3 ms·

Yet another symptom of the obesity epidemic.

thatguy0900 6y ago
That's not all of it. "Lokeshwar noted that even men with a normal BMI (18.5-24.9) had declining total testosterone levels (P < .05) during the same time frames." lack of hard physical labor in general, or modern diets just being filled with hormones?
- nabergh 6y ago
  Isn't it a fair question to ask though whether the average BMI of those with a "normal BMI" (18.5-24.9) changed during the time frames of interest? And if it did, couldn't that still be a cause?
- rychco 6y ago
  Lack of hard physical labor, combined with increasing average caloric intake may contribute to lower average muscle mass & total testosterone while still maintaining a "normal" BMI. I don't have evidence to support this, but this is my guess for falling testosterone within the "normal" BMI range over time (in addition to the effect of environmental pollutants on hormones).
- likpok 6y ago
  The "real" measure of how fat you are is body-fat percentage, which can vary at a given BMI level. It's not hard to imagine that people have gotten fatter at the same BMI level, as well as people being at the higher end of the "normal" range.
netizen-9748 6y ago
My money is on the ubiquitous endocrine disruptors that have polluted our ecosystem
- mamon 6y ago
  Yeah, all that soy lattes start to add up :)
  - WalterSear 6y ago
    That's a myth from the 80s.
  - netizen-9748 6y ago
    Oh, I didn't realise soy was a pollutant. Interesting.
ravenstine 6y ago
It's not the only cause but, from my experience, it's a big one, no pun intended. I might have made different diet choices as a young man if I knew that body fat aromatizes testosterone into estrogen. This is the primary cause for most cases of gynecomastia, which is why it's rare to see a man with breasts who isn't also overweight to some extent. Obesity is effectively feminizing a large portion of men and lowering their sexual market value. Overall, I think obesity is making people less attracted to each other, which can partially explain the decline in the rate of reproduction.
- Coding_Cat 6y ago
  > which is why it's rare to see a man with breasts who isn't also overweight to some extent. While (assumedly) true, I feel the need to note that the reverse does not hold generally: 'man boobs' are purely fat in nearly all cases and will go away when someone loses weight. Gynecomastia is breast tissue and does not go away if you lose weight.
- fortran77 6y ago
  In my opinion, it's the biggest problem facing us. Even this COVID pandemic would have been much less expensive without an obese population, because our hospital capacity may not have been pushed to its limits. CDC says being obese triples the likelihood a person would need hospitalization: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html I don't see a solution. We're not going to be able to use the same techniques used to get people not to smoke to address the obesity problem.

That's not all of it. "Lokeshwar noted that even men with a normal BMI (18.5-24.9) had declining total testosterone levels (P < .05) during the same time frames." lack of hard physical labor in general, or modern diets just being filled with hormones?

nabergh 6y ago
Isn't it a fair question to ask though whether the average BMI of those with a "normal BMI" (18.5-24.9) changed during the time frames of interest? And if it did, couldn't that still be a cause?
rychco 6y ago
Lack of hard physical labor, combined with increasing average caloric intake may contribute to lower average muscle mass & total testosterone while still maintaining a "normal" BMI. I don't have evidence to support this, but this is my guess for falling testosterone within the "normal" BMI range over time (in addition to the effect of environmental pollutants on hormones).
likpok 6y ago
The "real" measure of how fat you are is body-fat percentage, which can vary at a given BMI level. It's not hard to imagine that people have gotten fatter at the same BMI level, as well as people being at the higher end of the "normal" range.

netizen-9748 6y ago

My money is on the ubiquitous endocrine disruptors that have polluted our ecosystem

mamon 6y ago
Yeah, all that soy lattes start to add up :)
- WalterSear 6y ago
  That's a myth from the 80s.
- netizen-9748 6y ago
  Oh, I didn't realise soy was a pollutant. Interesting.

ravenstine 6y ago

It's not the only cause but, from my experience, it's a big one, no pun intended. I might have made different diet choices as a young man if I knew that body fat aromatizes testosterone into estrogen. This is the primary cause for most cases of gynecomastia, which is why it's rare to see a man with breasts who isn't also overweight to some extent. Obesity is effectively feminizing a large portion of men and lowering their sexual market value. Overall, I think obesity is making people less attracted to each other, which can partially explain the decline in the rate of reproduction.

Coding_Cat 6y ago
> which is why it's rare to see a man with breasts who isn't also overweight to some extent. While (assumedly) true, I feel the need to note that the reverse does not hold generally: 'man boobs' are purely fat in nearly all cases and will go away when someone loses weight. Gynecomastia is breast tissue and does not go away if you lose weight.
fortran77 6y ago
In my opinion, it's the biggest problem facing us. Even this COVID pandemic would have been much less expensive without an obese population, because our hospital capacity may not have been pushed to its limits. CDC says being obese triples the likelihood a person would need hospitalization: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html I don't see a solution. We're not going to be able to use the same techniques used to get people not to smoke to address the obesity problem.