From what I know about it it is E2 Estradiol that is the bad guy. My total Estrogen has been high but my libido stayed good it is when my E2 is to low or to high that I have trouble.
I do under stand that Dr. Shippen is working on a ratio between E2 and E1 some thing about the h-17 in the brain becoming inflamed.
Here is a cut and paste from what Nick O' Hara Smith said.
Phil
--- In
hypogonadism2@yahoogroups.com, "Nick O'Hara Smith" <nick@t...>
wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> Today was another excellent day at the Conference. It started with
a chat to
> Eugene Shippen just before he spoke on Estrogens. What a nice guy
he is! As
> someone who hasn't had an E2 problem, hearing it from him in depth
was
> amazing!
> He states very clearly that the balance of Testosterone and
Estrogen in the
> body at the right level for the individual is the way to go. We all
know
> that of course, but it was good to hear it confirmed. He also told
us he is
> now testing for the ration between Estrone and E2, suggesting it is
> important to get the whole picture because there is an enzyme H17
in the
> brain that facilitates E2 and also can cause inflammatory
conditions to
> result if it is screwed. Estrone is the other component of the
process.
>
> I then listened to Dr Lee Vliet talking about the problems
associat5ed with
> women's hormones. Shye was not the first one to lament the results
of the
> Women's Health Initiative in the USA, which though flawed, created
a lot of
> negative press in regard to HRT and consequently she fears, TRT
therapy will
> come under pressure.
>
> I got side-tracked then because the product manager of Nebido,
which for our
> International friends is a long acting injection, was there.
Despite being
> pissed off by my opposition the the concept of Nebido, we had a
good chat
> and agreed to work together in developing awareness and education
in this
> country and Europe. Good News! Incidentally, Dr Shippen is on my
side in
> regard to Nebido. The one thing to say aboput it is that it will
provide
> reasonably steady levels and may well suit people who cannot face
the hassle
> of gels. It is a better product than any other injectable, that
much I
> concede.
>
> I dropped in on the lectures regarding the Metabolic Syndrome by
Prof Johan
> Svartberg of Norway, which emphasised the need to be aware how
Testosterone
> is a major component in the risk factors.
> Afterwards I spoke with Professors Ralph Martin(Australia) and
Robert Tan
> (USA). Both work in the ageing field and were very helpful and
encouraging.
> I have both their cards.
>
> Lunch was spent talking to Dr Duncan Gould, who has offered to
allow his
> name to appear on the TDC website. This will add credibility to the
site and
> I hope he will be followed by others.
>
> Afterr lunch I listened to Eugene Shippen again describing his work
in
> inflammatory disease. He presented a case of Ulcerative Colitis
which was
> cured by slowly weaning the patient off his Colitis meds, whilst on
a dose
> of testosterone. Shippen was surprised to note the colon was free
of any
> symptoms of colitis after a year. He showed us slides of how
testosterone
> therapy cured Gangrene in Diabetics too. Fascinating stuff and
shows how low
> T pervades many other health issues and needs to be treated to help
patients
> to recover!
>
> Next up was the shock of the day. I listened to Dr Mike Wheeler of
Guys
> Hospital in London, talking about the accuracy of current testing.
He
> explained how readings varied between one type of vial and another.
He also
> spoke to the delay between blood-draw and testing, saying how if
the T is
> delayed from being measured by more than 24 hours, a higher reading
than is
> actually present is returned. Scary stuff! He also spoke about
measuring
> Free T and the need to do it by the expensive equilibrium dialysis
method in
> order to obtain accuracy. Given the cost, he came down in favour of
> calculated Free T using Dr Carruthers age adjusted Serum T/ SHBG
method.
> Afterwards I spoke with doctors who were blown away, asking how the
hell
> they were going to make accurate diagnoses using blood draws.
>
> Professor Zitzman of Germany was next to speak about the Androgen
Receptors.
> He suggests CAG length is very important. A long CAG is predictive
of Gyne
> he says. In Klinefelters Syndrome, which is what he studied as the
extra X
> chromosome presents with different CAG lengths in each. He
correlates long
> CAG with typical Klinefelters characteristics of height, and
smaller nuts
> with no relationship. However, there are Klinefelters guys with
short CAG,
> which makes them shorter, therefore more difficult to detect. Hmmm.
Guys as
> small as 1.75m were shown to have Klinefelters. They also tend to
be in
> stable relationships...Double hmmm.
>
> We then went into plenary session, with discussions on what is
happening
> around the world. Dr Zentner suggested progress is being made in
Australia.
> His well man project seems to achived some credibility.
> Dr Ronald Tan suggested Asia is very open to active ageing,
therefore he
> believed hormone therapy would not be the problem in Asia as it is
here. The
> same was said, perhaps surprisingly, for Russia. Various Europeans
stood and
> gave similar stories of gloom and doom. The exception being Dr
Zitzman, who
> suggested Germany is progressive. As we know Dr Vliet is very
concerned for
> the USA, something Robert Tan confirmed, although he was perhaps
less
> inclined to pessimism. He works with the Men's Health Network and
other
> bodies. Lovely guy. Even remembered an email I sent him a few years
back!
>
> I then collared Professor Lunenfeld President of ISSAM.
www.issam.ch. Given
> his desire to have the public involved in solving the problem, I
figured he
> should know we are around.
He was great, enthusiastic, and gave
me his
> card.
>
> So I guess the news is as good as I could have wished for, on
behalf of
> everyone with a T problem. We now have world experts listening,
encouraging
> and wanting to involve us in solving the problem they know exists,
but are
> powerless to solve.
>
> The stategy I have in mind is as follows.
>
> Given the multiple co-morbities with Hypogonadism, it seems to me
we can
> take advantage of this in order to gain sufficient clout where it
counts,
> with the real decision-makers in any country, the politicians.
>
> I am on a mission to contact the heads of charities supporting co-
morbid
> conditions in the UK as follows.
>
> 1. Heart
> 2. Diabetes
> 3. Parkinsons
> 4. Hemachromatosis
> 5. Inflammatory Bowel/Crohns Disease
> 6. Alzheimers
> 7. Pituitary
> 8. Cancer
> 9. AIDS
>
> There are undoubtedly more, but that will do for now. It represents
a
> significant proportion of people in any country I'd say.
>
> What is required, to convince politicians, is to make the economic
case for
> treating qualifying sick people with TRT. And we need the combined
power of
> all those charities on our side to make it stick.
>
> There is a study out there showing cost of care is reduced by 25% in
> Alzheimers patients on TRT. A heart transplant team have suggested
recovery
> is quicker if TRT is temporarily administered. A Testicular Cancer
team have
> shown faster recovery times if TRT is given to qualifying patients.
> Obviously all those result in reduced cost to the respective health
> service/insurers and hospitals become more efficient.
> Returning Hypogonadal people to work who are not otherwise sick,
must also
> be a cost saver.
>
> That is the framework around which to build the economic case. I
suggested
> this to all the people I spoke with and received loads of support
for the
> idea.
>
> There we have it everyone. I feel inspired by the conference and am
now
> becoming confident that we can get this problem resolved sooner,
rather than
> later.
> I realise every country has different problems to deal with, but I
believe
> the objections will subside, once the economic benefits are
understood.
>
> There will be some webcasts of some of the lectures at
www.andropause.org.uk
>
>
> Nick
> Nick O'Hara Smith
> Publisher/Editor:
> The Androids Testosterone Deficiency Center
> Web:
www.androids.org.uk
>
> Associate Editor:
> The Testicular Cancer Resource Center
> Web: tcrc.acor.org
> +44 (0)1932 780899
