THE Male Hormone

How testosterone affects your masculinity, strength, and muscles

Testosterone gives you strength and lets your muscles grow: men should know about the messenger

“Without testosterone, there is hardly an erection, no muscle can grow significantly, no beard is tight,” says Professor Dieter Hesch, endocrinologist and men doctor from land battle. How important the hormone is for men, what a deficiency or too high a testosterone value means, and whether an artificial intake makes sense, we clarify all this with experts.

In this article:

What is testosterone and what does it do?

Where is the male hormone made in the body?

What testosterone level is normal?

So the testosterone level fluctuates during the day

What leads to a testosterone deficiency?

How useful are testosterone supplements?

Can testosterone accelerate muscle building?

Contraception with testosterone?

How does testosterone affect the brain and heart?

Brain research: That is why men think differently than women

Testosterone levels are not a question of age

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Testosterone is the main male sex hormone

What exactly is testosterone?

Testosterone is the main male sex hormone (androgen). As with all other hormones in the human body, testosterone is also a biochemical messenger – so it has a chemical composition. This is based on androstane, i.e. on organic hydrocarbon molecules. The hormone was first discovered in 1935 by Ernst Laquer. The physician and pharmacologist spent a long time studying hormone research. After the discovery of the female hormone (estrogen) in the mid-twenties, ten years later he isolated the sex hormone testosterone, which he called from bull testicles.

What does testosterone do?

Testosterone not only controls a man’s sexuality and fertility. It works in all organs. So while it contributes to the formation of sperm, it is also responsible for your muscles. The hormone also supports bone metabolism and promotes bone growth in adolescents. In the course of a man’s physical development, the messenger substance is also involved in building and maintaining bone density.

Where is the male hormone made in the body?

The largest production site for testosterone is the testes. Up to 95 percent of the testosterone content in the male body is formed here. The remaining five percent is taken over by the adrenal cortex. However, the release of the male hormone is controlled by the brain. Whenever the head office notices in the head that there is not enough of the messenger substance in the bloodstream, it releases another hormone, namely lutropin (LH). As soon as this gets into the testicles, it signals to the cells located there that they should accelerate their work. Hormone production is in full swing immediately. The newly created testosterone not only gets into the bloodstream but also ripens out of immature progenitor cells an army of millions of prickly sperm for reproductive purposes.

Testosterone lets prickly sperm mature from reproductive cells for reproductive purposes.

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Testosterone causes millions of sperm to mature from reproductive cells from immature progenitor cells

This is how you increase your testosterone level

What testosterone level is normal?

The average testosterone content in the blood of an adult male is between 12 and 40 nmol / l (nanomoles per liter). Women also have the hormone in their blood, but only a little. For comparison: In women, it is below 3 nmol / l, sometimes even so low that laboratories cannot prove it. A value of 1 nmol / l means that 1 milliliter of blood that the doctor draws with the syringe contains less than 1 billionth of a gram of the hormone. Little – but effective.

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So the testosterone level fluctuates during the day

Men release the hormone every 24 hours – this has consequences for sex and strength training, among other things. Here is a rough schedule:

7:00 a.m .: The testosterone level now begins to rise and reaches its daily maximum at this point. If you want your doctor to check your hormone levels, he will draw blood from you early in the morning to determine the maximum value. In men with a testosterone deficiency, the testosterone level is just as low in the morning as in the evening.

1:00 p.m .: Testosterone levels gradually decrease as the day progresses. The production of the hormone does not decrease quite uniformly, however, but can also increase slightly in between – for example, if your body reacts spontaneously to stimuli from scantily clad colleagues.

8:00 p.m .: Let’s go? At this point, hormone production drops to its daily minimum. But that doesn’t mean that the evening hours are generally a bad time for sex. “New studies show that fluctuations in testosterone levels can always trigger a stimulus, even if the absolute value drops,” says endocrinologist Professor Dieter Hesch. So if you irritate your lovely adorable little bit, it will work.

