Potentially harmful guidance
In Hegseth’s July announcement, he claimed that the testing and potential treatment was for “restoring and optimizing” capabilities of military members, protecting their “longevity,” and “ensuring [they] have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.”
Health experts have criticized the screening as being potentially harmful. Neither the Endocrine Society nor the American Urological Association supports routine screening for low testosterone.
Dr. Jason Goldman, an internal medicine physician and immediate past president of the American College of Physicians, told Reuters: “Taking testosterone is not going to make you more manly, more strong, or a more robust individual. That’s just not how it works,” Goldman said. “It’s just bad policy all around.”
Ars Technica previously published an explainer on testosterone screening and treatment. In it, we talked with Bradley Anawalt, the chief of medicine at the University of Washington Medical Center, who specializes in endocrinology and men’s health. He went over the evidence-based reasons against population-level screening.
Overall, “We’re turning the clock back on rational health care,” Anawalt told Ars. “I’m worried about the ethics. I’m worried about the health consequences. I’m worried about unnecessary evaluations, incorrect assessments, and incorrect diagnoses that lead to inappropriate prescriptions of testosterone.”
Risks of conventional testosterone replacement therapy include decreased fertility, high red blood cell counts, acne, increased prostate size, and sleep apnea. Higher doses are associated with higher risks of cardiovascular disease and prostate cancer.