Study shows testosterone therapy can’t fix sexless marriages

There are no shortcuts to great sex.

New research shows that although men have long held the theory that higher testosterone levels lead to a stronger libido, the evidence for its impact on sexual performance is weak.

More than 10 million men in the United States suffer from erectile dysfunction, and many more complain of low libido, leading to sexless marriages.

When drugs, exercise, and therapy don’t work, many desperate singles and spouses turn to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to improve their lackluster sex lives.

TRT is designed to treat men diagnosed with testosterone deficiency or hypogonadism. Regular artificial injections of testosterone are said to help patients improve their libido, sexual function, fertility and mood.

On Reddit, approximately 178,000 users have joined the forum /r/Testosterone to read and discuss the benefits and side effects of TRT. Meanwhile, in the Reddit subreddit /r/DeadBedrooms, where 485,000 depressed and depressed users went to commiserate about their sexless relationships, countless TRT supporters backed the life-changing treatment to stitch their broken hearts back together. Together.

However, an international team of researchers led by the University of California, Santa Barbara has published a new study that reveals the complex truth behind testosterone’s role in sexual reproduction.

Unfortunately, they found no significant link between fluctuations in testosterone levels and male sexual desire, especially in long-term relationships.

The findings “argue against the effectiveness of testosterone prescription for treating low sexual desire in men with testosterone concentrations within the normal range,” the researchers wrote.

The study included 41 men aged 18 to 26, either single or married, whose testosterone levels were within the “normal” range. During the 31-day testing period, participants submitted daily saliva samples and self-report questionnaires about sexual desire and dating effort.

Their data showed that only single men produced higher testosterone on days when they reported interacting with potential partners, suggesting the body was preparing for potential mates and competition from other men. Previous animal studies have shown that both birds and primates produce higher levels of testosterone when competing with other males.

However, husbands and boyfriends who interacted regularly with their wives and girlfriends during the test period showed no such changes in testosterone levels despite experiencing typical male urges.

“Testosterone and cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in single men than in partnered men,” the researchers noted. However, they also observed “a trend toward higher sexual desire in partnered men.”

Their analysis showed that partnered men had just as much, if not more, sexual desire as single men and only needed a standard dose of testosterone to satisfy it.

“These findings corroborate previous research that men require only a certain amount of baseline testosterone for sexual desire, above which changes in testosterone do not reliably affect sexual desire,” the researchers concluded.