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| World Home » Life Style » | Fri. Nov 21, 2008 |
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Men with low male sex hormone live shorter life N\MIL/Agencies, Jun 6, 2007. David Derbyshire June 06, 2007 - Men with low levels of testosterone normally die younger than others. A research suggests that they suffer a third higher risk of not reaching middle age compared with those who have high levels of the male sex hormone. The findings are further evidence that some men could benefit from "testosterone replacement therapy" – the equivalent of hormone replacement therapy in women. Dr Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, who led the study at the University of California’s San Diego School of Medicine, said: "We are very excited by these findings which have important implications but we are not ready to say that men should go out and get testosterone to prolong their lives. "We’re not ready to take this to the prescribing pharmacist. "It’s very possible that lifestyle determines what level of testosterone a patient has. It may be possible to alter the testosterone level by lowering obesity." Testosterone, which is produced in the testes and triggers the onset of puberty, is closely associated with the sex drive. Levels vary widely from man to man and tend to fall with age and during fatherhood. Low testosterone levels have been linked to lower sex drive, mood swings, weaker muscles and a greater risk of osteoporosis. The decline in the levels of the hormone is called the "andropause" or "male menopause". The Andropause Society claims that half of men aged 50 and 70 per cent of men aged 70 suffer from low levels. Some clinics offer middle-aged men testosterone patches to boost their libido and suppress mood swings. Many doctors are sceptical about the treatment though with some arguing the long-term effects are unknown. The San Diego researchers looked at the medical histories of 800 men, aged 50 to 91, living in California over two decades. At the start of the 1980s, a third of the men had unusually low testosterone levels for their age. This group had a 33 per cent greater risk of dying during the next 18 years than the men with high testosterone levels, the researchers told the Endocrine Society conference in Toronto yesterday. The difference could not be explained by smoking, drinking, physical activity or pre-existing illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.
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