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Increased testosterone testing found in men with normal hormone levels
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Retrospective data indicate that testing for testosterone insufficiency has increased in the past decade in the United Kingdom and the United States, raising concern as to how common initial treatment for the disorder is in the aging male population.
“Over the past decade, older and middle-aged men are increasingly being tested for low testosterone levels and being prescribed testosterone medications, particularly in the United States,” study researcher J. Bradley Layton, PhD, renal epidemiology/predoctoral research fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kidney Center, said in a press release. “While direct-to-consumer advertising and the availability of convenient topical gels may be driving more men to seek treatment, our study suggests that many of those who start taking testosterone may not have a clear medical indication to do so."
Researchers identified 410,019 US men and 6,858 UK men who began a testosterone treatment regimen; in addition to another 1,114,329 US men and 66,140 UK men who obtained new testosterone laboratory measurements.
“In the United States, we saw a clear trend where more and more men being tested actually had normal testosterone levels and non-specific symptoms,” Layton said. “This is cause for concern as research examines potential risks associated with testosterone use.”
The researchers recommend further research to examine the safety of testosterone in men with minimal or normal levels of testosterone.
Disclosure: Layton reports no relevant financial disclosures. See the study for a full list of researchers’ financial disclosures.
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