Pete Hegseth’s plan for “High T” forces is a junk science fever dream

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has made no secret of his desire for a manlier man army.

He constantly argues that the US Armed Forces Reduced its combat standards In order to include women. He organized many of the photographs he was in exercises and Iron pumps With service members. Hegseth says in his speeches that the Trump administration is working to restore “Warrior spirit“To her legions of”Warriors“.

Now he has a somewhat questionable plan to ensure the troops are as muscular as possible: testosterone screenings and, in cases where an individual’s testosterone is judged deficient, voluntary hormone therapy.

“Under the supervision of world-class medical professionals, fighters aged 30 or older will be tested annually as part of their regular health assessment,” Hegseth said in a statement. Short video It was posted on his official X account on Wednesday. He explained that people under the age of 30 will be able to participate in these assessments as well.

“If treatment is recommended, it is completely up to you to receive testosterone replacement therapy,” Hegseth added.

Addressing service members directly, Hegseth said without providing evidence that the program would benefit “your long-term performance, resilience and health.” He also announced that the initiative “is not about artificial enhancement”, but rather “restoring and improving your natural abilities, protecting your longevity, and ensuring you have the biological foundation needed to keep fighting.”

Adrian Dobbs, who researches gonadal endocrine function at Johns Hopkins University, tells WIRED that she was “quite surprised that this is what they were thinking about,” and that “it’s very complicated to diagnose male hypogonadism,” the medical term for the testicles not producing enough testosterone.

Dobbs says Hegseth appears to radically oversimplify complex issues involved in diagnosing low testosterone, including the variability of testosterone levels depending on the type of test (or analysis) being performed and even the time of day the test is performed.

She notes that because of circadian rhythms, the hormone is typically seen at “higher levels in the morning and lower throughout the day.” Another logistical problem lies in individual circumstances, Dobbs says. For example, there is a difference between testing “a healthy person sitting at a desk” and testing someone returning “from basic training or overseas who may have lost weight and been under a great deal of physical stress at the time,” as chronic stress can occur. Inhibits the production of testosterone.

Hegseth’s view of testosterone itself is “misguided,” according to Dobbs. “Testosterone is a very important hormone that plays a major role in puberty and masculinity,” she says. “But it’s not something that will make you smarter. It’s not something that will make you live longer — we simply don’t have any data to suggest that.” She adds that a longevity claim would be very difficult to prove anyway.

The Pentagon declined to comment beyond Hegseth’s description of the screening and treatment process, so it’s unclear what specific results the Defense Department expects to achieve by administering testosterone to untold numbers of active-duty service members, or whether women in the armed forces will also undergo hormone evaluations. The Department of Defense also did not announce which scientific research or medical experts, if any, informed this decision.

Aside from the problems of trying to determine “normal” amounts of testosterone and standardizing the screening process, Dobbs says, using testosterone replacement as an easy solution to deficiency ignores the standard diagnostic practice, which is to identify and treat any underlying condition first. Possible root causes — ranging from kidney or liver disease to diabetes — should be addressed “before starting any hormonal intervention,” she says.