Topical testosterone trial reveals risk of cardiovascular diseases

Testosterone gel, known to build muscle mass in men, may actually elevate risk the risk of Myocardial Infraction and Stroke, reports the New England Journal of Medicine. A placebo controlled study revealed that, the men applying topical hormone gel developed heart and breathing problems, so that they had to truncate the study after six months.

The testosterone – or the male hormone – levels diminishes with age, and additional supplementation are provided to build muscle mass and improve mobility. The topical administration was considered to be the safest, as it had the least side effects, but thestudy results raise questions about it’s safety.

The test consisted of 209 men of 65 years or older, whose serum testosterone level measured to be in the range of 100 – 350 ng/dL, and were randomly administered with 10g of placebo or 100g of testosterone daily for six months. As expected, compared with the placebo taking group, those taking testosterone had a significant decrease in cholesterol levels and a raise in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. But cardiovascular issues including myocardial infraction, arterial fibrillation, stroke, peripheral edema and syncope were reported in 4 of 14 subjects with higher testosterone levels of >1000 ng/dL,  5 of 21 with testosterone levels ranging 500-1000 ng/dL and 7 of 46 with 500 ng/dL or lesser.

Although this might throw light to the possible adverse effect of testosterone gel, the authors however cautioned that the lack of consistent pattern in the above cases uphold the possibility that the difference between two groups may have been due to chance alone. But nonetheless, the doctors who prescribe testosterone to older patients, must take into account, the risk posed by the treatment – says Dr. Shalender Bhasin of the Boston University School of Medicine.