Question for reference ranges. I recently looked at my blood work, and under total test it said the reference range was based on a study (something like Total Testosterone Ranges in Non-Obese Adult Males Aged 19-39 Years Old by Travison et al).
Originally I was under the impression that the reference ranges were based on the testing machine’s calibration, but now I am not so sure.
I have seen others ask for reference ranges in the past, but I am starting to think it has nothing to do with the machine’s calibration, but with whatever study the company wants to reference.
The general trend has been that the top number has been declining for the reference ranges. I am thinking maybe they are finding studies with lower top numbers to blunt the growing TRT industry?
Blood test for TT ranges has nothing to do with the accuracy of the equipment used. It is data collected from many years of men of all ages and health conditions. An since men in the last two decades have gotten fat from pizza, pop and living in their parents basements instead of getting a shitty job the averages males TT has come way down.
What was considered normal last year is now supraphysiological now, seems like these labs companies are playing God determining what’s normal. We should record what was normal decades ago and stick to the previous measurements.
Sperm count has been dropping rapidly over the last 40 years, that’s far from normal. Insurance companies benefit from these lower standards, not having to pay out on claims.
This is why SSRIs grouped together with Viagra is the popular choice for doctors, it pays their mortgages. There are no patents on pregnenolone even though it works better than most SSRIs for anxiety and for those with stuttering disorders, doctors chose what’s more profitable than what’s best for the patients.
The cost for pharma to produce testosterone is dirt cheap, not patents means they are unable to jack up the price and why it’s been ignored for so long and why doctors don’t know how to administer it.
T-Gels are profitable, the delivery system is patented and I believe why they’re scripted first. One could argue the references ranges were dropped to enable more prescriptions for SSRIs and Viagra instead of TRT, when the problem is low testosterone.
The bottom of the U.K. reference range locally has dropped by 20% in 3 years…
That could be more men more aware of low testosterone symptoms so many more T deficient men are getting tested & pulling the ref range down… but :-
No one in the public is asking other questions like why the fuck would a man’s endocrine system suffer a 20% change in the blink of an eye!
If IQs dropped by 20% in 3 years, there’d be a massive outcry & a massive investigation into heavy metal poisoning etc (or I hope government would investigate ).
Yet the public aren’t asking what in our diets, what chemicals in our homes & work places and what it is about a very sedentary lifestyle is causing such radical hormonal changes.
TRT is great, but why are so many men needing it? Why so many very young men??
I’m guessing the GPs don’t ask because the whole chain of medicine is based on monetising sickness - IE giving men SSRIs & Viagra - instead of prescribing a radical diet & lifestyle change to address testosterone deficiency & neurotransmitter deficiency…
And if the endocrine damage is too far gone, a TRT prescription.
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