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There is so much we dont understand about the novel coronavirus, down to seemingly basic things like how infectious it is and how long social-distancing lockdowns might need to last. One attribute of the virus that has become clear, however, is that more men than women are dying of Covid-19, the infectious disease that coronavirus can cause in humans. This sex pattern has held across countries hit hard by the pandemicin China, Italy, and France, men have died of Covid-19 at higher rates.

This pattern has also held in the United States. A recent analysis of Covid-19 deaths in 13 states, conducted by The Washington Post, bears out the trend: In every one of those states, Post reporters wrote earlier this month, men died more frequently, and that was even the case if they made up fewer total cases of the disease to begin with. In New York City, more than two men have died for every woman.

According to Sabra Klein, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, current data shows that if men get infected, they are at greater risk of a more severe outcome. The honest truth is we dont know why men are suffering a worse outcome from Covid-19, she says. Regardless of what we know about why thats happening, we do know that it is happening.

Now doctors, immunologists, and researchers of infectious diseases are trying to determine why thats the case. Pinning down the precise cause has proven tricky. But there are several hypothesesand these are just that, hypothesesthat might explain why Covid-19 is killing more men than women.

Our immune systemmade up of microscopic first respondersis the bodys front-line defense against infections. Its response to pathogens is broken up into two parts. Theres the innate portion that youre born with, which weakens as you grow older. Then theres the adaptive portion, which is a blank slate at birth but grows stronger as you age and your body is exposed to antigensforeign bacteria and viruses, but also vaccinesthat induce an immune response in order to produce disease-fighting antibodies.

Generally, womens immune systems are stronger, says Roger Seheult, M.D., a practicing pulmonologist in southern California who is treating patients with Covid-19. A growing body of literature suggests that the sex disparity in immune response comes down to a basic genetic difference you remember from middle-school bio: Women are born with two X chromosomesone from Mom and another from Dadwhile men are born with one X chromosome and one Y chromosome.

According to Klein, there are more than 60 genes on the X chromosome associated with immune function. Generally speaking, there shouldnt be any advantage to having two X chromosomes: The genes on one of the X chromosomes are randomly inactivated. Nonetheless, about 15 percent of the genes on the inactivated copy of the X chromosome remain active.

Some of the genes have a greater expression in immune response in some women compared with men, Klein says. One such X-chromosome gene codes for a protein called "toll-like receptor 7," which assists in immune surveillance in order to detect viral RNAthe single-strand genetic codes that make up the novel coronavirus.

Hormones like testosterone and estrogen regulate various aspects of the bodys immune response. Testosterone can reduce inflammation, but also suppress the immune response required to clear a virus. Estrogen, meanwhile, binds to cells in the immune system to kick-start the production of antibodies. And what produces testosterone? The testicles, of course.

Here is the original post:
Coronavirus and Men: Why Is the Virus So Much More Deadly to Men? - GQ

A Flemington man was under the influence of heroin when he crashed his pickup truck into another driver in Readington Township, said authorities who charged him.

Jordon Weber, 29, was headed northbound on Route 523 at Ivy Court when he crossed over the double-yellow lines and hit a Whitehouse driver heading traveling southbound in a Volkswagen around 1 p.m. April 16, Readington Township Police said on Facebook .

Police found Weber had been using heroin, and a search of his car turned up a syringe and an empty heroin fold -- as well as two vials of suspected testosterone, authorities said.

Weber was transported to Morristown Medical Center with head pain, and a sample of his blood was taken for the sake of charging him with DUI, authorities said.

The other driver suffered knee and chest injuries but did not require medical treatment. Webers passenger, who owns the pickup truck they were in, was not injured in the crash, police said.

Weber faces numerous CDS possession charges as well as motor vehicle summonses for DWI, driving with a suspended license, careless driving and possession of CDS in a motor vehicle.

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See the rest here:
Police: Flemington Man Was On Heroin When He Crossed Double Yellow Line In Head-On Crash - Rutherford Daily Voice

Some of Scotlands rarest birds have been caught on camera squaring off in a spectacular mating ritual on the Royal Familys Balmoral Estate in Aberdeenshire.

The Balmoral ranger service works carefully to preserve the pinewood home of the capercaillie, a huge ground-dwelling grouse known for its unusual call that sounds like knocking.

As part of their conservation work, the team has put in place a number of wildlife camera traps throughout the Deeside estate in order to keep an eye on the small population resident in Balmoral.

