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A recent study shows that low levels of testosterone in men bring about premature death. If a man has lacks concerning the issue of the virility and energy hormone this means that he is at risk from dying sooner than his counterparts who have normal or high levels of testosterone in their bodies.
The research that found that low levels of testosterone may lead to higher mortality rates among men was conducted by Dr. Molly Shores, the lead author of the study and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Washington. She and her team of experts at the same university investigated medical history of about 858 men aged over 40. The medical information of these men was comprised in the Veterans Affair data base.
Researchers categorized men in the study in three groups: men with low testosterone levels, with normal and equivocal levels of testosterone. About half of the men presented normal amounts of testosterone in their bodies, 19% had low levels and 28% equivocal levels of the virility hormone.
Besides other factors, low levels of testosterone were found to considerably reduce men's life span. As compared to males with normal testosterone, findings showed that men with equivocal levels of the hormone were 38% more likely to die earlier, while those with low levels of the same hormone were as much as 68% more likely to have shorter life spans.
The main factor which causes a drop in testosterone levels in a man's body relates to diseases and the being ill state. When suffering from a condition, a male's health is impaired and his testosterone levels reduce. After he gets better and recovers from the disease, the testosterone levels become normal, too. But if the disease is not cured, the levels of sex hormone remain low.
However, the researchers involved in the study draw attention that the "persistence of elevated mortality risk after excluding early deaths suggests that the association between low testosterone and mortality is not simply due to acute illness. Large prospective studies are needed to clarify the association between low testosterone levels and mortality."
Also, replacing natural testosterone produced by our own bodies with the synthetic variant of the hormone may not be the best solution, Dr. Shores warned. "People need to look at these results very cautiously. This study did not examine the effects of testosterone treatment on mortality, and you can’t conclude from this that testosterone replacement will decrease mortality."
The research that found that low levels of testosterone may lead to higher mortality rates among men was conducted by Dr. Molly Shores, the lead author of the study and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Washington. She and her team of experts at the same university investigated medical history of about 858 men aged over 40. The medical information of these men was comprised in the Veterans Affair data base.
Researchers categorized men in the study in three groups: men with low testosterone levels, with normal and equivocal levels of testosterone. About half of the men presented normal amounts of testosterone in their bodies, 19% had low levels and 28% equivocal levels of the virility hormone.
Besides other factors, low levels of testosterone were found to considerably reduce men's life span. As compared to males with normal testosterone, findings showed that men with equivocal levels of the hormone were 38% more likely to die earlier, while those with low levels of the same hormone were as much as 68% more likely to have shorter life spans.
The main factor which causes a drop in testosterone levels in a man's body relates to diseases and the being ill state. When suffering from a condition, a male's health is impaired and his testosterone levels reduce. After he gets better and recovers from the disease, the testosterone levels become normal, too. But if the disease is not cured, the levels of sex hormone remain low.
However, the researchers involved in the study draw attention that the "persistence of elevated mortality risk after excluding early deaths suggests that the association between low testosterone and mortality is not simply due to acute illness. Large prospective studies are needed to clarify the association between low testosterone levels and mortality."
Also, replacing natural testosterone produced by our own bodies with the synthetic variant of the hormone may not be the best solution, Dr. Shores warned. "People need to look at these results very cautiously. This study did not examine the effects of testosterone treatment on mortality, and you can’t conclude from this that testosterone replacement will decrease mortality."
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