Hormone Replacement for Men: Pros, Cons

June 18, 2008 -- Testosterone replacement therapy can help older men deficient in the hormone reduce their risks of heart disease, diabetes, and death, according to new research presented this week at ENDO 08, the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society.

''The goal of testosterone treatment is to keep the levels within normal range," says Farid Saad, director of scientific affairs for Bayer Schering Pharma in Berlin. Saad presented two of the studies at the meeting, held in San Francisco. Bayer Schering Pharma makes several testosterone products.

Low levels of testosterone are common with age, Saad says, occurring in about 18% of 70-year-olds. Low levels of testosterone, he says, are associated with the metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors such as abnormal cholesterol and high blood pressure that boost risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes as well as other risks to health.

In the studies, Saad and his colleagues found that testosterone replacement therapy reduced the metabolic syndrome risk factors and did so in a similar way in all the age ranges studied.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Heart Disease Risks

In the first study, Saad's team looked at 95 men, aged 34 to 69, with low levels of testosterone.

All had metabolic syndrome. Those who have this diagnosis must have three of five risk factors: increased waist circumference, low "good" cholesterol or HDL, high triglycerides, elevated blood pressure, and elevated blood sugar.

"We treated them for at least a year," he tells WebMD. Every three months, they measured cholesterol, waist circumference, and other parameters.

The testosterone replacement was given as a long-acting injection, every three months. The same product is not yet available in the U.S., Saad says, although other types are.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy: Test Results

"We saw a consistent improvement of the parameters of metabolic syndrome," Saad says. The men were not given a special diet or exercise program.

The supplemental testosterone reduced total cholesterol, "bad" LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and body mass index while improving "good" HDL cholesterol. The men lost their pot bellies, Saad says. "What we see after 12 months is a reduction in two or three trouser sizes, three or four inches off the waist. We see a reduction by one-fourth to one-third of their total cholesterol."

No adverse effects were reported, he says.

While hormone replacement therapy for women has been found to be associated with increased risks of heart disease and other problems, Saad doesn't foresee that will be the case with testosterone replacement. "There are fundamental differences between hormone replacement in women and testosterone treatment in men," he tells WebMD.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy: No Age Effects?

In a second study, Saad divided the same 95 men into three groups, based on age: less than 57, 57 to 63, and older than 63.

They found the older men and the younger men had similar improvement in their risk factors.