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Testosterone Supplements - Benefits vs. Risks

If you were  to discuss low testosterone (or “Low T” as some clever Madison Avenue huckster has dubbed it) with a medical professional, he or she would likely tell you that it is a normal part of aging. Unlike women, who experience a relatively sudden shutdown in the production of estrogen around age 50 (menopause), the decrease of testosterone in males is gradual, starting around age 30. By age 45, approximately 40% of all men are effected.

Conditions linked to testosterone deficiency include lowered libido, sleep difficulties, fatigue and even psychological issues including depression and anxiety. There are even some doctors that believe lower testosterone may be connected to enlargement of the prostate, another common condition in men over 50, and may in fact lead to high mortality rates.

To be sure, there are some patients who can indeed benefit from testosterone treatments. However, a number of studies in recent months indicate that such treatments can as much as double a man's risk of cardiac arrest.

It's a matter of weighing the risks and the benefits. Yet, while there are some legitimate medical reasons for prescribing testosterone supplements, a recent study has found that the number of such prescriptions have skyrocketed in recent years. Is this because more men are suffering from testosterone deficiency? Or might it be due to more aggressive marketing on the part of profit-hungry pharmaceuticals, aimed directly at the public?

That same study also found that as much as 9% of all such prescriptions were written for men who had normal to high levels of testosterone.  And earlier study in Texas found that 25% of men undergoing testosterone treatments had gotten prescriptions without ever having proper tests done to see if they were actually suffering from a deficiency.  According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, only about 2% of men over 40 have any real medical need for such treatments.

Nonetheless, lured by promises of greater energy and sex drive as well as overall rejuvenation, men are lining up at walk-in clinics. The testosterone business is expected to rake in $5 billion a year by 2017. Despite statements from pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly, which told ABC News  that the firm “does not condone the use of our medicines for off-label purposes,”  there are still billions of dollars at stake.  Given the track record of Big Pharma, it's likely that the potential risks of testosterone – which includes prostate cancer and liver damage in addition to heart attack – was known, but the knowledge not widely disseminated.

Learn more about Testosterone Heart Attacks

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