"The problem isn’t that men care about their health, it’s that social media is medicalising normal experiences and selling young men a dangerous, often false diagnosis." "Young, healthy men are being told that common experiences like tiredness, stress or changes in libido are signs that something is medically wrong and that testosterone is the solution." "Influencer marketing is reframing everyday experiences like fatigue, stress, lower libido or ageing as signs of testosterone ‘deficiency’ that requires medical intervention," said Dr Brooke Nickel, senior author on the study and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health In addition, there are profound social influences on testosterone that are sometimes more clear than the more widely studied effects of hormones on behavior (7–9). However, healthy men often have lower levels with no symptoms and supplementing testosterone may do more harm than good. Hormone therapy is recommended for those with a condition called hypogonadism, where the body can’t make enough testosterone, resulting in symptoms such as erectile dysfunction, muscle loss and fatigue. For men, testosterone levels naturally decline by about 1% a year after age 30. Vic’s specific point here is about sunshine and vitamin D, which is closely linked to testosterone production. Your body wasn’t designed to do 45 minutes of structured exercise while being parked in a chair for the other 15 waking hours. Two forms of exercise are particularly helpful for increasing testosterone. Although evidence is mixed, some forms of competition do increase testosterone in men, although these are mainly formalized ones with clear win/loss outcomes as with athletic engagements (7, 18). Our research design was able to disentangle wielding power from masculinity using trained actors, providing an innovative new paradigm. We recruited trained actors to act out firing a subordinate, a context that demonstrates one’s own status and power and involves more regular social interactions and dynamics than more formalized competitions such as athletic events. Testosterone has similar evolved functions in women’s and men’s bodies (27), but we have repeatedly found it easier to decrease testosterone in men and increase testosterone in women (3). There may be more than one pathway from gender to testosterone because gender is multifaceted and includes behavior, stereotypes, roles, identity, and so on. In addition, conceptualizations of masculinity tend to overlap with those of power and testosterone (3, 26). Also, mixed evidence suggests that "power poses" can increase testosterone (22, cf. ref. 23). "Within this narrative, so-called ‘alpha men’ are promoted as dominant, sexually successful and physically powerful, and our study found testosterone was positioned as the key to achieving this status," Gram said. The lead author of the study, Emma Grundtvig Gram, a public health researcher at the University of Copenhagen, said influencers promoting routine testosterone screening often framed normal variations in energy, mood, libido or ageing "as signs of pathology". Researchers analysed 46 high-impact posts about low testosterone and testing made by TikTok and Instagram accounts with a combined following of more than 6.8 million, to examine how masculinity and men’s health are being depicted and monetised online. "If you’re not waking up in the morning with a boner, there’s a large possibility that you have low testosterone levels," an influencer on TikTok with more than 100,000 followers warns his viewers. Researcher points to ‘medicalisation of masculinity’ after investigating how men’s health is being monetised online Selling masculinity – A qualitative analysis of gender representations in social media content about "low T" But having high cholesterol doesn't mean your testosterone will be high. Testosterone is synthesized in the body from cholesterol. The proper balance between testosterone (along with other androgens) and estrogen is important for the ovaries to work normally. These hormones are thought to have important effects on It's one of several androgens (male sex hormones) in females. If you thought testosterone was only important in men, you'd be mistaken. Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School. Benefits include practical tips to keep you healthy and vibrant, up-to-date health news explained simply and clearly, and special promo codes to use for our online courses, special reports, and more. Sign up for HEALTHBeat and receive trusted health information delivered right to your inbox. Posts frequently used crisis language around sexual performance, energy and confidence, encouraged men to "be their own advocate" and seek testing, and positioned private clinics and direct-to-consumer products as faster and more effective than conventional healthcare. "What we’re seeing isn’t health education, it’s marketing and fearmongering dressed up as medical advice," said Dr Nickel. Published in Social Science & Medicine, the study analysed 46 high-reach Instagram and TikTok posts promoting testosterone tests and treatments. During the direction session the director worked with participants on their performance, providing detailed instructions on style and motivation. Saliva samples are widely used as a less-invasive alternative to blood sampling in behavioral research, and salivary assays for testosterone and cortisol are well-validated (6). For example, the monologue incorporates several interruptions that could be differentially dealt with according to gender norms.
