A major fixation of the manosphere holds important clues about men’s health – but not just how they think about it.
Hyper-masculinized influencers and podcasters are obsessed with being more “manly” and are willing to go to great lengths to achieve it – including bone breaking, plastic surgery and peptides.
But a particular metric they’re obsessed with can actually say a lot about their sexual health, metabolic health, and energy levels — and, according to a recent study, it may even serve as a warning about their cancer risk.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Healthy Longevity, looked at data from more than 26,000 men in Australia, Europe and the United States.
By analyzing hormone concentrations from blood samples, researchers found that men with very low testosterone levels were 18% more likely to die of cancer later in life.
And once the concentration of testosterone reaches a certain level, the risk of cancer begins to increase.
Although T levels naturally decline with age, healthy levels in younger men range from 10 to 30 nanomoles per liter (or 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter).
The researchers looked at concentrations of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and luteinizing hormone collected early in the men’s lives.
These were then compared to cancer diagnoses and deaths over several decades.
“We found that when the baseline testosterone level was below 8.6 (nanomoles per liter), the risk of cancer started to increase,” Professor Bu Yeap, lead author of the study, said in a press release.
However, the results were not the same for all cancers.
While testosterone levels were not associated with a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, low levels of SHBG and luteinizing hormone were.
Since hormonal treatment for prostate cancer involves lowering the levels of testosterone and other male hormones, this type of cancer was of particular interest to the team.
This association between low hormone levels and cancer does not indicate that low T causes cancer itself, according to the research team.
They also explain that despite this link, men do not need testosterone supplements to prevent cancer.
“Although we have shown that low levels are associated with increased risk, we still have no evidence that actually giving men testosterone would reduce this risk,” Yeap said.
Instead, low hormone levels could be an indication of other underlying health problems.
Despite this, more and more men are seeking TRT as hormone levels have been in steady decline for decades due to changes in men’s activity levels, weight, stress levels, diet, etc.
Meanwhile, “testmaxxing” has taken over the manosphere, leading young men to obtain hormone injections without consulting a doctor.
However, unnecessary TRT without a doctor’s approval carries serious risks ranging from risks to fertility to worsening of an existing cancer.
Gn Health
