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dontshamemebro t1_ivi93wu wrote

Reply to comment by liliesinthevalley- in Has there been a global drop in men's testosterone levels in recent decades? by St4nM4rsh

Do we have any data of testosterone levels before WW2? Do we observe the expected anticorrelation with respect to the increase in plastic consumption?

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liliesinthevalley- t1_iviz4uj wrote

As far as I know there are no resources about testosterone levels before WW2 because the hormone science is incredibly new. The very first hormone (cant remember which one) was discovered around 1905, insulin around 1920, and sex hormones only some years later (the discovery of testosterone happened first on rats, so you see.. From discovering something to collect data about humans, the step is enormous)

Endocrinology became a part of medicine well after the WW2, and testosterone levels began being measured only in the 60s./70s.

So, from the 70s to the 20s of our century, a drop of 50% of testosterone levels has been found. Scientists agree that the main reason for this is the hormone distruptors in our products. I also read that another smaller reason is that obesity has increased, and fat creates estrogen, which in men would lower testosterone.

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blassom3 t1_ivjry10 wrote

Thanks for your insightful replies! Do you know if the lower testosterone levels affect men outside of fertility? As in cognition, emotions, etc.

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liliesinthevalley- t1_ivjtxqk wrote

Yes, most definitely. Men with low testosterone levels often feel depression and fatigue. Physically, they might have less body hair (or none) and appear "rounder". Low testosterone also means low sex drive and erectile dysfunction. Depression and fatigue is a problem also for women with hormone problems, among all the other ailments. Having messed up estrogens and testosterone is bad for the entire body, not only for fertility. Sex hormones affect our brain, our organs, and having the right balance of hormones also protect us from some cancers.

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blassom3 t1_ivjulxx wrote

Thanks for your answer! I also appreciate you giving the information about women!

I know more about the women side of this, so I am asking more about the men side: do you think that men who have depression should check their testosterone levels as one of the first things? Can these cases be fixed via that route?

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liliesinthevalley- t1_ivjznnf wrote

Yes, definitely! I think that when it comes to depression, the first thing is to check for the possible physical reasons that might cause it, and afterwards going for the mental ones. It's possible to raise the testosterone level with medication. On YouTube you can find many videos of men telling their stories and how they went about solving it.

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dontshamemebro t1_ivizaby wrote

I see. It would be interesting to measure in those South American tribes, who don't have much contact with the rest of the world.

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