Does testosterone really make us violent maniacs and cause prostate cancer? Read the myths about this male hormone
Testosterone is called the "male hormone", but this is not entirely accurate. It is produced by both the female and male body. In both sexes, it influences fertility, libido, muscle and bone building, and red blood cell production, among other things. But men produce far more of it than most women.
How testosterone affects the body is usually not argued about, fortunately not every internet debater or self-proclaimed expert is a forged molecular biologist. But as soon as the topic of testosterone's effects on the male psyche comes up, everyone immediately turns into an expert.
True, all sources agree that extremely high levels of testosterone are indeed dangerous for the individual and those around him. And a testosterone junkie can easily become violent. Only to achieve such levels, you'd have to take steroids like a lozenge. "Dangerous levels of testosterone cannot be reached without external 'dietary supplements'," says Dr. Antnio Maffei, for example.
Testosterone does affect our brains, but the question is, how dramatically? Here, even leading researchers are unclear. For example, according to a study involving researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Western Ontario and the California Institute of Technology, men who were given testosterone were far more prone to impulsive decision-making than a control group given a placebo. They were also more likely to be caught out by seemingly correct and simple solutions on tests in a variety of areas.
Another study, published in a prestigious British scientific journal, in turn showed that men who were given a dose of testosterone were more desirous of status, recognition and higher status within the experimental group than those who were not given the hormone. In short, according to this research, men with higher testosterone levels were more likely to crave power.
But it won't be that simple. "Testosterone affects our self-esteem and self-perception rather than altering our behavior in any serious way. That's due more to the environment we grew up in, how we were raised, and the values we were guided to," says Dr. Jay Goodbinder of The Epigenetic Healing Center, for example. "Higher testosterone levels may make us feel more masculine, but the way we behave is entirely our own fault." He's also backed up by a Harvard University study that debunks the equation between higher but natural testosterone levels and violent behavior.
By the way, testosterone is not always good for us. Not in spirit this time, but rather in body. The link between higher testosterone levels and premature balding is well known. However, today the calling card of many confident "macho" men is usually a head shaved smooth as a cone. Of course, there's also speculation. And that is that higher testosterone levels lead to prostate cancer.
A similar idea has been present in the medical world since the 1940s, when doctors Charles Huggins and Clarence Hodges observed that prostate cancer patients whose testosterone levels dropped at the same time began to recover better and, more importantly, the cancer stopped progressing.
But as Healthline reports, new research has shown that treatment by administering testosterone-blocking agents will not help nearly everyone. It is said to be suitable only as prevention for men who have already successfully recovered from cancer and have lower testosterone levels. For them, a similar treatment works as an effective prevention against a new onset of the disease. However, when testosterone blockers were given to men with full-blown cancer, the effects were not much different from placebo.
