Testosterone replacement could benefit veterans' cardiovascular health, study shows

Veterans with cardiovascular issues could benefit from testosterone replacement, a new study reveals.

According to the research by the Veterans Affairs, veterans with low testosterone but take enhancements, like gels, patches, or injections, have less chances of suffering from heart attack, stroke, or death compared to those who did not undergo said treatment.  However, men who were treated but failed to achieve the normal levels did not benefit from the treatment.

Around 83,010 male veterans ages 50 and above joined in the study. Their condition was documented with low testosterone at the in Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1999 and 2014.

According to Eureka Alert, the findings of the study could dispel previous notions about testosterone benefits. Likewise, it is expected to make a turn around on the much-debated testosterone therapy and whether or not it is really beneficial or not, particularly for the heart. While their studies were already conducted in the past, mixed results came in, although it is believed that differing patient populations and research methods affected the unstable results. 

As move evidence is needed to back claims on testosterone therapy, more clinical trials have to be conducted to offer clear guidance on the use of testosterone treatment. A 2015 guideline issued by the Food and Drug Administration advised health care practitioners against over-using testosterone therapy because it places an individual at risk of heart attack and stroke.

But according to Dr. Rajat Barua, the study's corresponding author and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Kansas, the right dose of testosterone could yield health benefits.

"It is the first study to demonstrate that significant benefit is observed only if the dose is adequate to normalize the total testosterone levels," Barua and his coauthors explained in the paper published in  the European Heart Journal. The researchers also reiterated that only if the testosterone replacement therapy reaches the therapeutic level will the "reduction in [heart attack] or stroke and had significantly less benefit on mortality" be observed.

Researchers advocated active and frequent research on these issues to strengthen the claim of their work study.

"The mechanisms for these effects remain speculative," the researchers wrote, according to UPI.