A major manosphere fixation holds important clues to men’s health — but not just in the ways they think.
Hyper-masculinity influencers and podcasters are obsessed with the idea of being more “manly,” and are willing to do quite a lot in its pursuit — including bone smashing, plastic surgery and peptides.
But one particular metric they’re obsessed with actually can tell men a lot about their sexual health, metabolic health and energy levels — and, according to a recent study, it can even offer a warning about their cancer risk.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Healthy Longevity, looked at data from more than 26,000 men across Australia, Europe and the US.
Analyzing hormone concentrations from blood samples, the researchers found that men with very low testosterone levels had an 18% higher chance of dying from cancer later in life.
And once testosterone concentration hit a certain level, cancer risk began to increase.
Although T levels naturally decrease with age, healthy levels in younger men range from 10 to 30 nanomoles per liter (or 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter.)
The researchers looked at concentrations of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and luteinizing hormone collected early in the men’s lives.
Those were then compared with cancer diagnoses and deaths over the course of several decades.
“We saw that when baseline testosterone was below 8.6 [nanomoles per liter], subsequent cancer risk started increasing,” lead study author professor Bu Yeap said in a press release.
The findings weren’t the same for all cancers, though.
While testosterone levels were not associated with a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, low levels of SHBG and luteinizing hormone were.
Since hormone treatment for prostate cancer involves lowering testosterone and other male hormones, this type of cancer was of particular interest to the team.
This association between low hormone levels and cancer doesn’t indicate that low T causes cancer itself, according to the research team.
They also articulate that despite the connection, men don’t need testosterone supplements to prevent cancer.
“While we’ve shown low levels are associated with increased risk, we haven’t got any evidence yet that actually giving men testosterone will reduce that risk,” Yeap said.
Instead, the low hormone levels could be an indication of other underlying health problems.
Despite this, more men are looking for TRT, as hormone levels have been in a consistent decline for decades due to changes in men’s activity levels, weight, stress levels, diet and more.
Meanwhile, “testmaxxing” has taken over the manosphere, leading young men to procure hormone injections without a doctor’s consultation.
However, unnecessary TRT without a doctor’s sign-off carries serious risks ranging from risks to fertility to making existing cancer worse.
