Testosterone is your friend

Men with low levels of testosterone appear to have a shorter lifespan than men with normal levels, according to investigators at Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, in Germany. This adds to a growing body of research in this area.

In a study of 2,000 men ages 20 to 79, lead author Robin Haring and co-workers found that men with low testosterone were 2.5 times more likely to die over a 10-year period than those with higher testosterone.

At the beginning of the study, 5% of the men had low testosterone levels. These men tended to be more obese and were more likely to be diabetic or to have high blood pressure than the rest of the group. The researchers controlled for age, smoking, alcohol intake, level of physical activity and waist size.

"It’s very possible that lifestyle determines levels of testosterone," said Haring in a news release.

The results were presented at the Endocrine Society’s 90th annual meeting, held in San Francisco from June 15 to 18.

--Janet Cromley

Comments

[Elrey]

Is it possible that testosterone level determines lifestyle, as well?

[DR]

Maybe it's the men with high testosterone bumping off the low-test guys.

Survival of the fittest

[jo jo]

Seems like a pretty clear cause and effect; let's all go inject ourselves with testosterone to prolong our lives!

Don't weightlifters and bodybuilders live to like 200?