Average testosterone levels by age: does it really decline?

A lot of people think that the average testosterone levels by age are on the decrease.

You might have seen the common statistic that testosterone declines by 100 ng/dL every ten years or 1% every year after the age of 35 (R).

Well, that is false and has been disproven by a multitude of studies (R, R, R, R, R, R).

Average testosterone levels by age remain the same!

I’m going to show you 5 studies that looked at 1000s of men in America, China, India, Malaysia and Europe and found that testosterone does not decrease with age.

Study 1 – (average testosterone levels by age in over 1000 healthy males)

The following study (which included over 10,000 healthy males aged between 3 and 101 years) showed that testosterone peaks (on average) at 15.4 (range of 7.2–31.1) nmol/L at 19 years of age and then falls in the average case to 13.0 (6.6–25.3) nmol/L by age 40 years. After that, they found no further decline (R).

Study 2 – (average testosterone levels by age in over 9054 healthy males)

This study looking at 9054 community-dwelling men in the United States and Europe found that testosterone doesn’t drop with age (R).

Testosterone remained more or less the same over all ages. The 5th percentile is the 5% of men with the lowest T and the 95th percentile is the 5% of men with the highest T. That means that the average T across America and Europe is just under 500ng/dl, the highest around 800-900ng/dl and the lowest between 200-300ng/dl.

Plus, this also shows that an 80-year-old can have a testosterone level of close to 900ng/dl.

Study 3 (average testosterone levels by age in US between 2011-2012)

Another study looked at 3419 men during 2011–2012 in the US and found that testosterone didn’t decline with age (R).

Study 4 – (average testosterone levels by age in Malaysia, China and India)

Among 604 men across Malaysia, China and India, testosterone was non-significantly lower in older men than young men (R). This means that it was so slightly lower that it almost didn’t matter. It’s like testosterone of 550ng/dl at age 20 declined to 500ng/dl at age 80.

Study 5 – (average testosterone levels by age in China)

A total of 1213 Chinese adult men participated in this study. As you can see, the average remained the same from 20s to 80s (R).

What causes the average testosterone levels by age to drop?

Some men can maintain their testosterone with age whereas others experience a drop. Why is that?

It’s because testosterone is lowered by comorbidities such as poor sleep, sleep apnea, stress, malnutrition, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, thyroid disease, drinking too much alcohol, heavy metal accumulation, etc.

Here are a few stats for you!

Sleep apnea and testosterone

The worse sleep apnea is, the lower testosterone is.

Obesity and testosterone

Obese individuals (with a BMI >30 kg/m²) have an 8.7-fold increased risk of secondary hypogonadism, while about 75% of subjects with severe obesity (BMI > 40 kg/m²) have hypogonadism (R).

Men with a BMI of 35–40 kg/m² can have up to 50% less free and total testosterone when compared to age-matched peers with a normal BMI (R).

Diabetes and testosterone

Men with diabetes have lower levels of testosterone than men without (R). (as you can see in the graph on the right)

Chronic stress and testosterone

A study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology in 2013 found that chronically stressed men had 50% lower testosterone levels than those with lower levels of stress.

A 2005 study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine found that men who reported high levels of work-related stress had 20% lower testosterone levels compared to lesser-stress men.

Hypothyroidism and testosterone

32.9% of patients with hypothyroidism also have hypogonadism (R).

The first study in 1975 reported that 10 out of 33 (30%) men with varicoceles had decreased testosterone levels and erectile dysfunction, and both symptoms improved in those men after varicocelectomy (R).

Alcohol and testosterone

researchers gave students the equivalent of a pint of 86-proof whiskey per day for 30 days (R). They were hypogonadal at the end of 30 days.

Summary

The average testosterone levels by age are not on the decrease. Having low testosterone is not an excuse.

In reality, only 0.6% of healthy men or 0.4% of lean men developed functional hypogonadism (R). You don’t have to be one of them.

• The complete guide on how to maximize testosterone
• 12 best foods for increasing testosterone
• Testosterone boosting diet plan
• Top 5 breakfast recipes for high testosterone

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