How Does the Job Affect a Firefighter's Testosterone ?

The physiological link between stress and testosterone is another hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is the body's primary stress hormone, which increases sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream. It communicates with your brain to help control mood, motivation, and fear, and alters the immune system. When stress (either physical or physiological) is applied to the body, it produces cortisol (a flight-or-fight reaction), but if your body is continuously under stress, the body's natural alarm system is always on. Continuous elevated cortisol levels are very dangerous and can lead to a number of health issues, including depression, heart disease, and stroke.

How can elevated cortisol levels and decreased testosterone levels affect a firefighter during the course of his career? Over a 30-year career, a firefighter may develop poor sleeping habits (increasing cortisol), poor nutritional habits (reducing testosterone), and place their body under constant stress (increasing cortisol). All of these things will directly impact their health, but more importantly it will elevate their cortisol while reducing their testosterone. For example, 65 percent of calls are generally EMS related, but 75 percent of calls come between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Responding constantly to this type of call will impact firefighters' sleep over the course of a 30-year career and create elevated cortisol levels. On the other hand, a simple structure fire could last 20 minutes or longer, with the average heart rate being 153; this constant stress load will impact their cortisol levels because during this prolonged time period testosterone production may be turned off to allow for the flight-or-fight response system to work properly. If we do not reduce the stress, then these elevated levels of cortisol will continue to exist, thus keeping our testosterone levels low.

Firefighter Fitness: Low T and Cortisol: The Silent Killer