'Alarming' low testosterone levels found in obese teenage boys

Source

Obese teenage boys are at risk for more than diabetes and heart disease, a new study has found. They also have alarmingly low levels of testosterone - between 40 to 50% less than males of the same age with a normal body mass index.

The study, published this week in the journal Clinical Endocrinology, investigated the effect of obesity on testosterone levels in young males.

It has its origins in earlier research, which showed that type II diabetes and obesity in older men are linked to a high rate (25-33%) of hypogonadism, or low testosterone levels. According to the new study, the rate of hypogonadism in type II diabetic men ages 18-35 is greater than 50%.

[...]

Obesity can lead to diabetes and heart disease. What’s more, low testosterone can slow or stop sexual maturation — and there’s nothing more hurtful than “a male not having his maleness,” Dandona said.

If telling teens about obesity, heart disease, or a potential stroke in the future will not convince them to put down the soda and start lifting weights, telling them their member will be small and/or limp sure will do it.

What I am curious about in the study is whether low-T causes the obesity or if the obesity causes the low-T. Maybe the lack of exercise causes the low-T which in turn causes the obesity. There is a lot to consider from this study and similar future studies.

This is not surprising. They bulk of the youth today seem to be ill equipped to handle any situation that requires them to stand up for themselves.

We already have a population problem and this is nature's way of slowing us down.
Low testosterone will simply find a new way of happening, if you're not going to be a happy fatty you can be thin and gay instead.

ETA: Soon everything will be dangerous and alarming to the point where there is no point in giving birth anyway. Can't do this because it causes that and so on. Lets just all just be a robot in a world with no alarms.

Well who do we blame?
I don't think the children are to blame here.
If the reason is because of the obesity...then here's a solution:
1. Parents should know what they are feeding their children. Stop the fast food frenzy.
2. They should be controlling the amount of "couch-time" these kids have.
3. Instead of buying them everything they cry for, teach them about the outdoors.

I don't blame the kids for their being overweight.
I directly blame bad parenting.

Pretty simple, if you ask me.
And no, I don't care who I offend.
Parents need to stop being lazy.
You kids are a byproduct of your own actions.
Period.

In the common genome that you observe in species after fish there are some lines of code that contain a self-destruct mechanism for species that reach the point of rodent-level. Those will decrease the level of testosterone in populations given that there are no natural signals entering the genome. It's basically a self-destruct mechanism that blocks evolution in one species for the common good of all. It's been activated. Check worldwide decreasing levels of testosterone among newer generations. This is one of the few reasons for optimism for humanity.

Originally posted by nidstav
In the common genome that you observe in species after fish there are some lines of code that contain a self-destruct mechanism for species that reach the point of rodent-level. Those will decrease the level of testosterone in populations given that there are no natural signals entering the genome. It's basically a self-destruct mechanism that blocks evolution in one species for the common good of all. It's been activated. Check worldwide decreasing levels of testosterone among newer generations. This is one of the few reasons for optimism for humanity.

I have never heard this before. Do you have a source?

Perhaps a little less testosterone is a good thing. As an athlete for many years, I have seen too many young men get so pumped on their own testosterone that they become the dumbest meatheads you could possibly imagine.

Higher levels of testosterone seems to impede the natural brain process of "thinking" and all too often we here stories of young men doing dumb and destructive things.

So I am not worried about it. Nature will continue to run it's course and there is nothing we can do about it.

"What I am curious about in the study is whether low-T causes the obesity or if the obesity causes the low-T. Maybe the lack of exercise causes the low-T which in turn causes the obesity. There is a lot to consider from this study and similar future studies."

The obesity is causing the low testosterone, by and large. In its simplest terms, the aromatization (conversion) of testosterone (the "man' hormone) to estrogen (female hormone) takes place at an accelated rate when excess adipose tissue is present. Hence "man boobs" on the overweight. That the estrogen dominance showing.

Its all part of the planned feminization of American men. Because that's how you destroy a country from the inside out. You remove it's men by making them look stupid and inept and just plain not needed (media and the feminest movement). Then you lower their sperm count and testosterone level with BPA, high fructose corn syrup and crap food. Then you convince them to go on a low-fat vegan diet, further reducing their testosterone and sperm count.

You emasculate them. Plain and simple. Then it's easy to control a population. There's no men with the balls, literally, to stand up to anything or anyone.

reply to post by Misoir


Hmmmm, seems to correlate with the below article. Also, might explain why there is a higher fertility rate problem with many people.

www.globalresearch.ca...

HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Testosterone Levels Fall Worldwide
By Washington's Blog
Global Research, April 04, 2012

Men’s testosterone levels across all age groups have been plummeting over the last couple of decades, probably due to environmental factors. As Reuters reported in 2006:

A new study has found a “substantial” drop in U.S. men’s testosterone levels since the 1980s, but the reasons for the decline remain unclear. This trend also does not appear to be related to age.
The average levels of the male hormone dropped by 1 percent a year, Dr. Thomas Travison and colleagues from the New England Research Institutes in Watertown, Massachusetts, found. This means that, for example, a 65-year-old man in 2002 would have testosterone levels 15 percent lower than those of a 65-year-old in 1987. This also means that a greater proportion of men in 2002 would have had below-normal testosterone levels than in 1987.

“The entire population is shifting somewhat downward we think,” Travison told Reuters Health. “We’re counting on other studies to confirm this.” Travison and his team analyzed data from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, a long-term investigation of aging in about 1,700 Boston-area men. Data from the men were collected for three time intervals: 1987-1989, 1995-1997, and 2002-2004.
***

The researchers observed a speedier decline in average testosterone levels than would have been expected with aging alone.
***

It’s likely that some sort of environmental exposure is responsible for the testosterone decline, Travison said, although he said attempting to explain what this might be based on the current findings would be “pure conjecture.”

Men’s Health wrote in 2007:
In the summer of 2006, Travison attended an Endocrine Society meeting where another researcher, Antti Perheentupa M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Turku, in Finland, presented evidence of a similar decline. The Finnish results suggested the change was happening among younger men, too. A man born in 1970 had about 20 percent less testosterone at age 35 than a man of his father’s generation at the same age. “When I saw another group reproducing our results,” says Travison, “that was convincing to me that we were seeing a true biological change over time, as opposed to just some measurement error.”
***

Mitch Harman M.D., Ph.D., an endocrinologist at the University of Arizona college of medicine and the director of the Kronos Longevity Research Institute, sees the shadow of Silent Spring. Back in 1962, when Rachel Carson published her environmental classic, estrogen-like substances in the insecticide DDT were making eggshells so thin that they were crushed by nesting parents; populations of eagles and other large birds plummeted. And today? Dr. Harman says, “I’m concerned that we’re just pouring chemicals out into our environment that are endocrine-suppressing, estrogen-like compounds,” possibly causing similar disruptions in human reproduction. The authors of a recent article in the Medical Journal of Australia likewise suggest that from early fetal life onward, male hormonal and reproductive functions are under “xenobiotic attack,” meaning chemicals not naturally found in the body appear to be disrupting normal biological development.

For instance, 90 percent of American men have evidence of chlorpyrifos in their urine. This shouldn’t be surprising, since up to 19 million pounds of the stuff was distributed across the United States in 1999 alone, much of it in household products like tick-and-flea powder for pets, lawn treatments, and common insecticides. Though residential use is now restricted, chlorpyrifos is still common in agriculture, as well as in some professional applications; for most people, diet is now the main source of exposure. In a recent Harvard study, men with the highest chlorpyrifos exposure typically had 20 percent less testosterone than those with the lowest exposure.

Carbaryl is another possible culprit. Detectable levels turn up in 75 percent of American men, and having it in your urine appears to be associated with reduced sperm count and liveliness, or motility, as well as increased DNA damage. And yet we still apply carbaryl to lawns and gardens at a rate of up to 4 million pounds a year, mostly by way of an insecticide known as Sevin. There should be a bumper sticker: Honey, the lawn shrunk my testicles.

I realize there is a lot of text here but it's all so important, I couldn't decide what to cut out. It's NOT the whole article so please check out the source. I also am curious if the low rate of activity contributes to the lower testosterone levels.

I was a very active kid, and didnt start to put on weight till my 20's. Part of that was my own fault, going for the fast easy food because I was too busy to do proper preperation and cooking, and also partly because I just plain didn't know any better.

20 years on, I am still overweight, ( by alot ) and have very low T levels, WAY below the minimum recommended level. I have been injecting T now for about 6 months, and I can feel/tell the difference, and I am starting to lose some of the weight, vs just putting a little bit on every month.

From what I have looked into, alot of the low T problem is with all of the growth hormones that are put into our foods. Any and all meats and dairy is loaded with estrogen extract. There have even been findings of elevated levels of estrogen in the water supply worldwide because of this. Ya dont think THAT would have an impact on T levels in a male do you?

Combine inactivity, with bad food ( white bread, hormone laden meats and dairy, High Fructose Corn Syrup in almost everything ) and you have a recipe for obesity.

Just my thoughts on it.

Danno

I have long suspected that aspects in our current societies, which I will generally label as poisons and outside influences, are changing the very genetics of these young men. Actually, I believe it also has a similar effect on young women. The--how can I say this without being politically incorrect?--chunkiness of both young males and females within this catagory is a sympthom of this problem, not the cause of it. The trend is definitely toward an asexuality. I would not deem it a completely natural process of change or caused by the simple fact of too many calories taken in.

