Too much testosterone is bad
Washington - Too much testosterone can kill brain cells, researchers said on Tuesday in a finding that may help explain why steroid abuse can cause behaviour changes like aggressiveness and suicidal tendencies.
Tests on brain cells in lab dishes showed that while a little of the male hormone is good, too much of it causes cells to self-destruct in a process similar to that seen in brain illnesses such as Alzheimer's.
Testosterone is key to the development, differentiation and growth of cells and is produced by both men and women, although men produce about 20 times more of the hormone. It can also be abused, and recent scandals have involved athletes who use the hormone, or steroids that turn into testosterone in the body, for an unfair advantage.
"We can show that when you have high levels of steroids, you have high testosterone and that can destroy the nerve cells. We know that when you lose brain cells you lose function," said Barbara Ehrlich of Yale University in Connecticut, who led the study.
Ehrlich's team tried the same thing with the "female" hormone oestrogen, just to be fair.
"We were surprised, but it actually looks like oestrogen is neuroprotective. If anything, there is less cell death in the presence of oestrogen," she said.
Writing in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Ehrlich and colleagues said their findings meant people should think twice about supplementing with testosterone, even if it does build muscle mass and aid recovery after exercise.
"Next time a muscle-bound guy in a sports car cuts you off on the highway, don't get mad - just take a deep breath and realise that it might not be his fault," Ehrlich said.
The cells die via a process called apoptosis, also known as cell suicide or programmed cell death.
News24.com
Apoptosis. Definitely adding that to the list of random vocab: "No, I do not want to go home with you, you apoptistic moron."
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