Читать книгу Anti-Aging Therapeutics Volume XIV - A4M American Academy - Страница 40

Testosterone levels should ideally be retested 1-2 months (peak levels) post implantation. Trough levels should also be determined at 4-months for men and 3-months for women. Patients using cream should be tested 24-hours after application, and those receiving injections should be tested 3-4 days post injection (or 2-days for peak and 6-days for trough).

Of course there are several methods for determining testosterone levels – saliva, blood spot, or bioavailable levels in venous blood. Dr. Pam Smith (Director of Fellowship Training, American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine) advises saliva or blood spot testing (instead of venous blood) as these methods measure tissue/cellular levels of testosterone. If you choose to use venous blood it is important to order testing for bioavailable testosterone (free plus weakly bound). Many physicians find that with male patients they seem to find a better correlation between clinical response and serum bioavailable testosterone levels than with blood spot or saliva, however if you are using saliva or blood spot and find good clinical correlation between the results and the patients clinical status there is no reason to use venous blood.

As well as retesting testosterone it is also important to monitor PSA, ultrasensitive E2, and DHT (in venous blood). It is also prudent to order a complete blood count (CBC). Testing should be repeated after each implantation for the first year and until stable, and then annually or more often depending upon individual circumstances.