Lots of men are taking testosterone supplements, some of them for good reasons and some for not-so-good reasons. There are Low-T clinics that…make exaggerated promises for health benefits, presenting testosterone supplementation as something like a Fountain of Youth for men.
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[Testosterone] levels decrease with age, but that is a normal physiologic process, not a disease requiring treatment…Low-T doctors say if your level is normal but in the lower end of the normal range, you may have symptoms and benefit from replacement. That claim is not supported by scientific evidence.…
[In 2016 and 2017,] result for various TTrials have been released.Vitality Trial required self-reported low vitality and a score of less than 40 on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness scale (FACT). Results: overall vitality was no better with Androgel than with placebo.
Bone Trial, on 189 men, found that testosterone improved bone density and estimated bone strength.
Related on the SLP
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The clinical significance of the positive findings is not clear. No major cardiovascular events occurred during the study and there was no reduction in the incidence of fractures, but the trials only lasted a year.
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[But] testosterone is not harmless…A long list of other side effects can be found here….As with so much in medicine, it’s complicated. But one thing is clear: testosterone supplementation is not an anti-aging panacea.The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Update on Testosterone Supplementation