The testosterone curve in men.

Raymond Biesinger

This is how much testosterone men release every 24 hours

How is the testosterone level measured? 

Your doctor will usually do this by taking a blood sample. Other methods of measuring testosterone levels include saliva or urine. There are now also testosterone self-tests (ab 51,36 € ) for at home.

You can do that against men’s breasts

What leads to a testosterone deficiency?

If your hormone level is too low, there can be different reasons. In men, too low values ​​are usually associated with underactive gonads, anabolic steroids, liver cirrhosis, drug abuse or severe malnutrition. But women can also have too little testosterone in their blood. This is often noticeable in an underactive ovary. But therapy with anti-androgens, taking estrogens (i.e. the female hormones) and taking anabolic steroids, liver cirrhosis and malnutrition can also decrease the value.

However, the opposite can also happen. Namely, that your testosterone level is too high. In men, the value can be too high if they take an additional testosterone intake – for example with doping agents. But even in cases of testicular tumors, adrenal cancer or androgen resistance, there can be an increased value. In women, an overactive ovary or adrenal cortex can increase hormone levels. It can also lead to adrenal cancer or premature puberty.

This is how you recognize and treat a testosterone deficiency

Taking testosterone: lifestyle hormone or useful supplement?

This question is justified: Testosterone is often only taken in order to achieve better results in sports or to strengthen the muscles. The latter was particularly common in the bodybuilder scene. Anabolic steroids were used particularly often, which exposes the athletes to a significant health risk. Injecting high doses of testosterone can result in thrombosis, strokes and heart attacks. Foci of cancer slumbering in the body, for example in the prostate, can also be stimulated by the additional testosterone doses.

But if you now think that taking testosterone in the form of medication is definitely harmful to your health: this is only the flip side of the coin. The messenger substance can also have a positive effect on your body. For example, the hormone replacement can be used if a testosterone deficiency is found and help with a lack of sexual desire (loss of libido). Testosterone can be supplied to the body in different ways. Be it the conventional taking of tablets, an external application on the skin or an injection (by syringe). 

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Our tip and advice:  There are numerous drugs that are based on the male hormone and can balance your testosterone level. Since everyone reacts differently to medicines, side effects and interactions can occur – but do not have to. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms and get advice. He will be able to tell you whether additional testosterone intake makes sense for you personally.

The male hormone testosterone helps build muscle

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The male hormone testosterone helps build muscle

Can testosterone accelerate muscle building?

Many men wonder if a testosterone patch can accelerate muscle growth. “Testosterone patches have been officially available from us since 1998. They are intended as an alternative to syringes for men with testosterone deficiency,” says Professor Günter Stalla, Head of Medicover Endocrinology in Munich. In any case, they are therefore subject to a prescription.

The plasters are stuck to the testicles. Since the skin is thin there, the body can easily absorb the testosterone. With daily use, the testosterone level is kept at a constant level – easier and more constant than with syringes. Muscle growth is hard to be expected with one of these plasters. For one thing, the dose is very low. On the other hand, a healthy body has a balancing mechanism that ensures that the testosterone level remains constant. If you bring this hormone into the body from the outside, although there is no deficiency at all, it reduces your own production – the result is a zero-sum game.

If you take the preparation off again disappointed, you have to reckon with the loss of potency and libido due to the reduced testosterone production. Apart from that, the hormone is not a training substitute: Testosterone, which is chemically modified and also contained in anabolic steroids, is considered doping in high doses and also has side effects: acne formation, testicle size reduction, breast growth in men, limited to complete inability to conceive.

The risk of developing liver tumors also increases. If the hormone is no longer ingested, the splendor disappears quickly. So you should think hard about whether muscle growth is worth all of these risks.

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Condoms: 1st place on the contraceptive podium.

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So far the only successful contraceptive for men: the condom

Contraception with testosterone: an alternative to condom, pill & Co.? 

