To be totally fair I was siding with the dudes who said this even before I saw this study, but now I am practically certain! I truly would love to see this replicated a few more times, I think it's absolutely wonderful news, and makes brilliant sense
"Decline of plasma 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels upon testosterone administration to elderly men with subnormal plasma testosterone and high DHT levels.
Gooren LJ, Saad F, Haide A, Yassin A.
Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
[email protected]
Abstract
The study was performed to measure the impact of testosterone (T) administration on circulating levels of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Group 1 (32 men; mean age 61 years; mean T 6.9 +/- 1.9 nmol l(-1)) were treated for 15 months with long-acting T undecanoate. Group 2 (23 men, mean age 60 years, mean T 7.6 +/- 2.0 nmol l(-1)) were treated for 9 months with T gel. Plasma T and DHT were measured before and after 9 months T administration. In the men treated with T undecanoate plasma T and DHT were also measured after 12 and 15 months. Before T administration, plasma DHT ranged from 0.39 to 1.76 nmol l(-1) (0.30-1.90 nmol l(-1)). Mean DHT declined upon T administration from 0.95 +/- 0.50 to 0.55 +/- 0.30 nmol l(-1) (P < 0.05). With an arbitrary cut-off at 0.60 nmol l(-1), all 21 values of DHT > 0.60 nmol l(-1) had fallen from 1.29 +/- 0.50 to 0.70 +/- 0.60 nmol l(-1) (P < 0.01). Below this cut-off point 13 values rose and 21 fell upon T administration. Below this cut-off point values on average declined from 0.39 +/- 0.12 to 0.30 +/- 0.14 nmol l(-1) (P < 0.05). The study revealed that in a cohort of elderly men with subnormal plasma T levels plasma DHT levels declined upon T administration when they were in the higher range of normal (>0.6 nmol l(-1)), with a profound shift of DHT/T ratios presumed to be an indicator of a reduced 5alpha-reductase activity. Below plasma DHT levels of 0.6 nmol l(-1),."
Let's hope it gets further confirmation! ^_^
Oh, so yeah IMO erm.. it is complicated to be honest.. I would imagine the trick is to raise T and lower E. So testosterone is at a healthy, good level, and estrogen is low, but again at a healthy level for a male. I don't know if it's the falling T or lifting E that triggers more DHT, I thought it was the E but this study implies otherwise.