HEALTH SENSE
About that low testosterone By Dr. Tony Nimeh
D
o you have low testosterone? 1. Work up, work up, work up Low testosterone is a legitimate medical condition that needs to be properly worked up. It’s not enough to just measure it and prescribe it. The reason is that low testosterone is not a “condition” but rather a “symptom” that can have an underlying cause. It’s like seeing smoke coming out of your house, and instead of looking for the fire you turn on the fans to get rid of the smoke rather than find where the fire is and extinguish it with water. The solution to your low testosterone could be water rather than a fan. 2. No it’s not “normal” even if it’s prevalent A controversial point of view that some people will take is that “older men have lower testosterone on average, therefore we do not need to fix it.” Although it is true that as men age their testosterone can decline — it’s called “andropause” — this is not a reason to not treat it. It’s like saying that older people have more joint problems than younger people, therefore they should not seek treatment for that. As we age, we do have more medical conditions, and we are lucky to live in an age where there are solutions, so let’s use them.
3. Treat the patient not the number Yet another controversial practice that many “men’s clinics” are taking is to measure testosterone and give it regardless of symptoms. They are using statistical variations in lab results as a reason to provide unnecessary treatment. If you do not have the symptoms of low testosterone, you should not accept to take testosterone: The data is clear on this. The reason is that testosterone is an important hormone in your body, and having too much of it can mess up other things that get affected by it. The bottom line is, “If it’s not broke, don’t mess with it,” because you might break something else. Your health is important, you’ll take it with you anywhere you go in life. We highly recommend you speak with a qualified physician, your PCP or contact our staff for further information. Did you know if you experience low testosterone there are alternatives available to you that do not require regular injections, pills or creams? For those of you with Low T, we can
provide you with safe, effective and regular testosterone replacement — and you only have to see us once every three to six months. No more needles, no more vials and no more waiting 20 minutes after rubbing a cream on your shoulders. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a product called TestoPel in 1972; however, this has seen limited use until about a decade ago. At Men’s Health Alaska we see patients every week and treat their Low T by placing implantable pellets in the subcutaneous fat tissue by their hip. Instead of Jason Bourne with a digital bank account number, we put in a series of testosterone pellets that will slowly dissolve over the next three to six months and provide your body with steady and stable testosterone — keeping you at peak performance. TestoPel is one of a variety of options we have available to men suffering from Low T. It’s covered by most insurance, and if not, we have an easy payment plan in office set up for those needing to improve this deficiency. Testosterone is a naturally occurring hormone in the body, and we treat patients that have diagnosed low levels. We monitor our patients through blood draws and reviews to ensure you are on the right track. Dr. Tony Nimeh is the owner of Fairbanks Urology.
= More Alaskans in the future Alaska’s total population has been between 735,000 and 740,000 since 2013. In the long term, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development projects the state will add about 100,000 people by 2045 through a combination of natural increase partly offset by small net migration losses. 12
ALASKA PULSE — February 2020
