Low testosterone can lead to heart disease in men

Robert Dieter is an assistant professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a vascular medicine specialist at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Wauwatosa and Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls. According to him, this study fails in proving whether (testosterone) supplementation has any benefit. There is a boom of such kind of products all over the internet and many people are seems be to trying it. He says that the testosterone supplementation might lead to the risk of prostate cancer.

According to the survey of the Institute of Medicine, in 2003, total number of prescriptions written for testosterone were around 1.7 million which is almost  30 percent increase from 2002 and a 170 percent increase from 1999.

The substantial increase in the use of testosterone among the men seeking to counter the effects of aging had outpaced the scientific evidence about the benefits and risks to users.

Same is the case for women's hormone replacement therapy. The study has revealed that such treatments did not protect against cardiovascular disease. It has  increased the risk.

Nieca Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City suggests,"Before we start prescribing it for heart disease, there clearly has to be a bigger trial".

There is a vast difference between andropause in men and menopause in women. In men, a diagnosis often requires low levels of testosterone as well as symptoms such as loss of libido, depression and muscle weakness whereas in women, there is rapid and extensive onset of symptoms after their ovaries stop functioning and grows gradually along the age.

According to David Toth, an endocrinologist and physician with Midwest Endocrinology Associates and St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, it is easier to know the normal testosterone level in teenagers but it is very difficult to know the same as the person grows older. Around 5-10 percent of men over 50 suffer from andropause and low testosterone. Depression, loss of sex drive, difficult sleeping or increased fat mass are some of the symptoms.

Testosterone can be given in the form of injections, a patch or a gel. Injections being less expensive than the other two.

Further, the finnish researchers carried an experiment with 239 men aged between 40 to 70. Out of 299 men,  they found 99 men with an average age of 58 to be andropausal. The men had symptoms and either low levels of testosterone or high levels of luteinizing hormone, a substance that indicates that testosterone production is low. Raitakari said, "A portion of men will develop andropausal hormone profile and symptoms with aging and these men may also be at increased risk of developing heart disease,". According to him, a controlled studies should be planned to test whether testosterone supplementation could help these men.

Although  the study has revealed a strong association between atherosclerosis and so-called andropause and low-testosterone but it was not proved. It can only be proved by a clinical trial where testosterone should be given to men to see if it actually prevents heart attacks and strokes.