The Pentagon is pausing guidelines for a controversial policy that has required testosterone testing for service members aged 30 and older, Reuters reports.
The policy, which was announced in July, mandated that military personnel would get testosterone screening as part of their annual physical starting at age 30. The goal of the program was to optimize performance and to keep officers “on the leading edge of lethality,” according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Draft clinical guidance for that testing was posted online on Wednesday but was later removed, according to Reuters. In a statement to Scientific American, a Pentagon official confirmed the removal and said it was a temporary move, pending further updates.
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“The ‘Interim Guidance on Testosterone Deficiency Screenings for Active Duty and Reserve Component Personnel’ remains in effect” in the meantime, the spokesperson said. “The final clinical guidance will be issued shortly.”
Testosterone is a sex hormone involved in hair and muscle growth and sex drive, among other functions. It is present in higher levels in cisgender men than in cisgender women. But in women, it also supports libido, muscle growth, menstrual health, and more.
As Scientific American previously reported, there’s evidence that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) can help improve libido and mood in adult men with very low testosterone—often defined as lower than 300 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl)—but it can come with side effects such as reduced fertility. There’s also some evidence it can help treat low libido in postmenopausal women.
TRT is currently only approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for men with low testosterone (T) and a medical condition such as testicular cancer or pituitary disease, which can affect T levels.
But the symptoms of low testosterone—such as low energy and low libido—are common as people age and may have all sorts of causes, according to the Endocrine Society. As such, the organization says, there is “insufficient evidence” for wide screening in men without symptoms.