Scientific Basis For Therapeutic Usefulness Of Testosterone Supplementation

As opposed to popular belief, numerous scientific studies hint towards the usefulness of testosterone as a therapeutic tool.

Some medical conditions which definitely warrant testosterone supplementation – either short-term or long-term are – amongst others – hypogonadism, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Listed below are some medical conditions in which testosterone supplementation, as is reported by researchers, may prove to be definitely helpful. Please note that although medical literature abounds in such proofs, just a few of those studies have been cited here:

• Testosterone supplementation may offer protection from cardiovascular disease in men. In a paper published in 2010, Ginzburg and his colleagues (Ginzburg et al., 2010) showed that testosterone either alone or in combination with lipid-lowering drugs like statins  causes a significant decrease in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL or the ‘bad cholesterol’) and total triglycerides levels in the blood. Testosterone therapy may, therefore, translate into protection against cardiovascular disease.
• An androgen deficiency (as in hypogonadism) has been shown to be inherently connected to increased incidence of metabolic diseases (Traish, Guay, Feeley, & Saad, 2009)
• Obesity is associated with hormonal imbalances including testosterone deficiency (Seidell, Bjorntorp, Sjostrom, Kvist, & Sannerstedt, 1990). Testosterone therapy, not surprisingly, helps reduce to fat deposits in obese men.
• Androgen deprivation therapy (used for prostate cancer) causes a significant increase in body fat and decrease in lean mass (muscles and bones) (Smith, Lee, & Nathan, 2006; Smith et al., 2002; Chen et al., 2002), suggesting again that testosterone may have a role to play in improving body composition and fighting obesity
• As opposed to previous thought, low testosterone levels may be responsible for causing pancreatic cancer (von, Pina, Perez, Tavares, & Barros, 2004)

Alleged Adverse Effects of Testosterone Supplementation

Testosterone supplementation has been shown by studies to be generally safe, especially  in combination with lifestyle changes – regular exercise and partaking of a wholesome, health diet (Ginzburg et al., 2010).

Some adverse effects that testosterone is believed to cause are prostate cancer, breast cancer (which can indeed affect men) and cardiovascular disease.

Testosterone and Cancer

Up until recently, a physician’s biggest fear of prescribing testosterone was the alleged risk of stimulating uncontrolled growth in the prostatic cells – leading to cancer.

Recent findings, however, tend to suggest otherwise; testosterone supplementation may not be associated with prostate cancer after all (Raynaud, 2006; Morgentaler, 2006; Raynaud, 2009). In fact, as state earlier, low levels of testosterone may increase the risk of prostatic cancer (von et al., 2004).

Use of testosterone in women (when added to hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women) was also thought to increase the risk of (breast) cancer.  However, there is severe lack of evidence for such suggestions as well (Bitzer, Kenemans, & Mueck, 2008). Inconsistent clinical data and previously conduced, flawed trials may be to blame for such thinking on the part of physicians.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, there seems to be enough scientific evidence to suggest that testosterone supplementation* may be both effective and safe in fighting metabolic disease, improving quality of life and general well-being.

Additionally, future therapeutic will (and should), in all probability, include testosterone as an important therapeutic tool to tackle human obesity as well.

*please note that testosterone or anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) used for performance enhancement is sports is another topic and does not fall within the purview of this article