MEN
Testosterone is linked with violent, aggressive behavior in men. But we now know that it can also confer significant health benefits.
Alan Booth, Ph.D., a sociology professor at Penn State University, studied a sample of over 4000 men to determine the effect of the hormone on their mental and physical well-being.
The pros: Men with relatively higher levels of testosterone were less likely to have colds, become obese or develop cardiovascular problems, Booth reports in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine. "Testosterone has a bad name," says Booth, but "it does have beneficial effects on health."
The cons: These health benefits waned in men who had extremely high (1000 ng/dl) levels of the hormone coursing through their bodies. In large amounts, the hormone also caused risky behaviors such as being antisocial, drinking, smoking, drug use and multiple sex partners, as well as unemployment and being unmarried--both of which have been shown to make men vulnerable to poor health. As a result, these men were also more prone to sexually transmitted diseases, injuries and depression than those with more moderate levels of the hormone. So too much testosterone could cause life-endangering actions that outweigh the protective effects of the hormone.
