Reproductive Endocrinology
There are male and female sex organs viz testis and ovaries.
Testis produces sperms and testosterone. Testosterone is a hormone that carries out all the sexual functions such as sex drive, intercourse, body hair growth, etc as well as certain important non-sexual functions such as muscular development, hemoglobin production, calcium deposition in the bones, etc.
Loss of this testosterone or reduced levels of testosterone is termed as male Hypogonadism.
Features are:
Incomplete sexual development
Reduced libido
Reduced facial, chest and body hair
Reduced shaving frequency
Minimal trauma fractures
Decreased energy, vitality
Decreased motivation, self-confidence
This is a totally treatable entity that yields very good results clinically. If pituitary-related hormones are deficient (hypogonadotropic hypogonadism), certain injections of Humog and Hucog can be given to improve fertility. When testes themselves are damaged (hypergonadotropic hypogonadism), testosterone injections need to be given. In our center, we not only recognize who needs these therapies but we also prescribe judiciously and do proper monitoring while on this therapy.
Female Hypogonadism
Similar to testosterone, ovaries in females produce estrogen which is responsible for sexual functions such as regular menses, normal libido, natural conception, etc, and non-sexual functions like lipid metabolism, strong bones, etc.
Premature Ovarian Failure
Ovaries fail to function, often due to autoimmune causes. So this is fairly common in women with other autoimmune disorders such as Rheumatoid arthritis or Systemic lupus erythematosus or even Hypothyroidism. We believe in treating these women with cyclical therapy of estrogen and progesterone so that most of the functions are normal. Osteoporosis with increased risk of frequent and trivial trauma fracture and early development of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, hypertension can be really problematic in these women. Hence we advise early, proper diagnosis with hormonal treatment.
