In 2014 Time magazine ran a cover story titled Manopause?!, documenting the rise of the $2 billion testosterone industry, which marketed the hormone as a way to fend off age-related declines in sexual function, energy and strength.
As interest soared, so too did questions about safety. A small study showed testosterone could improve muscle strength in older men, but it also found something unexpected: a higher rate of adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attacks. In 2015 the FDA required manufacturers to add warning labels to inform consumers about the potential risks. Use of prescription testosterone started to decline.
Now a new study out Friday may ease the minds of people interested in the treatment. It finds that men who had low levels of testosterone, and were given prescription testosterone gel to increase the level of the sex hormone, did not have a higher rate of heart attacks or strokes, compared to men who took a placebo.
“The results of this study provide reassuring and substantial evidence that testosterone replacement therapy does not appreciably increase the risk of death from cardiovascular causes when appropriately prescribed,” says study author, Dr. Michael Lincoff of the Cleveland Clinic. The results are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (This study did not evaluate over-the-counter dietary supplements that contain testosterone which are not regulated like drugs.)
The new study is aimed at better understanding the effects of testosterone on cardiovascular risks, explains senior study author Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic. Yet, he interprets the results with caution.
“Although the trial showed some evidence that testosterone treatment may be safe for men with low levels of…
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