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Testosterone is important as it maintains our physical strength, our focus, and our mood, but do you an idea about testosterone production? How is it made?

It’s not just an academic question. An understanding of how our bodies produce testosterone leads to an understanding of what might cause our bodies to stop producing enough of the stuff, and understanding a problem is the first step to solving it.

Testosterone Production 101 – The Three Types of Testosterone

In essence, testosterone is a steroid hormone. The changes and benefits it triggers in the body are detailed right over here. The average male human creates 7mg of testosterone per day, but there are actually three different types. Not all of it is usable by the body, or at least not to produce the effects you’re probably looking for.

Free Testosterone

Free testosterone is so named because it has no attached proteins. It’s free to float through the bloodstream, and isn’t bonded to any other molecules. Free testosterone is the type of testosterone that has all those great physical and mental benefits, because it’s able to roam our bodies and activate receptors in various cells. Even though this is the kind of testosterone we think of as the most beneficial, it has the smallest concentration of the three. It only comprises about 2%-3% of our total testosterone levels. Everything we do for testosterone production is really meant to increase free testosterone, but the best way to do that is to raise our overall levels.

SHBG-Bound Testosterone

This type of the male hormone makes up about 40%-50% of our total testosterone levels. It’s bound to SHBG (sex hormone-binding-globulin), which is a protein produced in the liver. It regulates the amount of free testosterone in the body. SHBG-Bound Testosterone is what’s known as “biologically inactive”, meaning it doesn’t actually have any other effect in our bodies beyond helping regulate our total levels. This type of T doesn’t have harmful effects either, but it is why a man might test with adequately high testosterone levels but still experience the symptoms of testosterone deficiency.

Albumin-Bound Testosterone

This makes up the remainder of our total testosterone. It’s bound to the protein albumin, which is also produced in the liver. Its function is to stabilize fluid volumes between our cells. Albumin-Bound Testosterone is also biologically inactive, but unlike the SHBG-Bound variety, its bond can be broken. That converts it back into free testosterone, making the stuff sort of testosterone reserve supply.

About 95% of our testosterone is produced in the testicles. The rest is made in our adrenal glands, which is why the hormone is present in women as well. For men, though, it’s almost entirely the testicles.

It’s a pretty complex process that results in the male hormone. Learn about testosterone production in this basic rundown:

The hypothalamus (part of the brain) secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone. This stuff loops around to the back of the brain and hits the pituitary gland.

The pituitary gland receives the gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and responds by producing two more hormones. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). Both of these natural chemicals enter the bloodstream and make their way to the testicles.

Once they’ve arrived down there, the FSH and LH do two different things. FSH initiates sperm production (important!), while LH kicks off testosterone production (just as important!)

The actual cells that create the testosterone are called Leydig cells. They work by converting cholesterol into testosterone. That cholesterol literally comes from the bloodstream, which is why a healthy level of T can actually improve your heart health. It’s also the reason eating eggs is so beneficial to testosterone levels!

During testosterone production, it’s released by the testicles into the bloodstream. Most of the stuff attaches to SHBG and albumin, nullifying its effects. It’s the small amount that remains free that aids our strength, focus, sexual drive, and all the other great benefits of testosterone.

Here’s a handy chart of the HPA-axis:

Image source: Wikipedia

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Saleamp Design November 4th, 2016

Posted In: Low T Info

Tags: albumin, biologically available, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, free testosterone, FSH, GnRH, growth hormone, HPA axis, hypothalamus, LH, low t, Luteinizing Hormone, pituitary, sex hormone-binding-globulin, SHBG, testicles, testosterone, testosterone levels, testosterone production

Different Types of Testosterone for Erectile Dysfunction

Many do not know that there are different types of testosterone in the body and that it is important to take note of their individual levels within a person’s system. The testosterone level measured when men go to the doctor is typically limited only to Total Testosterone. Patients only get the sum of unbound and bound testosterone present in the patient’s system.

The problem with this that the total amount of testosterone measured is not always fully available for use. Because of the presence of bound and unbound testosterone in the system, the Total Testosterone measurement for a person may not equal the precise amount of testosterone he is actually able to utilize. This is called Free Testosterone.

This is because bound and unbound testosterone are indicators of whether or not a testosterone can be immediately used by the body this Free Testosterone is a more important measure. A bound testosterone is one attached to proteins that need prior removal before it can be used, thereby needing some effort to be utilized. One of the proteins that binds to testosterones is albumin. While albumin does attach to testosterones, it is easily removed by the body when the testosterone is needed.

However, there are also particularly stubborn binding proteins that cannot be removed from the testosterone, thus rendering it unusable. An example of this is the Sex hormone binding globulin, or SBHG. Once SBHG attaches to your testosterone, it becomes unusable due to the difficulty of separating the protein from the testosterone, limiting the amount of available testosterone in the body.

The differences in functions and availability of these kinds of testosterone highlight the need to test for different types of testosterone. In studying testosterone levels in the system, it’s important to take into account the level of total testosterone, bio-available testosterone and free testosterone, along with the prevalence of SBHG proteins in the patients.

Free testosterone refers to unbound testosterones which are readily available to the body and thus, can be used with minimal effort. Bio-available testosterone, on the other hand, corresponds to both the free testosterones and testosterones bound to easily removed proteins such as albumin. SBHG limits the amount of Bio-available testosterone, giving a skewed amount of usable testosterone when analyzing the total count.

Erectile dysfunction’s relationship to your testosterone levels

Because of testosterone’s role as a primary sex hormone that establishes male traits and sex drive, research has been made to explore how testosterone levels and erectile function influence each other.

According to the study, there exists a proportional correlation between testosterone levels and erectile function, linking higher levels of the hormone with an increased sex drive and better erections. In addition to this, it also established that low testosterone levels was consistently present in cases of erectile dysfunction, and that low presence of the hormone may hamper erectile dysfunction medications such as Viagra from working properly.

Ultimately, the study concluded that a low amount of free testosterone coupled with high levels of SHBG posed the highest risk for erectile dysfunction in men, emphasizing the importance of monitoring testosterone levels when addressing the problem. Taking from the study, it goes that while there are many factors that can contribute to erectile function, it is useful to check testosterone levels because it was seen as a consistent influencing factor for erectile dysfunction as based on the data.

Because of testosterone’s effect on erectile dysfunction, aging men who are experiencing its symptoms are advised to first take a testosterone blood test that can measure the amount of total testosterone, free-testosterone and SHBG in their system. Because ultimately, it is free testosterone that determines the ready supply of the hormone in men, testing total testosterone may not provide sufficient information regarding one’s actual hormone levels. By testing all levels of testosterone, doctors may be able to determine if it is this deficit in available testosterone that hampers proper erectile function and sexual performance, providing the patient with better options of addressing the problem.

Hormone Therapeutics can help you learn more about testosterone

With the emergence of treatments for low testosterone levels today, you don’t have to bear its consequences anymore. This is why we have so many wives reaching out to us as well to find help for their loved one. Hormone Therapeutics can help you determine if low testosterone that is causing your sexual problems and provide testosterone replacement therapy, to remedy your concerns. We can treat with testosterone therapy, and/or erectile dysfunction treatments.

If you want to learn more about how to monitor your testosterone levels or fix low testosterone concentration and its consequences, our company can help you clear up your reservations. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to assist you as you take your first step towards improving your quality of life.

Saleamp Design April 5th, 2016