Men who think they have "Low T": don't buy the T-supplement hype

Posted on November 6, 2013 by admin

Sales of testosterone supplements have skyrocketed by over 5-fold over the past decade, with 5.3 million prescriptions written in 2011. While it’s true that, for men with signs and symptoms of low testosterone (T), therapeutic replacement may have beneficial effects on sexual function, bone mineral content, lipid levels and body fat, a new JAMA study is cause for concern.

Researchers led by Dr. Rebecca Vigen of the University of Texas/Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and others from the University of Colorado retrospectively analyzed clinical outcomes among 8,709 men who had low T levels and also underwent coronary angiography between 2005 and 2011. The data were obtained via the VA system.

Among this group, 1,223 men were started on T-supplements. In summary, the men who got T had a rate of CVD events (heart attack, stroke, or cardiac-related death) of 25.7 percent, compared with a rate of 19.9 percent in the no-T group. This represents a 30 percent increased risk among the T-users. Interestingly, there was no difference in effect between those men with CAD on the coronary artery study vs. the men without significant CAD (coronary artery disease).  Read more.