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Originally Posted by Prospero The problem with this kind of table is that it doesn't list the reference range for the measurements.. When I'm looking at reference ranges (from the laboratory manuals of two local labs) for free testosterone, one lab lists 100-500 pmol/l (method LIA, age group 16-50 years old men) while the other lab lists 60-140 pmol/l (method RIA, age group 15-39 years old men). So, the result from first lab could be 300 pmol/l and from the other 100 pmol/l, and both would be at 50% of reference range of that particular lab, and these both results from the same sample!
Would this not mean that just a reading of "free testosterone" without a reference range of that particular lab is not useful at all, at least, for comparing to actual results of one's own blood samples from commercial lab? |
The reference range bullshit is why I am not able to be treated properly by a doctor. Unless someone has been irreversably brainwashed by the impotent morons who call themselves endocrinologists, it can be agreed that a total T under 450 is questionable when that level is combined with longstanding complaints about body composition and/or sexual function.
A good analogy to reference ranges for T and cortisol is grades. If many people have scored low at that particular lab, it lowers the curve. In this case, lowering the curve is not good for you, because you must now score below that lowest score before the average doctor will even think of treating you. Here in Hawaii, DLS Diagnostics sets minimum total T at 190 for an adult male. I have a morbid curiousity as to what that man looks like.
That table is obtained by surveying healthy men. By healthy I am assuming men with normal sexual function and body composition. By contrast, the only times I can think of when a doctor will order a T level is drawn is in the context of ED. muscle wasting, osteoporosis and that is often when the well-educated patient brings it up. Otherwise, a man's problems are blamed on psychiatric issues or a circulatory fault, time for the blue pill and green capsule. So those reference ranges are not representative of what is healthy.
I will conceed the point that it is not healthy to dose T in such a way to drive levels above the top of the reference range. That is the only circumstance when a reference range should be taken seriously. Having said that, I would love to be the guy who tested at 1037 here in Hawaii. If same person did not need DepoT, Pregnyl or
Clomid to achieve such high levels.