The US armed forces will test for testosterone-hormone deficiency. The screening will be carried out as part of the annual health check for service members aged 30 or above, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
BBC Online reported the news. In a video posted on the social-media platform X, Hegseth said the screening programme had been approved to ensure that members of the armed forces could carry out their duties at their best capacity. Soldiers found to have low testosterone levels will be offered optional hormone-replacement therapy. The test is not mandatory for those under 30, but they can have it done if they wish.
In Wednesday’s video, Hegseth also said the programme was part of the obligation to provide the world’s best medical care to “our warriors.” He did not, however, specify whether the screening process would apply to female service members, even though women’s testosterone levels also fall with age.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the testosterone-level testing would take effect immediately for all members of both the active and reserve forces aged 30 or above. After the announcement, Iraq war veteran and Armed Services Committee member, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, called on the defence secretary to arrange the hormone test for both men and women.
Dr Mohit Khera, who last year led a US Food and Drug Administration expert panel on testosterone use and screening in the military, said on Wednesday that all men over 30 should have the test, as it is a key indicator of a person’s current and future overall health.
Khera, a professor in the urology department at Baylor College of Medicine, said the main point was that many young men have low testosterone levels, which set them back in muscle and strength — a big problem on the battlefield. But he added that no one should be given testosterone needlessly in the absence of symptoms, and that caution was needed. Explaining the benefits of hormone-replacement therapy, he said it increases muscle mass, prevents fat accumulation and lowers the risk of depression.
Over time it can also help increase bone density, he said, but warned that it is not for everyone. Khera said that if young men take testosterone it can cause infertility, so anyone of childbearing age must understand that it could make them infertile.
It could also, theoretically, raise the risk of heart disease. Hegseth’s announcement came just after US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and other administration officials tried to remove barriers for doctors prescribing testosterone to men. The health secretary has also presented it as a solution to a national reproductive crisis.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report