THE TRUTH ABOUT TESTOSTERONE

Men are spending a lot of money on hormone supplements to boost manliness, muscles and mood. But many are not aware of some serious risks

- STEPHANIE PAPPAS

ROB, 42, IS A FITNESS GUY. He loves working out, spends his spare time in the jujitsu gym and eats a high-protein diet heavy on avocado oil. He cares about his health and wants to optimize it, and a lot of the social media influencers he follows are the same.

So a few years back, when Rob started seeing ads for testosterone replacement therapy-TRT-pop up in his feeds, he was intrigued. (Names of patients in this story have been changed to protect their privacy.) Rob was already a man in good shape. But testosterone sounded like a great way to get an extra edge.

"I bought into what I was listening to on social media, which is, 'You're going to feel better, you're going to get stronger, and you're going to look better,"" he says.

Rob went to a local, privately owned clinic. There he got a blood test, which revealed that his testosterone was well within normal range. "I certainly didn't need TRT," he says.

The clinic prescribed it anyway.

Rahim, 48, tells a similar story. He walked into a men's health clinic a decade ago looking for an energy and fitness boost.

He got an injection that very day. On subsequent visits the clinic pushed his dose higher and higher, but he perceived little benefit. "I just felt like I was taken advantage of," he says now. "I felt like somebody was using my body to make money." Testosterone therapy-prescription supplements in the form of pills, patches, injections or implantable pellets-has probably never been more publicized or popular. Podcaster Joe Rogan is on it. On Reddit and on TikTok, on highway billboards and in TV commercials, you'll see testimonials in praise of TRT promising mood boosts, better sex, extra energy and quite possibly an abdominal six-pack. The global market has been estimated at $1.9 billion.