The men were divided into three groups: those who whose testosterone levels were raised to normal; those who were treated but whose testosterone did not reach a normal level; and those who had low levels and were not treated. Lastly, they were 36 percent less likely to have a stroke.
Advertisement
The good news is testosterone replacement therapy could help older men live longer and does not appear to worsen existing heart disease. Previous studies have suggested that testosterone therapy is linked with increased risk in stroke and heart attack.
Similarly, the men with levels of normalized testosterone fared better than males who took the TRT but did not see testosterone normalization.
In the study, Dr. Shalender Bhasin, director of the hospital’s research program in men’s health, and his colleagues report that testosterone therapy administration did not significantly improve sexual function or health-related quality of life in older men with lower testosterone levels, nor did it have any impact on the progression of hardening of the arteries in these males.
Yet even Dr. Rajat Barua, the author of the veteran study, admitted that the mechanics connecting testosterone levels and cardiovascular problems are too poorly understood – and the evidence is too mixed – to recommend testosterone therapy for cardiovascular issues.
The findings may sway the ongoing debate over testosterone therapy’s benefits and risks, especially for the heart. More research is needed, they say, to clarify how testosterone affects the cardiovascular system. And lastly, the third group did not receive treatment and levels of testosterone stayed low or remained the same.
“Asymptomatic men should not be screened for low testosterone levels, because there is no evidence that supplementing testosterone in men without symptoms makes any difference in their lives”, Michelfelder told dailyRx News. The study was published online in the European Heart Journal. “The mechanisms for these results stay speculative”, they wrote. While the study results do seem to advocate for testosterone replacement therapy, Barua stressed the need for “appropriate screening, selection, dosing, and follow-up of patients to maximise the benefit of testosterone therapy”.
A team of researchers looked at incidents of “heart attack, stroke, and all-cause mortality” in both treated and untreated patients, Oxford University Press reported.
Testosterone sales have increased substantially, particularly among older men, during the past decade.
Advertisement
The VA researchers said that some of the possible explanations for this occurrence include the amount of fat in the body, sensitivity to insulin, inflammation, blood platelets, lipids and other potential biological pathways.
