Researchers challenge testosterone fears

http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/latest-news/researchers-challenge-testosterone-fears
Researchers challenge testosterone fears

8 July, 2014 David Brill 0 comments
Fears about the safety of testosterone have been partially allayed by the publication of alarge new US study.
Contrary to other recent studies, University of Texas researchers found no evidence of increased myocardial infarction rates in a retrospective analysis of 6,300 older men treated with intramuscular testosterone from 1997-2005.
The finding is “robust across a range of sensitivity analyses”, they write in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
In fact testosterone even appeared protective for men at the highest risk of cardiovascular disease, being associated with a 31% reduction in risk of MI.
“Despite [its] limitations, we believe that this study has important strengths, including a large sample size, a long follow-up period, representation of all US geographic regions, and inclusion of a clinically...
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http://aop.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/06/20/1060028014539918.abstract

Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Older Men Receiving Testosterone Therapy

1. Jacques Baillargeon, PhD1
2. Randall J. Urban, MD1
3. Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD1
4. Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, PhD, OTR1
5. Mukaila A. Raji, MD1
6. Fei Du, MS1
7. Yu-li Lin, MS1
8. James S. Goodwin, MD1

1. 1University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

1. Jacques Baillargeon, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Galveston TX 77555, USA. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Background: Testosterone therapy for older men has increased substantially over the past decade. Research on the effects of testosterone therapy on cardiovascular outcomes has yielded inconsistent results. Objective: To examine the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in a population-based cohort of older men receiving intramuscular testosterone. Methods: Using a 5% national sample of Medicare beneficiaries, we identified 6355 patients treated with at least 1 injection of testosterone between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2005. We matched this cohort to 19 065 testosterone nonusers at a 1:3 ratio based on a composite MI prognostic score. Patients were followed until December 31, 2005, or until they lost coverage from Medicare, enrolled in a health maintenance organization, experienced a MI, or died. Results: In a Cox regression analysis adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, receipt of testosterone therapy was not associated with an increased risk of MI (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.69-1.02). In this analysis, there was an interaction between receipt of testosterone and quartile of risk of MI (P = 0.023). For men in the highest quartile of the MI prognostic score, testosterone therapy was associated with a reduced risk of MI (HR = 0.69; 95% CI = 0.53-0.92), whereas there was no difference in risk for the first (HR = 1.20; 95% CI = 0.88-1.67), second (HR = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.69-1.30), and third quartiles (HR = 0.78; 95% CI = 0.59-1.01). Conclusions: Older men who were treated with intramuscular testosterone did not appear to have an increased risk of MI. For men with high MI risk, testosterone use was modestly protective against MI.