Recent Study Does Not Indicate Testosterone Use Doesn’t Increase Heart Risk

A few months ago an article appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that implicated testosterone as a cause of heart disease and stroke. But critics including several hundred physicians have attacked the study noting that among other things, the study including over 100 women among the 1,132 subjects studied. Over 25 international medical groups have demanded that JAMA retract the article.

A new study now points out that testosterone therapy didn’t increase the risk of heart attack, contrary to the JAMA study, and that it even lowered the risk of heart attack by about 30%.
In the latest study, published online in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch used a national Medicare sample and compared the records of 6,355 men who had at least one testosterone injection between 1997 and 2005, with 19,065 non-testosterone users. The testosterone users were no more likely to have a myocardial infarction than the nonusers during the period, according to the study.

The researchers also ranked the subjects based on their predicted risk of heart attack for other reasons. For men in the quarter with the highest risk, the use of testosterone cut that risk by roughly 30%.

The latest study only at men receiving testosterone injections, not those using pills, patches or gels, and couldn’t assess what other medications the men were taking. Men typically lose testosterone as they age, and some conditions can cause a steep drop in levels earlier, leading to osteoporosis which increases the risk of hip and spine fractures, sexual dysfunction, loss of muscle tone, fatigue, diabetes and other health problems. Proponents say restoring normal levels can alleviate those issues.

Bottom Line: Testosterone deficiency or low T affects millions of American men. The diagnosis is easily made with a history of decreased libido, decreased sexual performance, loss of muscle mass and loss of energy or fatigue. The diagnosis is easily made with a simple blood test and can be helped with testosterone replacement therapy. For more information on testosterone deficiency speak to your doctor.