The FDA said at a panel this week that it is open to making changes on the black-box warnings for testosterone products. That’s good news for men with low testosterone, which can cause fatigue, low libido and depression and leads to higher risks for Type 2 diabetes and heart attacks.But one issue that didn’t get much attention during the two-hour discussion is how testosterone is an increasingly popular part of anti-aging regimens, including one reportedly used by the guy who ultimately controls the FDA: That would be Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Silicon Valley denizens have embraced all kinds of supplements and off-label prescription drugs aimed at increasing longevity—including testosterone. Kennedy, who has been photographed working out shirtless and wearing a pair of jeans, shared with Lex Fridman’s podcast listeners in 2023 that he uses testosterone replacement therapy as part of an anti-aging regimen approved by his doctor. Joe Rogan has spoken several times on his own podcast about how taking testosterone and making lifestyle changes dramatically improved his health. Larry Lipshultz, one of the speakers on the FDA panel and a professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine, summed it up for me afterward: “The older the person is, if he looks fantastic, the more likely it is he’s probably taking T,” shorthand for testosterone.Testosterone is considered a controlled substance, putting it in the same category as ketamine. That designation happened in the wake of doping scandals involving athletes in the 1980s and ended up scaring off many clinicians from prescribing testosterone to patients that needed it. Doctors on the panel told the FDA they want the agency to remove the designation, and FDA head Marty Makary indicated before the panel got started that he is open to new thinking. If the FDA follows through and changes the warnings, more doctors are likely to prescribe it. The worry is that it might lead to overprescribing, particularly from online clinics where doctors may not meet the patients.Mohit Khera, a urologist and Baylor College of Medicine professor who was on the FDA panel and has studied declining testosterone levels in men, said testosterone therapy is “not just about sex and muscles.” He called a man’s T level “the best barometer of his overall health.” He said many men don’t know that taking even small amounts of testosterone can make them infertile, and some of them end up in his clinic looking for help to reverse the problem.Normal testosterone levels have a very wide range. More research is needed on the question of when to intervene if a man’s T level is within the normal range but just barely. Some patients seem to think if they double their testosterone levels they might double their libido, Khera said. He tells them, “It doesn’t necessarily work that way.” #Biohackers Connect #Healthspan Advocates #Leverage Your Biology https://www.theinformatio..