Main description:

Testosterone makes us stronger, happier, and smarter. It also makes us meaner, more violent and more selfish. A scientific look into the vast and unexpected influence testosterone has on our behavior, our society, and our bodies.

The brain of every man-and every woman-is shaped by this tiny molecule from before birth: it propels our drive for exploration and risk, for competition and creation, and even our survival. The effects of testosterone permeate the traditions, philosophy, and literature of every known culture-without it, the world would be a drastically different place.

Testosterone also has a role in humanity's darker side, contributing to violence, hubris, poverty, crime, and selfishness. Recent revelations of the science of testosterone show that high levels will deplete compassion and generosity, and even reduce the affection we show our children.

In The Virility Paradox, internationally renowned oncologist and prostate cancer researcher Charles Ryan explores this complex chemical system responsible for a diverse spectrum of human behaviors and health in both men and women. Ryan taps his vast experience treating prostate cancer with testosterone-lowering therapy, observing that this often leads to profound changes in the patients' perspectives on their lives and relationships. Often, for the better.

Ryan uses the journeys of these patients and others to illustrate the vast and sometimes unexpected influence testosterone has on human lives. Through the stories of real men and women, he also explores the connections between testosterone and conditions like dementia, autism, and cancer, as well as the biological underpinnings of sexual assault and the effects it has on everything from crime to investing to everyday choices we make.

Integrating the molecular and the medical, sociology and storytelling, The Virility Paradox;offers a fascinating look at how one hormone has shaped history, and the connections between our biology, our behavior, and our best selves.

Contents:

Introduction

Part I The Chemical That Binds Us

1 The Litigator's Metamorphosis: From Competition to Compassion

2 Of Molecule and Mind: How Fetal Testosterone Shapes Our Thinking

3 Women and Testosterone: Inner Virility and Outer Identity

4 Bell Curves and Binaries: Womanhood and Testosterone Among the Outliers

Part II The Many Faces of Virility

5 Lifting the Fog on Love: On the Chemistry of Coupling

6 The Unquiet Sunset: Testosterone and Alzheimer's

7 The Alopecia Paradox: Of Hair and He-Men

8 The Darkest Demon: The Biological Underpinnings of Sexual Aggression

Part III Evolution, Manipulation, and Adaptation

9 Poetry and Placebos: The Ancient Quest to Rekindle Virility

10 Stronger. Faster. Happier?: Supplementation and its Discontents

11 Beauty Versus the Beast: Bodybuilding, Steroids, and the Aesthetics of Manhood

12 Winston Needs a Cuddle: Hormones and the Nurturing Environment that Shapes Families

Conclusion

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index