CNN Today

Men Respond to New Testosterone Gel

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: About a week ago, we told you about a new treatment for male menopause. It is a cream that men use to boost levels of testosterone.

LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: And you can't keep a story under wraps like that for long.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has gotten hold of the story and today she makes the "Moost of It."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just what the world needs: more testosterone. Male basketball fans run amok in L.A., soccer fans rampaging Europe, and now there's an easy way to get even more testosterone coursing through your veins.

GEORGE PLIMPTON, AUTHOR: You squeeze it on your hand and you rub it on your belly.

MOOS: Writer George Plimpton rubbed it on his belly once a day for a month, test-spreading the new testosterone gel for the magazine "Men's Journal."

PLIMPTON: I found that I was full of energy and bouncing around.

MOOS: Plimpton bounced over to his friend Hugh Hefner's mansion for a party populated by playmates.

PLIMPTON: I found that my eye was somewhat more wider than I remembered it being in a long time.

MOOS: Plimpton, by the way, is 73.

The new testosterone gel is intended for men whose levels of the hormone are low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you giving me a sample?

MOOS (on camera): I'd love to give you a sample, but you have to have a prescription.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

MOOS: It's supposed to improve your memory, your libido, and your energy level. God bless it.

(voice-over): AndroGel, it's called. But don't let too much of it get on your wife or girlfriend. It could masculinize you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put hair on your chin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It might make me play better golf.

MOOS: Actually, they're working on a much lower dosage testosterone aimed at improving the female libido. AndroGel comes in packets like the ones that contain condiments. Our research shows mustard has no effect whatsoever on libido.

While some men fled at the mere mention of testosterone...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No thanks.

MOOS: Other were interested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what do I do next if I want to do it? I go to a doctor?

MOOS (on camera): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have your card with your name on it, testeroni (ph) or whatever you call it? I know what testosterone is.

MOOS: Sounds like a pasta.

(voice-over): It's easier to apply it than to pronounce it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, testerone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Testerone -- osterone. Yes.

PLIMPTON: Testosterone -- wonderful word.

MOOS: But some women get testy about adding testosterone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we shouldn't fool Mother Nature.

MOOS: Tell that to Hugh Hefner. He was already wearing a testosterone patch.

PLIMPTON: My old friend Mr. Hefner now cohabits with four women at the same time, so he was extremely interested in all of this.

MOOS: Hef's secretary later called Plimpton asking where to get the gel. The title of the article: "Just a Little Dab Will Do You." We've gone from dabbing the hair to dabbling in hormones.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATERS: Settle down, boys. ALLEN: Just a little dab, please.

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