Study researchers stated that findings of the study contradicted the previous studies that questioned the efficacy of the hormone treatment.
Advertisement
In this research a total of three hundred men took part with their sex hormone levels between hundred to four hundred nanograms per decilitre.
Surprisingly, men who were able to restore their testosterone levels to normal were shown to be 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack and 36 percent less likely to have a stroke during the 4-6 year follow-up period, in comparison to men who received no treatment.
A team led by endocrinologist Dr. Shalender Bhasin gave testosterone gel or a placebo to 306 men over 60, all of whom had either low or normal levels of testosterone. In this study, normalization of testosterone was used as a marker of adequate therapy using TRT. He stressed that the researchers have found no proof that if men without symptoms are given testosterone supplements, their health will improve.
Men with normalized testosterone levels following TRT had significantly lower risks of heart attacks and strokes, study finds.
But a number of new studies have suggested an opposite effect.
Nonetheless, the findings usually are not the ultimate world on the security of testosterone supplementation. But the Brigham and Women’s team found that testosterone therapy did not increase their subjects’ risk for atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, an important precursor to such cardiovascular events. The results reported in JAMA Tuesday only begin to offer clues.
The participants of the study were observed for almost six years.
For example, the new VA study excluded men with a history of heart attacks or strokes, although it did include those with existing heart disease. There may be increased cardiac risk that the trial could not detect, he said.
According to the FDA, “Testosterone products are FDA-approved only for use in men who lack or have low testosterone levels in conjunction with an associated medical condition”.
Advertisement
Testosterone sales have grown rapidly over the last decade worldwide but few studies have examined the long term effects of taking testosterone on cardiovascular health and other important outcomes. By all accounts, the testosterone replacement drug business has grown substantially over the past decade and will likely continue to do so as the population ages. It is their encouragement and the faith that I had in myself taken me so many places, brought in so many surprises that I am grateful for them each and every day. In many cases, if they go to their physicians to get it legally it’s because they have abused it for many years illegally, and now need it for some of the reason you mention.
