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Testosterone Tumbling in American Males

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sun Oct 29, 2006 01:17 PM
from the zomg-where-are-my-lead-pants dept.
United States Science
An anonymous reader writes "Yahoo is running a story about a study that concludes that testosterone levels are falling across all age groups among American men. It says 'The testosterone-fueled American male may be losing his punch'" I leave it to you all to draw your conclusions about this, but I still wonder what my hours of laptop-fu does to me.
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  • because... (Score:5, Funny)

    by dexomn (147950) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:19PM (#16632974)
    It's all being sold in shops in WoW.

  • I for one.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by tloh (451585) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:21PM (#16633004)
    ...welcome our new metro-sexual overlords?

  • At this point (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:23PM (#16633026)
    The testosterone-fueled American male may be losing his punch.

    At this point, I think it's really more of a "forceful slap" than anything.

  • lack of excercise and obesity (Score:4, Interesting)

    by iggymanz (596061) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:26PM (#16633054)
    testosterone drops in a body that doesn't excercise (true for male and for the much smaller amount the female has), it drops in an obese body and moreover body fat produces a female-hormone like steroid

      • Re:lack of excercise and obesity AND PLASTICS (Score:4, Funny)

        by SnowZero (92219) on Sunday October 29 2006, @02:30PM (#16633778)
        Clearly we need to start adding testosterone to plastic. Then we can have male and female versions of soda bottles. The companies can charge extra for the "man's drink bottle" to offset the extra expense, as men won't want to be caught with the "women's drink bottle"[1]. I think I had better patent this...

        [1] this logic might not work on male Mac users.

  • Testicular cancer (Score:5, Informative)

    by Skiron (735617) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:28PM (#16633068) Homepage
    Having being diagnosed, and having surgery and chemotherapy for this (like Lance Armstrong et al), there is a worrying trend. There is no known cause of this cancer scientifically proved, but after getting this cancer, and speaking 'hear say' to consultants, doctors. etc. one theory is that estrogen (oestrogen), the female hormone, is being dumped into the environment from products (baby products, nappies etc.). This chemical doesn't break down in nature - so drinking water, cows milk, fish, meat... all contain this bumped chemical up that would not otherwise be there. Too see how bad it is, there are even scientific reports of fish changing sex in estrogen rich rivers - do a google on this. This is not a subject to laugh at.

  • Don't worry (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kohath (38547) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:29PM (#16633088)
    Health-related news is almost always wrong. It'll get contradicted in another study next year.

    Remember when everyone got that bird flu? (I was coughing up feathers for weeks.)

  • Cure ... (Score:4, Informative)

    by foobsr (693224) * on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:34PM (#16633160) Homepage Journal
    As a web-page of NYUMC [nyu.edu] suggests, Tai Chi may be of help.

    Quote: Enhanced Endocrine and Immune System
    One study found that tai chi was associated with increased blood levels of a number of hormones, including thyroid hormone, testosterone, and estradiol. Another study found that tai chi was associated with an increased number of T cells (cells involved in the immune response).

    CC.

  • Simple evolution (Score:4, Interesting)

    by iamacat (583406) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:50PM (#16633330)
    If you fight you are put in jail, if you ask someone out at work you are fired and sued, if you are perceived to be an insensitive clod who wants to sit in a bar rather than wash dishes, you are unlikely to get married or have an offspring - thanks also to birth control/abortion. The evolution is selecting against "manly men". Maybe it's time for the society to wake up and move away from extremes.

  • Pussification of the Western Male (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Yonder Way (603108) on Sunday October 29 2006, @01:50PM (#16633334) Homepage
    Kim du Toit explained this phenomenon some time ago in this essay [theothersideofkim.com]. I think he hit it right on the head.

    • Re:Pussification of the Western Male (Score:5, Insightful)

      by moe.ron (953702) on Sunday October 29 2006, @03:56PM (#16634586)
      Well this is getting off topic I think, but...

      For a man's man, Kim sure feels the need to censor himself quite a ####### lot. What the #### is up with that? Either find an eloquent way to say what you're trying to say, or just fucking say it, but having all these ####'s in place of fucks and shits makes him look like an uneducated pussy.

