Although testosterone doesn’t win wars
The war on Iran is now in its fifth month, Hormuz is closed again, and Peter – Pete Hegseth – is out of ideas, almost. Scraping the bottom, he’s struck inspiration. “Boys, quick, take a testosterone test.” That’s his way to get the men fighting fit. Some point out US military has women too, but are drowned out by the applause. Peter clearly knows what he’s about. Almost from the time testosterone was isolated and synthesised in the 1930s, it’s been called ‘aggression hormone’.
So, Peter’s decided he’ll turn the military into a “High-T Department”. Health secretary RFK Jr approves. He takes his own testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) seriously, and boasts he has among the highest T levels for a septuagenarian. He also says American teenage boys nowadays have T levels of a 68-year-old. If he had his way, every American male would be on TRT.
Peter, however, only wants soldiers over 30 to be screened mandatorily. Others can opt in. In the barracks, the younger boys are probably hurrahing. They don’t mind a free shot of T, even if some sideeffects are nasty. Nobody’s surprised that stocks of major TRT makers have moved up a percent or two. But correlation is not causation. And that’s true of testosterone and aggression too.
Sorry, Peter, but testosterone is not a rogue hormone. Men, and women, can be beastly without high T levels. If your troops have low T, it’s likely because of stress, and not enough sleep. Heard of ‘operator syndrome’? That’s how some Navy Seals in their 30s have T levels of a 90-year-old. And high T levels don’t win wars. Ancient Greek athletes and soldiers – we’re looking at you, Odysseus – chewed on raw animal testicles. Yet, the Trojan war dragged on for 10 years, and was only won by deceit.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
