There's a new study out to add to the debate about testosterone replacement therapy in men and heart disease.  Does it increase or decrease the risk of heart disease?

Hot off the press! The latest study on testosterone replacement in men showed a LOWER RATE IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE over 4 years of follow up. 

Remember those headlines in 2014 and 2015 saying that testosterone replacement therapy INCREASED the risk of heart attack and stroke?  At the time, many medical providers (myself included) had issues with the methodology of the studies.  Because of those concerns, I doubted the accuracy of the findings.  But the headlines were on every news outlet and I got a lot of questions about it.  

This most recent study shows the exact opposite!  Cardiovascular end points (heart attack, stroke, etc.) was 16.9 per 1,000 men for those using testosterone versus 23.9 per 1,000 men for those not using testosterone.  This study was just published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal.

While this study confirms some older studies, there are other studies out there showing no association with heart disease, as well as the ones in the recent past showing an increase in heart disease.  So this isn’t the end of the debate…

Citation: Cheetham TC, An J, Jacobsen SJ, et al. Association of testosterone replacement with cardiovascular outcomes among men with androgen deficiency. [Published online ahead of print February 21, 2017]. JAMA Internal Medicine