GOT TESTOSTERONE?

Here’s a look at the most invisible men’s health risk and how it remains neglected, despite overwhelming evidence that males need to take a closer look under the hood

- Sharan Sanil

While American novelist, Chuck Palahnuik's Fight Club had a lot to say about the purposelessness of modern-day men, tempered male aggression and self-destructive anarchy, the very first reference to masculinity in the story is a lot simpler, subtler, and closer than you think.

This in-your-face (pun intended) reference comes across in the form of Bob a 'roided-up wrestler turned testicular cancer survivor. Bob's botched hormone therapy programme resulted in him developing gynecomastia, a hormonal disorder caused by irregular levels of testosterone, or 'T', in males. Bob's unfortunate condition is a depiction of warped masculinity in both the novel and its famous film adaptation - it betrays a startling reality that hasn't changed much since the scene was first conceived in the nineties: that men have a dangerously low level of awareness of their own bodies.

THE MYSTERIOUS EFFECT OF ANDROGENS

This influence starts much earlier. While we're all aware that puberty entails the first big 'flush' of androgens - male sex hormones through a 30-fold increase in testosterone, it isn't the first time that male bodies undergo the procedure. As early as six weeks into conception, male fetuses experience a similar boost in testosterone levels, priming the brain and body for a lifetime of changes.