Body check: what you need to know about the tests you need to take

Men's Fitness, March, 1999 by R. Steven Davidson, Steve Stiefel

Most men put as much thought into the inner workings of their bodies as they do their big-screen TVs. When you want to watch Monday Night Football, just hit the remote and it works - no need to get caught up in the minutiae of the resistance and impedance of electron flow, right? Unfortunately, this approach isn't the best way to keep your body functioning at peak efficiency.

You're better off thinking of your body as a car - not the hand-me-down wreck from your teen years, but the sporty number you bought when your salary first soared above minimum wage. Remember how you meticulously changed the oil every 3,000 miles and replaced aging filters and belts before they could wreak havoc on your prized possession? You can do the same with regard to your golf swing, jump shot or six-pack. By monitoring a few key baseline numbers and age markers (think of them as 3,000-mile tune-ups), you can learn to determine when your body needs a major service check.

Men have an amazing potential to maintain their performance capabilities, sexual vitality and youthful health and appearance into middle age and beyond. Taking a proactive, preventive approach to monitoring such basics as cholesterol and hormone levels, blood pressure and heart rate will allow you to detect any negative trends and make the necessary corrections in your diet, exercise programs or supplement regimen. This is particularly true of hormone levels, one of the most overlooked aspects of maintaining performance and health.

The sooner you begin eyeing your health, the better. Most young men suffer few health or performance problems, so now is the time to establish your own norms for vital signs and age markers. By learning your base numbers early, you'll be able to detect any serious changes later. Taking a full blood test once or twice a year will reveal much about the state of your health. If any of your numbers are in the high end of the normal range (or outside that range), you can take the requisite action, with the guidance of your physician, of course, to improve.

As you age, you should continue to compare yourself to the "ideal" numbers of your 20s. Most men compare themselves to their current age group, but that provides only the minimal expectations for health. In other words, just because you are healthy for your age doesn't mean you're as healthy as you could be.

Numerous high-tech tests exist to determine such problems as prostate cancer and heart disease, but many are expensive and are offered only at premier research facilities; while considered effective, they have not been proved over time. (See page 77 for information on some of the most effective and widely available.)

Operating from a more realistic perspective, we give you the most important numbers from the most important tests, tell you how to evaluate them and explain what to do if your numbers aren't where you want them to be. This process serves as the critical first step in maintaining health, as well as athletic and sexual performance.

DHEA and testosterone tests

These tests work symbiotically, and both can be determined from the same blood sample. Measuring DHEA indicates whether or not your hormone levels are depleted. Testosterone, the primary male hormone, is essential to maintaining overall health, youthful appearance and sexual vitality. In addition, testosterone helps the body build lean muscle mass and increases your overall metabolic rate, burning more body fat.

The ratio between DHEA and testosterone is essential to predicting health because it helps you establish the effectiveness with which your body converts DHEA to testosterone. DHEA readings should be on the low side of normal (2.5 to 9.5 for a male 20 to 49), and testosterone should be on the high side (12.4 to 40.0 for a male 20 to 49), if this conversion process is working well.

When you supplement with DHEA, your testosterone levels should show a marked increase, while DHEA should remain fairly constant. High-end DHEA levels indicate a testosterone-conversion problem, and you should consult your doctor.

Get proactive

* Supplement with DHEA after the age of 35 if your testosterone levels are low.

* Check your DHEA and testosterone levels, testing at least once a year. Clinical studies demonstrate that DHEA supplementation after the age of 35 yields tremendous results in terms of maintaining male sexual function and vitality as well as an overall feeling of well-being. Fifty to 100 milligrams is usually the recommended dosage.

Cost: $45 to $65 for both DHEA and testosterone tests.

Covered by HMO? When prescribed.

DHEA supplement: About $13 for 60 pills, 25 milligrams per pill. Possible side effects of DHEA supplementation include enlargement of the prostate, acne and hair loss.

Cholesterol levels

This test will reveal much about your diet, including what you're doing right and wrong. You need to check your overall cholesterol count as well as your cholesterol ratios. The LDL (low-density lipoprotein) count should be low, and your HDL (high-density lipoprotein) should be high. The normal male range for overall cholesterol is 120 to 200; male HDL cholesterol should be between 35 and 79. Furthermore, the overall cholesterol to HDL ratio should be below 5.0.