Testosterone is trending in gyms, on social media, and even in politics. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has proposed screening troops for low testosterone. But experts warn that taking supplements without medical need can shut down the body's natural production.
Testosterone is largely responsible for sperm production. It is ironic, therefore, when a man who doesn't need it starts taking it anyway: his brain registers an unusually high level of the hormone in his blood, concludes that his body has made too much, and sends the order to stop. The testes go silent, and sperm production stops with them.
Testosterone is having a moment. It is all over social media, gym culture, and wellness forums, sold by online labs, gym contacts, and telehealth services, and the information surrounding it ranges from oversimplified to outright dangerous. Men are taking more of it than ever, in pursuit of feeling more like men. In doing so, they may be telling their bodies to stop producing it themselves.
The body regulates testosterone like a thermostat. When the brain detects abnormally high levels of the hormone in the bloodstream, it signals the testes to stop producing it. The testes effectively go offline, and because sperm production depends on what happens inside them, that shuts down too. Some men who self-medicate push levels more than four times the clinical lower threshold, leading to blood clotting disorders, cardiovascular stress, mood instability, and in some cases, irreversible fertility damage.
Testosterone peaks during puberty, typically between 13 and 15. After that, it declines slowly for the rest of a man's life. A lower level at 40 than at 15 isn't a disorder—it's aging. The threshold doctors use is 300 nanograms per deciliter of blood, but it must be confirmed by at least two blood tests taken at different times of the day because levels fluctuate. Below that number, treatment may be considered; above 300, there is no clinical basis for intervention.
Before any medical treatment, four key lifestyle factors should be examined: sleep, alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use, and chronic stress. Each has a measurable impact on testosterone levels. Addressing them may be all that's needed and carries none of the risks of hormonal therapy.
Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) treats a diagnosed hormonal deficiency. It's a legitimate medical procedure—injections, pills, creams—that works for men who need it. But many men taking it don't have that deficiency. Men with normal testosterone levels are increasingly seeking TRT as a performance enhancer, getting it from unregulated online labs, gym contacts, or telehealth services that write prescriptions without adequate medical assessment.
Men who stop taking testosterone are likely to recover their own production within months, but not all. Depending on dose and duration, research puts the share who never recover at between one in ten and one in five. Many men who self-administer report feeling stronger, sharper, and more energetic, but a significant portion is likely the placebo effect—a well-documented tendency to feel better when we believe we are being treated. That does not make the feeling less real, but it means unsupervised hormonal intervention is a high-risk gamble for a benefit that may exist entirely in one's mind.
Doctors' advice is unambiguous: get tested, know the number, and treat everything else—websites, influencers, gym contacts—as anecdote, not medicine. A lot of men aren't waiting. Chasing peak masculinity online, they're reaching for the one substance that could tell their own bodies to stop making it.
Source: www.dw.com