Since the messenger substance is important for sperm maturation, it could even be suitable for contraceptive purposes. But prevent with testosterone – should that work? Yes and no By mid-2011, the World Health Organization was researching a hormonal contraceptive method for men. The hormone was injected from the outside.

Goal: to inhibit the body’s own testosterone production. Consequence:  The brain then leans back in reassurance – there is enough testosterone in the blood. Without a command from the brain, hormone production in the testicles soon stops. However, the foreign body’s testosterone does not get there in sufficient quantities. Soon no sperm will fidget in the ejaculate. The preparation should be injected every two months. If the test subjects wanted to stop taking the medication, they were fertile again after one year. However, this method of contraception brought many side effects and not 100 percent protection, which is why the study was stopped.

Another possible consequence: Since the testicular cells are unemployed, they become weak. The tissue becomes softer and the testicles gradually feel like old plums. The same can happen to bodybuilders who inject testosterone – usually in an even higher dose – for doping purposes. A glimmer of hope: As soon as you stop, the tissue becomes plump again and the hormone-producing cells resume their work – at least in most cases.

Safety first! Last but not least, that such contraceptive methods have their side effects, do not protect them 100 percent against your partner’s pregnancy. Suppression of sperm formation by testosterone is not sufficient in about 10 to 15 percent of men. For this reason, no pharmaceutical company has yet taken the step of bringing such an innovative contraceptive for men onto the market. The condom is and remains the only successful contraceptive method for men so far.

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Testosterone as a drive for the brain?

The body reacts sensitively to hormonal fluctuations. Even the smallest changes have a big impact: Testosterone makes men confident, ambitious, dominant and keeps their brains fit for a long time – presumably because it protects nerve cells from destructive stress. A testosterone deficiency is said to favor the decline. What threatens are depression and, at a later age, Alzheimer’s and dementia. Experiments show that testosterone intake makes you smarter almost immediately in old age.

Everybody experiences something similar every day. In the mornings, when the testosterone value is at its highest, tasks for spatial thinking are particularly well solved. In contrast, in the late afternoon, when the hormone level is lower, the error rate increases, as an English study by the University of Leeds has shown.

But there is also too much of a good thing. In a test tube, large amounts of testosterone drive nerve cells to suicide after a few hours. Of course, this is not possible in a natural way. For men who dope with anabolic steroids, we don’t put our hands in the fire.

Does the messenger have a positive effect on your heart?

STILLFX; Rashad Ashurov / Shutterstock.com

Mukkis for the heart through testosterone?

Is testosterone good for the heart?

Testosterone strengthens the heart, wakes up a tired pump and protects the blood vessels. “For example, cells from the bone marrow that repair damaged vessels are present in significantly fewer numbers when there is a lack of testosterone,” says Hamburg-based urologist Professor Hartmut Porst. Men with low hormone levels are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases and have a lower life expectancy. 

This is how you lower your heart attack risk

But be careful! In bodybuilder doses, anabolic steroids (muscle building substances) overturn the protective effect! The heart then grows to an unhealthy size, blood pressure rises. Result: stroke and heart attack threaten.

Brain research: Why men think differently than women!

Men are different. And very early on, namely in the mother’s womb. “Before birth, male brains literally swim in testosterone,” says American neurobiologist and author Dr. Louann Brizendine from the University of California at San Francisco. That’s a good thing because that’s the only reason why they leave the preset, female path. Regions of the brain that store memories, process feelings or control language are shrunk in the testosterone bath.

Instead, the areas for sex, aggressiveness, and spatial imagination grow with him. That is why an adult man speaks fewer words later – around 7,000 a day, a woman triple. He thinks of one thing more often – namely every 52 seconds – and is faster in the parking space than a woman. Ideally, at least, because the brain is much more complex than a switch that switches testosterone in one direction or the other. So you are welcome to talk more. No woman will, therefore, question your masculinity.

You see, the hormone testosterone affects almost every aspect of your body. You now know the natural level fluctuations throughout the day, use them for your goals, and don’t risk your health with unnecessary substitutions.