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There's a good sized study being done right now, should have results in a few years...

http://rt5.cceb.upenn.edu/portal/pag...PublicPageMain

Are Testosterone Supplements Worth the Risk?

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine raised another potential risk: cardiovascular problems. The study tracked 200 men age 65 and older whose health concerns included difficulty walking and high blood pressure. The patients were prescribed a testosterone gel, which delivered significant improvement in their ability to lift weights and climb stairs, compared to men using a placebo. But the men also had four times the risk of chest pain, heart attack and stroke. The incidence of cardiovascular ailments was so high that the trial was called to a halt.

Given the apparently expanding list of known testosterone supplement risks, are they worth the trouble?

Geriatrician Thomas Gill, director of the Yale School of Medicine’s Program on Aging, is not ready to give up on the supplements. “It would be sending the wrong message if the recommendation is that all men stop treatment because of this study,” he says. He points out that it was the first (and, so far, only) trial to show an association between testosterone gel and heart problems. Moreover, the research was on a relatively small number of especially frail men who were given unusually high doses of the hormone. “If I were an older male without prior cardiovascular disease,” he says, “I wouldn’t lose much sleep over this one study.”

Detecting a link between testosterone gel and cardiovascular disease was not the mission of the New England Journal of Medicine study, but it raised enough questions that other researchers are now investigating it directly. Gill and his research team are working with the National Institutes of Health on a larger study of 800 men, known as “The T Trial,” designed to examine the effects of testosterone on the heart. “We are setting things up to carefully evaluate the cardiovascular effects of testosterone,” he says, adding that he will have results in about three years.

But Dr. Shalender Bhasin, chief of endocrinology at Boston University School of Medicine and a co-author of the New England Journal of Medicine study, believes we know enough already to at least consider testosterone supplements with a more critical eye. Doctors already know, for example, that water retention, which can put a strain on the heart and is associated with blood clots and tissue inflammation, is a potential side effect. So the link to cardiovascular disease is not especially surprising.

In general, Bhasin says, doctors should give more information to patients considering the treatments. For example, he says, "doctors don’t tell you that testosterone supplements may end up a long-term proposition." When men begin using a supplement, he explains, they typically lose the ability to create testosterone on their own. So if a health problem should arise that forces them to stop taking the supplements, it may take months or years to recover the ability to create adequate levels of testosterone naturally, during which time they may experience withdrawal symptoms like poor mood and low vitality.

“I find it very distressing that testosterone is used in middle-aged men — when we don’t know whether it’s even safe — for something that may be a normal physiologic adaptive mechanism to aging," he says.

Both experts agree that men with a history of heart attack or stroke should steer clear of testosterone supplements. They also agree that there are scenarios in which the benefits of testosterone therapy nearly always outweigh the risks, like hypogonadism, a disease in which the body produces little or no hormone due to poorly functioning testes or pituitary or hypothalamus glands.

Many men report feeling stronger and more vital, and thinking more clearly, on testosterone supplements. That may make it worth the risk if your testosterone count is low. But you should also give some thought to why you're pursuing a supplement, and its risks, despite what the late-night commercials promise.

Full article: http://www.nextavenue.org/article/20...nts-worth-risk