PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Use of testosterone therapy linked to heart attacks in men under 65, study shows

2014-01-30
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Mark Wheeler
mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2265
University of California - Los Angeles
Use of testosterone therapy linked to heart attacks in men under 65, study shows You may have seen one of the many advertisements geared toward men asking if they suffer from "low T" — low testosterone levels that, according to the ads, can result in lost sex drive, diminished energy and moodiness. The answer, they suggest, may be as simple as applying testosterone through a gel or patch.

So successful has the marketing for this testosterone therapy been that, according to Drugs.com, an independent medicine website, sales of the testosterone gel Androgel in 2013 exceeded sales of Viagra.

Now, a new joint study by UCLA, the National Institutes of Health and Consolidated Research Inc., has shown there is a twofold increase in the risk of a heart attack shortly after beginning testosterone therapy among men under 65 who have a history of heart disease. Further, the study confirmed earlier studies that found a twofold increase in heart attack risk shortly after treatment began in men older than 65.

The study, the largest to date examining heart disease in men using testosterone supplements, appears in the Jan. 29 online edition of the journal PLOS ONE.

The research was prompted by three small, earlier studies that raised concerns about possible adverse cardiovascular outcomes associated with testosterone therapy. These included a randomized clinical trialofmen older than 65, which was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and was stopped in 2010 due to a variety of cardiovascular events.

"We decided to investigate cardiovascular risks of this therapy in a large health care database since these previous studies were modest in size and only focused on men 65 and older," said the study's senior author, Sander Greenland, a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and a professor of statistics in the UCLA College of Letters and Science. "Our study allowed us to examine cardiovascular risk in men under the age of 65 and to replicate the findings in men over 65."

Greenland and his colleagues used data from Truven Health Analytics, which aggregates information on patient care. They examined the health care records of 55,593 men who had been prescribed testosterone therapy — 48,539 under the age of 65 and 7,054 who were 65 or older. Their research led to the finding of a twofold increase in men under 65 with heart disease and confirmed the earlier findings of a twofold increase in men over 65 with or without heart disease.

"The extensive and rapidly increasing use of testosterone treatment and the evidence of risk of heart attack underscore the urgency of further large studies of the risks and the benefits of this treatment," Greenland said. "Patients and their physicians should discuss the risk of heart attacks when considering testosterone therapy."

### Other authors on the study included William D. Finkle (first author), Gregory K. Ridgeway, John L. Adams and Melissa A. Frasco, of Consolidated Research Inc., and Michael B. Cook, Joseph F. Fraumeni Jr. and Robert N. Hoover, of the NIH. Funding for the study was provided by the NIH.

The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, founded in 1961, is dedicated to enhancing the public's health by conducting innovative research, training future leaders and health professionals from diverse backgrounds, translating research into policy and practice, and serving our local communities and the communities of the nation and the world. The school has 650 students from more than 35 nations engaged in carrying out the vision of "building healthy futures in greater Los Angeles, California, the nation and the world."

For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Clinical study finds 'bubble CPAP' boosts neonatal survival rates

2014-01-30
HOUSTON -- (Jan. 29, 2014) -- The first clinical study of a low-cost neonatal breathing system created by Rice University bioengineering students ...

Researchers find novel approach for controlling deadly C. difficile infections

2014-01-30
Researchers from the Alberta Glycomics Centre at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta, ...

Precise gene editing in monkeys paves the way for valuable human disease models

2014-01-30
Monkeys are important for modeling diseases because of their close similarities to humans, but past efforts to precisely modify genes in primates have failed. In a study published by Cell Press ...

Cell cycle speed is key to making aging cells young again

2014-01-30
A fundamental axiom of biology used to be that cell fate is a one-way street — once a cell commits to becoming muscle, skin, or blood it always remains muscle, skin, or blood cell. That belief was upended ...

Mount Sinai researchers identify UHRF1 as oncogene driving liver cancer

2014-01-30
New York, NY – Patients with advanced hepatocellular (or liver) cancer ...

How DNA damage affects Golgi -- the cell's shipping department

2014-01-30
In studying the impact of DNA damage on the Golgi, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered ...

Photon recoil provides new insight into matter

2014-01-30
This news release is available in German. Quantum logic spectroscopy – which ...

New study suggests choline recommendations during pregnancy may be too low

2014-01-30
Park Ridge, Ill. (January 30, 2014) - Recent research published in the American Journal of Clinical ...

Gastric banding patients should closely monitor nutrition following surgery

2014-01-30
DALLAS – Jan. 30, 2014 – Patients who have had bariatric surgery may need to take dietary supplements and pay closer attention to their nutritional intake, a UT Southwestern ...

Geranium extracts inhibit HIV-1

2014-01-30
Scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München demonstrate that root extracts of the medicinal plant Pelargonium sidoides (PS) contain compounds that attack HIV-1 ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

AI can spot which patients need treatment to prevent vision loss in young adults

Half of people stop taking popular weight-loss drug within a year, national study finds

Links between diabetes and depression are similar across Europe, study of over-50s in 18 countries finds

Smoking increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, regardless of its characteristics

Scientists trace origins of now extinct plant population from volcanically active Nishinoshima

AI algorithm based on routine mammogram + age can predict women’s major cardiovascular disease risk

New hurdle seen to prostate screening: primary-care docs

MSU researchers explore how virtual sports aid mental health

Working together, cells extend their senses

Cheese fungi help unlock secrets of evolution

Researchers find brain region that fuels compulsive drinking

Mental health effects of exposure to firearm violence persist long after direct exposure

Research identifies immune response that controls Oropouche infection and prevents neurological damage

University of Cincinnati, Kent State University awarded $3M by NSF to share research resources

Ancient DNA reveals deeply complex Mastodon family and repeated migrations driven by climate change

Measuring the quantum W state

Researchers find a way to use antibodies to direct T cells to kill Cytomegalovirus-infected cells

Engineers create mini microscope for real-time brain imaging

Funding for training and research in biological complexity

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: September 12, 2025

ISSCR statement on the scientific and therapeutic value of human fetal tissue research

Novel PET tracer detects synaptic changes in spinal cord and brain after spinal cord injury

Wiley advances Knowitall Solutions with new trendfinder application for user-friendly chemometric analysis and additional enhancements to analytical workflows

Benchmark study tracks trends in dog behavior

OpenAI, DeepSeek, and Google vary widely in identifying hate speech

Research spotlight: Study identifies a surprising new treatment target for chronic limb threatening ischemia

Childhood loneliness and cognitive decline and dementia risk in middle-aged and older adults

Parental diseases of despair and suicidal events in their children

Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults

Acupuncture treatment improves disabling effects of chronic low back pain in older adults

[Press-News.org] Use of testosterone therapy linked to heart attacks in men under 65, study shows