Over the past month, the male birds, which are much larger than the females and have striking black plumage, have been taking part in a key part of the breeding season called lekking.

The ranger teams cameras managed to photograph the birds in the height of lekking, showing off their impressive fan of tail feathers and aggressively competing with each other as they seek to mate with the smaller, brown-coloured females.

The species is highly endangered and at risk of extinction in Scotland due to years of population decline caused by factors including habitat loss and collisions with deer fences.

There are now thought to be little more than 1,00 capercaillies in the UK today.

Glyn Jones, head ranger at Balmoral Estate, said: The birds are very aggressive in these fights. They are full of testosterone and can sometimes be badly injured.

Capercaillie numbers have gone down a lot over the past 30 years and although the population has stabilised a bit, it is still at a very low level and theyre currently a very rarely seen bird.

They are very endangered in Deeside.

Theres a bit more of a stronghold for the species elsewhere in Scotland, like up in Speyside, but theres really not a lot of them left here.

Monitoring them with these cameras in the forest is important for our conservation, and we were really lucky to capture the birds actually lekking.

By monitoring them this way, its non-invasive and were not disturbing them.

More here:
Endangered capercaillies caught capering on camera by Balmoral ranger service - Press and Journal

All over the world in China, Italy, the United States and Australia many more men than women are dying from COVID-19.

Why? Is it genes, hormones, the immune system or behaviour that makes men more susceptible to the disease?

Read more: More testing will give us a better picture of the coronavirus spread and its slowdown

I see it as an interaction of all of these factors and it isnt unique to the SARS-Cov-2 virus the different response of men and women is typical of many diseases in many mammals.

In Italy and China deaths of men are more than double those of women. In New York city men constitute about 61% of patients who die. Australia is shaping up to have similar results, though here its mostly in the 70-79 and 80-89 age groups.

One major variable in severity of COVID-19 is age. But this cant explain the sex bias seen globally because the increased male fatality rate is the same in each age group from 30 to 90+. Women also live on average six years longer than men, so there are more elderly women than men in the vulnerable population.

The other major factor is the presence of chronic diseases, particularly heart disease, diabetes and cancer. These are all more common in men than women, which might account for some of the bias.

But then we must ask why men are more vulnerable to the diseases that put them at greater risk of COVID-19.

Men and women differ in their sex chromosomes and the genes that lie on them. Women have two copies of a mid-sized chromosome (called the X). Men have only a single X chromosome and a small Y chromosome that contains few genes.

One of these Y genes (SRY) directs the embryo to become male by kick-starting the development of testes in an XY embryo. The testes make male hormones and the hormones make the baby develop as a boy.

In the absence of SRY an ovary forms and makes female hormones.

Its the hormones that control most of the obvious visible differences between men and women genitals and breasts, hair and body type and have a large influence on behaviour.

The Y chromosome contains hardly any genes other than SRY but it is full of repetitive sequences (junk DNA).

Perhaps a toxic Y could lose its regulation during ageing. This might hasten ageing in men and render them more susceptible to the virus.

But a bigger problem for men is the male hormones unleashed by SRY action. Testosterone levels are implicated in many diseases, particularly heart disease, and may affect lifespan.

Men are also disadvantaged by their low levels of estrogen, which protects women from many diseases, including heart disease.

Male hormones also influence behaviour. Testosterone levels have been credited with major differences between men and women in risky behaviours such as smoking and drinking too much alcohol, as well as reluctance to heed health advice and to seek medical help.

The extreme differences in smoking rate between men and women in China (almost half the men smoke and only 2% of women) may help to account for their very high ratio of male deaths (more than double female). Not only is smoking a severe risk factor for any respiratory disease, but it also causes lung cancer, a further risk factor.

Smoking rates are lower and not as sex-biased in many other countries, so risky behaviour cant by itself explain the sex difference in COVID-19 deaths. Maybe sex chromosomes have other effects.

The X chromosome bears more than 1,000 genes with functions in all sorts of things including routine metabolism, blood clotting and brain development.

The presence of two X chromosomes in XX females provides a buffer if a gene on one X is mutated.

XY males lack this X chromosome backup. Thats why boys suffer from many sex-linked diseases such as haemophilia (poor blood clotting).

The number of X chromosomes also has big effects on many metabolic characters that are separable from sex hormone effects, as studies of mice reveal.

