History of Testosterone
Testosterone is the principal male sex hormone, and it also plays an essential role in women’s overall health and wellness. This naturally occurring steroid hormone is found in mammals, reptiles, birds and other vertebrates. Home to the ‘Androgen Group’, testosterone contributes to the growth of male sex organs and the development of sex characteristics. History Of Testosterone 1849 - Arnold Adolph Berthold, a German physiologist and zoologist, pioneered experiments in endocrinology. Berthold’s research was primarily directed towards the gonads and their role in sexual characteristics. In 1849, Berthold performed a groundbreaking experiment with chicken castration. Berthold’s discovered that testicular action was correlated to circulating blood fractions - now known as the androgen hormone family. 1889 - A Harvard professor, Charles Édouard Brown Séquard, extracted a “rejuvenating elixir” from dog and guinea pig testicles. Then, at 72 years of age, he self injected the extracted elixir before reporting that his vigor and feeling of well being were restored. “I have made use, in subcutaneous injections, of a liquid containing a very small quantity of water mixed with the three following parts: First, blood of the testicular veins; secondly, semen; and thirdly, juice extracted from a testicle crushed immediately after it has been taken from a dog or guinea-pig.” - Séquard Over the months of May through June of 1889, Séquard injected himself ten times with this elixir. He reported being able to work on his feet for hours at a time. He also said he could run up the stairs to his lab. Objective tests also proved that his arm strength had increased by a significant amount. However, after suffering plenty of ridicule from his colleagues, Séquard abandoned his research on the effects of androgens. * This wasn’t the only experiment Séquard performed on himself. Séquard also swallowed a sponge attached to a string to investigate the digestive fluids within the stomach. He was interested in what caused “rumination,” a digestive problem that caused partially digested food to come back up into the mouth to be chewed and swallowed again.
