Occasionally, people with complex congenital heart disease may develop very high hematocrit levels that require specialized monitoring. Treatment focuses on the underlying cause, not on lowering the red blood cell level directly. Most people with elevated hemoglobin or hematocrit do not have PV. Seek advice from your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with questions you may have regarding your symptoms and medical condition for a complete medical diagnosis. To optimize the result, it is important to perform treatment monitoring during testosterone replacement therapy. Some people received testosterone replacement therapy for about 12 months, while others received a placebo. In addition to helping with anemic conditions in men with low testosterone levels, many also experience reduced risk factors for metabolic syndrome. Hormonal replacement therapy helps deal with anemia and low testosterone levels. Testosterone therapy can cause the body to produce more red blood cells than normal. Some people may even need treatment like phlebotomy, where blood is drawn to reduce red blood cell levels. The way testosterone is delivered to the body makes a difference in how much it affects red blood cells. With higher testosterone levels, erythropoiesis becomes more active, and more red blood cells are created. However, too many red blood cells can make the blood thicker than normal, which may raise health risks. When testosterone levels rise, red blood cell production often goes up as well. One of its lesser-known effects is how it increases the number of red blood cells. A low testosterone level may result in many unwanted and life-changing symptoms. These are some of the benefits of hormonal replacement therapy. The anemic condition should be treated, which will significantly impact health. These carry oxygen from the lungs and supply it to the rest of the organs in the body. Red blood cells are designed in a certain way to carry oxygen through the blood. One of the most common side effects of testosterone therapy is an increase in red blood cell production, known as erythrocytosis. When testosterone therapy increases red blood cell production too much, it can lead to a condition called high hematocrit. Studies show that many people who use testosterone therapy will have some increase in red blood cells. If testosterone is added, close monitoring becomes even more important. Someone living in the mountains or at elevations above 5,000 feet may already have a higher hematocrit. People who live at high altitudes are exposed to lower oxygen levels in the air. It may need to be repeated every few weeks until levels stay steady. If hematocrit rises quickly or becomes dangerously high, doctors may use a method called therapeutic phlebotomy. Doctors usually test the blood every few weeks during this pause. If it returns to a safer level, treatment may continue with close monitoring. After changing the dose, doctors check the hematocrit level again. There was a small decrease in mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (Table 2) but no change in red cell distribution width or serum iron, iron-binding capacity, or percentage iron saturation (data not shown) in either group. Serum hepcidin and ferritin levels were within the reported reference ranges for men and similar between groups (15). To characterize association between measured quantities (hemoglobin, hematocrit, etc.), we used generalized additive models. For each time point (1, 3, and 6 months postrandomization), the testosterone-vs-placebo effect was estimated using treatment contrasts.