Testosterone: Unpacking the Master Male Hormone's Lifelong Impact From Conception to Adulthood
Testosterone Explained: Your Guide to the Body's Male Master Switch and What It Does For Your Body When people hear the word "testosterone," they probably think about things like muscles, beards, and a deep voice, and they are correct. However, testosterone gets a bad rap from people that generally don’t understand it. Testosterone is indeed the main male hormone, and it plays a huge role in developing those classic male characteristics, but its job is far more important and extensive and starts even before birth and influencing everything from mood to bone strength throughout a man’s life. The Genesis of "Maleness": How Testosterone Shapes Men From the Start It may come as a surprise to learn that for the first six weeks of fetal development, every human embryo, regardless of whether it's going to be a boy or a girl, starts out with identical reproductive parts. It's literally a blank slate at that point. However, around week seven, there is a s...