As always, I express no opinion. Posted for your reading and evaluation only. Note the section on treatment options, since the topic of how best to administer replacement testosterone comes up often in the EA. (For the record, I have zilch interest in testosterone HRT)

http://www.urologychannel.com/testoster ... ndex.shtml

Andrew (imported) wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2002 4:34 am As always, I express no opinion. (For the record, I have zilch interest in testosterone HRT)

It is good to post both sides of an issue. Not everyone has the same desires. I, also, would refuse to take testosterone and would request estorgen if HRT were recommended. Testosterone appears to have more adverse effects.

From that webpage:

> Additionally, normal testosterone levels maintain energy

> level, healthy mood, fertility, and sexual desire.

I don't care about fertility and sexual desire, but what about "energy level" and "healthy mood"?

I'm thinking the "healthy mood" part may be subjective. Many people here think of the "eunuch calm" as a good thing. As for me, I have a pair of normal testicles, but I have been taking Evanesce (which contains estrogen and testosterone suppressants) for three weeks, and I think I feel calmer and generally happier, although it's maybe a bit early to draw conclusions. I probably feel less energetic than before, but energy level isn't so important to me since I just use the computer all day.

I was an ass before I had hormone problems, and guess what? I still am! So much for that theory on healthy moods.

:tongueout

Humph. So after scoring a 10 on their little quiz, it tells me to see a urologist. Only problem is, I've already tried two of them, and neither one will even consider HRT for me. Too afraid of causing prostate cancer, they say.

As an aside, I have a theory on prostate cancer, at least the slower-growing type for which onset comes past the late 50's. It strikes me that while prostate cancer may indeed be exacerbated by higher testosterone levels, it's also plain that except in very rare cases, and then only in its more virulent form, it doesn't start until T production drops. Once begun, it then responds to any increases with growth. So I wonder: Might not the onset of prostate cancer be delayed or prevented by keeping T production high in the first place? Either that, or eliminating it entirely. Or it might possibly be related to one of the other factors, such as GnRH or LH production.

Any thoughts?

My own doc has no problems with providing testosterone supplements. He does insist, as do all medical practicioners, on an annual PSA test. The results of my first test 3 years ago were very low, and it's dropped slowly with the 3 annual tests that I've had since.

Of course, and as Andrew stresses all the time, we're all different.

Paolo wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2002 3:47 pm I was an ass before I had hormone problems, and guess what? I still am! So much for that theory on healthy moods.

He all---he all---he all---he always says that...he's really not THAT bad...

A-1

Re: your question a few posts back...

Prostate cancer is the second most common neoplasm in men in the USA. It is second only to skin cancer. There will be approximately 180,000 new cases diagnosed this year and there will be approximately 30,000 deaths.

As for any cancer, pain is NOT a symptom until the cancer is in the later stages when usually little can be done except for pain relief. This is why it is important to keep up on the rectal exams and the PSA (prostate-specific antigen). PSA is an indication of the level of reproductive and metabolic activity of prostate cells. Your doctor may recommend hormone suppression because of increased PSA levels over a long period of time, but usually they wait intil the digital rectal exam is abnormal.

CAUTION!

RECTAL EXAMINATION BEFORE PSA BLOOD TESTS ARE DRAWN CAN CAUSE ELEVATED BLOOD PSA LEVELS! Wait about 3-6 weeks after prostate stimulation to draw PSA bloodwork.

There have been no studies that I know of on GAY men who have regular rectal stimulation to compare their PSA levels with those who DO NOT have regular prostate stimulation.

You Gay fellers...(or hetero fellers who like to have your ladies finger your ass)... may want to not go at it too hard for a month or so before that checkup, unless you don't mind the high PSA levels that could either mask prostate disease, or indicate a problem where there is none... just a suggestion...

Prostate cancer grows slowly over many years, and many are not life-threatening in most cases; if you are diagnosed, you may not need to rush a treatment decision. Over 80% of prostate cancers are discovered in the local stage and the five-year survival rate for patients at this stage is 100%.

The two most common operations for prostate cancer are radical prostatectomy and transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP).

In a radical prostatectomy the entire prostate gland and some tissue around it is removed. This surgery is done only if it appears that the cancer has not spread outside the prostate. There are two main types of radical prostatectomy. In one, a radical retropubic prostatectomy, the incision is made in the lower abdomen. In the other, a radical perineal prostatectomy, the incision is made in the skin between the scrotum and the anus.

In the first type, it is sometimes possible for the surgeon to avoid removing the nerves that control erections and bladder muscles. This lowers, but does not eliminate, the risk of impotence and incontinence following surgery.

