They say it’s “what makes a man, a man,” but experts say testosterone is more than
a stereotype.

Testosterone helps keep an eye on your health, and when it is low, that’s when other problems creep in.

Dr. Parviz Kavoussi says the problem is the lack of information people usually have about low testosterone, and there are a lot of misconceptions.

“The biggest one is that testosterone is just the sex hormone for men when it does an awful lot more than that,” he said. “When testosterone is low--the things we see are the energy level goes down, men fatigue faster, sex drive goes down, and sexual function won’t be optimized.”

Over long-term periods, low testosterone can lead to low bone marrow density and the possibility of Osteoporosis.

"Makes it hard for us to regulate our blood sugar, makes it hard for us to regulate our cholesterol parameters,” Dr. Kavoussi said.

Right now, 13 million men have low testosterone, but many won’t seek medical attention. Dr. Kavoussi wrote a textbook to know how, when and why to treat low testosterone.

That includes which men need treatment and which do not. After all, testosterone levels fluctuate, with the highest levels in the morning. Doctors say the key is look at the symptoms.

“Their energy is lower, their fatiguing faster, they don’t want to go to the gym or run anymore ,” Dr. Kavoussi said.

Dr. Kavoussi’s book Clinical Urologic Endocrinology, is pretty technical. You will find it on Amazon.com. His office is located at 300 Beardsley Lane, Building B, in Austin.