A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee anthropology professor is conducting a study with UWM students to find out the effects illness has on testosterone.

Professor Michael Muehlenbein will be looking at sick male students and studying their testosterone over a two-week time period. Muehlenbein wants to understand why men with high levels of testosterone sometimes take longer to heal from injuries and can be more susceptible to disease.

“People think that high testosterone levels are a good thing, but there really is no benefit for men to have high testosterone,” Muehlenbein said.

Muehlenbein’s reason for the study is to find out why testosterone affects immune systems in the way it does. He says no one really understands how it works, but theorizes that it might be connected to evolutionary traits. Men may have needed high testosterone in the past for reasons like finding a mate and personal protection, but Muehlenbein said “now it might just make you sick.”

The study will be conducted throughout the current academic year and will be concluded and published in May. The study is funded entirely through the university after being approved earlier this year through the Research Growth Initiative.

Muehlenbein hopes to study 400 male students, 200 sick and 200 who have been vaccinated for illnesses. He has just over 20 subjects so far, but expects that number to increase as the weather gets colder and flu season starts.

Subjects will be studied over a two-week span at three different times: on the first day, the third day and the 14th day. Muehlenbein will be looking for students at the upcoming flu shot clinic sponsored by the Norris Health Center.

“We definitely want to see the effects vaccinations like flu shots have as a jolt to the system,” he added.

Students who agree to be subjects will have samples of their urine and saliva analyzed for testosterone levels. Subjects are paid $10 for each of the three appointments they will have. Muehlenbein is also offering to pay for anyone’s flu shot if they sign up at the flu shot clinic.

For information on becoming a test subject, stop by the Norris Health Center.

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