All fathers know that women tend to go through hormone hell during and the months just after pregnancy but a new study shows hormone levels drop drastically for new dads too according a new report published this week.
The reasoning behind the biological change is believed to take place so that the man can be a better parent.
“Newborn babies come with intense physical, emotional and psychological changes and we see men’s biology responding to that” Lee Gettler, one of the study authors wrote in the report.
Lee told LiveScience that men are hard wired to take care of their new child. High testorone levels boost man’s competitive nature which he uses when seeking out a new mate.
The findings were part of the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey where 465 men from the Philippines have been taking part since their births in 1983.
Here’s a clip of the report:
At age 21.5 (in 2005), the researchers tested the single male participants’ testosterone levels when they woke and when they went to sleep. The measurements were repeated at age 26 (in 2009), when about half of the participants had become fathers.
Men who stayed single showed a small age-related decline of about 12 to 15 percent in the male sex hormone, while the testosterone levels of new fathers — those with a baby between 1 month and 1 year — on average dropped about 30 percent. Hormone levels in fathers of newborns (1 month and younger) dropped four to five times lower than levels in single men levels and twice as much as fathers of older children. Read the rest of the report here.
This could be one reason why men who settle down and become fathers live longer, healthier lives as some research suggests high testorone levels interfere with the bodies immune system so becoming a dad may actually improve men’s health.
The study will be continued once the men hit 30 and it will be interesting to see what the findings are regarding their general health and fitness.