| 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," says 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.
Booth; Dr. Douglas A. Granger, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and director
of Penn State's Behavioral Endocrinology Laboratory in the College of Health and Human
Development; and Dr. David R. Johnson, professor of sociology at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, have published their work in the paper, "Testosterone and Men's
Health, 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 deciliter (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, 8 percent less likely
to have 3 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 consume 5 or more drinks in a single day and
151 percent more likely to smoke.
Increasing men's awareness of their testosterone levels may be worthwhile in terms of
health promotion and disease prevention efforts, say the researchers. Regular monitoring
of testosterone levels would make it easier to optimize the sensitive balance between
testosterone's positive and negative effects, especially if it is done as part of overall
physical checkups.
"Monitoring testosterone through saliva samples is now possible and offers
distinct advantages over the traditional means of assaying blood," Granger
notes. "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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