Men's Testosterone Levels Environment-Influenced, Study Shows

Testosterone levels of men are determined by their childhood environment more than any other factor, including genetics, according to new research.

Men who grew up in difficult environments — poverty, exposure to disease — generally had lower levels of testosterone than those who didn't, according to scientists at Durham University, a public research university located in northeast England, The Independent reported.

The research suggests testosterone levels may be energy-driven. If a male expends an inordinate amount of energy in childhood combating disease and the effects of a generally difficult life, less energy will be available to produce the hormone.

The study’s findings were published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, and discounts earlier assumptions that testosterone levels were largely hereditary.

The researchers studied Bangladeshi men — those who were raised and are living in the United Kingdom versus those raised in their native Bangladesh.

The U.K.-raised Bangladeshi men had significantly higher testosterone levels than the other group, even those who were relatively well-off, The Independent reported. The Brits also grew taller and reached puberty at a younger age than their Bangladesh counterparts.

“Very high and very low testosterone levels can have implications for men’s health and it could be important to know more about men’s childhood circumstances to build a fuller picture of their risk factors for certain conditions or diseases,” study co-author Gillian Bentley said, The Independent reported.

Accordingly, men’s cancer screenings might ought to take childhood environment into account, given that high testosterone levels have been associated with an increased risk of enlarged prostate and cancer, Science Daily noted.

Last year, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported prescriptions for testosterone therapy among American men more than doubled from 2010 to 2013. They attributed it to drug marketing campaigns urging men to boost their manliness.

• Testosterone Heart Risk in Men Increases 29 Percent, Says Study
• 'Man Flu' Is Real, Researcher Says, So Cut Them Some Slack