Nerve-sparing operations are harder to do with the perineal approach, and lymph nodes cannot be removed through this incision. However, the surgeon can remove some lymph nodes through a very small incision in the abdomen using a narrow lighted tube called a laparoscope.

HORMONE THERAPY is used when the disease is in its advanced stages. There are several methods used for hormone therapy. Most involve using various drugs to lower the amount of testosterone or to block the body's ability to use androgens. These treatments include Orchiectomy, LHRH analogs and Antiandrogens.

Nearly all prostate cancers treated with androgen suppression therapy over a period of months or years will become resistant to this treatment. One way around this is to stop the suppression after the blood PSA level drops to a low level and begin it again if the PSA level starts to rise. Studies are underway to see if this approach works as well or better than continuous hormone therapy. One advantage, though, is that side effects can be avoided for a while.

see next post... below is an illustration of the surgical approaches used for prostate cancer to perform prostectomies.

Now...cancer in general....

CANCER IS GENETIC>>>

In case some did not get that the first time I will repeat it in some detail

Cancer is a cellular disease. By that I mean that it starts because of a defect in the DNA molecule contained by each cell. Cells are well disciplined. In our bodies cell growth processes are constantly turned off and turned on in an orderly fashion to maintain our life functions.

In our DNA exists a molecule termed TP53. This "switch" is located on the long arm of chromosome 17. This molecule is a trigger in our DNA that causes a cell to "commit suicide". By that, I mean that the cell is induced to die by a general disruption of its metabolism. This happens whenever certain conditions exist.

These certain conditions are the presence of other genes in certain modes of function, know collectively as "oncogenes" and "tumor supressor genes". These genes are responsible for the growth and the supression of growth of cells that form the different tissues of the body.

Tumor supressor genes that are turned off and oncogenes that are turned on cause the TP53 gene to turn on causing the cell to die. So you see there are several links in a chain of occurrances that causes cancer. Furthermore, according to the tissue type the mechanisms may vary according to the type of tumor that exists.

Mutation of the TP53 gene is the genetic hallmark of lethal cancer. In roughly 55% of all human cancers the TP53 gene is broken. This varies according to the cancer cell type. For example, in lung cancer over 90% of the tumors exhibit cells with non-functioning TP53 molecules.

Since the genome is duplicated (two strands of DNA in a double-helix) the TP53 gene is repeated. People with only 1 functioning version of TP53 who are born with a second faulty version have a 95% chance of getting cancer at an early age.

As cells multiply and get older the DNA strands get shorter with each successive cell division. The ends of the DNA molecule contain code that is not essential, with the more important DNA codes residing more toward the middle of the molecule. Cells that have divided a certain number of times can no longer produce healthy tissues because with each successive division the DNA molecule gets shorter and shorter until eventually it can no longer function. This is why cancer is a disease mostly characterized by old age.

The result is that we get old, our tissues get weak, we get wrinkles and things do not function correctly. This is the human condition. Now, you may be wondering why cancer cells do not divide themselves into death, since they divide at a rapid rate. The answer to this is that in cancers that are very malignant, in addition to their rapid growth rates have still another DNA defect. This defect allows the cell to produce an enzyme called transcriptionase, which in effect, rebuilds the ends of the DNA molecule after each division, in effect making the cell types exhibit immortal qualities.

The information that I just provided should supply Radar and other readers with a better understanding of cancer. Cancer is not just "a disease". It is a disease that is caused by a type of a defective process that is occurring at the cellular level.

It is a combination of defective protien production that occurs because of DNA defects. Whether we are born with the defects or acquire them through heredity, abuse, exposure to certain substances or by plain blind, dumb misfortune is part of the situation which we refer to as life.

The moral of this long, tedious story is that hormones will not "cause" cancer. They can be the result of cancer but not the cause. The cause is a genetic defect at the cellular level. Hormones can control cellular growth, but the growth cannot become cancerous until the suitable DNA defect exists.

So, RADAR, increasing your testosterone levels will have no effect on you getting cancer. The prostatic specific antigen is an indicator of cellular activity in the prostate gland. If it is too high, one can almost be certain that there is something going on already. Keep seeing the doctor regularlly to stay on top of things. Re-read the first post about prostate cancer...

A-1

(Cigarette smoke is a carcinogenic substance. You damage the DNA by killing off cells and forcing a rapid rate of cellular division. Don't smoke unless you do it here with the smilies only... )

>

A-1 (imported) wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2002 12:45 pm The moral of this long, tedious story is that hormones

> will not "cause" cancer.

So how does castration as a treatment for advanced prostate cancer fit into that?