Hacker News Reader

Comment by ohialehua | Hacker News Reader

I didn’t read the article. I mainly come here for the commentary and the backdoor links. But!

Hormone replacement therapy is a game changer for a lot of men who have CTE. I’m a clinical social worker. I’ve worked in emergency medicine, correctional medicine, and now outpatient psychotherapy. I used to think HRT was for ego lifters and old ladies. But I have seen first hand the value of HRT for CTE patients. I’ve seen guys go from three OWIs and unable to manage an entry level job at Lowe’s to law-abiding, midlevel executive at national corporations within months of starting on HRT.

View on HN

From the article:

> Nearly everywhere that tissues of different density or stiffness met, there was a border of scar tissue — a shoreline of damage that seemed to have been caused by the repeated crash of blast waves.

> It was not chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., which is found in football players and other athletes who have been repeatedly hit in the head. It was something new.

What do you think the mechanism behind this is? I wouldn't intuitively think HRT would help much with a damaged brain, unless the damage itself somehow caused a hormone imbalance.

Perhaps the stress of deployment and even training disrupts hormone production somehow?

I'd guess that it kicks off growth and regeneration.

Low testosterone in adult men causes pretty severe fatigue and depression that resolves quickly with treatment. You become almost unable to experience joy or desire, so you go through the motions of life with as little effort as possible.

Damage to the brain causes damage to the HPTA. HPTA damage leads to out of "whack" hormones, leading to knock off problems.

Hormone replacement would remedy some of these issues. The same can be seen in people under chronic stress or substance abusers.

> What do you think the mechanism behind this is

Estrogen in the brain is neuro-protective and neuro-trophic. The primary source of estrogen in the brain for men is testosterone converted via aromatase.

However, that's speculative. I found no significant studies on point, notwithstanding physician interest. Because some men seek out testosterone, some doctors might be quick to offer it off-label for other conditions.

HRT does not help with scarring or issues caused by scarring. Lots of other things sure, but not scarring, which is what the article claims is the problem.

I'd like to know what about HRT causes a Lowe's floor worker to turn into a "midlevel executive" within "months"!

It’s more like a mid level capable person was working at lowes until they got their hormones in balance to function optimally which resolved their depression or other symptoms

Reply on news.ycombinator.com