Testosterone is the male hormone par excellence, and is related to certain characteristics, such as aggressiveness and sexual drive. Men and women have testosterone, although at different levels.
Although we often associate testosterone with aggressiveness, challenge, and hostility, this approach may be wrong, according to research.
The study, conducted by a team from Durham University, suggests that men who grew up in an environment with threatening conditions (for example, an environment with many diseases) have lower testosterone levels than those who spent their childhood in healthy environments .
This research challenges the theory that testosterone levels are predetermined by genetics or race . The study’s findings are so compelling that the researchers suggest that a man’s childhood should be taken into consideration when determining risk profiles for prostate problems or cancer , linked to high levels of testosterone.
The work was carried out by collecting information from 359 men according to certain factors such as age, height, weight and age at the beginning of puberty; in addition to a saliva sample with which to measure testosterone levels.
The criterion for dividing the different groups of subjects into which they were divided was the place of birth: if they had always been born and lived in Bangladesh; Born in Bangladesh and moved to London as children or adults; born in the UK to immigrant parents from Bangladesh; and European men born in the United Kingdom.
Health vs. Testosterone
The results obtained indicate that Bangladeshi men who grew up and lived in the UK as adults had higher levels of testosterone compared to those who always lived in Bangladesh. They had also entered puberty at a younger age and had greater heights.
Dr. Kesson Magid, lead author of the study, notes: “Total testosterone levels are not usually related to ethnicity or adult living environment, but are affected by these in childhood .”
What is the explanation for this?
Dr. Magid’s team states that this difference in testosterone levels is due to the amount of energy required for other functions. Testosterone levels will be higher when the body does not have to deal with disease or infection. In an environment where people are more exposed to poor health or poor diet, developing men use energy to survive at the cost of testosterone .
Thus, men with high levels of testosterone are at greater risk of suffering adverse health effects caused by this hormone, in addition to causing an increase in muscle mass, prostate problems and greater aggressiveness . On the contrary, too low levels of the male sex hormone are reflected in lack of energy, loss of libido and erectile dysfunction ; although they do not appear to affect fertility.
Gillian Bentley, co-author of the work, had already pointed out the relationship between childhood environment and levels of sex hormones, fertility and the risk of reproductive cancer in women.
Reference: Kesson Magid, ‘Childhood ecology influences salivary testosterone, pubertal age and stature of Banglaeshi UK migrant men’, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2018). DOI: 10.1038 / s41559-018-0567-6.
