In turn, all of these issues can have a significant impact on your ability to produce enough healthy sperm to fertilize an egg. This causes more rapid changes in the hormonal landscape of your body and an imbalance could lead to problems like obesity, excess stress, exhaustion, irritability, and a lowered libido. However, while women have a month-long hormonal cycle (averaging at about 28-days but sometimes lasting as long as 35 days), males go through a hormonal cycle every 24 hours. Male hormones affect everything from fertility and sex drive to emotional regulation and muscle mass (or lack thereof), just like female hormones do. Testes - The testes produce the male sex hormone, testosterone, and produce sperm.Pineal - Also called the thalamus, this gland produces serotonin derivatives of melatonin, which affects sleep.Pituitary - Considered the "master control gland," the pituitary gland controls other glands and makes the hormones that trigger growth.Adrenal - Adrenal glands produce the hormones that control sex drive and cortisol, the stress hormone.Thyroid - The thyroid produces hormones associated with calorie burning and heart rate.Pancreas - This gland produces the insulin that helps control blood sugar levels.Thymus - This gland plays a role in the function of the adaptive immune system and the maturity of the thymus, and produces T-cells.Parathyroid - This gland controls the amount of calcium in the body.Hypothalamus - The hypothalamus is responsible for body temperature, hunger, moods and the release of hormones from other glands and also controls thirst, sleep and sex drive.As outlined by The Hormone Health Network, the main glands that produce hormones in men are: The endocrine system is a collection of glands that release hormones into the blood system.
Where do male hormones come from?īefore we look at which male hormones affect fertility, let’s look at how the endocrine system in the male body works.
If you want to get pregnant now or in the future, it’s smart to begin thinking about your hormones and taking steps to keep them balanced.īelow, you’ll learn about which male hormones impact fertility and what happens when they become imbalanced. Too much or not enough of any given hormone can wreak havoc on a man’s reproductive system and overall health, even after puberty. It’s not something most people think about every day, which means hormonal health is often ignored until something is wrong. Male hormones are complex and nuanced, just as female hormones are.