Testosterone Replacement for Men with Low Testosterone Improves Liver Function, Metabolic Syndrome

Newswise — In middle-aged and older men with low testosterone levels, long-term testosterone replacement therapy greatly improves their fatty liver disease and their risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, a new study found. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Testosterone deficiency, which becomes more common with age, is linked not only to decreased libido but also to a number of medical problems. These include the metabolic syndrome—a cluster of metabolic risk factors that increase the chances of developing heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, also called a fatty liver, commonly co-occurs with the metabolic syndrome and may aggravate the metabolic problems. To receive a diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome, patients must have three of the following five risk factors: abdominal obesity (a large waist line), low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, high triglycerides (fats in the blood), high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Click here for the rest of the article...