[MissC]

These studies are focused on cisgender men who have high E levels presumably due to the natural aging process complicated by a life of unhealthy living habits. The overriding cause of the increased rate of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. is probably due to a combination of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, obesity, etc. The question is: Are these conditions due to having higher than normal E over an extended period of time, or other factors?

If I recall correctly, a study I read said that those bad health factors, particularly obesity, would cause the drop in testosterone, which then exacerbates the other conditions.

But on the other hand, there's been success with using testosterone shots to kick-start weight loss.

I don't think there's a clear cause or effect here; it can go both ways.

Overall health is, in my estimation, the best way to examine someone. Health is, after all, holistic, rather than mechanistic or reductionist. We are not just a series of switches that can be turned on and off with particular stimuli. We are more than the sum of our parts. Flipping one switch can change many things, or it may take many switches to fix one thing.

That's a crude analogy at best, but the human understanding of it all is still pretty limited.