http://www.newsmax.com/health/testerone_death_risk/2008/06/18/105488.html
Low Testosterone Increases Death Risk
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Men may not live as long if they have low testosterone, regardless of
their age, according to a new study. The results will be presented at
The Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
The new study, from Germany, adds to the scientific evidence linking
deficiency of this *** hormone with increased death from all causes
over time—so-called “all-cause mortality.”
The results should serve as a warning for men with low testosterone to
have a healthier lifestyle, including weight control, regular exercise
and a healthy diet, said lead author Robin Haring, a PhD student from
Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Institute for Community
Medicine.
“It is very possible that lifestyle determines levels of
testosterone,” he said.
In the study, Haring and co-workers looked at death from any cause in
nearly 2,000 men aged 20 to 79 years who were living in northeast
Germany and who participated in the Study of Health in Pomerania
(****P). Follow-up averaged 7 years. At the beginning of the study, 5
percent of these men had low blood testosterone levels, defined as the
lower end of the normal range for young adult men. The men with low
testosterone were older, more obese, and had a greater prevalence of
diabetes and high blood pressure, compared with men who had higher
testosterone levels, Haring said.
Men with low testosterone levels had more than 2.5 times greater risk
of dying during the next 10 years compared to men with higher
testosterone, the study found. This difference was not explained by
age, smoking, alcohol intake, level of physical activity, or increased
waist cir***ference (a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease),
Haring said.
In cause-specific death analyses, low testosterone predicted increased
risk of death due to cardiovascular disease and cancer but not death
of any other single cause.
DPC Biermann, Bad Nauheim, Germany, provided the testosterone reagent,
and Novo Nordisc provided partial funding for this analysis.
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