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The role of testosterone in men’s sexual health is not an alien concept. While the lowered levels of this specific male sex hormone can inflict bountiful negative impacts on men’s fertility, a new study has actually established a possible reason behind the same.
According to the new study (R) conducted by the researchers from the Durham University, it has been concluded that men who have spent their childhood in a much more hostile and unhygienic environment, with risks of infection are much likely going to have a lowered level of testosterone in later stages of their life in comparison to the ones who have been raised in a much healthier environment.
The study was published in the esteemed e-journal website, Nature Ecology and Evolution, and is a perfectly challenging theory that counteracts the beliefs about the levels of testosterone being handled by the not just the race but genetics as well. In this new study, they have highlighted the impact that the environment has on a child while growing up.
One of the primary factors behind the enlarged prostate and prostate cancer include the increased levels of testosterone in the blood stream. While taking this aspect into consideration, the researches emphasized stating that if one needs to find the levels of risk, it is also important to be very considerate and cautious about the man’s childhood environment that they have been exposed to throughout.
The study was conducted on a group of Bangladeshi immigrant to the United Kingdom and the common citizens of Bangladesh of similar age group. Upon conducting the test and research, it was found that the immigrant Bangladeshi adults who resided in the United Kingdom had significantly higher levels of testosterone in comparison to the adults who were born and brought up in Bangladesh itself. It was also noticed that the Bangladeshi men who resided in the UK attained their puberty at an earlier age and were taller than average.
Upon the observations, the researchers stated that the possible reason behind the heightened levels of testosterone in the men could possibly be because of the aspect of energy investment. When the men are not exposed to any kind of infections or other forms of health hazards, there are possibilities that they will not redirect the energy to that which is what helps in heightened levels of testosterone. On the contrary, when the person is exposed to hostile environments, they redirect their energy to help fight off the problem, thus ending up with altered levels of testosterone.
For the proper conduction of the study, the researchers collected their initial information from a group of 359 men noting down the details concerning the weight, height as well as their saliva sample to examine their levels of testosterone in the body.
The designated group of subjects for the study included:
- Men born and brought up in Bangladesh
- Men who were born in Bangladesh but then moved to the UK as a child
- Men who moved to the UK later as adults
- Men born were born in the UK and have Bangladeshi parents
- Men who are UK born ethnic Europeans
The lead author of the study, Dr Kesson Magid from the Durham University stated saying that the levels of testosterone are not likely to be dependent on their ethnicity or the kind of environment that they are subjected to, rather, the same is going to more likely be dependent on the kind of environment that these children were brought up in.
While very low levels of testosterone in men have effects inducing lack of energy, loss of libido and sex drive as well as erectile dysfunction, the extreme high levels of testosterone tend to increase levels of prostate diseases as well as impacts the muscle mass.
In order to reach a conclusive result, it was necessary to have an effective insight into the men’s childhood and the kind of environment they were exposed to during the initial days of their lives. In order to know about the possible risks and other associated problems, it is necessary to have a vivid picture of the initial days of the person’s life.
This approach to finding the effect of testosterone on the later stages in life is primarily an effectual evidence of the impacts one has been exposed to during their childhood. Not just that, a similar research has also been conducted by Gillian Bentley and his colleagues to find a clear picture between the female sex hormones and the impacts of childhood environment on it.
This specific study concerning the levels of testosterone and the correlation of the same with their childhood environment has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Durham University (UK), involved researchers from the University of Chittagong (Bangladesh), the Royal Society and Prostate Cancer UK, and Northwestern University (USA).
