Mixed Results for Testosterone Treatment in Older Men

US Pharm. 2017;42(5):36.

Philadelphia, PA—A University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study has concluded that testosterone treatment (TT) improved bone density and anemia in men aged 65 years and older with unequivocally low T, but it failed to benefit cognitive function and raised the amount of plaque buildup in subjects’ coronary arteries. The 788 subjects, as part of the Testosterone Trials, randomly received TT (gel) or placebo and were evaluated every 3 months for 1 year. The number of major adverse cardiovascular events was similar between TT and placebo groups, but investigator Peter Snyder, MD, noted, “Treating 788 men for one year is far too few to draw conclusions about the clinical significance of the increase in coronary artery plaque volume and the cardiovascular risk of testosterone treatment.”