      Pardon my ####'s, but what the fuck is this:
      When women got the vote, it was inevitable that government was going to become more powerful, more intrusive, and more "protective" (ie. more coddling), because women are hard-wired to treasure security more than uncertainty and danger.
      I am supposed to believe that the women voters in this country are to blame for our heavy handed, civil rights trampling, fear mongering, war-hawking government? That all the men voted to live dangerously and with uncertainty, and the women were all like, "No, we need a large, over powered, fascist government to protect us".

      Well that and this:
      Speaking of rap music, do you want to know why more White boys buy that crap than Black boys do? You know why rape is such a problem on college campuses? Why binge drinking is a problem among college freshmen? It's a reaction: a reaction against being pussified. And I understand it, completely. Young males are aggressive, they do fight amongst themselves, they are destructive, and all this does happen for a purpose.
      Is he seriously trying to rationalize rape and alcohol abuse by saying those actions are simply unavoidable, natural expressions of the human male? What about self-control, integrity, and discipline?

      Oh, and:
      Donald Rumsfeld ... He's a Real Man. No wonder the Euros hate and fear him ... We'd better get more like him, we'd better become more like him, because if we don't, men will become a footnote to history.
      Umm...what? I'm sorry but the argument that being assertive and aggressive is an appropriate replacement for being intelligent and diplomatic does not hold water with me. You can't use Rumsfeld as an example of what people should be like until you can prove that Rumsfeld isn't a complete idiot. People fear Rumsfeld because he is irrational and has the world's most powerful military at his disposal. So many people have died unnecessarily as the direct result of this man's actions and we're supposed to be more like him?

    • Re:Science or Society (Score:5, Insightful)

      by owlnation (858981) on Sunday October 29 2006, @02:08PM (#16633548)
      Are you joking...?

      Saying please or thank you most certainly does make you a man. Not saying them, makes you a pig. Take for example your Army's much vaulted hero, John Wayne. As an archetype he is most decidedly rich in testosterone, most certainly a man's man, and most certainly a gentleman too. Can you imagine him not saying please or thank you, because I can't.

      If you are serious, and I'm not convinced you are, I think perhaps you have a little too much testosterone, and too little education (maybe you think book learnin is for girls too huh?). Being masculine and tough doesn't mean you need to behave like an animal, nor does it mean you need to go a-guntoting and a-killin and a-whuppin some good ol boys. You can be not only tough, strong and manly but also kind and compassionate at the same time.

      And I think your concept of economics may be flawed too. Just a guess, but you may find your employees work a little better when you treat them with courtesy, you may also find that if you continue to treat them rudely that one day they may just turn and sabotage your operation. Just a thought...

    • Re:Any link to... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Frangible (881728) on Sunday October 29 2006, @02:11PM (#16633566)
      Quite probably, yes. Adipose cells make an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen for the fat cell's use. (estrogen actually makes fat more metabolically active, so it's not really a bad thing per se) This, however, has the effect of lowering free testosterone in the body as a whole. If you lose fat, your testosterone levels WILL increase.

      However, keep in mind humans are the only animal species that actually get overall, most of their testosterone from DHEA rather than free testosterone in the blood. In addition to stimulating androgen receptors directly, DHEA is also metabolized by local tissues into testosterone (and estrogen) as needed. So free testosterone is one part of the picture. Androgen receptor sensitivity and density also matter, but I'm uncertain as to what factors dynamically affect those in adults.

    • Re:Any link to... (Score:4, Funny)

      by DurendalMac (736637) on Sunday October 29 2006, @02:11PM (#16633568)
      No, more like the incessant pussification of the male race and the metrosexual trend. The government should mandate that those who have low testosterone for no good reason must watch movies like Commando until their testosterone level rises to acceptable levels.

          • Re:Diabetes (Score:4, Interesting)

            by Thangodin (177516) <.elentar. .at. .sympatico.ca.> on Sunday October 29 2006, @02:35PM (#16633828) Homepage
            Michael Jackson may be a reference point. His voice never changed, he never developed secondary attributes, and his baby had to be fertilized artificially, so there was some medical intervention at work there. Plastic surgery was probably not the first elective surgery he went through. I suspect that this is the root of most of his psychological problems. That's why I tend to give the guy a pass for a lot of his weirdness--the decision would have been forced on him by his father.

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