Okay, so I'm still confused by this.
I don't understand how each different lab has such variation between what's considered a normal testosterone range. When I brought this up to my doctor, he told me that it all depends on what method or machine the lab uses to measure total testosterone, which kinda made sense. And the reason why it made sense was - most labs that have a lower bottom threshold number usually have a lower top threshold number, such as the ones commonly seen on the boards of approx (241-827 ng/dL), and the labs with a higher bottom threshold number have a higher top threshold number, such as the other commonly seen ranges of approx (348-1197 ng/dL).
BUT... I recently found someone who posted that one of the labs they went to had a range of (262-1593 ng/dL). This seems to throw this whole theory or explanation my doctor gave me out the window. How can the bottom number be almost the same as the bottom number on the lower of the 2 ranges I mentioned above and the top number be above the top number on the higher range from above?? It doesn't make sense.
Additionally, I've never come across a lab that has a top end range as high as this. Could it be that this is what the top range should resemble instead of 850-1200? To me it seems to make sense as most of the people I've come across usually report feeling great at levels at or slightly above normal. And I don't think I've ever come across someone who reports feeling amazing at low to slightly below normal. My personal opinion is that the "normal ranges" have been determined based on a population of men whose testosterone has already been reduced due to the effects of all the environmental estrogen we are exposed to. Therefore our normal range is not actually a representation of normal, but rather of a group of men who've been exposed to estrogen like compounds. In reality, It'd be like determining a normal level of anything in the human body, after giving them a pill that directly effects what's you're trying to measure.
Does anyone know the reason or have an explanation for how there is such variation in normal levels, especially related to the last lab example compared to the first 2?
I don't understand how each different lab has such variation between what's considered a normal testosterone range. When I brought this up to my doctor, he told me that it all depends on what method or machine the lab uses to measure total testosterone, which kinda made sense. And the reason why it made sense was - most labs that have a lower bottom threshold number usually have a lower top threshold number, such as the ones commonly seen on the boards of approx (241-827 ng/dL), and the labs with a higher bottom threshold number have a higher top threshold number, such as the other commonly seen ranges of approx (348-1197 ng/dL).
BUT... I recently found someone who posted that one of the labs they went to had a range of (262-1593 ng/dL). This seems to throw this whole theory or explanation my doctor gave me out the window. How can the bottom number be almost the same as the bottom number on the lower of the 2 ranges I mentioned above and the top number be above the top number on the higher range from above?? It doesn't make sense.
Additionally, I've never come across a lab that has a top end range as high as this. Could it be that this is what the top range should resemble instead of 850-1200? To me it seems to make sense as most of the people I've come across usually report feeling great at levels at or slightly above normal. And I don't think I've ever come across someone who reports feeling amazing at low to slightly below normal. My personal opinion is that the "normal ranges" have been determined based on a population of men whose testosterone has already been reduced due to the effects of all the environmental estrogen we are exposed to. Therefore our normal range is not actually a representation of normal, but rather of a group of men who've been exposed to estrogen like compounds. In reality, It'd be like determining a normal level of anything in the human body, after giving them a pill that directly effects what's you're trying to measure.
Does anyone know the reason or have an explanation for how there is such variation in normal levels, especially related to the last lab example compared to the first 2?
