In this episode of Functional Medicine Research, I interview Dr. Deb Matthew about her new book on male sexual health "Why Can't I Keep Up Anymore?: A Guide to Regaining Energy, Focus, and Peak Physical & Sexual Performance for Men Over 40". We discussed the causes of male sexual dysfunction, lab testing, causes of low testosterone, stress and cortisol levels, sex hormone binding globulin, testosterone replacement methods, how sleep affects hormones and much more.

This book isn't just for men. If your male partner is showing signs of low testosterone then this book is a must-read with resources on how to find the right kind of doctor to get well.

Male Sexual Performance with Dr. Deb Matthew Interview Transcript

Dr. Hedberg: Well, welcome, everyone, to "Functional Medicine Research." I'm Dr. Hedberg, and I'm really excited today to have Dr. Deb Matthew on the show. Dr. Matthew is a medical doctor, and she's also known as the happy hormones doctor. She's a best-selling author, international speaker, educator, wife, and mother of four. And after suffering for years with fatigue and irritability, her quest to resolve her personal health led her to change everything about her practice of medicine. She has been featured on national podcasts, radio, and broadcast shows, including NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. Dr. Matthew, welcome to the show.

Dr. Matthew: Thank you so much. It's great to be here.

Dr. Hedberg: So, we're going to be talking about your new book, "Why Can't I Keep Up Anymore?: A Guide to Regaining Energy, Focus, and Peak Physical & Sexual Performance for Men Over 40," which I read recently. It's an excellent book. Wanted to have you on and talk about something that is...well, I would say most male issues are overlooked, but testosterone is really a big one and so is sexual performance and male hormones. So, why don't we begin by talking about why testosterone is so important for men?

Dr. Matthew: Yeah. You know, hormones, in general, play a big role in how we feel on the inside, how we relate to the world around us, how we react to other people. And so, testosterone drives a lot of how men feel and even behavior, and it really plays a role in men feeling like a man. So, it's important for drive and for motivation so that when you wake up in the morning and your boots hit the floor, you're ready to take on the world. And when testosterone levels are not quite right, men just don't quite feel right. And for women, when we go through our hormonal changes, it's pretty obvious. We either get menstrual problems or, you know, we get hot flashes. And so, there's some pretty obvious things that happen at some pretty obvious times in our life in order to notify us that our hormones may be changing. But for men, it's much more subtle.

So, it is something that often happens gradually over time. And so, what I hear men say a lot is, you know, "I just don't quite feel like myself anymore. I'm just not quite keeping up the same way that I used to. But you know, maybe it's just my age." I hear that all the time, "It must just be my age. I'm not 18 anymore." And so, you know, maybe it's not fair to compare to an 18-year-old, but if you're 40 or 50, like let's not blame it on age. If you're 95, okay, fine. We'll blame it on your age. But when you're younger, even though things change, they don't have to feel that way. And so, one of the things that could be contributing to not quite feeling like yourself anymore is low testosterone.