WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Higher naturally occurring levels of
the male hormone testosterone appear to protect men from fatal
heart attacks or strokes and death from all manner of causes,
man health online
in Britain said on Monday.
But the researchers cautioned men not to begin testosterone
supplementation based on the results of this 10-year study,
saying the benefits and risks are unclear.
The role of testosterone in men's health is controversial,
with the relationship between men's natural testosterone levels
and overall health not well understood, according to the
researchers.
But this study led by Dr. Kay-Tee Khaw, a professor of
clinical handbook health issue reproductive sexual womens at the University of Cambridge School of
Clinical Medicine in Britain, found strong benefits in men with
higher natural levels of the hormone.
Men in the upper 25 percent of natural testosterone levels
had a 41 percent lower risk of dying from heart attack, stroke
and other cardiovascular conditions, cancer and all other
causes, compared to men with the lowest levels, the researchers
found.
“Low testosterone seems to predict increased risk of total
mortality in cardiovascular disease as well as cancer,” Khaw
said in a telephone interview.
The researchers tracked 11,606 British men ages 40 to 79
who had no known cancer or cardiovascular disease at the start
of the study. They joined the study from 1993 to 1997 and were
followed until 2003.
Among these men, 825 died during the study period. The
researchers measured their testosterone levels using frozen
blood samples provided earlier, and compared their levels to a
group of men still alive at the end of the study period.
Khaw said the relationship between testosterone levels and
cardiovascular disease mortality was comparable in magnitude to
well-established risk factors like high blood pressure and
cholesterol levels.
Thus, low testosterone levels could point to men at
elevated risk for cardiovascular death who may not have other
known risk factors, the researchers reported in the journal
Circulation.
Khaw said the findings suggest that men with low levels of
testosterone might be able to cut their risk of death with
testosterone supplementation, but did not recommend doing this
without more research backing up these results.
She pointed to the experience involving hormone therapy in
women. Early studies suggested hormone therapy could protect
post-menopausal women from heart disease, but later and larger
research yielded the opposite results.
“The anxiety about testosterone supplementation is that
high testosterone may be a risk factor for prostate cancer,”
added Khaw, who noted that the study looked only at naturally
occurring levels of the hormone and not supplementation.
Testosterone is the primary “male” hormone that helps
maintain muscle mass and strength, fat ab diet man health
, bone mass,
sperm production, sex drive and potency. Women have
testosterone too, but at lower levels.
Doctors have used testosterone therapy to treat men with
abnormally low testosterone levels. Some athletes and
bodybuilders use it to promote muscle mass and strength.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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