Females not only have a double dose of many X genes, but they may also have the benefit of two different versions of each gene.

This X effect goes far to explain why males die at a higher rate than females at every age from birth.

And another man problem is the immune system.

Weve known for a long time that women have a stronger immune system than men. This is not all good, because it makes women more susceptible to autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis.

But it gives women an advantage when it comes to susceptibility to viruses, as many studies in mice and humans show. This helps to explain why men are more susceptible to many viruses, including SARS and MERS.

There are at least 60 immune response genes on the X chromosome, and it seems that a higher dose and having two different versions of these gives women a broader spectrum of defences.

Sex differences in the frequency, severity and treatment efficacy for many diseases were pointed out long ago. COVID-19 is part of a larger pattern in which males lose out at every age.

This isnt just humans it is true of most mammals.

Are sex differences in disease susceptibility simply the by-catch of genetic and hormone differences? Or were they, like many other traits, selected differently in males and females because of differences in life strategy?

Read more: Dry, wet, barking, hacking: a guide to coughs in the time of coronavirus

Its suggested that male mammals spread their genes by winning competitions for mates, hence hormone control of risky behaviour is a plus for men.

Its also suggested female mammals are selected for traits that enhance their ability to care for young, hence their stronger immune system. This made sense for most mammals through the ages.

So the sex bias in COVID-19 deaths is part of a much larger picture and a very much older picture of sex differences in genes, chromosomes and hormones that lead to very different responses to all sorts of disease, including COVID-19.

Read this article:
Why do more men die from coronavirus than women? - The Conversation AU

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Coronavirus threat to global Testosterone Replacement Therapy Market Research Report Released with growth, latest trends & forecasts till 2031 -...

From the tip of a poofy tail, to the tip of a dog-like wet nose, ring-tailed lemurs can communicate in silence.

The lemurs an endangered primate native to Madagascar are known for a particularly acute sense of smell compared to other primates. Scent glands on their genitals, shoulders, and wrists let them communicate specific messages for fighting, climbing the social ladder, and flirting or stink-flirting. In a new study published today in the journal Current Biology, chemists from the University of Tokyo have pinpointed the fruity, floral chemicals key to lemur love connections. Some may rush to declare this as the first discovery of primate pheromones, but experts are reluctant to agree.

During breeding season, a male ring-tailed lemur will slip his long tail in and out of his arms. As the tail slides through, it rubs against scent glands in his wrist. The male then wafts his tail toward a female, dispersing a diverse bouquet of smelly chemicals.

Male ring-tailed lemur showing antebrachial (wrist) glands

Japan Monkey Centre (CC BY)

Previous research has suggested that female lemurs are more receptive to males flirting this way than those not spreading scents. Its not yet clear whether stink-flirting actually leads to more mating. But given the ring-tailed lemurs reliance on smell, zoologists suggest that the animal may indeed communicate with sex pheromones.

Efforts to unravel the chemical secrets behind lemurs smell-based communication are nothing new. Groundbreaking research from Christine Drea at Duke Universitys Department of Environmental Anthropology has reported chemical analyses for genital and shoulder scent glands for both sexes and across seasons, shaping our understanding of lemur behavior and social order. But unlike the greasy paste from shoulder glands, wrist glands produce small volumes of fast-evaporating clear liquid. Analyzing that volatile wrist cologne has been difficult, and decoding its contents was a long time in the making.

About 10 years ago, one of the co-authors, [Isao] Munechika was actually kind of living with the lemurs at the [Primate Research] Institute, says Kazushige Touhara, a Professor at the University of Tokyo and the studys lead author.

According to Touhara, Munechika was puzzled by the lemurs tail-wafting behavior. Touhara, an expert in the chemistry behind animal odors, stepped in with advanced methods in chemistry.

Over the course of seven years, the team painstakingly collected the tiny amounts of clear liquid from male lemur wrists. Each sample measured about 1/1000th of a tablespoon. It takes time to collect samples, Touhara said. And to get the secretion from the wrist, you have to have a really good relationship with the animals.

Male lemur antebrachial (wrist) gland

Kyoto University (CC BY)

Using a chemical analyzer tailored for volatile odors, the team succeeded in capturing the elusive volatile components found in male lemur wrists throughout each year. They learned that levels of three fruity and floral smelling chemicals spring up during breeding season. At least two of these molecules, tetradecanal and dodecanal, are known to affect sexual behavior in insects.

