Sure, but females have testosterone, too. So what do they do with it?

Hey, everyone, thank you for watching DNews today. I'm Trace.

Testosterone is a sex hormone produced in the adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes.

We commonly associate it with men, because it's necessary for the production of sperm.

But according to the journal "Maturitas", it's the most abundant sex steroid in women throughout their lifespan.

In cisgender populations, men have 10 times more testosterone in their body than women,

pushing around 4 to 10 milligrams of the hormone per day through their bloodstreams.

Testosterone is recognized by the general population, but not well understood, and even scientists haven't mastered it yet.

Those commercials calling for people with "low T" to talk to their doctors, that's crazy town!

According to "The British Medical Journal", only 0.1 percent of men in their forties have low T.

So why do people care?

Because we think of it as the hormone for masculinity.

High testosterone is equated with manliness and mating success.

Though, interestingly, it is not associated with actual attractiveness.

In one study testing testosterone on female behavior, women who had believed they'd received testosterone behaved more aggressively toward other women.

What we think can influence this whole deal.

Most people learned in sex ed that testosterone production kicks in during male puberty.

The pituitary gland at the base of the brain begins releasing luteinizing hormone, or LH, and follicle-stimulating hormone, FSH.

Together they tell the testes to make testosterone, causing development of the penis and testes,

larger muscles, deeper voices, increased height, and so on, and so on.

But in females, 50 percent of their T comes from their ovaries and adrenal gland throughout their lives.

The rest is naturally converted from base androgens to testosterone elsewhere in the body as needed.

Androgens are sort of like the building blocks of hormones,

like estrogen and testosterone.

Testosterone is the skeleton key to so much in our bodies, and the levels in each and every person will vary.

Testosterone naturally fluctuates throughout the day, and over our lifetimes.

Levels usually peak in the morning and then drop throughout the day.

In men, they peak during puberty, lowering by 1 to 2 percent every year after 40—that's normal.

But female testosterone production is less well understood overall, which can cause all sorts of issues.

It seems to help grow healthy bones, which is great for women.

But upping intake can cause blood clots, cancers, and other deadly issues in all humans.

Successful athletes often have more testosterone, male and female both, but not necessarily.

Some women with the highest natural levels top men with the lowest natural levels.

A single study found 13.7 percent of women with testosterone levels higher than the average female athlete.

And when the International Olympic Committee tested the female athletic population of the 2011 Daegu, South Korea World Championships,

they found some women—1.5 to 4.7 percent—at the lowest male average levels, while 1.8 percent of the men were within the typical female range.

As women enter menopause, testosterone production halts, perhaps to lower libido, but we don't really know why.

Female testosterone has been connected with female body shape, fertility and physical changes, athletic abilities, making women nicer to others to gain social standing.

It's even been associated with ladies crying to release it to chemically communicate to other people around them.

Another study found women taking testosterone were more opinionated and less productive while in groups, focusing more on themselves.

And yet, another study on top of that, found that testosterone boosted lady libido.

But study participants in that one were also on antidepressants.

So again, testosterone is not well understood, and even though we know more about it with men,

we're still kind of bumbling overall.

There's not even a strong connection between testosterone and physical violence.

But if you ask the average person, they would say that there is.

What we do know is testosterone prepares the body to respond to competition, sexuality, and changes in social status.

But outside of that, science gets a little nebulous.

Ultimately, there doesn't seem to be an exact testosterone number that's right for everyone.

Do you have a science question? Do you want to know more about something?

Go ahead and tell us down in the comments.

But why doesn't the general public have a better understanding of sexuality and sexual health?

Maybe because we're educating wrong?

Julia's got a great video on sex ed—what works and what doesn't. Check that out right here.

But more recently in 2010, funding was also put towards what's called comprehensive sex ed.

This can also emphasize waiting to have sex, but it also talks about how to keep yourself safe.

Like how to use a condom, what birth control options are out there, that kind of thing.

Thank you for watching DNews. We'll see you tomorrow with more videos.