Sunday 28 April 2013

Units of Measure Chart - Low Testosterone Discussion / Low-T-Guy Testosterone Forum

Units of Measure Chart (Page 1) / Low Testosterone Discussion / Low-T-Guy Testosterone Forum

Aug 14, 2012 5:50 am


AMETonyD
Member
From: Calgary, AB
Registered: Jun 12, 2012
Posts: 93

Units of Measure Chart

So I was thinking, for those of us writing from different parts of the world, we rate in different measurements. Is there a universal measure so we know where we are on the chart, ranging from abnormal, to normal, to above?
Specifically the United States conversion to Canadian (nmol)
Google doesn't provide what I am searching for in question.
i.e: my Total T is 25.5 nmol, and others rate in the hundredths which is really confusing..

26-years old, 200mg/1ml of Testosterone Injectables (Delatestryl) every two weeks since January 2012.
Total Testosterone Range: (8.0 - 29.0 nmol/L)
Recent Results(DEC-28-2012: 12.1 nmol/L)
Estradiol: 110 pmol/L
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#2 Aug 14, 2012 6:36 am


chad
Member
From: Winnipeg, MB
Registered: Jul 23, 2012
Posts: 29

Re: Units of Measure Chart

Both nmol/L and ng/dl are measurements of concentration.
In order to convert from one to the other, you need the molar mass of the substance you are trying to measure; thus, the conversion factor when converting to or from ng/dl will be different for testosterone, estradiol, etc. You can probably find all of this on google if you're searching correctly.
To convert testosterone concentration from nmol/L to ng/dl, you multiply your nmol/L value by 28.8. Conversely, to convert the opposite way, you divide by 28.8.
Your TT of 25.5 nmol/L is approx. 734 ng/dl.
Last edited by chad (Aug 14, 2012 7:59 am)

23yo; still researching and looking for a cause
Bloods 1: TT = 20.1 nmol/L = 580 ng/dl :: SHBG = 59 nmol/L
Bloods 2: TT = 12.1 nmol/L = 348 ng/dl :: Estradiol = 39 pmol/L = 11 pg/ml :: LH = 3.4, FSH = 2.1 IU/L
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#3 Aug 14, 2012 12:44 pm


Low-T-Guy
Admin
From: Toronto, ON
Registered: Jun 4, 2012
Posts: 183
Website

Re: Units of Measure Chart

Use this site:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scale … _data.html
Using the chart above you would divide 25.5 / 0.0347 which gets you the same number

25yo—HCG 400iu 3x/wk—Arimidex 0.5mg 2x/wk—Total T ~700—Estradiol ~30—Content with how things are  smile
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#4 Aug 14, 2012 4:49 pm


AMETonyD
Member
From: Calgary, AB
Registered: Jun 12, 2012
Posts: 93

Re: Units of Measure Chart

thank you guys ! now this makes sense, like Zulu time, there should just be one universal measure worldwide.

26-years old, 200mg/1ml of Testosterone Injectables (Delatestryl) every two weeks since January 2012.
Total Testosterone Range: (8.0 - 29.0 nmol/L)
Recent Results(DEC-28-2012: 12.1 nmol/L)
Estradiol: 110 pmol/L
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#5 Aug 20, 2012 9:33 am


bretla
Member
Registered: Jun 10, 2012
Posts: 226

Re: Units of Measure Chart

Thanks for the conversion info!  Updated my info to reflect both, hope everyone else does the same too!

44yo, 6'2", 190lbs.
200mg Test-Cyp weekly since June 2, 2012.
Pre TRT level = 289 ng/dL or 10.03 nmol/L
Current Test Level = 687 ng/dl or 23.84 nmol/L
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#6 Oct 13, 2012 5:48 pm


AMETonyD
Member
From: Calgary, AB
Registered: Jun 12, 2012
Posts: 93

Re: Units of Measure Chart

so after i get my new blood-work back, am i looking at TT or free, im confused now what is actually important. Are the two directly or indirectly related ?
like could one be low and the other be high, and im looking at the wrong number ?

26-years old, 200mg/1ml of Testosterone Injectables (Delatestryl) every two weeks since January 2012.
Total Testosterone Range: (8.0 - 29.0 nmol/L)
Recent Results(DEC-28-2012: 12.1 nmol/L)
Estradiol: 110 pmol/L
Offline

#7 Oct 14, 2012 11:38 am


Phil-NJ
Member
From: New Jersey
Registered: Jul 7, 2012
Posts: 392

Re: Units of Measure Chart

There's a lot of debate about this very question.  Free testosterone is probably the correct answer, BUT ---   The current methodology of directly measuring free testosterone is both costly and highly inaccurate.  It's known that there's a relationship between SHBG and free testosterone, so they've come up with formulas to calculate the free testosterone using the TT and SHBG numbers.   BUT -----  the SHBG testing is reasonably accurate but not precise, so using a formula will introduce any SHBG error into the FT number, skewing it knowingly or unknowingly, one way or the other.  That should be the end of all of this, BUT -------  there is also a known relationship between albumin and testosterone, that albumin binds to testosterone and so that bound testosterone will not get counted when doing a FT test.  The bond between albumin and testosterone is weaker than the bond between SHBG and testosterone and it's thought/known that the body can break that bond and actually make use of the newly-unbound testosterone.  So they've come up with another measure, that of bio-available testosterone.  BUT not all agree that the albumin-bound testosterone is 'free' for use in the body as there haven't been any studies that have definitively answered this question.  And there's no reliable, cost-effective test(yet) that would accurately tell the measurement of albumin-bound testosterone, so they've come up with formulas to determine the bioavailable testosterone using albumin levels, TT, and SHBG.  BUT ----- you're now potentially introducing yet a third variable which may introduce more error into the final number, and there are certain assumptions made about the biology of this whole thing which doesn't necessarily hold true for every man.  They're called 'constants' but are really more like averages, but since they need to use something, this is it.  So there it is - a number that may or may not be correct and may or may not have any physiologic significance derived in a manner that may or may not contain inaccurate assumptions which are applied to elements measured that may or may not be accurate in themselves.
The recommendation by the AACE is that TT is a useful, reasonably accurate standard by which to measure but that under certain circumstances such as unusual/unexpected SHBG results cause further investigation and the utilization of the free testosterone measure.  I haven't been able to find any literature that refutes this recommendation, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that the recommendation is irrefutably correct, but I guess it should be accepted as the best thing out there right now.  It seems that here in the US the total testosterone number is usually what's used as the primary measurement but I think in some other countries this is not the standard, FT is. 
Hope you weren't looking for a simple 'yes' or 'no'.   :-)
Phil

53yo, 100mg T-cypionate IM every 6 days, as of 08/29 TT=706,FT=23.4 E2=41.7  Began this protocol on July16. Pre-treatment total testosterone = 170