LOVE AND SCIENCE

INFORMATION ABOUT SOME HORMONES
TESTOSTERONE
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen set and it is found in the majority of vertebrates. First, in mammals, testes of males and ovaries of females secrete testosterone, although small quantities are also produced by the adrenal glands. This is the principal male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid.
In men, testosterone is really important for the development of male reproductive tissues such as the testis and prostate and for promoting secondary sexual characteristics like increased muscle, bone mass, and the growth of body hair. In addition, testosterone is essential for health and well-being as well as the prevention of osteoporosis. A man’s body usually fabricates about ten times more testosterone than a woman’s one, but females are more sensitive to the hormone.
Normally, androgens help the protein synthesis and the growth of those tissues with androgen receptors. Testosterone effects can be classified as manliness promoting and as anabolic, although the distinction is a bit artificial, as many of the consequences can be considered both. Testosterone is anabolic, meaning it builds up bone and muscle mass.
• Anabolic effects include growth of muscle mass and strength, increased bone density and strength, and stimulation of linear growth and bone maturation.
• Androgenic effects include maturation of the sex organs, particularly the penis and the formation of the scrotum in the fetus, and after birth (usually at puberty) a deepening of the voice, growth of the beard and axillary hair. Many of these fall into the category of male secondary sex characteristics.
Testosterone effects can also be classified by the age of usual occurrence. For postnatal effects in both males and females, these are mostly dependent on the levels and duration of circulating free testosterone.
Adult testosterone effects are more clearly demonstrable in males than in females, but are likely important to both sexes. Some of these effects may decline as testosterone levels decrease in the later decades of adult life.