Bigger, Faster, Stronger? 6 Benefits of Testosterone

Your Guide to What Testosterone Is and What It Does for Your Body

The existence and direction of the behavioural differences may be due to ‘deep-seated, biological factors’, but culture heavily influences how those differences play out. That’s why the question of whether male promiscuity, risk-taking and competitiveness were sexually selected adaptations for reproductive success simply doesn’t have the implications for now and the future that we usually assume they do. Nor does it necessarily mean that a hormonal endowment prefigures the male brain for these traits (although that’s not to deny the likelihood of sex-differentiated initial ‘tilts’). So, while a gendered culture influences how these traditional roles play out, I don’t see the evidence that it imposes them.

It can also lead to precocious (early) puberty, which is when puberty begins before the age of eight. It’s important to note that the normal ranges for testosterone levels can vary based on the type of oh vitamin d blood test (https://kekkekamperen.nl) test done and the laboratory where it is done. Your provider will always reference your laboratory’s normal ranges when interpreting your results. Levels are usually highest in the morning and decline during the day. Natural testosterone is a steroid — an anabolic-androgenic steroid.

They compete intensely for control of beaches where females come to give birth and mate. To establish dominance, they will bite and ram each other with their huge bodies, which can weigh up to 4 tonnes (around four times the average weight of females). The battles can go on for hours, but successful dominant bulls, identifiable by the cuts and scars on their chests, will mate with dozens of females who will bear their pups.

Research suggests that this treatment may also be an effective anti-depressant treatment. A more recent, larger study of 83,000 men found that men whose testosterone levels returned to normal were 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack and 36 percent less likely to experience a stroke. A number of prohormone supplements are marketed at men to treat low testosterone levels.

I see unambiguous evidence that it can account for some of the large and extremely impactful differences between men and women, particularly when it comes to sexual psychology and aggression. Its starting point is what the anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy has called the ‘coy female’ paradigm – the idea that asymmetries in what it costs females versus males to have babies make males more motivated by mating success. Males potentially invest as little as a sperm, while females contribute a nice plump egg and, in mammals, full bed-and-board in utero and lactation. Over evolutionary time, this means males will develop traits that help them fight for access to females, and appear more appealing to females browsing for their next mate. This case study belongs to a robust body of evidence that makes me sceptical of the significance of testosterone.

You acknowledge that sex is an important variable for understanding mating, and you don’t endorse radical sex-neutral theories. But then you take T-Rex (and me along with him) head-first into straw-man territory. This is where maleness is described as ‘a sort of “essence” that determines … predispositions of the male sex role.’ What serious biologist thinks this? My view is that the sexes are born (on average, as always) with different predispositions, leading to what are called ‘traditional sex roles’, which T-Rex gets right. This pattern, of females being more nurturing and males being more competitive, applies to our own species. We do agree on some things – such as the value of reproductive autonomy, a world free of the threat of male violence, and flexibility of gender expression.

Doctors don’t always recommend TT if you have a normal age-related drop in testosterone. Prescription testosterone treatments are available as gels, skin patches, and intramuscular injections. The potential side effects of prohormones plus their unproven clinical benefits make them a poor, possibly dangerous choice for boosting testosterone. Your hypothalamus and pituitary gland control the amount of testosterone your gonads (testicles or ovaries) produce and release.

Hormonal balance, including optimal testosterone levels, is pivotal in preserving overall health and well-being across various physiological systems. Testosterone, predominantly recognized as a male sex hormone, is also present in females, albeit in smaller quantities, exerting multifaceted effects on both genders6. In males, testosterone is integral to the development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as facial hair growth and deepening of the voice, as well as supporting reproductive function. Moreover, testosterone influences mood regulation, cognitive function, and bone density, contributing to psychological and skeletal health7,8. In females, while estrogen and progesterone are primary sex hormones, testosterone contributes to libido, energy levels, and overall vitality9.

This site, founded by U.S. duathlete Chris Mosier — the first openly trans man to make a U.S. This nonprofit was founded by transgender activists in 2003 to advocate for transgender equality, including the rights of people seeking hormone therapy and other transition-related medical procedures and treatments. The best-known treatment for low testosterone is testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), which is available as injections, pills, topical gels/creams, nasal gels, and pellets that are surgically placed directly beneath the skin. If women who do not use hormonal contraception observe that their cycles are very irregular and/or permanently longer than around 35 days, 12 they should consult their family doctor or gynecologist. Reporting the basal body temperature curve (body temperature right after waking up) over the course of a few cycles can be a tool to indicate whether ovulation happens regularly.

The fact that Carole and I agree on these things isn’t surprising. I appreciate that contemporary evolutionary biologists recognise the diversity of mating systems, and don’t think of sex as an essence that underpins a ‘natural law’ across the animal kingdom of coy females and competitive males. My objection is with the T-Rex view, in which essentialist thinking creeps in via the back door. And then there are what we might call the ‘sex-reversed’ species, which Charles Darwin discussed in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871).