Testosterone is the quintessential male hormone, and it supposedly makes men more manly, right?
Sure, but females have testosterone too.
What do they do with it?
Testosterone is a sex hormone produced in the adrenal glands, ovaries and testes.
We commonly associate it with men, as it's necessary for the production of sperm, but,
according to the journal Maturitas it's the most abundant sex steroid in women throughout
their lifespan.
In cisgender populations, men have 10 times MORE testosterone in their body than women,
pushing around 4 to 10mg of the hormone per day through their bloodstreams.
Testosterone is recognized by the general population but not well understood, and even
scientists haven't mastered it yet.
Those commercials calling for people with "low T" to talk to their doctors are crazytown!
According to the British Medical Journal only 0.1 percent of men in their forties have low-T.
So why do people care?
Because we think of it as the hormone for masculinity.
High testosterone is equated with manliness and mating success -- though interestingly
it's not associated with actual attractiveness.
In one study testing testosterone on female behavior, women who only believed they'd received
it behaved more aggressively toward other women.
Most people learned in sex ed that, testosterone production kicks in during male puberty when
the pituitary gland at the base of the brain begins releasing luteinizing hormone, or LH;
and follicle-stimulating hormone FSH -- together they tell the testes to make testosterone
causing development of the penis and testes, larger muscles, deeper voices, increased height,
and so on.
But in females, 50 percent of their T comes from their ovaries and adrenal gland throughout
their lives; the rest is naturally converted from base androgens to testosterone elsewhere
in the body as needed.
Androgens are sort of like the building blocks of hormones like estrogen and testosterone.
Testosterone is the skeleton key to SO MUCH in our bodies, and the levels in each and
every person varies.
Testosterone naturally fluctuates throughout the day, and over our lifetimes.
Levels usually peak in the morning and drop throughout the day.
In men they peak during puberty, lowering by 1-2 percent a year after 40, but, female
testosterone production is less well understood overall; which can cause all sorts of issues.
It seems to help grow healthy bones, but upping intake can cause blood clots, cancers and
other deadly issues in all humans.
Successful athletes often have more testosterone, with some women with the highest natural levels
topping men with the lowest natural levels.
A single study found 13.7 percent of women found testosterone levels higher than the
female average in athletes, and when the International Olympic Committee tested the female athletic
population of the 2011 Daegu, South Korea World Championships they found some women
(1.5 to 4.7 percent) at the lowest MALE levels; while 1.8 percent of the men were within the
typical female range!
As women enter menopause, testosterone production halts, perhaps to lower libido, but we don’t
really know why.
Female testosterone has been connected with female body shape, fertility and physical
changes, athletic abilities, making women nicer to others to gain social standing...
it's even been associated with ladies crying to release it.
Another study found women taking testosterone were more opinionated and less productive
while in groups -- focusing more on themselves, and yet another study found testosterone boosted
lady libidoooo -- but study participants were also on antidepressants.
So again, testosterone isn't well understood; and even though we know more about it with
men, we're still kind of bumbling.
There's not even a strong connection between testosterone and physical violence; but if
you ask the average person they'd say there is.
What we do know, is testosterone prepares the body to respond to competition, sexuality,
and challenges to social status -- but outside of that, science gets nebulous.
Ultimately, there doesn't seem to be an exact number that's right for everyone.
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