03-01-2017, 12:38 AM
(02-28-2017, 10:53 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Perhaps I was not clear. I have no issue with folks taking hormones or other things that can be considered PEDs for therapeutic reasons. I do not think juvenile competitive athletes should be allowed to take hormones and other PEDs. Sometimes folks have conditions that prevent them from competing on the HS or College level.
I used the normal range as to demonstrate how someone could use them for a competitive edge. <7-1300 is a pretty wide range. Doc my son has low T. It is 6 we need it to be around 1299
Almost anything can be abused, that includes medical care. I would hope parents and doctors would choose what is medically and ethically in the best interests of the athletes. However, I can tell you I have had parents screaming at me because I wouldn't pass their child on a sports physical without some further cardiac testing to rule it a potentially life threatening condition. Screaming to the point other patients were concerned for their own safety. In a case like you suggest, I personally wouldn't treat single, isolated testosterone level only one unit outside of the normal range. That is what we call "essentially normal" because it is a range which varies slight from person to person and some people will be just outside of that range. If it was a child with equivocal results plus delayed puberty or abnormalities of secondary sexual characteristics, I would refer them to a pediatric endocrinologist for an evaluation to determine the cause. But, I'm aware some parents and/or athletes seek short cuts which they aren't going to get from me. Plus, I'm not a pediatric endocrinologist so I'm not prescribing testosterone or growth hormones to kids. That's why they get paid the big bucks.
