Posted on 10/27/2006 11:14:31 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
FRIDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The testosterone-fueled American male may be losing his punch.
Over the past two decades, levels of the sex hormone in U.S. men have been falling steadily, a new study finds.
For example, average total testosterone levels in men aged 65 to 69 fell from 503 nanograms/decileter (ng/dL) in 1988 to 423 ng/dL in 2003.
The reasons for this trend are unclear, said researchers at the New England Research Institutes in Waterdown, Mass. They noted that neither aging nor certain other health factors, such as smoking or obesity, can fully explain the decline.
"Male serum testosterone levels appear to vary by generation, even after age is taken into account," study lead author Thomas G. Travison said in a prepared statement.
Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and plays an important role in maintaining bone and muscle mass. Low testosterone levels have been linked to health problems, including lowered libido and diabetes.
It's normal for men's testosterone levels to peak in their late 20s and then start to gradually decline, experts say. But this study found that overall testosterone levels are lower than they were 20 years ago.
"In 1988, men who were 50 years and older had higher serum testosterone concentrations than did comparable 50-year-old men in 1996. This suggests that some factor other than age may be contributing to the observed declines in testosterone over time," Travison said.
He and his colleagues analyzed blood samples -- along with health and other information -- from about 1,500 men in the greater Boston area who took part in the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. That study collected data in 1987-89, 1995-97, and 2002-04.
"This analysis deals with men who were born between 1915 and 1945, but our baseline data were not obtained until the late 1980s, when the elder subjects were about 70 years old, and the youngest about 45," Travison said.
"Events occurring in earlier decades could certainly help explain our results, if their effects persisted into recent years," he noted.
The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about testosterone.
This could explain a lot of the behaviour in Congre$$ of late.
Does Jim Webb know about this?
LOL....does it also have something to do with the feminization of the American male?
Not in Floyd Landis...
The results of this study were skewed to the low side since I was not chosen as a participant.
The "Oprah-fication" of America - as Rush likes to say.
Are more men becoming liberals?
Not in conservative men! Only limp wristed homosexual and metrosexual liberals.
Fluoridation, Mandrake. Did you ever see a commie drink water?
************
That would be Watertown, MA, for Pete's sake.
Research Institutes.
9 Galen Street Watertown, MA 02472 617.923.7747
Cosmic rays/solar wind.
Earth is approaching a magnetic flip, the magnetic field is fluctuating.
Michael Jackson/Duran Duran music.
Yeah, if they had included you and me, the results would be the opposite.
I just saw Ashely Banfield on CourtTV! After she left MSNBC, I lost track of her. Let me tell ya, she's collecting all the missing testosterone.
heh.
Maybe it's from all the female hormones being pissed into the water system by women taking the pill?
Does the EPA test for estrogens in the water supply? LOL
Kinsley-Edwards syndrome???
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