Re:Testosterone levels show steady decrease among young US men
by haihaibye on Thursday January 14, 2021 @04:39PM
(#25782984)
1999-2000 is a period in the past when they had measurements.
I mean ideally they'd have huge numbers of testosterone samples from all of human history, but what are they going to do?
Re:Testosterone levels show steady decrease among young US men
by thejoeflow on Thursday January 14, 2021 @04:41PM
(#25783026)
it's a reference point? The article isn't comparing to some platonic ideal of what men's testosterone levels should be...it's just pointing out a statistically significant decrease in those levels over a period of 20 years
Was 1999-2000 that golden age when we all threshed the fields by hand and steered the plows on foot ?
I remember people being quite sedentary and obese then and I don't know that an activity comparison to 1999-2000 has any utility ...
EDIT: OK, I am thinking about this backwards - if, as I suggest, people were just as sedentary in the first period as they are in the second, then the T drop begs a different explanation. As you suggest, they also corrected for age.
So, perhaps, my instinct is wrong. I would still look very closely at the (adjusted, corrected) physical activity before drawing any other conclusions ...