Testosterone functions differently in men and women. And we go from there." But that guesswork carries risk. "Advertising that testosterone is going to fix all that stuff is very premature and overblown," says Lansen. Testosterone facilitates the breakdown and management of sugar, protecting males from insulin resistance. Fatty tissue converts testosterone into estrogen in a process called aromatization. Testosterone causes significant changes in the metabolism of fat. Not having enough testosterone to trigger these changes causes a delay in puberty or a complete absence of this natural process. Their voice starts to change, they grow body hair, their genitals grow, and the body adopts a more muscular proportion. This substance is also known as dihydrotestosterone, and it is more active than testosterone. Some of these effects may decline as testosterone levels might decrease in the later decades of adult life. For postnatal effects in both males and females, these are mostly dependent on the levels and duration of circulating free testosterone. Men are more likely to burn fat when their testosterone levels are optimal. Low testosterone levels lead to alterations in cholesterol levels and increase heart disease and other cardiovascular problems in males (5). Similar to what happened with LH activating testosterone production, this hormone interacts with receptors all over the body. We have all heard about testosterone, but not everyone knows the details of this hormone or its effects on the body. This systematic review explores testosterone's multifaceted functions, investigating its physiological significance, its regulatory mechanisms, and the potential consequences of its dysregulation. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See your doctor if you think you might have low levels of testosterone. Additionally, testosterone therapy may worsen sleep apnea in older people. Testosterone levels naturally rise in response to sexual arousal and activity. But it’s unknown if testosterone can help with reducing fracture risk. Clinical trials on the effect of testosterone on bone density found increases in spinal and hip bone density. Research shows that bone density increases with testosterone treatment as long as the dose is high enough. Strong bones help support your muscles and internal organs, which can boost athletic performance. Your doctor will help you read and interpret these tests and may recommend testosterone replacement therapy if your deficit is pronounced. By shutting down this function, testosterone makes sure that we don’t have an excess of this hormone. This brain center stimulates the pituitary gland to release LH, which initially triggered testosterone production. Testosterone accelerates the process of fat burning and reduces body fat (6). This is why females keep more fat in certain parts of their bodies, even when they are slim. Once the body has enough levels of DHT in boys, they start experiencing changes. Testosterone, a steroid hormone primarily synthesized in the testes in males and in smaller quantities in the ovaries and adrenal glands in females, is essential for a wide range of physiological processes . Hormonal changes are intrinsic to human development and aging; beginning from fetal life to adulthood, the endocrine system, comprising glands such as the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, and gonads, releases hormones that regulate growth, metabolism, reproduction, and mood . This introduction provides an overview of the significant hormonal changes that occur throughout the human lifespan, particularly emphasizing testosterone's essential role in maintaining various physiological functions. However, these findings are limited by the small sample sizes and the relatively few studies available on this topic, warranting further research to better understand the full scope of testosterone's effects. The inclusion criteria are studies with descriptive, observational, and experimental approaches on healthy patients that evaluated the action of testosterone.
