Low testosterone linked to shorter life

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (UPI) -- Men may not live as long if they have low testosterone regardless of their age, German researchers said.

Lead author Robin Haring, a student from Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Institute for Community Medicine, and colleagues examined the causes of death of nearly 2,000 men ages 20 to 79 years who were living in northeast Germany and who participated in the Study of Health in Pomerania.

Follow-up averaged seven years.

At the beginning of the study, 5 percent of the men had low blood testosterone levels, defined as the lower end of the normal range for young adult men. The men with low testosterone were older, more obese, and had a greater prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure, compared with men who had higher testosterone levels, Haring said.

Men with low testosterone levels had more than 2.5 times greater risk of dying during the next 10 years compared to men with higher testosterone, the study found. This difference was not explained by age, smoking, alcohol intake, level of physical activity, or increased waist circumference -- a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease, Haring said.

The study was presented at The Endocrine Society's 90th meeting in San Francisco.