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Ok, sounds like there's alot of people who have an opinion on this matter. Let me help out a bit:
Endocrinology and hormone level assessment is both art and science. To focus on testosterone for one second, the reference range for "normal" is non-standardized. Many labs would consider a normal testosterone level for an 80 year old man to also be a "low normal" level for a 30 year old man. Short of GROSS pathology, almost everyone is considered normal.
Second, the "art" part of it is not just the lack of standardized statistics...it's also that different levels of testosterone effect different individuals to a different degree. One man with a T level of 400 ng/dl may have great energy, a raging libido, an upbeat mood, and a proper response to muscle stimuli....while another may have energy struggles, a depressed (but still functioning) libido, etc....also because of how the interactions with the totality of hormones play out.
I'm a FORMER metabolic researcher and I've worked in clinical research for a decade. I'm not an MD.
One new emerging part of medicine is that gut bacteria, the same bacteria we happily wipe out and have ignored mostly since the advent of antibiotics, can be responsible for GI diseases and food allergies.
Similarly, there have been some limited modern studies on the effect of basically playing with male hormones - in a controlled fashion - to improve mood, libido, energy, and yes the bodies reaction to muscle stimuli.
Today, some physicians - both general practitioners and specialists - will both prescribe hormone therapy and provide ongoing monitoring and dosage adjustment and seek to determine mood, energy, libido, and body are impacted in a positive manner without notably increasing any negative markers.
It's a somewhat costly, non-insurance covered, and non-standardized treatment. It is completely legal.
Hope this helps provide some context here. I know about it in an abstract sense quite well, I'm simply looking to hear from individuals who know more - and more personally - about it. One way or another.
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