But are these chemicals actually important for lemur sexual behavior? Maybe. The new study's findings suggest that increased levels of testosterone lead to increases in these particular chemicals. And female lemurs may have a nose for them too. After the researchers added the three chemicals to a cotton pad, female lemurs seemed very interested curiously sniffing the cotton pad more during the breeding season than non-breeding season.

Some may be tempted to hype the findings as the first time pheromones have ever been seen in primates. The word "pheromone" can carry a lot of weight. Pheromones may be useful for conservation of some insects, but applying that idea seems even more distant of a plan for lemurs endangered from habitat loss (deforestation). Scientists have pondered about the existence of human pheromones. But experts are reluctant to use that label. Im not saying that lemurs dont have pheromones, said Drea, who is unaffiliated with the study. But I am saying that this paper is not demonstrating that they do.

Defining a pheromone can be tricky and arbitrary. Drea, the Duke University anthropologist who studies mammals, likens it to drawing a line in the sand. Tristram Wyatt, a Senior Research Fellow of Zoology at the University of Oxford studies pheromones across the animal kingdom. Wyatt is also careful and methodical about the term.

When you say something is a pheromone, there are a number of things that follow from that, said Wyatt. The problems come when were studying pheromones in new species particularly in mammals. With most mammals, there is a lot we dont know about the senders odor and the receivers nose and behavior.

Asked whether this studys results could be the first recorded primate pheromones, Wyatt was cautiously optimistic. These are really promising candidates, and weve not had those before, Wyatt said, But what we dont know at this stage, is that it actually affects anything to do with sex.

Family of ring-tailed lemurs

Daniel C. Devor (CC BY)

Touhara seemed to agree. We dont know what happens after the female is interested in this odor, he said. So we have to really show that this enhances mating to be able to say that this is definitely a pheromone.

Actually getting that evidence with ring-tailed lemurs means that future research should go beyond testosterone injections and female sniff tests. According to Drea, controlling lemur testosterone levels (up or down) is an established research practice, but long-term hormonal manipulation would require an implant. On the female side of things, prolonged sniffing during breeding season may seem like sexual attraction, but it doesnt prove it. Researchers need to show that this fruity mixture of molecules specifically leads to more mating.

In humans, that sort of chemical communication is unlikely. Touhara doesnt believe human sex pheromones exist, despite the fact that the human sense of smell is better than previously thought.

Using his own nose, though, Touhara smelled the lemur wrist secretion for himself. Pretty good, actually, he said, laughing. This was kind of one of the surprising results.

Similar signaling chemicals from mice are stinky, but Touhara was pleased to find the lemurs scent to smell like pears. These anecdotes may not prove any science about the lemurs, but they add to a colorful history of humans making sense of the sights and smells around us.

Wyatt shared the story of French entomologist, Jean-Henri Fabre. In the 19th century, Fabre noticed male moths would fly long distances to find females. But that attraction seemed to fall apart when the female moths sat in a sealed glass container.

And [Fabre] almost nailed it, that it must be an invisible chemical signal it must be smell, said Wyatt, tickled by the twist to come. And then he makes the mistake of sniffing the female, and he cant smell anything. So he says, Well it cant be the sense of smell...And that set back pheromone research about a hundred years.

Link:
Chemists are decoding the fruity scent of lemur stink flirting Read now - Massive Science

A study conducted by Chinese researchers in February had suggested that men are more likely to contract with coronavirus compared with females. The study report also revealed that 68 percent of the people infected with COVID-19 were males. Now, a top researcher has revealed that the most probable cause that increases the susceptibility of men to coronavirus infection is the testosterone level in the male body.

Why are men at risk of coronavirus infection?

Daniel Kelly, a lecturer in biochemistry at the Sheffield Hallam University, believes that testosterone plays a crucial role in elevating the risk of coronavirus among men. It should be noted that testosterone is the male hormone, while oestrogen dominates the female body. Several previous studies had claimed that elevated levels of testosterone in a male body will negatively affect the person's immune system.

"One theory is that the male sex hormone, testosterone, has a dampening effect on the immune system, making men more susceptible to the novel coronavirus. But just how plausible is this theory? An overview of the scientific evidence suggests that oestrogen can improve the immune system and increase immune inflammation whereas testosterone (the male sex hormone) reduces or dampens the response. As a result, women often have less severe infections than men and have significantly stronger immune responses to vaccinations," wrote Kelly in a recent article published in The Conversation.

