Cause of higher testosterone levels in prisoners.

[BigJimcalhoun]

So, I was watching Gangland on The History Channel several months back and saw the episode on Pelican Bay prison.

The prisoners in the documentary had really good builds, far better than myself. They were really ripped. Now I know that prisoners can get drugs in prison, but from what the guards were saying, the prisoners are getting recreational drugs such as heroin that can be hidden inside a little piece of cereal, between two postcards glued together as one, etc. I did not see any mention of anabolics on the show.

The prisoners at this facility were allowed to exercise, but were not allowed access to weights and were only allowed to exercise within the 1 hour rec time + in their cells. Basically, they did burpees, and similar body weight exercises.

When I visited Dr. John, he told me why prisoners had higher testosterone levels, but I forget what the answer was. I just remember his statement was to why was not what I expected. Anyone know?

[Wise Guy]

When I visited Dr. John, he told me why prisoners had higher testosterone levels, but I forget what the answer was. I just remember his statement was to why was not what I expected. Anyone know?

Thats interesting, I would like to know too.

I wonder if they seperated T levels of prisoners by race.

Usually black people have higher androgen levels across the boards, than other race of people.

[JackBauer]

Speculation...

In prison today you're always at risk of being shanked.

Always on edge... Does adrenal output go up?

[anyman]

Perhaps they have a genetic predisposition to higher levels. I seem to recall seeing somewhere that too high T can give rise to aggression, etc. Maybe the too high T and/or related factors is what landed them in prison.

[Wise Guy]

Perhaps they have a genetic predisposition to higher levels. I seem to recall seeing somewhere that too high T can give rise to aggression, etc. Maybe the too high T and/or related factors is what landed them in prison.

There is a study floating around somewhere that showed correlation between criminal behavior in teenagers and lower testosterone levels, and higher T teenagers less likely to engage in criminal activity.

[hardasnails1973]

GOOGLE PEOPLE WORKS MIRACLES :cursing:
http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/36/6/469


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1997/09/970927110900.htm

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-testosterone-alone-doesnt-cause-violence

[BigJimcalhoun]

What is the fun on searching on google???? Anyone could have done that, I was more interested the the social discourse on the subject.

[Sargovar]

Thats interesting, I would like to know too.

I wonder if they seperated T levels of prisoners by race.

Usually black people have higher androgen levels across the boards, than other race of people.

I seem to recall that they also have proportionately higher SHBG levels than caucasian or Eastern Asian people.

Interestingly enough, white caucasians from Eastern Europe have the highest upper body strength of any human race; there was actually a study done on this matter. The world's top mixed martial arts fighters also tend to come from those regions (Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski etc) as well as many of the world's top heavyweight boxers.

I wonder if black people having higher T levels is a consequence of evolutionary adaption to the sunny and warm environment that they originated from..

Anyways, back on topic; you certainly see a lot of buff and gruff looking dudes in prison shows on TV. Not sure how well that correlates with reality.. when you see prison documentaries with real inmates the big guys are usually just burly and fat with lots of tattoos, not necessarily lean and well muscled. But I guess the toughest prisons (San Quentin, Pelican Bay etc) breed, or at least house, the toughest prisoners and the most powerful physiques!
What perplexes me, though, is how anyone can maintain good T levels in a prison environment (crappy nutrition, high stress, boredom/lack of stimulation, probably multiple vitamin/mineral deficiencies such as lacking vitamin D from being locked up all day etc).

[phatkid77]

i work in a jail, and i was going to state what anyman did..

its not "why do inmates have higher levels of test", its

"idiots are in jail BECAUSE of high levels of T"... hahah

phats

[ZonaDave]

it might be a normal hormone response to being around all males 24/7.

[JanSz]

Here we do blood tests and then compare our levels to some kind of (good)standards.

We either compare to average population standards
or age related standards, trying to aim at young age levels.

I would hate to be succesfull in my adjustments,
only to find out my self in jail.



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