Study: Testosterone Supplements Have No Side Effects On Healthy Men

Chicago, IL (AHN) - A study by researchers from the Utrecht University in the Netherlands said testosterone supplements taken by older men to combat aging will have no ill effects on healthy males. The findings will come out this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings provide relief to thousands of American men who are on hormone supplements, notwithstanding questions about its effect on long-term use, particularly that it could lead to prostrate cancer and risk a stroke or heart attack.

A double-blind test was done by the Dutch researchers on 200 men between the ages 60 to 80, randomly assigned to take a testosterone pill or placebo. Both the researches and participants were not aware who got which pill.

The main measures used to gauge the men's response to the pill they took was their functional mobility such as how fast it takes the participants to stand up from a sitting position, hand and leg strength, body composition, bone mineral density, liver function, blood sugar, cholesterol and quality of life.

According to test results, the elder males who took testosterone for 6 months had more muscle mass and lost more fat compared to the placebo takers. But it did not make the testosterone men more stronger than the placebo males.

Testosterone supplements affect the test group's ability to tolerate stress, cope with anger and feel self-confident.

The study's conclusion is that modest testosterone supplement taking among health men did not led to a net benefit resulting from the hormonal additive, said Dr. Marielle Emmelot-Vonk.

A 2006 study also published in the AMA linked low testosterone levels among older males to anemia.