However, Kelly revealed that coronavirus could lower the testosterone levels in a male body, but still men are at a higher risk of contracting the virus. Theoretically saying, lower testosterone levels should actually increase the immunity of the person, but the body will not be wishing to alter the hormonal level, especially while fighting a deadly disease.

Factors that increase risk of getting infected with coronavirus

As per Kelly, underlying conditions in a human body have direct impacts in determining the severity of coronavirus infection. The researcher also made it clear that age is another factor that elevates the chances of mortality after getting contracted with COVID-19.

"A major factor in how severe infection may become is whether a person has an underlying disease. While this is easy to understand, what is not so clear is the effect that the reduced levels of testosterone that happen during illness have on the likelihood of the infection developing into something more severe in men. As men age, their testosterone levels decrease, offering the possibility that increased severity of infections in elderly men may be due to lower levels of testosterone rather than simply the presence of testosterone" added Kelly.

Link:
Does testosterone increase chances of getting infected with coronavirus? Expert answers - International Business Times, Singapore Edition

You may have heard of a little company called Oculus

in the last year or two or their new headset called the Oculus Quest. If youre familiar with VR feel free to skip right to the next paragraph, but for those of you who arent, quick backstory. Oculus began as a small studio with the idea of bringing head-mounted displays to the mainstream market (keep in mind they were to be the first to do this). After launching their first prototype the DK1, Facebook, another small company you may have heard about, decided to give them some money and by some money, I mean 2 Billion dollars, and by giving some money I really mean they acquired the whole studio along with the name. You can read more about the acquisition on TechCrunchs website here.

Facebook believing in the future of VR for a long time was a bit of a joke in the industry. Ever since HTC came out with the Vive, it smoked the original Oculus Rift into the ground in a lot of ways. But now things are different. Times have changed and the race for ultra-powerful, pc-tethered, high resolution headsets is taking a bit of a side-step in terms of goals. Enter the Oculus Quest. Facebooks new version of what VR should be: No cables, no PC, just wireless fun. So lets take a look and see how they did.

As a bit of a PC-VR purist, I really wanted to hate this headset when it first came out. Let me explain. The Oculus quest has been out for about two months now and I wanted to give you my thoughts on it because it does some things really well that the PC-based headsets do, but it also lacks a few major features which, for the price point is understandable. To start this off I want to talk about my a couple favourite things about the headset and then Ill talk about the stuff that I dont really love.

First things first, I want to talk about the quality of the panel because I was actually really surprised about this coming from an HTC Vive and using the Vive Pro as well as the new Valve Index. I was expecting this headset to have lots of screen door effect, be not that high resolution and the frame rate to be really bad. And honestly even though this panel is only 72 Hertz, its actually really not that noticeable in most games.

The fact that I can play on a 72 Hertz panel versus a Vive and just go back and forth and not really care about the differences, that really means that the Quest is doing something really well. There are some experiences in which you start to notice a few hiccups in the performance but the display itself is is phenomenal. Its really sharp, the colors are amazing and the refresh rate honestly is more than adequate. If any of you are worried that because the Quest starts at $399 the display nut might not be that good, prepare to be surprised because this thing is quite awesome.

The second thing that I love about the Oculus Quest is obviously the six degrees of freedom (6DOF). If you are unfamiliar with VR Ill try to keep this short: Six degrees of freedom basically means that if I take a real step in real life it moves me one step in the game. If youre crouching, dodging and shooting around using controllers to map your hands out, it tracks all of that. Six degrees of freedom has usually been solely locked to computer based VR. You had to set up 2 sensors for the Vive, and 2 or 3 on the Oculus Rift just to build out your space to play. Its been a huge deal for a long time and its been a big inhibitor for a lot of people just getting into VR; they cant dedicate a space to it.

The amazing thing about the Oculus Quest is that you can literally just put on the headset and the four ultra-wide cameras look at the space figure around you and figure out where the walls and floor is. You literally just draw a circle on the floor and it just boots up the game. Its absolutely amazing and the fact that it remembers five spaces, you can go to your friends house and if it detects the same space you drew last time you were there, it will pop you right back into the game. I think thats such a big deal because a lot of people are really scared to get into VR because its so intimidating due to all the setup and all the hardware costs.

