For men in their forties, the decrease is so small that it is almost imperceptible. The decreased levels start to become noticeable in the fifth or sixth decade of life. As many as 60 percent of men over the age of fifty-five suffer some recognizable decrease in physical vitality, strength, and sexual prowess due to testosterone deficiency. Muscle weakness and shrinkage Decrease in vigor and aggressiveness Decrease in sexual desire Decrease in sexual activity Inability to develop and maintain penile erection for sexual intercourse. The most significant hormone imbalance in aging men is a decrease in free testosterone while estrogen levels remain the same or precipitously increase.
Some men convert their testosterone to estrogen.
Estrogen is a necessary hormone for men, but too much causes a wide range of health problems such as heart attacks and stroke. High levels of estrogen have been implicated as a cause of benign prostatic hypertrophy and one mechanism by which nettle extract works is by blocking the binding of growth-stimulating estrogen to prostate cells. High levels of estrogen in men also trick the brain into thinking that enough testosterone is being produced, thereby slowing down the natural production of testosterone. Based on the multiple deleterious effects of excess estrogen in men, aggressive actions should be taken to reduce estrogen to a safe range if a blood test reveals elevated levels. High levels of physoestrogens compete with estradiol on cell receptor sites and stimulate the liver to remove estrogens from the blood.