Hmm not surprising at all
the Breads, pizzas, breaded this and breaded that all have a increased common ingrediant,
SOY,. of which is high in estrogen.
Also the BPA is in many products also,. artificial estrogen
And i have to wonder how many of the mothers were told to feed their babies Simalac
or anyother Soy based formula.
I could even venture to say that the soy industry may be to blame for the more feminine males today
,

Originally posted by sheepslayer247
Perhaps a little less testosterone is a good thing. As an athlete for many years, I have seen too many young men get so pumped on their own testosterone that they become the dumbest meatheads you could possibly imagine.

Higher levels of testosterone seems to impede the natural brain process of "thinking" and all too often we here stories of young men doing dumb and destructive things.

So I am not worried about it. Nature will continue to run it's course and there is nothing we can do about it.

edit on 17-10-2012 by sheepslayer247 because: (no reason given)

My natural testosterone levels are off the charts. It has zero to do with intelligence, my IQ is genius level. I'm also the most level headed person you will ever meet, never raise my voice, ever, never make rash decisions. Show me studies that show testosterone impedes "thinking". Young men and women doing stupid things is well understood and has nothing to do with testosterone, rather it is brain development.

As I mentioned my test is extremely high, it causes my metabolism to be extremely fast. I lose weight if I sit around all day eating. In fact the past 5 years I have eaten a ton, done zero exercise, and lost about 20 pounds. I suspect that since test has that effect on me, low levels would have the opposite effect.

ETA: Do some research for yourself, high testosterone levels is linked to good health. It is also linked to addictions, which I personaly have no problems with thank God. I have not been sick with any immune related diseases since my testosterone went into overdrive (back in 1992). My girlfriends would get sick and not want to kiss me so I wouldn't get sick too. They quickly learned it didn't matter. One or two weeks later they would still feel like crap and I would maybe have a scratchy throat for a few hours and then be 100% fine.

Bisphenol-A.

Linked to obesity and hormone disruption.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
Bisphenol-A.

Linked to obesity and hormone disruption.

fully agreed as above
I hate food chemists

Testosterone impedes thinking? Wow, someone's bought the feminist/media line.

Testosterone is bad. Men are bad. Manliness is bad. Men can't think. Men are stupid. I'll just get in vitro. Who needs a man anyway? My baby doesn't need a father. Men are superfluous. Men and women are no different. It's just environment and social conditioning.

Keep that line of thinking up and testosterone levels will even start to fall. And births among single mothers will increase and even be considered completly acceptable and even "cool" in the media by many actresses.

Wait...

reply to post by davjan4


To be honest, I'll think you'll find most feminists don't hate men, or testosterone. Traditional gender roles are their pet peeve, and I agree with that because those gender roles hurt both men and women. Reproductive capabilities aside, why should your sex determine what you're "allowed" or "supposed" to do?

I'm a man, and I don't want to have kids. If I get married, I won't be the single source of income, nor would I shirk house duties. I don't like beer (not much), and the mentality surrounding most contact sports seem absurd to me.

But guess what? Testosterone has little to do with this. If being manly means I have to be rough, aggressive, cold and calculating 100% of the time, then forget it. Good thing it's me that decides how I should be a man, and no one else.

Next time a "feminist" decides to tell you about your "male condition", tell her she doesn't understand jack because she's never been a man.

Anyways, on topic. This does actually sound on point. A friend of mine, not overweight as such, had a condition called gynecomastia (think that's how it's spelled). It causes men to develop breast tissue due to high estrogen levels. It's usually a normal part of puberty to develop small deposits of fat tissue there, but a man with the condition can keep the breast tissue until it's removed. Out of our year group, he was one of the last to grow facial hair or break his voice. Tall and strapping mind you. But there's certainly something to this...

I think this comes down to a nature vs. nurture argument, as as anyone knows this argument cannot be won by anyone. Actually, if you look at the lack of testosterone from a pseudo-scientific approach, this is not actually surprising. Obese men, at least their bodies, cannot physically be a hunter, and thus their bodies have more use for other chemicals to keep themselves alive.

At this point, glucosamine has more of an impact than testosterone. I'm not saying this to be insulting, but testosterone comes down to the hunter-gatherer scenario. Testosterone is what allows us to be hunters, one can even say it is the reason why we have pheromones, thus pubic hair, thus a natural scent that is as unique as a fingerprint.

I'm not bashing obese men in America, or anywhere else, but it's true. The obese cannot be hunters, your body is not built to defend a female from prey or other potential mates, but it can be and testosterone can be created via health, nutrition and exercise. Never forget, being obese is not in our genes. MOST of us (there are definitely exceptions) can bring our bodies down to a level where our bodies, genetically speaking, knows we can be a hunter instead of a gatherer.

I am not surprised at all. It's well known that GMO foods cause animals to become sterile only after 3 generations. What have these big boys been eating all their lives.. you guessed it, GMO foods.