Chart of Testosterone Levels by Age

Content Health Encyclopedia University of Rochester Medical Center

If you have signs and symptoms of low testosterone, a healthcare provider will perform a physical exam. They’ll also ask questions about your medical history, medications you take or have taken, smoking history and any symptoms you currently have. Speak with a doctor if you’re worried or experiencing abnormal symptoms. They could measure your testosterone levels and help develop a treatment plan, if necessary.

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Treatments for low or high testosterone will depend on the underlying health condition. Testosterone triggers the development of the male internal and external reproductive organs during fetal development. If you don’t have any of these conditions, your doctor may not be able to tell you why you have low T. Here’s what you need to know to keep your concerns and your hormones in proper balance.

Male babies who are a few months old should have a testosterone level between 75 and 400 ng/dL. In females, this test can i workout before a testosterone test (la-loi-de-la-gourmandise.fr) find the reason you’re missing periods, not having periods, having a hard time getting pregnant or experiencing male patterns of hair growth such as on your chest or face. Doctors can also use it to help diagnose polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which causes elevated testosterone.

To minimize these effects, two morning draws for testosterone are recommended before any clinical intervention. An overview of the assays available to aid in the diagnosis of testosterone deficiency is available in Table 4 (See button below). To merely refer to injectable or gel testosterone formulations without differentiation does not impart complete and accurate information to the reader.

Discussing sex, prostate health and hormonal imbalance can be uncomfortable, but understanding these conditions and how they affect overall health is critically important for every man. The treatment for low-T is known as Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). TRT involves delivering extra testosterone to your body so that your levels of the hormone can recover, causing your symptoms to ease. No RCTs have compared the current formulation of IM testosterone undecanoate available in the United States to other therapies. There are several areas in the testosterone deficiency space, more specifically, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and adverse events, which warrant more detailed investigation.

By the time they reach 15 to 16 years old, teen boys typically have a testosterone level of 100 to 1,200 ng/dL. Doctors will have to start at the beginning, with small, short-term trials of testosterone in older men. If the benefits appear to outweigh the risks, the next step will be larger, longer trials in younger men. Only then will men know if testosterone therapy is effective or safe. Until recently, men who needed testosterone required injections of the hormone every one to three weeks. Now, most men use skin patches (Testoderm, Androderm), gels (AndroGel, Testim), or tablets that are placed on the surface of the gum, where they form a gel that releases the hormone so it can be absorbed across the mouth’s membranes (Striant).

Signals sent from the brain to the pituitary gland at the base of the brain control the production of testosterone in men. The pituitary gland then relays signals to the testes to produce testosterone. A “feedback loop” closely regulates the amount of hormone in the blood.

Before joining Washington University in 2010, she was a freelance writer covering science and medicine. She has a research background with stints in labs focused on bioceramics, human motor control and tissue-engineered heart valves. She is a past Missouri Health Journalism Fellow and a current member of the National Association of Science Writers.

In males, these levels tend to peak in adolescence and young adulthood and level out in adulthood. In adult males, healthy levels are important for general health, including disease risk and sexual function. In women, the ovaries account for half of the testosterone in the body. Women have a much smaller amount of testosterone in their bodies compared to men. But testosterone plays an important role throughout the body in both men and women. It affects the brain, bone and muscle mass, fat distribution, the vascular system, energy levels, genital tissues, and sexual functioning. Testosterone, often dubbed the “male hormone,” plays a pivotal role in your overall health and wellness.

Testosterone replacement therapy, in the form of injections, pellets, patches or gels, can improve the signs and symptoms of low testosterone in these men. Testosterone levels generally peak during adolescence and early adulthood. As you age, your testosterone level gradually declines — typically about 1% a year after age 30 or 40. For older men, it’s important to determine if a low testosterone level is due to normal aging or if it is due to a disease (hypogonadism). Throughout the reproductive life of males, the hypothalamus releases GnRH in pulses every 1 to 3 hours. Despite this pulsatile release, however, average plasma levels of FSH and LH remain fairly constant from the start of puberty, where levels spike, to the third decade of life, where levels peak and slowly begin to decline. Before puberty, testosterone levels are low, reflecting the low secretion of GnRH and gonadotropins.