Normalizing Testosterone Levels Decreases Mortality Risk
Men who used injections, gels or patches to successfully restore low testosterone levels to normal had a lower risk of stroke, heart attack, and death from any cause compared to men who were not treated.
Further, men who received treatment, but did not achieve normal testosterone levels, did not show the same health benefits as patients who reached normal levels.
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“The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between normalization of total testosterone (TT) after testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and CV events as well as all-cause mortality in patients without previous history of [heart attack] and stroke,” explained the study’s researchers.
For the study, 83,010 male veterans who displayed low TT levels were retrospectively analyzed. Researchers divided participants into the following 3 groups: TRT with normalization of TT levels (group 1), TRT without normalization of TT levels (group 2), and those that did not receive TRT (group 3).
Researchers then used score-weighted Cox proportional hazard models to compare the groups.
“The all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR): 0.44, confidence interval (CI) 0.42–0.46], risk of MI (HR: 0.76, CI 0.63–0.93), and stroke (HR: 0.64, CI 0.43–0.96) were significantly lower in Gp1 (n = 43 931, median age = 66 years, mean follow-up = 6.2 years) vs. Gp3 (n = 13 378, median age = 66 years, mean follow-up = 4.7 years) in propensity-matched cohort,” they said.
Further results showed that the all cause mortality risk, risk of stroke, and risk of heart attack were much lower in group 1 compared to the other groups.
Investigators noted that no differences in stroke or heart attack risk between groups 2 and 3 were observed.
The complete study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
-Michelle Canales Butcher
Reference:
Sharma R, Oni OA, Gupta K, et al. Normalization of testosterone level is associated with reduced incidence of myocardial infarction and mortality in men. European Heart Journal. 2015 August [epub ahead of print] doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehv346.