New Testosterone Research

Long-term Testosterone Use May Decrease Cardiovascular Risk

SAN DIEGO — Long-term testosterone replacement therapy is associated with a decreased — not increased — risk for cardiovascular disease in men, according to a large population-based cohort study.

This finding “answers the controversy” fueled by recent warnings from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggesting that the opposite is true, said senior investigator Robert Nam, MD, from the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

The study was published online May 7 in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology to coincide with its presentation here at the American Urological Association 2016 Annual Meeting.

On the basis of this study, “we can conclude that long-term testosterone is safe,” Dr Nam told Medscape Medical News.

“We need to do further study, but with our large sample size and long follow-up, these data provide some powerful findings,” he explained. “Physicians still need to individualize their recommendations to patients, but it certainly helps to address some of the controversy around testosterone.”

At a median follow-up of 5 years, overall mortality was lower in patients treated with testosterone replacement therapy than in control subjects (hazard ratio, 0.88).

WHAT ABOUT PROSTATE CANCER, YOU ASK?

There was no increase in prostate cancer risk with short-term exposure, and the risk decreased with increasing exposure; with long-term exposure, prostate cancer decreased by 40%

IT IS NICE TO SEE FIRST LINE MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS GETTING ON BOARD WITH MY LONG HELD. SCIENTIFICALLY BASED VIEWS.