The six degrees of freedom on the Quest is absolutely awesome in terms of quality. Theres barely ever any tracking issues. Obviously if youre outside or something like that theres some issues, you have to play in the shade. The only time Ive ever had a tracking issue is with the controllers but well talk about that in a little bit. In terms of the headset rotation and tracking, Its been rock solid for me and I absolutely love that.

The third thing that I love about the Quest is the speakers and I know that sounds really silly but coming from a PC-based VR headset. The fact that I had to put on headphones and I would get completely isolated from the outside world is one of those things that its fun but you just get so hot. You have your earphones on, your headset on, it gets hot and you just lose yourself. The fact that the Quest allows you to put the headset on and it starts playing sound around your ears is awesome. Ive been able to play and have conversations with people without a problem.

I was recently letting my parents and my grandparents try the headset and I was able to talk to them and tell them things that they might not have otherwise heard. So when theyre playing Beat Saber and theyre stepping too far forward, I can just say, Hey, take a quick step back and they do because they can still hear you. Its honestly such a big deal for them and the fact that the sound comes straight into your ears, its pretty close to surround. Theres a few times where Ive been like whoa someones behind me and it really helped me position the enemy.

I was pleasantly surprised by the speakers on the Quest and I have not once plugged in headphones ever and I dont think that I will be. For the most part, if youre playing in a loud environment then obviously youll probably want some headphones, but the nice thing is you can just pop them in either headphone jack on the side of the headset. I think this is probably my favourite, most underrated feature of the Quest. Theyre not amazing sounding unfortunately, and it would be awesome if they were better, but theyre just tucked away in the head strap so Ill take a little bit lower quality for not having to put on hot, sweaty headphones

The last big thing that I love about the Quest is the quality of the games. Now you might be like, Wait wait wait wait wait This is basically running a phone processor(its a Snapdragon 835), what do you mean you like the quality of the games? You said you come from high-end PC-based VR running GTX1080s?

I understand the skepticism but the amazing thing about the Quest is that I ultimately didnt care about the quality of the games and thats the big thing here. If you are a hundred percent purist and need the highest quality games, as in youre that guy that will sacrifice frame rate for getting ultra settings then yeah this probably isnt the headset for you. As long as you set your expectations accordingly, again this is basically a phone running this headset, you have to understand that six degrees of freedom, 72 Hertz, and high resolution, something has to be sacrificed here.

Games like Sairento, which I really love, obviously takes a huge, noticeable hit in comparison to the regular game. They touted as having all new maps and stuff like but that is just because the Quest cant run the power of the old maps and it basically looks like Tony Hawk Pro Skater from 2000. Thats kind of what the the equivalent I would put that too. But I still dont care because Im jumping and flying around, Im doing backflips, Im jumping in slow motion, shooting people, I just dont care about the quality. The fact that it still runs well enough that its still immerses you is is truly forgivable.

And then theres games that because of the limited factor, kind of take that into account. Games like Rec Room which are super easy to port over and games like Journey of the Gods looks phenomenal. It is a very low-poly game but it totally works for this sort of atmosphere. Games like again SuperHot, Beat Saber, all these games that dont need high-end graphics run amazing on this headset.

Rambling thoughts aside, I really think that people really need to adjust their expectations when they come to the Oculus Quest. I really think that for the price it is such a great headset and the fact that you get six degrees of freedom and all of these games more than makes up for the fact that the quality is not quite as good.

Come back on Thursday when I talk about the things I dont like about the Oculus Quest! See you then.

If youve never tried VR before, come by our venue located downtown Toronto! Click Here to Book Now!

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Reference Ranges for Testosterone in Men Generated Using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry in a Community-Based Sample of Healthy...

DENVER, April 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to current media stories regarding Low T Center's commitment to meeting the needs of Colorado patients during this COVID-19 Emergency, Low T Center provides the following for immediate release.

