Testosterone

The Bombbor publishing house represents the book of the Polish endocrinologist Eva Camples-Eyes “Testosterone. The male hormone, which every woman should know about ”(translation by S. A. Arbuzova).

We offer to get acquainted with the excerpt from the book.

The discovery of testosterone at the beginning of the twentieth century became a sensation. It occurred when the Nobel laureate Professor Adolf Windaus, a well -known scientist working at the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Hittingen, received a request from the pharmaceutical company for the study of male sex hormones. At that moment, he was very busy with cholesterol studies, so he handed over his commercial order to a 30-year assistant, doctor of chemical sciences Adolf Butenandt. This young biochemist, who then defended the degree, was not enthusiastic about the assignment, but he had no choice.

Butenandt was not the only one who worked in this area. Almost simultaneously with him, the American biochemist Edward Doyi identified estrogens. But the young German was more fortunate: in 1931, out of 15 thousand liters of urine collected in army toilets from Berlin to the Balkans, he received 15 milligrams of the substance, which he called androsterone.

Thus began the competition of biochemists in Europe and behind the ocean in the release of sex hormones. At this time, Butenandt moved to Gdansk, where he received the post of head of the Department of Organic Chemistry at the Higher Technical School (the current Gdan Polytechnic University). At a new job, he was also accompanied by success. At first, in 1934, he managed to get progesterone from ovaries 20,000 pigs (which is also called a yellow body hormone), which controls the female body in the second half of the menstrual cycle. A year later, Butenandt discovered sterid - derivative of cholesterol, like vitamins D and K, and called it testosterone. He checked the effects of his action on the castrated rooster, which lived in the laboratory. Butenandt wrote in his memoirs that he liked to watch how, after the injection of testosterone, a comb rose at the rooster.

In 1939, the Nobel Prize was awarded to the opening of testosterone in 1939, but, being a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, he obeyed Hitler and abandoned it. He was awarded the diploma of the Nobel laureate after the war, but Butenandt did not receive a monetary reward.

Despite the world recognition, the discovery of Butenandt was only the beginning of research by the male hormone. Until now, scientists have opened more and more interesting properties of testosterone and its actions on different processes in the body, as well as the possibility of its use in the treatment of diseases.

Let us recall once again how testosterone works. Its action can be associated with three aspects of human life:

1. The psyche and life activity

Testosterone additionally affects the vitality of a man. He is responsible for a good mood, a positive mood. It is of great importance in relationships, as it leads the instinct of caring for a woman, although at the same time makes men eternal Donjuans and gentlemen like Bond. The lack of this hormone leads to the fact that men become irritable, evil, hysterical. The low level of testosterone causes a constant feeling of discontent, often performing along with professional burnout and depression. It should be noted that scientists do not cease to argue about what was before, an egg or chicken. Is the hormone lack of depression or depression causes a lack of testosterone in the body of a man?

One way or another, it is known for sure that these two states go hand in hand. That is why I turn to all psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists: before you make a decision to prescribe some drugs to the patient, send him an analysis for testosterone! Medicines for depression also lower its level and have many other side effects!

2. Body structure

Testosterone forms a male figure. This is anabolic hormone, that is, it is responsible for burning fat and muscle development. This happens, of course, with an active lifestyle. And in order to accelerate or establish this process, athletes of both sexes give testosterone in the form of doping.

3. Sexual behavior

Libido depends on testosterone by 100 %. The lack of this hormone leads to the fact that the man does not want sex. For all attempts by the proximity to the partner, he will not only not react - he will avoid them. Not under the pretext of headache, as women do, but in their own way. Some will talk about fatigue and problems at work, others will drink in the evenings and hope that the partner will not want sex with a drunk person. Some, in spite of any fatigue, will watch TV until late at night, waiting for the partner to fall asleep.

As I already mentioned, testosterone also affects (although only 20 %) on potency as a whole.

Heidi Kriger

She was born in 1965 in the GDR. Already as a child, she surpassed the peers in strength and loved sport. Very quickly she found herself in the throwing of the nuclei. At the age of 16, without knowing it, she entered the hormonal program of the GDR. This project, which took place under the supervision of the Minister of Sports, was supposed to make communist Germany a powerful sports power. Since 1982, the girl, like other selected athletes, received huge doses of Turinabol in the form of blue tablets containing testosterone derivatives. As a result of such a “treatment”, her body changed very quickly. The athlete noticed a large increase in muscle tissue and the almost complete disappearance of adipose tissue. As a result, she got all the best results: in 1980, she pushed the core of 11.93 meters, in 1982 - 16.82 meters, and in 1986 - 21.1 meters! This result brought her a gold medal at the World Cup in Stuttgart.

Unfortunately, she paid a high price for her results. She had mental problems (depression began) and physical health. After two years of regular administration of Turinabol Heidi, almost 100 kilograms began to weigh. She complained about constant pain in her legs and back. Despite this, until the end of her career, that is, until the beginning of the 1990s, she took the medicines that the doctor gave her.

However, in a modified, deformed body, she ceased to feel like a woman. After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1995, she began to be interested in transgender. After numerous consultations with doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists, she decided to surgery on the genitals. Heidi also filed an application with the court to change the floor. Since 1997, she became a man - Andreas Krieger.

Today, Andreas feels like a victim of the Doping policy of the GDR and fights this in sports organizations. He voluntarily abandoned the gold medal to push the nucleus at the World Cup, as he considered that he won it dishonestly, only under the influence of doping.

* * *

In the twentieth century, stress became the main killer of testosterone. It leads to an increase in the level of cortisol - a stress hormone that is responsible for the formation of fat deposits on the stomach.

Scientists have recently found that in the abdominal fat there is a whole factory of hormones and proteins, the so -called cytokines. One of them is Interleukin-6 (IL-6), necessary in certain quantities to enhance immunity, but with an excess stimulating inflammation, causing atherosclerosis of blood vessels and, as a result, leading to heart attacks and strokes.

In addition to IL-6, in the abdominal fat, for example, adippine, resistin, and a tumor-alpha necrosis factor (FNO-alpha), leptin, affecting the enzyme-aromatase, are found in abdominal fat. As a result of complex chemical reactions, aromatase turns testosterone into female estrogens. In men, this leads to an avalanche -like estrogenization, that is, the appearance of female features. As a result, in men, fat is deposited not only on the stomach, but also on the hips and chest. The face becomes more oval and feminine.

This process is very difficult to stop. A man with an excess of estrogens changes not only externally, but also mentally, his “male” behavior fades into the background, he becomes more sensual, melancholy, in extreme cases even tearful. As a result, his partner may have the feeling that she lives not with a man, but with an impressionable friend. In the future, this situation does not help relationships, but destroys them.

In women, the problem of fat on the stomach looks a little different. A small fat fold due to the production of estrogen slightly facilitates the functioning of the ovaries, which are the main manufacturers of estrogens in the body. In small quantities, they are also produced by adrenal glands and placenta. Women, especially during the period of menopause, rather benefit from a small tummy, because thanks to such a “Estrogen production factory”, hormonal changes are not so acute. The tummy also protects in menopause from osteoporosis. However, I emphasize that we are talking about a small amount of fat. A large belly is the risk of diseases of the cardiovascular system and diabetes.