Biotoxin VIII: Absent Androgens

November 13, 2017 References:  Surviving Mold,  Jr Sex Medicine, How many men do you know who say they are low on energy? And how many ads do you see touting the claim that they are “low T” and suggesting they get on more testosterone? Are you a bit skeptical that that may be the case? You should be, because many of those men, if not most, are Biotoxin Refugees, not “Gonadal Insufficiency” as modern medicine defines them.   They can get fixed by going upstream, in the majority of situations, to the root cause.   So just how does that happen?   Explain that “root cause”.  (First: Definition -  Biotoxin Refugee: they are sick from biotoxins and no one recognizes it and calls them crazy.  They are medically homeless and fleeing from a pervasive enemy.) Here’s the skinny explanation. We are now in the phase of explaining the next layer of biotoxin illness, the hypothalamic and pituitary damage that arises from biotoxin’s effect on MSH (melanocyte stimulating hormone), VIP (vasoactive intestinal peptide), ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) and all the rest.   To recap, you inhale the biotoxin. That comes from the breakdown products of “black mold” which is code word for a complex mix of molds, bacteria, actinomycetes etc  . When the mid winter sun is angling across your room, you can see tiny bits of dust floating in the air. You breathe that in.   That floating stuff is what turns into the dust bunnies under your bed, and contains the substrates of biotoxin illness. The biotoxins all share a similar structure that makes them incredibly fat-soluble and damages cells by mucking up their energy production and DNA messaging. Your innate immune system recognizes them as foreign and sets off fire alarms in the form of “cytokines”, calling 911. But your adaptive system, the higher order immune system that makes antibodies and T-cells doesn’t “see” or “recognize” biotoxins in 25% of us. Those are the folks who get in trouble. The biotoxin sets off your bodies 911 system, and your adaptive system doesn’t know what to do. You flounder. That floundering takes the shape of downshifting POMC endocrine system: the 11 hormones made from one protein substrate. When you downshift 11 different hormones, you are going to have a broad array of dysfunction. No wonder hormone production takes a hit. That’s the upstream skinny. So simply giving testosterone circumvents the real problem. Of course, folks feel better and function better for a short period of time. And then it fades. A higher dose of T then reboots the problem and your pituitary responds by making less and less LH, the hormone that drives T production. And it fades again. You have now accomplished a further down-regulation of your hypothalamus; the same place the biotoxin down regulated. And all the complex interplays of LH and pituitary/hypothalamic balance get forced out of balance. We can’t get close to understanding all the interactions of our pituitary/hypothalamic hormones yet. Thinking that Testosterone replacement will fix our waning libido is true, only so far. There are several dozen other functions of T that aren’t so easily measured or experienced. I want to live long enough for the research to emerge that clarifies them all. As an example, STEP 11, 4 weeks from now will tell you how VIP normalizes MSH, lowers TGF-beta1 and raises VGEF. VIP is called Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide, but it does so much more, it’s hard to describe. Its name implies that it is involved just in the gut, because that is where it was first discovered. But its most important function is likely it’s balancing the POMC system, and bringing the orchestra of the hypothalamic opera into tune. So, what specifically is being mucked up with androgens? Part of the explanation is around the enzyme aromatase. This enzyme is the last step of estrogen production, which is turning testosterone into estrogen. Aromatase gets up regulated in biotoxin illness. Testosterone disappears into estrogen. Giving more T results in more Estrogen until you get to the root problem.   The solution is not more T, it’s DHEA, the precursor to T. Most folks in their 40s and 50s have very low DHEA the precursor hormone to T and E. Giving that doesn’t seem to disrupt the whole system, and allows your body to proceed with balancing its hormones as it sees fit. We need to know more. That’s coming. Sooner would be better. WWW.What will work for me. Well, I’ve now checked MSH and TGF-beta 1 in a handful of my clients with low T, and sure enough, they have all been low and all report basements that smell “musty”.   I’m not sure we can explain the whole story to them yet, but I’m certain this is a more satisfying track.   Pop Quiz
  1. We need testosterone for more than libido. T or F                                    Answer. Immune function is on the list and that may be part of the dysfunctional damage of biotoxins.
 
  1. Biotoxin refugees are?                                                                                     Answer: Folks with low energy, diffuse pain, lousy sexual function, diarrhea, trouble concentrating, mind fog…….(all the 31 symptoms of biotoxin illness) and no one wants to give them the time of day because the current medical model hasn’t learned biotoxin illness yet, so they are “homeless”.
 
  1. Replacing Testosterone is fraught with risk because?                             Answer: the enzyme aromatase is already up-regulated by biotoxins, and further exacerbated with extra T. Aromatase makes more estrogen from the T. So the T/E ratio gets all out of whack. The human body likes proper balance.
 
  1. The best way to fix low T is:   a) Replace it,   b) Give Clomiphene, c) Fix the biotoxin problem, d) Give DHEA e)   All of the above                                                                 Answer: Probably C needs to be number 1.   You do that by d). Your may use b) now and then.   Stay tuned, more to learn.
 
  1. Giving T without measuring MSH may be jumping the gun. T or F     Answer: Bingo, that’s this week's take-home.

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