Terminology Cheat Sheet
Testosterone 101
TRAVERSE Study
TRAVERSE Study – TheRapy for Assessment of long-term Vascular events and Efficacy ResponSE
An important randomized study that ended in 2022, involving 5,246 men with preexisting cardiovascular issues, half used testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and half used placebo. Researchers concluded there was no increased risk of adverse cardiac incidents due to TRT. In their own words “….testosterone replacement therapy was noninferior to placebo with respect to the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events during a 22-month follow-up …” (p. 116). Researchers felt that while testosterone deficiency is not life threatening and TRT has been shown to improve quality of life, there was not enough data to negate the possible impact of cardio events with its usage. Now there is.
*Note – the word noninferior is used by scientists to indicate “not worse than”. And yes, we had to look that up.
MUST READ Research Papers
Selling Masculinity
As our heading states: READ THIS. We found it nothing short of mindblowing.
This timely qualitative analysis by Gram et al (2025) analyzes connections between the manosphere, capitalistic opportunity at any cost, gender performance, and the sobering expense of human susceptibility to social media manipulation. The obvious question arises: how to neutralize the bullshit?
Pandemic of Testosterone Abuse
In their paper Selling Masculinity researchers identify the misuse and abuse of testosterone and anabolic steroids explaining that cessation of abuse may not lead to full recovery of reproductive function.
Should anyone underestimate the reach of TRT abuse by young people, consider this information taken from the Slate article, The Low T Myth (Sept 13, 2026):
“The promotion of black-market testosterone from looksmaxxing and fitness influencers who often gloss over the risks sets off alarm bells for experts. Influencer Clavicular has openly spoken about buying testosterone illegally from the age of 14 ….”
What should be noted here is that this extensive abuse impacts the legitimate medical needs of andropausal males who may struggle to find a medical doctor willing to write the prescription for TRT.
