Low Testosterone Linked to Increased Mortality in Men
Men with low testosterone levels have an increased risk of dying from a variety of causes, researchers reported at The Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
Scientists studied nearly 2,000 men aged 20 to 79 years who were living in northeast Germany. At the study’s start, 5 percent of these men had low blood testosterone levels, defined as the lower end of the normal range for young adult men. The men with low testosterone were older, more obese, and had a greater prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure, compared with men who had higher testosterone levels. During an average follow-up time of 7 years, the researchers noted which subjects died from any cause.
The study authors reported that men with low testosterone levels had more than 2.5 times greater risk of dying during the next 10 years compared to men with higher testosterone. This difference was not explained by age, smoking, alcohol intake, level of physical activity, or increased waist circumference (a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease).
When the researchers looked at death from specific causes, low testosterone predicted increased risk of death due to cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Reference:
The Endocrine Society press release, accessed online at http://www.endo-society.org/ on June 23, 2008