What causes male hormone health risk warning?

The core of health risk warnings for male hormones (clinically referred to as male hormones mainly testosterone) is abnormalities in the synthesis, secretion, and metabolic pathways of male hormones in the body. Most of them are not triggered by a single factor, but are the result of the cross interaction of multiple factors such as age, living habits, underlying diseases, and environmental exposure.

Over the years I have been attending men's clinics, I have met too many men who panic when they see low testosterone values ​​in physical examination reports. The one who impressed me the most is Xiao Zhang, a 32-year-old Internet practitioner. Last year, it was found for the first time that his total testosterone fell to the edge of the normal range. When he compared the symptoms online, he found that fatigue, irritability, and morning erections were all reduced, and he was scared to think that he had entered menopause early. After careful questioning, I found out that he had stayed up until 2 a.m. for more than half a year, had late-night snacks with cold beer at least 4 times a week, his body fat rate had increased by 12% compared to 3 years ago, and he was also diagnosed with mild fatty liver disease. To put it bluntly, long-term bad living habits have messed up the metabolic system first. Aromatase in adipose tissue will continuously convert testosterone into estrogen. As time goes by, male hormone levels will naturally drop. It is normal to have a warning light.

Don’t think that only people with chaotic schedules fall into this trap. Previously, there was a 27-year-old young man who went to the gym all year round. In order to quickly gain muscle, he followed the trend and bought "natural testosterone stimulating hormone" from overseas. After taking it for three months, his muscles actually increased. After he stopped taking the medicine, his testosterone plummeted, and even his normal sexual desire was affected. In fact, this male hormone secretion system is very "smart". Exogenous androgen-like components will make the body mistakenly think that it has enough testosterone, and directly press the pause button of its own secretion. When the external supply is cut off, and the own production line has not slowed down, problems will naturally occur.

Speaking of which, the academic community has not reached a complete consensus on the impact of environmental factors. A team has conducted a small sample survey and found that the testosterone levels of people who are exposed to plasticizers and pesticide residues all year round are 4%-9% lower than the general population. For example, office workers who often use substandard plastic lunch boxes to bring high-temperature meals and farmers who are exposed to pesticides in the fields for a long time are all relatively high-exposure groups.； However, many scholars believe that the dose of daily exposure is far below the disease-causing threshold. Instead of worrying about plasticizers harming the body every day, it is better to put away the milk tea and beer in your hands first to reduce excess weight more effectively.

You can completely think of this secretion system as a precise assembly line. The upstream hypothalamus is the dispatching room, the middle pituitary gland is the relay for transmitting instructions, and the downstream testicles are the production workshop. Whether the dispatching room is kept up late every day and high-voltage interference sends wrong instructions, or the workshop itself has reduced production capacity due to age, inflammation damage, or even interference from the outside disrupts the production rhythm, it will eventually be reflected in insufficient production capacity. The so-called health risk warning is the alarm signal sent to you by the assembly line.

Of course, there are also a small number of people whose early warning has nothing to do with their living habits. For example, people with pituitary tumors, orchitis or related genetic histories may suffer from insufficient testosterone secretion even if they have a regular schedule and no bad habits. In this case, don’t just rely on adjusting your work and rest to improve it. It is more important to find a specialist in time for targeted intervention.