By Prof Gary Wittert, Head, Discipline of Medicine at University of Adelaide.
(This excerpt is taken from an article on OpenForum. Read the whole article here)
It’s not inevitable that sex drive and erectile function wane with increasing age. And getting up at night more than once to pass urine doesn’t have to be the norm either. It is a common misconception that these are inevitable consequences of aging, or that these symptoms are due to some sort of prostate problem.
We now know, however, that these sorts of problems may be markers of more serious disease elsewhere in the body.
Just being overweight or obese (particularly when the fat accumulates around the tummy), not doing enough physical activity, or drinking too much alcohol may also be enough to cause such problems.
The good news is that losing weight can relieve symptoms and halt underlying processes. Our research in 2010 showed that weight loss achieved over eight weeks improved sexual function and markedly reduced abnormal urination. The men also had improvements in blood sugar and their blood testosterone levels increased.
If you are overweight, over 50 and having problems with fatigue, low sex drive and/or needing to get up to wee in the night then it is possible that you have low testosterone and you could be at an increased risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
We are currently looking for men to join our new research study. We’ll be looking at whether testosterone supplementation can help high risk men avoid diabetes.
Join today. It only takes 10 minutes.
