- Both Men And Women need Testosterone
- Most of us have a fairly Freudian response to testosterone: We hear the word, and all we think of is sex. But testosterone plays a number of key roles in the male body. It fuels development of male sex characteristics, and it adds fuel to the fire of a man's sex drive. But it also helps build and maintain muscle and bone, perhaps even mood and mental agility.
Doctors have long prescribed supplemental testosterone for men with a severe testosterone deficiency condition called hypogonadism. Men with the condition tend to have small muscles, fragile bones, and lagging libido, and testosterone supplements help build all three. Studies suggest that the supplements may also help older men with testosterone levels at the low end of normal. In a study at the University of Washington in Seattle, men in the low-normal range gained muscle and bone density and said they felt friskier after three months of treatment.
Researchers at both Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia are conducting longer-term studies of older men with low-normal testosterone levels. They are tracking changes in the men's body composition, bone density, strength, and mental ability. And they are watching for side effects in these men, especially changes in cholesterol levels. They are also monitoring levels of prostate-specific antigen, a chemical substance that warns of changes that may be indicative of developing BPH and prostate cancer.
At this point, testosterone replacement is strictly experimental. Because elevated testosterone levels pose risks, it's not for men with normal hormone profiles—or for men with prostate abnormalities or heart disease either.