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| |  Testosterone Is Mixed Blessing To Men's Health UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- May 19, 1999 -- Higher levels of testosterone can have significant health benefits for some middle-aged men, according to a Penn State study. "Men with higher testosterone are less vulnerable to high blood pressure, heart attacks, frequent colds and obesity," said Dr. Alan Booth, professor of sociology and human development. "In addition, they are more likely to rate their health as excellent or good rather than fair or poor. Studies show self ratings of health correlate highly with physicians' assessments. "The benefits of higher testosterone levels have a down side, however. Some, but not all, men with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to engage in behaviour that cancels out the beneficial effects of testosterone." Those with higher levels of testosterone are more inclined to smoke, drink alcohol excessively and indulge in risky behaviour that leads to injury. The biggest detriment to health by far is the tendency for high testosterone men to smoke. The research was published in a recent issue of the Journal Of Behavioral Medicine. The researchers studied testosterone and health in a sample of 4,393 men between the ages of 32 and 44 who had served in the military between 1965 and 1971. The men were interviewed and medically examined. Testosterone was measured in plasma from blood drawn at 8 a.m. Concentrations ranged from 53 nanograms per decilitre (ng/dl) to 1,500 with an average of 679. "Comparison of men with slightly average levels of testosterone [400/ng/dl] with men with slightly above average levels [800 ng/dl] revealed significant differences in the indicators of health," Booth says. Men at the higher level were 45 percent less likely to have high blood pressure, 72 percent less likely to have experienced a heart attack, eight percent less likely to have three or more colds in a year and 45 percent less likely to rate their health as fair or poor. On the negative side, men at the higher level were 25 percent more likely to report one or more injuries, 32 percent more likely to imbibe five or more drinks in a single day and 151 percent more likely to smoke. "We don't yet fully understand how testosterone benefits health or leads to behaviours detrimental to health," Booth said. "More studies are needed to discover the missing pieces to this puzzle. What is clear is that men with higher testosterone levels are at higher risk for negative health outcomes. But there are many men with higher testosterone who don't engage in health risk behaviour and who do realise testosterone-related health benefits." Increasing men's awareness of their testosterone levels may be worthwhile in terms of health promotion and disease prevention efforts, the researchers said. Regular monitoring of testosterone levels would make it easier to optimise the sensitive balance between testosterone's positive and negative effects, especially if it is done as part of overall physical check-ups. "Monitoring testosterone through saliva samples is now possible and offers distinct advantages over the traditional means of assaying blood," Granger explained. "Saliva sampling is non-invasive, samples can be self-collected, repeated samples can be obtained with minimal effort and the accuracy of saliva assays has substantially improved in recent years."
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