Health Risks Associated with Testosterone Replacement Therapy

Talk About Your Medicine

We’re supporting the ‘Talk About Your Medicines” month in October by raising awareness of the potential health dangers linked to testosterone replacement therapies.

The treatment of low testosterone (also known as hypogonadism or Low-T) in men has increased significantly since the year 2000. Hormone replacement therapy drugs can help regulate hormone levels in the body and provide relief from a number of symptoms like fatigue, low sex drive and weight gain. However, with the growth of such testosterone replacement therapy, there has also been an increase in the number of studies that have shown a link to an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and/or other potentially deadly outcomes.

“They are sex hormone factories,” Dr. Bradley Anawalt of the Hormone Health Network told PBS. “What I mean by that is: They are out to promote all the potential virtues and great myths about how testosterone may solve all problems. And they’re really out to prescribe as much testosterone as they possibly can, and it’s not clear that all these practices are completely safe.”

One testosterone study published in January 2014 found increased heart attack risk in men who used testosterone. The risk did not only apply to older men. But men young than 65 with pre-existing heart disease had “a twofold increase in risk of nonfatal heart attack shortly after initiation of testosterone therapy,” according to the study.

The study’s author, epidemiologist William Finkle, told NPR “the risk of heart attack should be added to the discussion between patients and physicians.”

Earlier this summer the FDA announced that manufacturers of testosterone would be required to add a warning label to their products indicating the possible formation of blood clots in patients’ veins. As a result of the potentially dangerous consequences of taking various low-testosterone treatments — which are available as topical gels, transdermal patches, buccal systems, subcutaneous pellets and injections — a significant number of lawsuits have been filed against manufacturers of testosterone products.

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Tags: FDA, health news, know your medicines, medicines, mens health