Could Low Testosterone Increase Men's Risk of Osteoporosis?

Among male patients with hypogonadism, there is an extremely high rate of osteopenia and a significant risk of osteoporosis, according to recent research.

For their retrospective review, researchers followed 235 patients with clinical hypogonadism (testosterone deficiency <300ng/dL) who underwent bone mineral density (BMD) scans on Hologic 4500, a single dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) machine.
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In the cohort, the mean age was 50.7 years and the duration of hypogonadism was defined as the time from the first laboratory test revealing low testosterone to the first DEXA scan.

Osteopenia was categorized by femoral neck, total spine, or total hip hone mineral density T-score of -1.0 to -2.5, while osteoporosis was defined by a bone mineral density T-score of -2.5 or less.

The study showed that 39% of participants had osteopenia and 5% had osteoporosis.

“This study reiterates the importance of obtaining BMD scans on all male patients with clinical hypogonadism,” concluded the study’s researchers.

The complete study was presented at the American Urological Association 2015 meeting in New Orleans, LA.

-Michelle Canales Butcher

Reference:
Ellen J, Sorokin, I, Mechlin C. Prevalence of bone deficiencies in men presenting for hypogonadism treatment: do we need to worry?  Paper presented at: AUA 2015 Annual Meeting; May 18, 2015; New Orleans, LA.