What is Hypogonadism?

Hypogonadism is a condition where the sex glands fail to produce hormones or produce insufficient number of hormones needed by your body. In your case, your sex glands (gonads) are your testes, while in women, their gonads are their ovaries.

The primal cause of it is due to some malfunction in the ovary or testes (primary hypogonadism). This malfunction is usually the result of a defect caused by certain autoimmune disorders, infections, surgery, radiation, genetic or developmental disorders, or liver or kidney diseases.

In other cases, where parts of the brain (hypothalamus and pituitary) that controls the gonads fail to function properly (secondary hypogonadism), the usual causes of this condition are bleeding, genetic problems, nutritional deficiencies, iron excess, traumas or tumors.

What are the Symptoms of Hypogonadism?

Symptoms of it are usually dependent on the extent or the cause of the condition. For younger boys, the general symptoms for it include lack of muscle and beard development. For more mature men like you, symptoms include weakness, fatigue, and muscle loss, sexual dysfunctions such as a decreased libido, low serum testosterone levels, impotence and decreased volume of ejaculation, breast enlargement, and falling body hair.

Some specific symptoms of it are tumors, headaches and vision loss. In men with pituitary tumors, prolactia is another symptom where the male's breast produces a milky discharge.

What are the Treatments for Hypogonadism?

Hypogonadism due to testicular failure is usually treated with hormone replacement or testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). If your condition, however, is primary hypogonadism, there is no real reverse treatment. Instead, doctors may prescribe you and your partner with assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques to enable possible success in reproduction.

Hormone replacement: TRT is and effective means of restoring sexual functions and muscle strength. It has also been proven to prevent bone loss. Men receiving TRT often experience an increase in energy, sex drive and sense of well-being.

Assisted reproduction: AR refers to a number of advanced techniques that aid fertilization. Microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are common examples of these techniques.

If a pituitary problem is the cause of your hypogonadism, pituitary hormones may help stimulate your sperm production and restore your fertility. Testosterone replacement therapy, however, is still the recommended treatment if fertility isn't an issue. If you have a pituitary tumor, your doctor may require surgical removal, medication, radiation or the replacement of your other hormones.

Although there's often no effective treatment to restore fertility in men with primary hypogonadism, assisted reproductive technology (ART) may be helpful. ART covers a variety of techniques designed to help couples who have been unsuccessful achieve conception.

For secondary hypogonadism is the cause of it, testosterone replacement therapy is not recommended. A patient with a pituitary tumor may need to undergo surgery in order to remove the tumor.

Treatment for Hypogonadism in Younger Boys

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is a great treatment to stimulate puberty. It is known to assist in the development of secondary sex characteristics, such as muscle mass, beard and pubic hair growth. Pituitary hormones, on the other hand, may be used to stimulate testicle growth.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy

Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) is a method that uses "bio-identical" hormones to restore the balance of hormone levels in both men and women. If you are suffering from it, bioidentical hormones are the best medication for you because they are plant based and molecularly identical to hormones your body naturally produces. In effect, they do not have the side effects that many synthetic hormone replacement products do.