Warning: This Academic Advice Could Seriously Damage Your Health.
Doctors focussing on the use of testosterone replacement therapy in men and women have labelled as “irresponsible” suggestions reported in the media by academic researchers that the male hormone could be linked to heart disease.
“This is scare-mongering that will certainly result in damage to health and increase the risk of heart disease, dementia and obesity in those men suffering from a genuine deficiency of testosterone, who may now be scared off treatment by these alarmist and speculative suggestions”, Dr Adrian Zentner, said today.
Just back from the 4th World
Congress on the Ageing Male in Europe, where he co-chaired a number of relevant
presentations from international experts, Dr Zentner said there was a growing
raft of substantial scientific evidence showing that in adult males it is low
testosterone levels that are associated with heart disease, cognitive problems,
dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.
This is research carried out on real live
men not hypothetical conclusions from cell culture experiments in a lab, he
said.
Dr Zentner said he had no quarrel with the
validity of the academic research by the Heart Research Institute, which was
carried out to discover more about why men appear to have a predisposition to
heart disease as compared to women. But
the speculations drawn as to the implications of the findings on hormone
replacement are at best inappropriate and at worst irresponsible, he said.
The Heart Research Institute project
involved bathing cells from the
lining of the vein in the umbilical cord of a foetus in a hormone,
Dihydrotestosterone. This is a very
much stronger activator of androgen receptors than is Testosterone.
To conclude on this basis that Testosterone puts the heart at risk is
unsubstantiated and, on current clinical evidence, incorrect.
Latest clinical studies published in the
refereed medical literature overwhelmingly show that low testosterone
levels in men are linked to increased risk of heart attack, whilst restoring
normal, physiological levels, reduces the risk.
Whilst
the laboratory experiments reported may have important implications for research
into medications to further enhance the many benefits of Testosterone therapy,
which are acknowledged in the Institute’s media release, they cannot be
claimed to relate to clinical experience in human beings.
As an example, Malkin et al in their paper
“Testosterone as a Protective Factor Against Atherosclerosis” published in
September 2003 in the same medical journal, the Journal of Endocrinology state
that “…men with low testosterone levels are at increased risk of coronary
artery disease. There is an expanding body of international research to back
this position.”
Theoretical predictions based on laboratory
findings in cell cultures are often not reflected in the living human being. For
example, low testosterone levels in men are responsible, amongst other symptoms,
for fatigue, lethargy, reduced muscle mass and tone and limit the man’s
ability to exercise and keep fit. This and other “human elements” need to be
taken into account when trying to extrapolate findings from the test tube to the
man, Dr Zentner said.
Comments that the use of testosterone
therapy in women where needed could be a problem are even more misleading and
are really ignoring the researchers own evidence that female cells were not
affected in their experiments, he said.
There is no need for men to be concerned
about normal, physiological testosterone levels
which are vital for the brain and body to function effectively.
They should, however, be aware that low levels of testosterone,
that seriously affect quality of life by causing fatigue, depression,
irritability and intolerance to stress, low libido and a general lack of zest
for life, are dangerous, Dr Zentner warns.
The vast body of evidence accumulating from
clinical studies in “real men” supports the view that maintaining normal,
physiological levels of testosterone is earning its place alongside exercise,
weight loss, lowering cholesterol and stopping smoking as an important risk
reduction measure for coronary artery disease.
However, whilst testosterone has several beneficial effects, it is a
powerful hormone and needs to be administered under the strict medical
supervision of doctors appropriately trained and experienced in its use, Dr
Zentner said.
ends
Tel 08 9474 4262
Note: In an attempt to clear the confusion, debunk myths and present the facts needed for men and women to make informed decisions with regard to HRT, Dr Zentner is about to present a series of public seminars around the country beginning in Perth at the Duxton Hotel on April 19. “Clarifying the Issues on hormones and HRT for men and women” will then be presented in Brisbane on April 28,, Sydney on 29 April, Melbourne on May 3 and in Adelaide on May 4. Details available from www.wellmen.com.au
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