Testosterone Replacement May Help Protect Against Cardiovascular Issues

New findings published in the European Heart Journal reveal that increasing testosterone levels to normal in men who have suffered a heart attack or stroke could help prevent other cardiovascular issues.

Previous studies have shown mixed results without concrete guidelines on treating men for low testosterone, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advising against over-prescription treatments as they could allegedly increase hear attack and stroke risk. However, the new findings showed otherwise.

In this particular study, researchers analyzed records on 83,010 male veterans, splitting them into three groups: those who were treated to the point where their total testosterone levels returned to normal; those who were treated but without reaching normal and those who were untreated and remained at low levels. The participants were then followed-up with an average of 5 to 6 years following treatment.

"It is the first study to demonstrate that significant benefit is observed only if the dose is adequate to normalize the total testosterone levels," said Dr. Rajat Baru, a cardiologist at Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in a news release. "Patients who failed to achieve the therapeutic range after testosterone replacement therapy did not see a reduction in (heart attack) or stroke and had significantly less benefit on mortality."

While the difference in those who received the treatment versus those who did not was relatively small, the men whose levels returned to normal were shown to have a 56 percent less risk of dying during the follow-up period and were 24 percent less likely to have a heart attack. Lastly, they were 36 percent less likely to have a stroke.

However, future research will be needed.

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