s sexual characteristics, including gonadal development and sexual function. Also affected is body shape, weight control and mood swings….

Some people may not technically have low blood testosterone levels according to average assumptions but they may feel strong symptoms. Each person reacts to low testosterone levels in different ways. A person may have technically low blood testosterone but only has minor symptoms that they feel are livable with. Others may be hovering around mid-range blood testosterone levels but may experience more severe symptoms. Low blood testosterone levels go hand in hand with lifestyle choices and personal feelings. You cannot base treatment options only on blood testosterone levels.... or only on low testosterone physical and physiological symptoms.

Our quick online test for low testosterone is symptom based and can give you a good idea of how to deal with your symptoms and improve your life. If you think that testosterone therapy might be the answer for you then try it and find out. Many times doctors will prescribe couples counseling or will prescribe anti-depressants – not many doctors believe in hormones. If your blood levels are within the very wide normal range then it often gets overlooked for other medical conditions. At the least, go along to your doctor with some valuable research and suggestions. It never hurts to put your opinion across, especially when it concern your quality of life and medication choices.

There are also different types of testosterone and their levels mean different things.

Different types of testosterone and what they do.

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You’ll probably be familiar with the term total testosterone. This is all the different types of testosterone combined. Total testosterone is a combination of free testosterone, SHBG testosterone and Albumin testosterone.

Free testosterone is the good stuff. It only comprises 2-3% of your total testosterone but it’s the stuff that your body can do something with. The free testosterone in your blood is what gives you your libido and allows you to get intimate with your partner successfully. It’s called “free” as the hormone is not bound to any proteins in the blood. When testosterone is not bound it is freer and more available to interact with other cells and androgen receptors. This means that you feel the benefit of it.

Albumin testosterone is also known as Albumin-bound testosterone. This is because the testosterone hormone is bound to the Albumin protein (a stabilizing protein made in the liver). Normally when a hormone is bound to a protein it becomes biologically inactive as it already has a designated function and cannot move from it. Albumin protein is quite a weak protein though and if needed the testosterone can break away from it and become free testosterone.

SHBG testosterone is also known as SHBG-bound testosterone. It makes up 40-50% of your total blood testosterone which is a shame as it cannot be used in the body like free or Albumin-bound testosterone can. SHBG means “sex hormone binding gloubin”. Unlike the Albumin protein, the SHBG protein is very strong and the testosterone hormones bound to it cannot be freed so you do not feel the benefits of them. Basically, the more free testosterone you have, the less SHBG-bound testosterone you have. The only way to change the percentages is to up the free testosterone available to your body. By doing this your SHBG-bound testosterone levels should naturally reduce. You can do this through healthy lifestyle choices and by using a bioidentical testosterone cream.

Most of the time when you do a blood test for low testosterone, the free testosterone results include the Albumin-bound testosterone. This is because it’s seen as testosterone that can convert into free testosterone if needed, unlike the SHBG-bound testosterone which is unable to convert to usable testosterone. When doing blood tests for testosterone, we feel that it’s important to show all results separately so ask your doctor for the most drilled down results that they can give. It will help you understand your symptoms better and it will help choose the right treatment plan.

The below average levels for men and women have been taken from WebMD but number vary from source to source and also depend on the symptoms you experience.

How much testosterone do men need?

Average good total testosterone levels in men are between 270-1070 ng/dL (9-38 nmol/L).

Average free testosterone levels in men are 50-210 pg/mL (174-729 nmol/L)

How much testosterone do women need?

Average good total testosterone levels in women (non-menopausal, non-pregnant) are 15-70 ng/dL (0.52-2.4 nmol/L)

Average free testosterone levels in women (non-menopausal, non-pregnant) are 1.0-8.5 pg/mL (3.5-29.5 pmol/L)

What happens when you have low testosterone?

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