What is the reason for the warning of male hormone health risks

The health risk warning of male hormones is essentially an imbalance in the secretion operation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis. This is the result of the interplay of innate genes, acquired lifestyle, and primary diseases. It is by no means caused by a single factor.

When I was doing research in the endocrinology department of a tertiary hospital a while ago, I met a 29-year-old game planner who rushed to version iterations for more than three months in a row. He only slept 4 or 5 hours a day and kept iced milk tea in his hands. The physical examination showed that the total testosterone level was only 60% of that of men of the same age. There were already warning signs of fatigue, loss of morning erections, and increased hair loss. At first, he thought it was just a matter of two days of tiredness, and he did not realize that there was a hormonal problem.

Have you ever had a time when you were still groggy when you woke up even after eight hours of sleep, and you couldn't even get up to play your favorite ball? Many people will classify these symptoms as "sub-health", but they don't know that they may be early warning signals sent by hormones to you. It should be mentioned here that there is actually a lot of controversy in the academic community about hormonal warnings for this young group. Traditionally, it was generally believed that the decline in male hormone levels is a problem faced by middle-aged and elderly people over 40 years old, mainly related to the natural decline of gonadal function caused by age. However, clinical data in the past five or six years shows that the proportion of young men aged 25-35 who have hormonal warnings is rising year by year, and it can even reach about 16% in first-tier cities, which is twice as fast as the data ten years ago.

The things we encounter most often are actually caused by acquired factors. Just like the plan just now, when you stay up late for a long time or are stressed, the body's cortisol level will remain at a high level, directly putting a brake on the gonadal axis, and the synthesis of testosterone will be suppressed. ; If you can't keep your mouth shut, eat too much high sugar and oil, and your body fat rate soars to more than 25%, the aromatase in the fat will secretly convert the synthesized testosterone into estrogen, which means that most of your hard-earned money will be transferred away for no reason, and naturally it will not be enough. There are also functional drinks that many people like to drink, stomach medicines that have been taken for a long time, etc., which may also affect the synthesis of hormones unknowingly, but many people do not pay attention to it.

Of course, not all early warnings are caused by lifestyle. If you have primary diseases such as pituitary tumors or thyroid dysfunction, or you are born with susceptibility genes related to gonadal function, you may also have abnormal hormonal secretion at a young age. The impact of this part is not high, but it is often easily ignored. Many people have adjusted their lifestyle indicators for a long time and still cannot improve. After a check, they found that the primary disease was not under control.

Nowadays, many people think that hormonal warnings are "pseudo problems" and can be cured by adjusting their work and rest schedules without special care. However, clinicians also have different views. The endocrinologist I contacted said that if it is just a temporary drop in testosterone caused by a one or two month difference in work and rest schedule, it is indeed necessary to adjust your lifestyle. It can be recovered, but if the index is lower than the reference value for more than 3 consecutive months, accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, and decreased sexual function, timely intervention is required even if you are only in your twenties. Otherwise, if it is delayed for a long time, it may affect bone density, sperm quality, and even increase the risk of long-term metabolic diseases such as diabetes and hyperlipidemia.

To be honest, many young people nowadays are very sensitive to changes in their sexual function and energy, but rarely think about hormonal abnormalities. By the time they think of checking, they have often delayed it for half a year. In fact, pay more attention to it and don't attribute all tiredness to "not having a good rest", which can really save you a lot of detours.