{"id":785920,"date":"2026-07-26T18:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/785920\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T18:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:47:20","slug":"as-hegseth-pursues-a-high-t-military-heres-what-to-know-about-testosterone-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/785920\/","title":{"rendered":"As Hegseth pursues a ‘High-T’ military, here’s what to know about testosterone replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on PolitiFact<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he plans to test U.S. service members’ testosterone levels each year.<\/p>\n

In a July 15 X\u00a0post<\/a>, Hegseth called for a “High-T Department of War” and said in a video that “war fighters age 30 and older” would be screened as part of their existing\u00a0annual health assessments<\/a>. Service members under age 30 could voluntarily opt in, he said.<\/p>\n

If low testosterone treatment is recommended, Hegseth said a patient can choose whether to receive testosterone replacement therapy.<\/p>\n

REAAD MORE: Hegseth announces new policy to test troops for low testosterone and offer them hormone replacement therapy<\/a><\/p>\n

“This initiative \u2014 it’s not about artificial enhancement,” he\u00a0said<\/a>. “It’s about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.”<\/p>\n

But when it comes to testosterone levels, optimization isn’t so straightforward. Scientists don’t agree on a single value that is too low. It depends on a person’s sex, age and symptoms, among other factors. Not everyone who receives one blood test showing lower testosterone levels needs testosterone replacement therapy, which can have benefits but also comes with risks.<\/p>\n

There’s also not a lot of clarity about what this policy will look like in practice, and the Defense Department declined to answer many of our specific questions. A July 15 Pentagon spokesperson statement confirmed the testosterone deficiency screening Hegseth spoke about would be\u00a0mandatory<\/a>\u00a0for all active duty and reserve personnel 30 and older.<\/p>\n

What is a healthy testosterone level?<\/p>\n

How much testosterone a body needs and naturally makes varies from person to person. No single number represents whether a person’s testosterone level is healthy, but doctors have identified some acceptable ranges.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Trump officials want to make testosterone drugs easier to prescribe. Is that a good idea?<\/a><\/p>\n

For adult men, the Endocrine Society says normal testosterone levels\u00a0span<\/a>\u00a0from about 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter. This measurement is used in medical lab testing; a nanogram is one billionth of a gram and a deciliter is one-tenth of a liter. A 2017 study of more than 9,000 men in the U.S. and Europe\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0normal testosterone levels in a similar range, 264 to 916 nanograms per deciliter.<\/p>\n

Adult women’s testosterone levels are naturally lower and vary with factors such as\u00a0age<\/a>. Women generally have from 15 to 46 nanograms of testosterone per deciliter, Cleveland Clinic\u00a0reported<\/a>. The\u00a0University of Rochester Medicine<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Medical News Today’s<\/a>\u00a0ranges are a little larger: 15 to 70 nanograms of testosterone per deciliter.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, a person’s reproductive or sexual anatomy doesn’t fit the typical definitions of male or female (often called\u00a0intersex<\/a>), which can also affect someone’s natural hormone production and needs.<\/p>\n

As people age, their testosterone levels naturally decrease. Between\u00a0roughly<\/a>\u00a030<\/a>\u00a0and 40<\/a>\u00a0years old, men’s testosterone levels begin to drop by about 1% to 2% per year.<\/p>\n

When are someone’s testosterone levels too low?<\/p>\n

There’s no consensus on a single value as being too low. Testosterone levels are typically checked using a\u00a0blood test<\/a>. (At-home saliva tests are also available, but their\u00a0accuracy<\/a>\u00a0is uncertain<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

A man who doesn’t make enough testosterone by clinical standards can be diagnosed with\u00a0hypogonadism<\/a>\u00a0or<\/a>\u00a0low testosterone, which means he has<\/a>\u00a0low hormone levels coupled with\u00a0testosterone deficiency<\/a>\u00a0symptoms.<\/a>\u00a0These symptoms\u00a0include<\/a>\u00a0lowered sex drive, erectile dysfunction, low sperm count or infertility, breast enlargement and tenderness, fatigue and lost muscle mass. The benchmark is typically that a man’s testosterone level repeatedly falls somewhere below 280 to 320 nanograms per deciliter, according to\u00a0a 2017 study<\/a>\u00a0published in the journal Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings.<\/p>\n

But testosterone levels\u00a0constantly<\/a>\u00a0fluctuate<\/a>. To confirm low testosterone levels in men, doctors\u00a0require<\/a>\u00a0at least\u00a0two morning tests<\/a>\u00a0on different days that show\u00a0low testosterone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“For people with borderline-low testosterone levels, a repeat test would show a normal range about 30% of the time,” Harvard Health\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There’s no clear benchmark for\u00a0testosterone deficiency<\/a>\u00a0in women, and most testosterone\u00a0tests are<\/a>\u00a0bad at detecting<\/a>\u00a0testosterone at the low levels present in women. For these reasons, a low testosterone diagnosis is made based on her\u00a0symptoms<\/a>\u00a0and blood test results.<\/p>\n

