So, today in the clinic, a 65-year-old male patient with benign prostatic hyperplasia came in to pick up his prescription.
During our conversation, he mentioned that he was experiencing discomfort due to varicocele, a condition where the veins in the scrotum become enlarged and twisted.
He said that a previous doctor had suggested supplementing L-arginine to help with his varicocele.
This immediately raised a question mark in my mind.
You see, varicocele is typically treated with surgical intervention or symptom management, and there are no dietary supplements or medications that can improve the already deformed blood vessel tissue.
However, as I delved deeper into the matter, I found that varicocele can affect sperm quality, and in some animal experiments and in people with amino acid deficiencies, supplementing arginine has shown some improvement in spermatogenesis.
So, it's possible that arginine supplementation may help with spermatogenesis but not the varicocele disease itself.
In reality, physicians understand that patients often hope for the least invasive and cost-effective ways to heal.
But in many cases where there are structural issues within the body, such as hernias or varicocele, surgery is often the only effective solution, similar to reinforcing a building's structure when it has issues.
Furthermore, all medical advice is rooted in a specific context and addresses certain issues.
The more thoroughly we understand these contexts, the better we can take the right actions and become more capable of discerning the accuracy of various information.
Sharing knowledge, improving our own and the public's discernment abilities, is one of the reasons I write this blog.
References:
Dietary l-arginine supplementation improves semen quality and libido of boars under high ambient temperature
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731117003147
Mechanism of Action of L-arginine on the Vitality of Spermatozoa is Primarily Through Increased Biosynthesis of Nitric Oxide
https://academic.oup.com/biolreprod/article/74/5/954/2667057
Food-Derived High Arginine Peptides Promote Spermatogenesis Recovery in Busulfan Treated Mice
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8724571/
L-Arginine alleviates the testosterone reduction in heat-treated mice by upregulating LH secretion, the testicular antioxidant system and expression of steroidogenesis-related genes
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32586418/
Hormonal response to L-arginine supplementation in physically active individuals
