Gender Differences:  Testosterone Production, Receptors, Blood Levels, and Activity
Channel: BioBalance Healthcast
Date: 06/05/2019

See all the Healthcast at https://www.biobalancehealth.com/healthcast-blog/

My medical practice and my research is based on the basic need for the hormone testosterone in both men and women as they age.  We have plenty of this hormone when we are young, and it is the factor that makes us look and feel youthful.  As we age, after 40 for women and 50 for men we lose our testosterone which then causes our growth hormone and other metabolic systems to malfunction.  The path is short between low testosterone and sickness.   Today I want to discuss the differences between the blood levels of testosterone between the sexes and compare every other action and effects of testosterone between genders.

Let me lay some groundwork.  Genetics program each cell with receptors for T and how they will respond to the T hormone, when it is present.  This is the first factor in the difference between how T works in each sex.  The second factor that affects Testosterone activity is how T competes with estrogen, and how estrogen decreases the Free Testosterone levels in both men and women, but women have a lot more E2 and much less Testosterone which leaves women with dramatically lower free T blood levels.  This brings us to the difference in amount of T that is produced in men and women.  Lastly, women only produce testosterone from their ovaries until menopause when their ovaries “die” and atrophy.  Men’s testicles never atrophy, but just make less T with age.  It is all of these factors that affect the difference between the genders in how they express testosterone hormone effects. 

Factors That Affect the Differences in The Effects Of T On The 
   Genders
   Genetics 
   How T Competes with Estrogen and how Estrogen inactivates T
   Steady production or Cyclic production
   Amount of T produced
   Organs that Produce T
   How Production Decreases with Age
   Age of Symptom Appearance
   The Effect Of T On Sexual Function