Inability of the sex glands (testes in men and ovaries in women) to produce enough or no sex hormones – hypogonadism.

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The inability of the sex glands (testes in men and ovaries in women) to produce enough or no sex hormones is known as hypogonadism. The role of sex hormones in the reproductive system includes the regulation of secondary sex features like the growth and development of breast in women, development of testes in men, menstral cycle, and production of sperm as well as the growth of pubic hair.

Types of Hypogonadism
Basically, there are two types of hypogonadism, namely, primary and secondary hypogonadism. Primary Hypogonadism is a situation where there are no enough sex hormones in the body as a result of gonadal disorder. Although, the brain may be communicating with the gonads, but the gonads are unable to process the information by producing sex hormones needed by the body. On the other hand, secondary hypogonadism arises when the brain fails to disseminate information the gonads. It is primarily due to disorder within the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain.

Causes
The causes of primary hypogonadism are severe infections, genetic disorder, disease conditions of the kidney and the liver, disorder of the auto immune system, penile injury and poor surgical procedure of the sex organs, hemochromatosis. While for secondary hypogonadism, pituitiary disorder, inflammatory diseases, frequent weight loss, obesity, inadequate intake of good diet, exposure to radiation and brain surgery among others are the causes of this type.

Symptoms
It depends on the sex of the individual involve Common symptoms in females include: absence of menstruation, restrict breast growth, absence of sex drive, galactorrhea, infertility. Male symptoms that: osteoporosis, abnormal breast growth, reduction in the penile and testicular growth, erectile dysfunction, low sexual urge, infertility.

Diagnosis
Following the physical examination by the doctor to establish that the sexual development corresponds to your age. Muscular mass, body hair, sexual organs are some other sensitive areas to be examined in diagnosing this condition. Hormone profile tests may also be requested to check the levels of your sex hormones. The follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin and luteinizing hormone (LH) are the essential tests to be carried out in both male and female. In addition to the above tests, the estrogen and testosterone levels for female and male respectively will be further requested in examining the cause of the condition. Anemic test may also be done to rule out the effect of iron levels which also has a role on the sex hormones. Imaging tests including ovarian cysts and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) may also be carried out.

Treatment
Eastrogen therapy to be done if you have had hysterectomy Progesterone may also be administer Stimulation with hormone human choriogonadotropin (hCG) injections to aid ovulation Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for men Treatment for males and females is the same if the underlying condition is caused by tumor on the pituitary gland. Radiation, medication, or surgery to shrink or remove the tumor is treatment options available.