Many men with low testosterone levels do not receive treatmentMay 27, 2008The majority of men with androgen deficiency may not be receiving treatment despite having sufficient access to care, according to a report in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Androgen deficiency in men means the body has lower than normal amounts of male hormones, including testosterone, according to background information in the article. Although prescriptions for testosterone therapy for aging men have increased in recent years, treatment patterns for androgen deficiency are not clearly understood in community-dwelling U.S. males. Susan A. Hall, Ph.D., of New England Research Institutes, Watertown, Mass., and colleagues examined data collected from 1,486 Boston-area men (average age 46.4) from April 2002 to June 2005 to estimate the number of men receiving treatment for androgen deficiency, to explain how treated and untreated men varied in seeking care and to understand potential barriers to health care. Specific symptoms of androgen deficiency include low libido, erectile dysfunction and osteoporosis and less-specific symptoms include sleep disturbance, depressed mood and tiredness.
A total of 97 men met the criteria for having androgen deficiency. Eighty-six men were symptomatic and untreated, and 11 were prescribed testosterone treatment. "Men were using the following: testosterone gel (n=1), testosterone patch (n=3), testosterone cream (n=1), testosterone cypionate [an injectable form of testosterone] (n=1) or unspecified formulations of testosterone (n=5)," the authors write. "All of the unspecified forms of testosterone used were self-reported as administered in intervals defined in weeks, which suggests that these were injectable formulations." "Men with untreated androgen deficiency were the most likely of the three groups to have low socioeconomic status, to have no health insurance and to receive primary care in an emergency department or hospital outpatient clinic," the authors write. However, all men with treated and untreated androgen deficiency were more likely to report receiving regular care than those without the condition and reported visiting their doctor more often throughout the year (with averages of 15.1 visits for those with untreated androgen deficiency, 6.7 visits for those without the condition and 12 visits for those with treated androgen deficiency). "Under our assumptions, a large majority (87.8 percent) of 97 men in our groups with androgen deficiency were not receiving treatment despite adequate access to care," the authors conclude. "The reasons for this are unknown but could be due to unrecognized androgen deficiency or unwillingness to prescribe testosterone therapy." JAMA and Archives Journals | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Androgen Current Events and Androgen News Articles Hormone therapy before radiation seed implants for prostate cancer Men over 70 years of age with early-stage prostate cancer have 20 percent higher mortality if they are treated first with hormone therapy before being treated with radiation seed implants (brachytherapy), compared to men who are treated with brachytherapy alone. Why a common treatment for prostate cancer ultimately fails Some of the drugs given to many men during their fight against prostate cancer can actually spur some cancer cells to grow, researchers have found. The findings were published online this week in a pair of papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Inheritance of hormonal disorder marked by excessive insulin in daughters Elevated levels of insulin could be an early sign that girls whose mothers suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome -- or PCOS -- may also be susceptible to the disease, according to gynecologists who have found evidence of insulin resistance in young children. Prostate cancer patients undergoing hormone therapy may experience cognitive effects A recent review of the literature has found that hormone deprivation therapy, a commonly used treatment for prostate cancer, may have subtle adverse effects on cognition in patients-- such as in the ability to recall and concentrate. OHSU Cancer Institute researchers find novel chemo drug helps treat prostate cancer Men with a certain type of prostate cancer have been shown to respond to a new chemotherapy drug, Sagopilone, plus prednisone in an international trial led by Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers. How advanced prostate cancer becomes resistant to androgen-deprivation therapy For the past 70 years the treatment of choice for advanced, metastatic prostate cancer has been androgen-deprivation therapy. Estrogen Helps Drive Distinct, Aggressive Form of Prostate Cancer Using a breakthrough technology, researchers led by a Weill Cornell Medical College scientist have pinpointed the hormone estrogen as a key player in about half of all prostate cancers. Study shows that prostate cancer increases the risk of bone fracture As unlikely as it sounds, scientists at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research have shown that there is a link between prostate cancer and a higher risk of bone fracture. Study reveals inaccuracies in studies of cancer treatment Certain biases may exist in observational studies that compare outcomes of different cancer therapies, making the results questionable. Blocking protein kills prostate cancer cells, inhibits tumor growth, Jefferson scientists find Researchers at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have shown that they can effectively kill prostate cancer cells in both the laboratory and in experimental animal models by blocking a signaling protein that is key to the cancer's growth. More Androgen Current Events and Androgen News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||