How Common Is Low Testosterone in Young Males

One of the questions that our doctors are being asked more frequently these days is how common is low testosterone in young males. If you were to define young males as those who have reached adolescence but have not yet reached the age of 30, then most hormone-based medical professionals would probably agree that Low T as it is often called is significantly less common in males under age 30 than it is in males who have passed that age. Yet testosterone deficiency occurs often enough in younger males that doctors would not consider it to be rare or unusual.

In older men Low T is often a progressive disorder that is linked to the steady decline of male hormone that a man’s endocrine system produces, which typically begins at around or shortly after reaching 30. In younger men and adolescents, the body’s failure to produce an adequate male hormone supply will usually occur as be the result of certain diseases, a genetic disorder or damage to the testicles that has been caused by an infection or by using chemotherapy. These occurrences can also affect an older male’s male hormone production; but in men over 30, the most common form of Low T that doctors see in patients is the adult-onset version.

However, there is a reason that hormone therapy doctors are now being asked how common is low testosterone in young males more frequently, and the same reason applies to males of all adult ages. The incidence of Low T has been increasing among the male population in the US as well as in other highly developed countries and research studies have strongly suggested that the population’s increased exposure to chemicals in plastics and other environmental toxin is a significant factor. All of our hormones, and humans produce more than 100 different types, are sensitive to changes that occur inside our bodies along with changes in the environments we live in.

Another factor that has been noted by medical research on Low T is associated with the current lifestyle choices that many adult men now make. The lack of regular healthy exercise; poor food choices; high stress levels; smoking; alcohol consumption; and a higher incidence of chronic obesity have all been linked to excessive and/or premature male hormone loss.  

At What Age Does Low Testosterone Most Commonly Occur in Men?

During a male’s adolescence and early adulthood, the biological manufacturing of testosterone is required for his growth, wellbeing and ability to reproduce. It supports the building of his muscles and bones, as well as his sex organs; so you can understand why a question such is how common is low testosterone in young males is one that TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) doctors are often asked.

But another question on the minds of many males is that of wanting to know when adult-onset testosterone loss, the type of loss that is severe enough to cause a number of unwanted symptoms, typically occurs. While Low T symptoms can appear at any time during your adulthood, the most common ages for this to happen are between 40 and 50 based on the average age of the men who seek treatment. This brings up the issue of why not all men develop a male hormone deficiency that is severe enough to cause symptoms. It is because the development of medically significant hormonal imbalances is typically attributable to a variety of individual physiological factors. Some men are genetically predisposed to develop Low T while others are not, as is the case in many health problems and disorders.

Relative to the incidence of how common is low testosterone in young males under the age of 30 symptomatic androgen deficiency is substantially more common in males who are over 40. However, TRT doctors have been noting that they are seeing an increasing number of clinically qualified patients who are between the ages of 30 and 40. This could be due to the general increase in this disorder among the general male population as well as the increased awareness of testosterone deficiency of today’s adult patient demographic.

Although testosterone blood levels testing is not included in the routine blood work that general practitioners have performed on their adult patients, any male who believes that he has developed Low T symptoms has every reason and right to request it. But it could involve being referred to a hormone therapy specialist by your primary care physician if he or she is not experienced in the treatment of hormone disorders.   

Is It Safe for Males of Advanced Age to Continue Using TRT?

Some of the earliest clinical studies were performed on male patients of advanced age who had symptomatic testosterone deficiencies. It was the success of these trials that lead to the continual advances in TRT that today’s patients are benefitting from. Through the decades of medical research on Low T, all of the age groups that could and have been affected by this condition have been studied including the statistical issue of how common is low testosterone in young males. The clinical evidence indicates that males of any age can use treatment safely and successfully, as long as the treatment is being properly prescribed, administered and monitored.

In our current culture men no longer anticipate turning 65; retiring from their jobs; and settling down to a porch rocker surrounded by their grandchildren. Some men are retiring earlier or changing careers in mid-life … some are entrepreneurs who are actively involved in their businesses and plan to remain involved indefinitely … while others plan to be far active and adventuresome after retirement than they were before it. Yet being a vital and active adult of retirement age requires entering this stage of your life in sound health. Did you know that leaving a testosterone deficiency untreated could actually contribute to the decline of overall state of health? Doctors know that it could and often does.

In clinical trials performed with males who were aged 70 and older, the medically supervised use of TRT has consistently been shown to provide a variety of revitalizing health benefits with a very low risk for adverse effects. Obviously, in comparison to how common is low testosterone in young males, it is far more common for men who are in later life. But the wonderful thing about a critical human hormone such as testosterone is that medical science has proven that it can be supplemented with its biopharmaceutical equivalent and totally integrated into a patient’s endocrine system. Then it gets to work by restoring hormonal balance and supporting all of the essential biological functions that keep males healthy and vital throughout their entire lives.

Do Men of All Ages Get the Same Benefits from Low T Treatment?

The reversal of Low T symptoms is the therapeutic goal of all medically prescribed TRT programs and this is the overall benefit that males with testosterone deficiency of all ages receive. But to understand exactly what the individual benefits are based on a man’s age, we will need to examine what the typical deficiency symptoms are for a specific male age group.

Beginning with male puberty, the possible symptoms of Low T are lack of growth (in height); lack of muscle development; lack of facial and public hair; the non-deepening of the voice; and breast tissue enlargement. Doctors are often asked to respond to how common is low testosterone in young males by patients who are both experiencing these symptoms and suffering from anxiety about not being a normal male for their age. Treatment allows a young male to complete a full and normal puberty and enter adulthood with plenty of vitality, virility and self-confidence.

During the ages of middle adulthood, from 30 to 60, Low T is typically manifested in symptoms that can include low interest in sex; low semen volume; difficulty getting and maintain erections; decreased muscle strength; hot flashes; increased body fat; longer recovery time from exercise; reduced energy and stamina; lack of mental concentration; and mood changes that are often exhibited as irritability, anxiety or depression. Treatment reverses these types of symptoms and replenishes a middle-aged male’s vitality and sexual virility, helps to improve his physique, sharpens his mental focus and restores his sense of emotional wellbeing.

Men with Low T who are over age 60 experience symptoms to those that middle-aged men experience; however, they can also be more prone to bone fractures due to the loss of bone density that testosterone deficiency contributes to. They can also suffer from chronic fatigue and experience obvious breast enlargement. Treatment at this stage of a man’s life can substantially improve his health and his lifestyle quality, just as it can for younger males.