There are two things I want to point out with the study today.
First is that there is a possibility that supplementing with DHT may be better than supplementing with testosterone, for men who have low testosterone, and who cannot raise their testosterone sufficiently with diet, nutrition and supplements.
And second, that we still don’t know if DHT supplementation helps male performance. It seems to, but this study is infuriating in what they leave out.
So on with the study…and the first question is, so why haven’t you heard about DHT supplementation?
The drug companies quickly fastened onto testosterone early in the game rather than DHT
They focused on developing testosterone gels and injectables and charging a lot of money for the testosterone delivered this way.
It may be better to supplement with DHT.
What is DHT?
Dihydrotestosterone, that’s what.
DHT is the actual most concentrated hormone in the body that contributes to erections and perhaps muscle strength and other benefits of testosterone.
Many people feel that the body uses testosterone almost as a storage vehicle and that the active hormone is actually DHT.
Small amounts of testosterone get converted into DHT.
Studies show that DHT is very powerful in assisting in erections, in rat studies.
But infuriating enough, in the present study, they didn’t even consider men’s erections. Isn’t that ridiculous?
But they did find that DHT supplementation seems to be as safe as testosterone supplementation. It downregulates various male hormones in the body, just like testosterone does but surprisingly, it doesn’t have some of the negative blood of effects that testosterone can have in raising red blood cell count.
It may actually be safer to supplement with DHT than testosterone
Another finding in the study is that DHT may lower cognitive function.
It is what they call non-significant finding, in other words, they noticed it but they can’t statistically assign a number to it.
They notice that men who had DHT supplementation did not perform quite as well cognitively as a non-supplemental group.
Many people think the high testosterone levels may actually lower cognitive function, so this is not surprising.
What about all the other benefits of DHT supplementation…we still have to wait and see
But we can assume that many or most of the benefits that are supposedly a result of testosterone supplementation may actually be better with DHT supplements.
Can you get DHT supplement from your doctor?
Not very easily. There isn’t one.
There is a subculture of bodybuilders that supplement with DHT.
I never recommend anything like this.
And one more important note about prostate function, DHT and testosterone
There was and is this silly and ridiculous idea that testosterone is responsible for the enlargement of prostates.
This should have been debunked years ago, and was, but many doctors still often tell men that testosterone supplementation can increase the size of the prostate
This study showed no change in prostates for men that have high DHT supplementation, versus men who did not.
The whole idea of testosterone causing prostate inflammation and even prostate cancer is completely ridiculous.
Prostate problems occur as men get older, and this is exactly when their testosterone levels fall, rather than rise.
So actually, it may be true that lower testosterone levels may increase the size of the prostate.
I don’t think it is true, but it is possible, certainly a better hypothesis than the higher testosterone equals bigger prostate hypothesis that a lot of doctors still go on.
So there you have it: we hope to see more studies on DHT.
Meanwhile, it seems useful to increase your testosterone levels and BLOCK your conversion of testosterone into estrogen. This can be done with diet and supplementation. We will have to wait on the DHT.
Citations
A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial of Transdermal Dihydrotestosterone Gel on Muscular Strength, Mobility, and Quality of Life in Older Men with Partial Androgen Deficiency
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jcem.86.9.7821
Click for more information on DHT Supplementation, for Men’s Health information, or for information about Testosterone Levels.