Dr. Abraham Morgentaler

And so the story made sense that lowering testosterone helped these guys. And if lowering testosterone is effective for guys with advanced prostate cancer, then raising it has to be dangerous. Like that story kind of made sense until it didn't. Until it didn't.

And so the story made sense that lowering testosterone helped these guys. And if lowering testosterone is effective for guys with advanced prostate cancer, then raising it has to be dangerous. Like that story kind of made sense until it didn't. Until it didn't.

Gabriella, it's an amazing story. I mean, it's really, and it tells us not only about testosterone and prostate cancer, but how medicine works. and how medicine can often fail us also, how you get these crazy bad ideas. I remember when I was like 10 or 12 or something, I'm at the beach with my parents, and I had lunch.

Gabriella, it's an amazing story. I mean, it's really, and it tells us not only about testosterone and prostate cancer, but how medicine works. and how medicine can often fail us also, how you get these crazy bad ideas. I remember when I was like 10 or 12 or something, I'm at the beach with my parents, and I had lunch.

And then my dad says to me, my dad was a physician, he says, so you can't go swimming for two hours. Because you ate lunch. Yeah, because I ate lunch. I said, why? He says, well, your digestive system needs the blood supply now that you've eaten. And it made no sense to me. But that was taught to doctors at the time who then told everybody else. It's just nonsense. Like, don't eat eggs, right?

And then my dad says to me, my dad was a physician, he says, so you can't go swimming for two hours. Because you ate lunch. Yeah, because I ate lunch. I said, why? He says, well, your digestive system needs the blood supply now that you've eaten. And it made no sense to me. But that was taught to doctors at the time who then told everybody else. It's just nonsense. Like, don't eat eggs, right?

Yeah, absolutely. The cholesterol thing turned out to be wrong. But for a generation often, these things are wrong. The testosterone story is wrong for 80 years. For 80 years now, it starts with 1941, a guy named Charles Huggins, together with his co-author Clarence Hodges, took, based on experiments in dogs, they thought there was no treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.

Yeah, absolutely. The cholesterol thing turned out to be wrong. But for a generation often, these things are wrong. The testosterone story is wrong for 80 years. For 80 years now, it starts with 1941, a guy named Charles Huggins, together with his co-author Clarence Hodges, took, based on experiments in dogs, they thought there was no treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.

So guys would come into the hospital regularly through the emergency room in pain, like I mentioned.

So guys would come into the hospital regularly through the emergency room in pain, like I mentioned.

That's how they found it. Yeah. And so it shows up on x-rays, plain x-rays, as denser than bone, which is unusual for cancer. So you could make a diagnosis almost exclusively on that. And they used a blood test. They started to use a blood test called acid phosphatase, which we don't use anymore. But that was big for Huggins. And what he did is he castrated these men.

That's how they found it. Yeah. And so it shows up on x-rays, plain x-rays, as denser than bone, which is unusual for cancer. So you could make a diagnosis almost exclusively on that. And they used a blood test. They started to use a blood test called acid phosphatase, which we don't use anymore. But that was big for Huggins. And what he did is he castrated these men.

And he showed that this blood test acid phosphatase came down when he castrated him. He also claimed that raising testosterone made the cancers grow more quickly. And because of that work, 1941... people stopped using testosterone.

And he showed that this blood test acid phosphatase came down when he castrated him. He also claimed that raising testosterone made the cancers grow more quickly. And because of that work, 1941... people stopped using testosterone.

It was first synthesized in 1935, became available soon afterwards, and there was this golden period of about four years where people wrote these amazing articles about the benefits of testosterone. Amazing articles. They were using it for men and women who had angina, chest pain from exertion, right, where you don't have enough blood flow to the heart, with remarkable detailed case histories.

It was first synthesized in 1935, became available soon afterwards, and there was this golden period of about four years where people wrote these amazing articles about the benefits of testosterone. Amazing articles. They were using it for men and women who had angina, chest pain from exertion, right, where you don't have enough blood flow to the heart, with remarkable detailed case histories.

I think the largest series was 99 individuals. That's a pretty big series for the late 1930s, right? And very convincing and compelling. In 1941 comes this story about testosterone more or less causes prostate cancer and makes it very dangerous, and everything stops like cold. So that by the 1980s, when I was a resident, we never, ever, ever gave testosterone.

I think the largest series was 99 individuals. That's a pretty big series for the late 1930s, right? And very convincing and compelling. In 1941 comes this story about testosterone more or less causes prostate cancer and makes it very dangerous, and everything stops like cold. So that by the 1980s, when I was a resident, we never, ever, ever gave testosterone.

Right. So that's true. But what made it compelling, the castration part, And they also used estrogen treatment also, which they didn't know it lowered testosterone. They thought it just antagonized how testosterone worked.

Right. So that's true. But what made it compelling, the castration part, And they also used estrogen treatment also, which they didn't know it lowered testosterone. They thought it just antagonized how testosterone worked.