Symptoms of low testosterone in women\u00a0include<\/a>\u00a0lowered sex drive, fatigue, loss of strength and muscle tone, depression and anxiety, irregular menstrual cycles, vaginal dryness, hair thinning and insomnia. A doctor\u00a0might recommend<\/a>\u00a0testing a woman’s testosterone on specific days of her menstrual cycle because the levels can\u00a0fluctuate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“It is a challenge to definitively base treatment off of a number,” said Katie Horner, a physician assistant at Internal Medicine and Family Physicians in Omaha Nebraska. “I always say, treat the patient, not the lab value.”<\/p>\n

What is testosterone replacement therapy?<\/p>\n

Sometimes called TRT, testosterone replacement therapy involves taking\u00a0external forms<\/a>\u00a0of testosterone to\u00a0increase<\/a>\u00a0a person’s natural levels. It can\u00a0come<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0many forms<\/a>, including patches, injections, pellets, pills and creams or gels.<\/p>\n

The treatment can vary from patient to patient, depending on what form of testosterone is\u00a0prescribed<\/a>. People might apply gel daily, administer a weekly or biweekly injection or take pills twice a day.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ravi Iyengar, an endocrinologist at UC San Diego Health, said that the best candidates are people with lab-confirmed low testosterone and actual deficiency symptoms.<\/p>\n

“But our first goal as endocrinologists is always to help your body produce its own testosterone if possible, as there are significant implications to taking outside (exogenous) hormones,” he said.<\/p>\n

What are the benefits of testosterone replacement therapy?<\/p>\n

For people with a testosterone deficiency, replacement therapy can\u00a0improve<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0symptoms<\/a>\u00a0that often prompt people to seek out the treatment. “It can restore energy, protect bone density, support healthy metabolic function, and improve libido and sexual health,” Iyengar said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A package of Testoviron Depot, a testosterone injection, lies at a pharmacy in Bengaluru, India, June 24, 2026. Photo by Priyanshu Singh\/Reuters<\/p>\n

What are the risks of testosterone replacement therapy?<\/p>\n

The most significant risk is that once someone starts testosterone replacement therapy, it could eventually be\u00a0difficult<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0impossible<\/a>\u00a0to opt out without side effects, including infertility.<\/p>\n

“When you take outside testosterone, your body stops making its own,” Iyengar said.<\/p>\n

Because the body needs its own testosterone to produce sperm, external testosterone use can lead to\u00a0decreased sperm production<\/a>\u00a0and testicle shrinkage. The therapy\u00a0can<\/a>\u00a0also worsen a man’s sleep apnea, cause acne, stimulate prostate growth and cause breast tenderness or enlargement. It can also\u00a0increase<\/a>\u00a0red blood cell production,\u00a0thickening<\/a>\u00a0the blood and increasing the\u00a0risks<\/a>\u00a0of clots or stroke.<\/p>\n

For women, side effects\u00a0can<\/a>\u00a0include<\/a>\u00a0acne, excessive sweating, and increased facial or body hair growth.<\/p>\n

What are the options for a woman whose screening shows low testosterone?<\/p>\n

There is no FDA-approved testosterone replacement treatment\u00a0specifically<\/a>\u00a0for women<\/a>, but\u00a0off-label<\/a>\u00a0treatments can be prescribed to women with dose adjustments.<\/p>\n

Research<\/a>\u00a0supports<\/a>\u00a0off-label use of testosterone replacement therapies (often\u00a0creams<\/a>) to\u00a0treat<\/a>\u00a0women experiencing low sex drive, particularly\u00a0during<\/a>\u00a0and after menopause.<\/p>\n

Is testosterone replacement therapy gender-affirming care?<\/p>\n

It can be considered gender-affirming care, yes.<\/p>\n

Gender-affirming care is an\u00a0individualized approach<\/a>\u00a0to health care that encourages and supports a person’s gender identity. Although people might think this type of care is only for transgender or gender diverse people, that’s\u00a0not necessarily the case<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since the 1940s, hormone therapies have been prescribed to\u00a0boys<\/a>\u00a0considered too short and girls considered too tall. A July 2024 JAMA Network Open paper found that males who are cisgender \u2014 meaning their gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth \u2014\u00a0received far more<\/a>\u00a0breast reductions, a surgery that can be gender-affirming, than transgender and\u00a0gender diverse<\/a>\u00a0people.<\/p>\n

In their\u00a02023 paper<\/a>, bioethicists Theodore Schall and Jacob Moses\u00a0argued<\/a>\u00a0that a key element of deciding whether a medical intervention is considered gender-affirming care hinges on the patient’s perspective.<\/p>\n

They\u00a0examined<\/a>\u00a0medical procedures cisgender people receive that can be gender-affirming, including breast reconstruction after mastectomy, penile implants after testicular cancer and hormone replacement therapy.<\/p>\n

“These common treatments allow cisgender people to live more comfortably in their bodies and to realize authentic versions of themselves,” Schall, a University of Massachusetts Amherst health policy and management professor,\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0The Hastings Center for Bioethics. “Gender is an important part of that full human experience, and giving people the gendered bodily experiences that align with who they are contributes to overall well-being.”<\/p>\n

\n A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy.\n <\/p>\n

\n Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue.\n <\/p>\n


\n Donate now<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article originally appeared on PolitiFact. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he plans to test U.S. service members’…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-785920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}