Men Behaving Sadly? It Might Be the Hormones

February 28, 2002

Thu Feb 28, 7:22 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - It's the news all women have been waiting for. Hormones

wreak havoc on men's lives too.

Lack of testosterone leaves men bad-tempered, emotional, depressed and

suffering from Irritable Male Syndrome, scientist Gerald Lincoln told BBC

radio's Today program Thursday.

" It has an amusing side because we realize the frailties of men and how

hormones do affect their behavior. But there is a serious side in that men's

behavior can be compromised by their hormone state, " he said.

Unlike women's hormonal state which moves in cycles, it is extreme

circumstances, like accidents or serious illness, which trigger slides in

men's hormonal levels, said Lincoln, who works at Edinburgh's Human

Reproductive Sciences Unit.

But a shot of testosterone can make it all better with previously withdrawn

men showing heightened energy, motivation and sex drive, he added.

It did not however solve the age-old problem of traditional male inability

to wash the dishes.

The link between male irritability and testosterone was discussed originally

in science journal Reproduction, Fertility and Development.

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