My name is Adam Fanning, and I am a first-year chemistry student in TU Dublin. The book I chose ‘Aroused’ is about hormones and how they control almost everything about you. My poster is about testosterone, known as the male sex hormone as it is found in much higher concentrations in men than women, however contrary to what some people believe testosterone is present in women as well just in smaller amounts.

One of the reasons I chose to do my poster on testosterone is that it is probably one of the most well-known hormones yet there is a lot of false information about testosterone out there, I hope my project can inform people about how testosterone works and how it is more than just the hormone that makes men ‘manly’.

The book ‘Aroused’ by Randi Hutter Epstein manages to give a good amount of accurate information while still being humorous and enjoyable to read. The book is about hormones and each chapter is dedicated to a different topic related to hormones, from oxytocin – the chemical of love – to HGH, a hormone responsible for children’s growth as well as maintaining a healthy body as an adult.

The chapter I based my poster off was called “Testosterone Endopreneurs”, this chapter is about testosterone and details how the hormone went from being unnamed and only obtainable in tiny amounts to the 2 billion dollar industry it is today. This chapter inspired me to make my poster because I found it interesting that the topic of testosterone has been controversial in the scientific community since it was named in 1935.

Respected scientists from multiple fields argue that TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) only works well when the man has extremely low testosterone to begin with, while others argue that testosterone is key to having a higher quality of life as you get older and could help maintain bone density and maybe even help prevent certain brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.  The chapter is unbiased and leaves you to maker up your own mind whether TRT is essential for men as they age or if its just clever marketing by greedy businesses.