YEAH, BUT LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO ANDREW SULLIVAN: Men’s Use of Testosterone on the Rise. “The number of middle-aged men with prescriptions for testosterone is climbing rapidly, raising concerns that increasing numbers of men are abusing the powerful hormone to boost their libidos and feel younger, researchers reported on Monday. Testosterone replacement therapy is approved specifically for the treatment of abnormally low testosterone levels, a condition called hypogonadism. The hormone helps build muscle, reduce body fat and improve sex drive. But a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that many men who get prescriptions for the hormone have no evidence of a deficiency at all.”
On the other hand, it could have been the weed.
UPDATE: Reader Steve Barns writes: “What exactly is the problem with a boosted libido and feeling younger? Women get hormone replacement therapy all the time and insurance pays for it without batting an eye.” Yes, but testosterone is evil.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Mark Rippetoe emails: “I’d like to see a study that compares the effects of testosterone replacement therapy with Prozac. It has been my experience that TRT has at least as much psychological benefit as it does physical, and very few humans have ever actually suffered from low serum SSRI levels.”
MORE: A reader emails:
I’ve been on a testosterone prescription for about two years now. It has literally saved my life. For some to suggest that testosterone is simply some trivial indulgence for a mid-life crisis, trivializes a debilitating condition. When my testosterone levels bottomed out to zero, I was literally not myself anymore. Testosterone isn’t just about sexual desire, it literally makes men who they are. I felt like I was a stranger in my own body. The lack of sexual desire is alarming, but less so than the personality changes. Then of course, there is the niggling little problem of increased body fat, insulin resistance, increased blood cholesterol levels and the attendant risks of diabetes and peripheral artery disease.
Ugh.