Men – and some women – who suffer from diabetes may need just one treatment to completely reverse their condition. It’s a treatment the medical profession says is too dangerous. But, as you'll see, it’s not! And for many diabetics, it's a true miracle!
That’s what “Joe” discovered. He’s a 5’ 10”, 295-pound man with adult-onset diabetes.
Joe’s condition was so serious he was worried that he wouldn't live long enough to see his daughter grow up. He had once been physically active. Now, he could barely walk up a flight of stairs without becoming breathless. He had heart disease and could not lose weight, though he had tried.
Joe had done all the usual mainstream treatments with very little difference in his condition. Then his doctor tried a controversial injection that cured Joe of his diabetes.
I don’t like to use the word “cure” very often. It’s tough to know for sure that someone is completely cured of a disease. But clinically, Joe was no longer a diabetic after taking this treatment.
What Is This Miraculous Treatment?
It was simply testosterone injections. His doctor gave Joe the injections and monitored his blood sugar levels regularly. During the first week of treatment, Joe’s blood glucose dropped into the normal range. He felt better and was able to walk up the stairs without difficulty. That's unheard of in modern medicine. Conventional treatment never sees that kind of results so quickly.
Joe lost 20 pounds without even trying in the very first month. The second month, he joined a gym and lost another 20 pounds. After the third month, Joe had lost another 10 pounds. After a year of testosterone replacement, Joe weighed 215 pounds – 80 pounds less than at the onset of treatment.
At 18 months, Joe’s repeat glucose tolerance test was normal. So were his insulin and testosterone parameters. He could run on a treadmill for 90 minutes. His wife said the testosterone enhanced his sexual function better than Viagra!
Not That Testosterone
Normally, when I tell a patient they need testosterone, they think of all the scandals involving athletes who take steroids. Obviously, there are many reasons to oppose this kind of steroid use. It’s unfair to everyone in the sport. It’s downright dangerous to the users. It can destroy their livers and shrivel their testicles. And, as we saw with Chris Benoit, the pro wrestler who killed his family and himself, the steroids can even lead to murder and suicide.
Even with all the negative press, there’s still a very valid place for medical steroid use, especially in adult male diabetics. However, the hormones I recommend and use on my patients are NOT the same steroids the athletes typically use.
The illegal steroids used by some athletes are synthetic derivatives of testosterone. They are dangerous drugs, not real hormones. But for medical purposes, the hormone I use is natural bio-identical testosterone itself. It's almost entirely overlooked by the orthodox physicians.
This Doctor Learned the Hard Way
Take the experience of gynecologist Edward M. Lichten, MD as evidence of how uninformed the medical community is on the treatment. When he turned 45, Dr. Lichten “crashed” seemingly “overnight.” He transformed from a man of physical prowess to a depressed, lethargic, and exhausted old man. He had night sweats so extreme that he had to take two showers every night. His physician colleagues didn’t have a clue.
Some women in his practice told him that their husbands had the same symptoms. This compelled him to conduct “menopausal” laboratory tests on his own blood. He found that he was suffering from andropausal symptoms (male menopause). He went to his urologist and asked for testosterone replacement therapy. The urologist told him that no one believed in it and that it was too dangerous. He obviously had no experience with it.
Dr. Lichten eventually found a doctor who used the treatment. He began replacement in 1995. And his life dramatically changed for the better. He said, “Pictures on my website testify to the dramatic changes in my physical appearance. At 42, I appear tired and wrinkled. At 52, I look muscular and lean, with a renewed enthusiasm radiating from my body and face.”
Women in his practice asked if he would consider treating their husbands. He agreed. One of his first patients was “Hugh,” a 59-year-old, insulin-dependent diabetic. He eventually developed an infection on his finger from repeated glucose-testing lancets. The infection ate away the tissue all the way to the bone. And his doctor told him he needed to amputate the finger.
In the hospital, Hugh was listless, unshaven, and had no appetite. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth – a bad medical sign. Dr Lichten felt like he had to do something. He offered an injection of short-acting testosterone. The hospital was in an uproar. This was considered an unapproved therapy for diabetes.
