Steve’s test of strength
OLYMPIC HERO OPENS UP
SIR Steve Redgrave is famous for showing grit and determination as he won five Olympic rowing gold medals for Team GB.
But over the last decade, since retiring from the sport, he has been suffering from a lack of verve.
Steve, who turns 61 tomorrow, explains: “What I’ve been noticing is more weight gain, especially around the stomach area, a little bit more tiredness, culminating in a depression.
“At first, I thought it was just getting older. I just accepted it.”
Eventually Steve sought help from his GP, but it wasn’t until six months ago that a friend suggested his symptoms could be connected to testosterone deficiency.
He admits: “It wasn’t something I had really considered.”
Steve decided to investigate and, sure enough, a blood test through Ted’s Health indicated his levels of the hormone were low.
He had all the tell-tale symptoms apart from low libido, saying: “I don’t seem to have suffered as much of that as others.”
Steve was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes – which runs in his family – in 1997 at the age of 35. And he was surprised to learn about the links between that condition and testosterone deficiency.
Men who are lacking in the hormone are four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and around half of men with type 2 diabetes will have low levels of testosterone. The sporting icon says: “I never dreamed that I would come down with diabetes.
“I thought my career was over. I didn’t think you could be a top athlete with that condition. But my consultant said, ‘Why not?’
“I had an amazing medical team to help me find the way through.” He went on to win a gold medal at the Sydney Games in 2000 in the coxless four.
Steve, married to doctor Ann, now uses an insulin pump to regulate the amount of insulin his body gets over 24 hours.
He says: “The pump has made a big difference. My control is so much better than it was 20 years ago, though my wife would say not as good as it should be.
“It is a pain, day in day out, to make sure your blood sugar levels are under control and that does get hard to deal with.”
He adds: “I am starting to notice less feeling in my feet which is another one of the problems, especially being very tall.
“You’ve got all these complications that don’t hit you here and now, but will creep up on you sooner or later.”
Steve tries to maintain a healthy, but relatively normal, diet. He says: “I try to have less volume than I did as an athlete.
“I still eat quite a lot of pasta, I am a meat-eater and my favourite meal of the day is porridge for breakfast.”
He exercises three times a week on a static bike and enjoys golf too, but rarely rows.
The father-of-three does admit to lacking motivation when he’s at home a lot, saying: “I find it hard.” Now he’s hoping starting testosterone replacement therapy – in the form of an injection – is going to reduce his symptoms and give him a boost, adding: “I’m hoping for a bit more get up and go.”
Steve is also urging other men to consider whether they might be suffering from low testosterone too and its role in their diabetes risk.
He adds: “Us blokes don’t help ourselves. We think, ‘I’ll ignore that.’ But if you have weightcontrol issues, tiredness, depression or low libido, get these things ruled out with a test.
“There’s a lot of evidence that testosterone therapy can even help reverse type 2 diabetes.
“It’s known that diabetics will probably die earlier. If there is a way to improve your health and mortality, why not take it?”
To find out more about testosterone deficiency visit tedshealth.com.