Low Testosterone Levels are Associated with Coronary Artery Disease

Researchers say that low testosterone levels are associated with coronary artery disease in male patients with angina.
Rosano GM, Sheiban I, Massaro R, Pagnotta P, Marazzi G, Vitale C, Mercuro G, Volterrani M, Aversa A, Fini M. Low testosterone levels are associated with coronary artery disease in male patients with angina.Int J Impot Res. 2006 Aug 31

From the study abstract
Historically, high androgen levels have been linked with an increased risk for coronary artery disease (CAD.) However, more recent data suggest that low androgen levels are associated with adverse cardiovascular risk factors, including an atherogenic lipid profile, obesity and insulin resistance.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between plasma sex hormone levels and presence and degree of CAD in patients undergoing coronary angiography and in matched controls.

We evaluated 129 consecutive male patients (mean age 58+/-4 years, range 43-72 years) referred for diagnostic coronary angiography because of symptoms suggestive of CAD, but without acute coronary syndromes or prior diagnosis of hypogonadism. Patients were matched with healthy volunteers. Out of 129 patients, 119 had proven CAD; in particular, 32 of them had one, 63 had two and 24 had three vessel disease, respectively. Patients had significantly lower levels of testosterone than controls (9.8+/-6.5 and 13.5+/-5.4 nmol/l, P<0.01) and higher levels of gonadotrophin (12.0+/-1.5 vs 6.6+/-1.9 IU/l and 7.9+/-2.1 vs 4.4+/-1.4, P<0.01 for follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, respectively). Also, both bioavailable testosterone and plasma oestradiol levels were lower in patients as compared to controls (0.84+/-0.45 vs 1.19+/-0.74 nmol/l, P<0.01 and 10.7+/-1.4 vs 13.3+/-3.5 pg/ml, P<0.05). Hormone levels were compared in cases with one, two or three vessel disease showing significant differences associated with increasing severity of coronary disease. An inverse relationship between the degree of CAD and plasma testosterone levels was found (r=-0.52, P<0.01).

In conclusion, patients with CAD have lower testosterone and oestradiol levels than healthy controls. These changes are inversely correlated to the degree of CAD, suggesting that low plasma testosterone may be involved with the increased risk of CAD in men.

Testosterone and Prostate Cancer: An Historical Perspective on a Modern Myth

Morgentaler A.

Eur Urol. 2006 Jul 26

CONCLUSIONS: This historical perspective reveals that there is not now-nor has there ever been-a scientific basis for the belief that T causes pCA to grow. Discarding this modern myth will allow exploration of alternative hypotheses regarding the relationship of T and pCA that may be clinically and scientifically rewarding.

Read More
Testosterone replacement therapy and the risk of prostate cancer
The article says “The belief that testosterone increases the risk of prostate cancer is so widely accepted that study after study that tries to show it and can’t keeps getting repeated over and over,” says Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, a Boston urologist and author of the 2004 review. “People don’t believe it.”

Link Between Testosterone and Prostate Cancer

March 14, 2006
Testosterone Replacement Therapy and the Risk of Prostate Cancer. Is there a link?

Writing in the Canadian Journal of Urology, Researcher Abraham Morgentaler of the Division of Urology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, says that “there is an absence of scientific data supporting the concept that higher testosterone levels are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.”

Specifically, no increased risk of prostate cancer was noted in 1) clinical trials of testosterone supplementation, 2) longitudinal population-based studies, or 3) in a high-risk population of hypogonadal men receiving testosterone treatment. Moreover, hypogonadal men have a substantial rate of biopsy-detectable prostate cancer, suggesting that low testosterone has no protective effect against development of prostate cancer.

These results argue against an increased risk of prostate cancer with testosterone replacement therapy.

Morgentaler A.Testosterone replacement therapy and prostate risks: where’s the beef? Can J Urol. 2006 Feb;13 Suppl 1:40-3. Read the abstract

From our December 6, 2005 Newsletter
An article by Susan Brink of the Los Angeles Times recently appeared in newspapers around the country discussing the link between testosterone and prostate cancer.

The article says “The belief that testosterone increases the risk of prostate cancer is so widely accepted that study after study that tries to show it and can’t keeps getting repeated over and over,” says Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, a Boston urologist and author of the 2004 review. “People don’t believe it.”

Here is a press release from the Harvard Medical School.

“Boston–January 2004, Harvard Medical School affiliate Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center–A retrospective analysis by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center published in The New England Journal of Medicine found no causal relationship between testosterone replacement and prostate cancer or heart disease risk. The comprehensive review of 72 studies, addresses the current controversy about testosterone replacement therapy and its potential health risks to men.”

Testosterone’s Favorable Effects on an Important Metabolic Component of Chronic Heart Failure

Researchers writing in the European Journal of Heart Failure say that testosterone improves fasting insulin sensitivity in men with chronic heart failure and may also increase lean body mass, these data suggest a favorable effect of testosterone on an important metabolic component of CHF.

Malkin CJ, Jones TH, Channer KS. The effect of testosterone on insulin sensitivity in men with heart failure. Eur J Heart Fail. 2006 Jul 5

Other Articles
Researchers in Sweden writing in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, say “not only estrogens but also androgens are of importance for bone health in elderly men.”

Older Men and Testosterone
From the study abstract: “Male hypogonadism is a clinical situation characterized by a low serum testosterone level in combination with a diversity of symptoms and signs such as reduced libido and vitality, decreased muscle mass, increased fat mass and depression.

Testosterone replacement therapy and the risk of prostate cancer
The article says “The belief that testosterone increases the risk of prostate cancer is so widely accepted that study after study that tries to show it and can’t keeps getting repeated over and over,” says Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, a Boston urologist and author of the 2004 review. “People don’t believe it.”

Risk factors for testosterone loss in aging men
“The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serum levels of testosterone and free testosterone to lifestyle in aging males”

Testosterone replacement therapy and the risk of prostate cancer. Is there a link?

An article by Susan Brink of the Los Angeles Times recently appeared in newspapers around the country discussing the link between testosterone and prostate cancer.

The article says “The belief that testosterone increases the risk of prostate cancer is so widely accepted that study after study that tries to show it and can’t keeps getting repeated over and over,” says Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, a Boston urologist and author of the 2004 review. “People don’t believe it.”

Here is a press release from the Harvard Medical School.

“Boston–January 2004, Harvard Medical School affiliate Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center–A retrospective analysis by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center published in The New England Journal of Medicine found no causal relationship between testosterone replacement and prostate cancer or heart disease risk. The comprehensive review of 72 studies, addresses the current controversy about testosterone replacement therapy and its potential health risks to men.”

« Previous Page