On the first day, though, Hugh’s blood sugar dropped 50 points. He got out of bed, shaved, and ate his meals. With two more injections that week, his finger started to heal, and his doctor cancelled the amputation. He no longer suffered from erectile dysfunction. Amazingly, his wife disagreed with the injections and told him not to get any more. Although Hugh died of cardiac disease four years later (unrelated to the testosterone), he died with his finger healed and his manhood intact.
Why Older Men Need Hormones Injections
Experience and medical studies are confirming the need for testosterone in older men, especially when they’re diabetic. And why not? We readily recognize that some women really do better on hormones. There are testosterone receptors in your brain, heart, and many other organs. These receptors aren’t there for erections.
In your brain, a lack of testosterone can lead to depression and cognitive problems. Testosterone receptors in your heart and muscles support optimal build-up of muscle mass. In bone, testosterone participates with estrogen to protect both sexes from osteoporosis. And it modulates insulin metabolism.
The Hormone-Cholesterol Connection
That’s not all. You’ve probably heard the hype over lowering your cholesterol. But before you take drastic action to lower it, consider this: Cholesterol is the raw material for all steroid hormones. That includes all your adrenal and gonadal hormones – and even vitamin D. One of the reasons why the body makes higher levels of cholesterol is that it needs these hormones. The body also needs cholesterol to make all of the adrenal hormones.
Now you know why I’m a huge fan of judicious use of natural bio-identical testosterone. But I never recommend synthetic (i.e., fake) anabolic steroids, which are outright dangerous. If you fit a pattern of weight gain, mental decline, heart disease, diabetes, sexual dysfunction, and osteoporosis, please consider a trial of testosterone therapy. Testosterone is bound by a hormone called SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin). It’s the free or unbound testosterone that’s active in your body. So I like to measure total and free testosterone. And, although I always check testosterone levels, I prefer to rely on symptoms even more. They’re usually more accurate than any of the tests.
If your level is low (i.e., you have symptoms), you should consider a two months trial of replacement testosterone therapy. There are several ways to get testosterone. I prefer the injections and/or the creams that a compounding pharmacy can make. The injections are given one to two times per week. The creams are applied to the skin daily. Some alternative doctors are now using subdermal pellets. They cut a small incision in the fatty tissue around the hip and insert the pellets. They offer a slow and uniform release of the hormone, but the incision could be slow to heal on some patients. And it could get infected. Some doctors really like it. If your doctor offers this form, it might be worth trying.
So How Much Do You Need?
Just being within the lab reference range may not be good enough. For example, suppose a man’s testosterone level when he was 35 was 900 ng/dl. That’s in the normal range, 270-1070 ng/dl. Suppose later when he is 50, his testosterone is only one-third of that, 300ng/dl. In that case, even though his level is in the normal range, it’s still only one-third of what his body needs and is used to. The only real way to know if his testosterone levels are adequate is to give him a trial of testosterone therapy to see if his symptoms go away. If they do, he was testosterone deficient. If not, he isn’t. Typical topical doses for a 20% cream are .5-1.0 grams per day applied to the skin.
For injections the usual starting dose is 100 mg, one to two times per week. And, here’s a little extra added benefit of a trial of testosterone. It can discover a prostate cancer much sooner than usual. That’s because testosterone stimulates (not causes!) prostate cancer. So if a man has a hidden prostate cancer, he will see his PSA test go up when he starts the therapy. This will give him a heads up on the fact that he has prostate cancer, and would allow him to treat it earlier than having to wait until it eventually shows up. Of course, if that happens, the doctor will stop the testosterone therapy and then start treating the cancer earlier than he normally would have been able to.
My protocol calls for an initial blood test for testosterone, estradiol, CBC, and PSA before starting testosterone therapy. And then a repeat of these tests after two months of therapy. If the PSA has not risen significantly, it means that he does not have prostate cancer. And just to be safe, I will check the PSA levels every three months for the first year of therapy. If you go with the injection, consider drawing the blood to measure the levels on the day of the injection, but before the injection. That way your doctor will see the trough levels and can adjust the dosage and frequency accordingly.
Natural bio-identical testosterone therapy isn’t for everyone. But for those who need it, the hormone can work miracles. And if you're a male diabetic, it’s vital you have your hormone levels checked. You might be able to reverse your condition with no other changes to your lifestyle.