Low Testosterone Not Normal Part of Aging

 A new study done at the University of Adelaide, Australia brings in a scientific approach to the belief that decline in testosterone a steroid hormone is a fact of life.  The study suggests that, Testosterone changes are largely explained by smoking behaviour and changes in health status, particularly obesity and depression.

 In this study, supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the researchers analyzed testosterone measurements in more than 1,500 men who had measurements taken at two clinics with a span of five years. All blood testosterone samples underwent testing at the same time for each time point. They finally included they included 1,382 men in the data analysis between the age of 35 to 80 years, with an average age of 54.

The authors reported that, on an average, testosterone levels did not decline significantly over five years; rather, they decreased less than 1 percent each year. They also found that certain factors were linked to lower testosterone levels at five years than at the beginning of the study.

 Co-author Gary Wittert, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Adelaide said, "Men who had declines in testosterone were more likely to be those who became obese, had stopped smoking or were depressed at either clinic visit. While stopping smoking may be a cause of a slight decrease in testosterone, the benefit of quitting smoking is huge."

In this study it was shown that unmarried men had greater testosterone reductions than the married men. The author attributed this finding to past research showing that married men tend to be healthier and happier than unmarried men.

"Also, regular sexual activity tends to increase testosterone," Wittert said. .