Hi folks, good morning. It has been a long time since my last post. But today, I wanted to talk about Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). Now this article is not meant to be medical advice or to treat/diagnose any disease. This is for your information. Please consult your physician before beginning any new treatment. Also, this information is not just for men, but also for their close family members who love them.

After the age of 30, men start losing testosterone. In some cases, the testosterone levels go so low that it becomes a medical condition. If it becomes a medical issue, then it needs to be treated. But only your doctor can make that decision. Many pharmaceutical companies used this natural event and marketed it as if it was something that can make men feel like “less of a man”. Please understand that I work for a pharmaceutical company and lately with all the political rhetoric, pharmaceutical companies are being unfairly maligned as the bad guys. A few days ago, I had written a blog post about why drugs cost so much. Fact of the matter is that pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of money to develop life saving treatments and just want to recoup their investment and then also use it for new research. I realize this is very simplified version of what happens, but I hope you get the point. I also hope that you do your own research before making accusations of price gouging.

On July 25, 2017, AbbVie, the maker of AndroGel, a TRT product was smacked with a $150 Million Verdict (http://www.fiercepharma.com/legal/abbvie-hit-150m-verdict-bellwether-androgel-case). A gentleman used AbbVie’s product for 4 years and then had a heart attack. He claimed that AbbVie did not warn people of the side effects of TRT. The court concluded that the heart attack was not caused by AndroGel and that the company was not negligent, but that the company fraudulently misrepresented the product and that is why it awarded $150 million in punitive damages. Legal experts think that this award will probably be reduced, but nonetheless, the plaintiff’s attorney said that this sends a strong message to companies for improperly marketing their drugs for off-label uses. This another practice used by the advertising and marketing folks that bothers me. Now they are doing their job, but I think there should be some guidelines.

So in my opinion, if you are over 30 and are concerned about your declining testosterone levels, please talk to your doctor. Your doctor will advise you to get a blood test. When he says that, please tell him that you would like to see the levels of free and bound testosterone. The amount of free testosterone in your body is a more accurate value and the decision to get TRT should be based on that. But again, talk to your doctor. There are also natural alternatives like eating organic grass fed beef, resistance training, getting good quality sleep that you can try as well. I wrote a book called The Great Testosterone Myth: Honest Facts No Hype and it is available on Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Testosterone-Myth-Aniruddha-Railkar/dp/1534709401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501239316&sr=8-1&keywords=the+great+testosterone+myth). I have tried to write it such that anyone can read and understand it. Please read that book and then make an informed decision. I gave a copy of my book to my personal physician and asked him if he would write a review, but he kindly declined. However, he told me that the book was good and an easy read. He also thought that it was informative. He did say that it became technical in some chapters, but overall, he thought the book was good. I hope you enjoyed the post. As usual, please share it and provide your thoughts and feedback.