Testosterone levels change throughout the day in men, peaking around 4 to 8 in the morning and dropping to their lowest level about 12 hours later. They can also vary throughout the year, although these seasonal highs and lows will differ around the world. These daily and seasonal variations can cause levels to change by up to 19%. Low testosterone levels cause different symptoms at different ages.
Testosterone levels in AMAB adults naturally decline as they age. This includes cisgender men, non-binary AMAB people, and transgender women who do not undergo feminizing hormone therapy. After age 30, most men begin to experience a gradual decrease in testosterone. Decreased sexual desire sometimes accompanies decreased testosterone, leading many men to mistakenly believe that their loss of interest in sex is simply due to aging.
Healthcare providers treat low testosterone levels (male hypogonadism) with testosterone replacement therapy. This retrospective study looked at just a random measurement of each participant's testosterone level, rather than repeating testosterone levels over the course of a day. During puberty, testosterone helps build men's muscles, deepens their voices, and increases the size of the penis and testicles. Testosterone levels are naturally much higher in people who are assigned the AMAB than in people who are assigned a woman at birth (AFAB).
LH then travels to the gonads (testicles or ovaries) and stimulates the production and release of testosterone. Hedges also describes implantable testosterone granules, a relatively new form of treatment in which several granules are placed under the skin of the buttocks, where they release testosterone over the course of approximately three to four months. On the one hand, the increase in the diagnosis of low testosterone levels is due to an aging population, lower stigma and more accurate tests. Due to the natural diurnal variation in serum testosterone levels, the guidelines recommend collecting the sample early in the morning.
Low testosterone levels often lead to decreased bone density, meaning bones become more fragile and increasingly likely to break. The mortality of people with AMAB with testosterone deficiency is significantly higher than among people with AMAB with normal testosterone levels. High levels of these hormones would normally tell the testicles to produce more testosterone and sperm. If you have symptoms of low testosterone, such as decreased sexual desire and hot flashes, talk to a healthcare provider.
However, ongoing hormone replacement therapy helps improve sexual desire, alleviate symptoms of depression, and increase energy levels in many people assigned male at birth (AMAB) who have low testosterone levels. Primary hypogonadism occurs when something is wrong with the testicles and doesn't allow them to produce normal levels of testosterone.
