A men's sexual health panel should read three systems: the hormones that drive desire, the blood sugar and lipids that keep small vessels and nerves working, and the thyroid that sets the pace for everything. The American Urological Association's guideline names lipids, glucose or A1c and morning testosterone as the core, and the Endocrine Society adds free testosterone, SHBG and LH when the picture needs explaining. That is the panel, and it is read in one sitting.
The hormone group
- Total testosterone, drawn in the morning when it peaks.
- Free testosterone and SHBG, because the usable fraction is what desire tracks.
- Estradiol, the estrogen men also make, which affects libido when it runs high or low.
- LH, the pituitary signal, which tells a clinician whether a low testosterone starts upstream or in the testicles.
The metabolic group
Hemoglobin A1c and fasting glucose show how blood sugar has behaved over months. Triglycerides, HDL and LDL describe the arteries. These matter because erection and sensation depend on small vessels and nerves, and both are damaged early by poor blood sugar control and by the lipid pattern that goes with insulin resistance.
The thyroid
TSH, with Free T4 where needed. An underactive thyroid lowers libido and energy on its own and is easy to miss because the symptoms look like everything else.
What is deliberately not on it
A panel is not a diagnosis of desire. Mood, stress, sleep, alcohol, and medication side effects are all common causes that no marker captures. The panel tells a clinician which physical conditions are present. The visit is where the rest gets asked.
Why it is read as one
Any of these markers alone can look fine. Read together they form a pattern: a borderline testosterone with a high SHBG, or a normal A1c with triglycerides climbing. That pattern is the answer, and it is why a full panel beats a single test every time.
How Regener8 approaches it
The panel comes first, drawn at any LabCorp, and a board certified clinician goes through it with you on a 30 minute video visit. If a plan is right for you it is built from those numbers, shipped to your door, and retested every six months so it keeps matching where you are.
Last updated
September 4, 2026
