Hegseth said in a video titled "The High T Department of War” that service members found to have “testosterone deficiency” could choose to receive testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Hegseth said he had authorized the screenings to ensure that service members “have the right testosterone levels” to operate at their “absolute best.”
He didn’t specify if female service members would also be screened and have access to TRT. The Pentagon told TIME that it had no additional information to provide beyond Hegseth’s video and a department statement containing similar information.
“There’s no free lunch. There are side effects,” says Dr. Jeff Morrison, a urologist at the University of Colorado. “If you are interested in further fertility, then TRT is probably not a good option.”
Hegseth didn’t mention TRT’s side effects or the long-term nature of the treatment in the video, and he did not discuss alternative interventions, such as lifestyle changes, that can raise testosterone levels.
But some symptomatic people do need TRT to raise their testosterone to normal levels, and for them, the treatment can “truly be life-changing," Morrison says. “Men don’t deserve to suffer from low testosterone. But they have to be properly counseled on the risks and benefits of therapy.”
But medical guidelines don’t recommend testing testosterone levels unless a man has signs or symptoms that suggest a deficiency, such as low libido, erectile dysfunction, and anemia, or has a high-risk medical condition that can cause low testosterone such as HIV.
But some doctors say that screening all men over age 30, including those without symptoms, could provide important health insights.
Low testosterone is often a signal that something is amiss in the body, says Khera. “Low T is like having the check engine light on. Maybe you’re stressed or having poor sleep or had a recent illness.” In some cases, the cause could be a disease such as cancer or a pituitary disorder.
Testing testosterone levels at a younger age could provide someone with a baseline number to which they could compare as they grow older, Khera says. The bigger the drop in testosterone over time, the more pronounced the negative effects, he says.
“I wouldn’t treat someone with TRT if they weren’t symptomatic” or had normal testosterone levels, says Khera, who helped publish seminal research on TRT and in 2025 led a U.S. Food and Drug Administration expert panel on the treatment. “They would be stuck on it for life, so you want it to be done properly.” .
TRT was previously thought to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but newer research, including a large 2023 study that Khera co-authored, has refuted that idea.
Citing new research, HHS said in June that it is seeking to remove limits on the use of TRT products in men with age-related low testosterone and revise product warning labels related to heart and prostate cancer risks. TRT products in the U.S. are currently only FDA-approved for men who lack or have low testosterone levels linked to an associated medical condition.
Hence then, the article about what urologists think of the military s new testosterone testing policy was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( What Urologists Think of the Military’s New Testosterone Testing Policy )
Also on site :