On April 9, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment released its 4th Updated Public Health Order (PHO) 20-24, encouraging Critical Businesses to remain open: "Critical Businesses, as defined below, are exempt, subject to certain limitations, from this PHO and are encouraged to remain open." Part C of PHO 20-24 states, "Any business . . . engaged primarily in any of the service activities listed below, may continue to operate as normal." PHO 20-24 defines a Critical Business as "Healthcare Operations, Including: . . . clinics, and walk-in health facilities . . . Medical . . . care, including ambulatory providers . . . [and] laboratory services." On April 6, 2020, Governor Polis issued Executive Order 2020 024 stating, "I direct all Coloradans to stay at home, unless necessary to provide, support, perform, or operate Necessary Activities . . . Necessary Travel or Critical Businesses as such terms are defined in PHO 20-24 . . . " The Order provides that "Necessary Activities" include . . . "Engaging in activities . . . including, but not limited to . . . without limitation, obtaining medical supplies . . . obtaining durable medical equipment, obtaining medication, [and] visiting a healthcare professional . . . " On that same day, the Governor issued an amended Executive Order D 2020 027, prohibiting voluntary or elective surgical procedures, if same could be safely postponed for at least three months.

Low T Center is a multi-specialty medical clinic with forty-six clinic locations spanning eleven states. Low T Center is not a hospital or outpatient surgery or procedure provider. It is not a gym or supplement store. Each clinic operates a certified and licensed moderately complex CLIA/COLA medical laboratory facility, which can accommodate a variety of important medical diagnostic tests. Pursuant to recently issued Department of Homeland Security regulations, Low T Center's facilities and its healthcare team members are classified as part of the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce.

Low T Center physicians treat chronic health diseases and conditions, as well as acute medical issues, ranging from low testosterone, to obstructive sleep apnea (a respiratory condition), to hypertension, high cholesterol, thyroid disorders, severe allergies, cardiometabolic issues, and other conditions that make men feel bad, and if left untreated, can be life-threatening. These conditions are often correlated with a serious medical condition known as hypogonadism. Hypogonadism is a clinical syndrome that results from the body's failure to produce physiologic concentrations of the hormone Testosterone.Hypogondal men require medically necessary hormone therapy to restore normal body functions. Failure to adequately treat and monitor these conditions can lead to serious problems such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer as well as adversely effecting overall well-being and quality of life. Treatment for hypogonadism is recognized as "medically necessary" by every major insurance carrier in Colorado.

Proper treatment of chronic hypogonadism requires office visits, labs, and continued therapy.For the individuals that require this therapy, interrupting, deferring or otherwise discontinuing therapy for a period of three months would lead to severe adverse effects, and place these patients at risk. Similarly, failing to provide treatment for diabetic patients, patients suffering from respiratory disorders, and serious cardiologic issues, is simply not acceptable, and would be contrary to the treatment guidelines employed at Low T Center.Remote treatment protocols are enabled for patients whose medical conditions do not require an in-person visit to the clinic.

For many of our patients, Low T Center is the sole provider of their preventive and primary care services. As noted above, in addition to having extensive clinical and research experience in diagnosing and treating hypogonadism, Low T Center also provides vital and continuous life-saving evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and control of a variety of chronic, serious, and potentially life-threading disorders including cardiometabolic health, obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, cholesterol disorders, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and other chronic men's health issues including cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention. Because of the nature of the practice, many patients require close follow-up including appropriate physical exams as well as critical laboratory services, that if delayed "for a minimum of three months" would place these patients at "undue risk to both the current [and] future health of the patient." The treatment programs for these chronic, progressive and potentially fatal conditions (if not appropriately diagnosed, managed, and treated) are evidence- and guideline-based using the most recent literature and approaches and have been developed by a protocol committee comprised of medical school faculty and Harvard-trained distinguished leaders in their respective fields.

Consistent with Executive Order D 2020 027, these important primary care assessments and treatments cannot be delayed (as with any primary care office) as there would be 1) "a threat to the patient's life," 2) "a threat of permanent dysfunction of an extremity or organ system," (e.g., chronic limb ischemia risking amputations or progression of chronic kidney disease or heart failure.) These conditions require close physical and laboratory follow-up and monitoring of both the disease as well as the response to therapy. Furthermore, there is 3) "risk of . . . progression" particularly of the target organs of hypertension, cholesterol disorders, and diabetes manifesting as preventable strokes, heart attacks, limb damage, blindness, kidney failure, and heart failure - all of which require close medical management and adjustment of medical therapy to prevent.

Executive Order D 2020 027 rightly lets "the doctor make the decision," by granting the "treating medical facility" the exclusive discretion to determine whether a three month delay or interruption in treatment would risk the health of the patient. It would be unfortunate indeed that a hypertensive Coloradan would die, because the access to the care he needed, was postponed for three months. The Governor's Order expressly recognizes this principle, by leaving the classification of "voluntary" to the patient's medical professionals.

Low T Center does not believe Governor Polis' Order prohibits Coloradans from obtaining medically necessary treatment for diabetes, hypogonadism, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, receiving allergy antigens, obtaining medical laboratory testing, receiving treatment for thyroid disorders, obtaining continuous positive airway pressure devices for the treatment of respiratory conditions, or any of the other medically necessary services provided to patients at Low T Center healthcare facilities. The Order uses the words "without limitation" which means Low T Center's patients should have the right to visit their healthcare provider - without limitation, for these important continuing care services.By signing the Order, Governor Polis assured Coloradans that they would be able to continue to receive their medical care during this time, by expressly classifying these activities as "Necessary Activities." Low T Center physicians, nurse practitioners, and medical staff are persons involved in operating a Critical Business which are necessary to help patients with these Necessary Activities.

Also, very relevant to the current COVID-19 crisis, outpatient centers like Low T Center significantly reduce the likelihood of requiring care in both Emergency Departments and acute care hospitals - where patients may have enhanced risk of both contracting SARS-CoV-2 and developing a potentially life-threatening and/or fatal complication of COVID-19.

Finally, Low T Center's protocol committee has mandated a series of workplace safety initiatives designed to implement social distancing guidelines. The clinic operational teams continue to adhere to enhanced cleaning and sterilization protocols. Sick persons or those exhibiting any COVID-19 like symptoms are prohibited from coming to work, but may work from home in some situations. Consistent with good medical practice, all team members are required to wash hands and use hand sanitizer between each patient visit in increasing frequency throughout the day. Patients are educated about covering coughs and sneezes, and recognizing signs or symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Low T Center's healthcare team members recognize their role as healers, and status as members of critical infrastructure, and are committed to remaining available to protect patients' rights, while adhering to all public health orders and directives issued in this state.

Media contact:David J. Moraine, J.D., M.A., LL.M. Chief Legal Officer, david@mailproglobal.com 469-990-3626

Read more:
Low T Center Is Committed To Meeting The Needs Of Colorado Patients During The COVID-19 Emergency - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Freddy McConnell is a transgender man whose pregnancy was the subject of the film "Seahorse."Photo: Manuel Vazquez for "Seahorse"/Promotional image

A recent study from a fertility clinic in Massachusetts has found that transgender men who stop taking testosterone (T) had similar egg yields to cisgender women.

Boston IVF is a fertility clinic and research center, and they decided to look at years of data they had collected to see if T had a permanent effect on fertility, even after a transgender man stops taking it.

Related: How a transgender dad won the right to be the legal father of the child he carried

They found that about half of transgender men who wanted to become pregnant were undergoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) before they tried to get pregnant. Those who were taking it stopped on average four months before undergoing ovarian stimulation cycles as part of an in-vitro fertilization process.

And they had similar egg yields to cisgender women who never took testosterone.

The landmark study involved data from 25 transgender men.

The numbers were very small, but it was very reassuring that even though these transgender men had taken testosterone, when they stopped it and were treated, they responded well and we had good outcomes, Boston IVF Medical Director Dr. Samuel Pang told NBC News.

The studys results flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that transgender men need to freeze eggs before starting T in order to one day have children.

Emmett Hardiman said that he knew he was transgender since he was young and he started HRT when he turned 18. He thought that he was definitely going to be infertile.

I had to make a choice, he said.

But his period started again several years later when he stopped T due to a lack of insurance. He had eggs harvested and his wife carried two children who came from those eggs. (Fertility experts recommend trans men go off hormones to collect and freeze eggs, although one 16-year-old trans boy reportedly was able to have eggs harvested without going off hormones.)

Dr. Pang said that even though its possible for trans men to go off HRT to have a child, that can still be asking too much.

The thought of stopping testosterone or going through hormone treatments if very daunting for them, so they frequently will not pursue it because of that, he said.

Just having to go off testosterone in order to do IVF was not a great option, but it was, to me, better than the alternative, said Hardiman.

The study looked at transgender men who started HRT as adults. Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, said that it would probably be different for trans men who took puberty blockers and then moved directly on to T since their reproductive organs never matured.

We dont know because no one has ever done it, she said. It stands to reason that somebody would, because your hypothalamus doesnt change.

See more here:
Trans men who have been on testosterone can still be fertile - LGBTQ Nation

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