Research

Hormonal

Testosterone treatment in older men with low testosterone improves hemoglobin levels and corrects anemia, regardless of the cause of anemia.

If you are an older man with confirmed low testosterone and anemia, testosterone therapy can significantly improve your hemoglobin levels and correct your anemia, regardless of the cause. The treatment involves daily application of a gel, with dose adjustments to keep levels in the normal range for young men. While long-term safety requires more data, this study found no increase in cardiovascular or prostate issues over one year.

StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
In the men with unexplained anemia, testosterone treatment, compared with placebo, substantially increased the hemoglobin concentration by >1.0 g/dL (54% vs 15% of men) and corrected the anemia (58.3% vs 22.2% of men)... In the men with anemia of known cause, testosterone also substantially increased the hemoglobin concentration by >1 g/dL (52% vs 19%) and corrected the anemia (60% vs 14.8%).
Peter J. Snyder et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2018

Why this rating

Based on a large, placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized trial with clear and substantial effects on hemoglobin levels.

Source

Lessons From the Testosterone Trials

Peter J. Snyder et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2018

narrative_review · n=788Cited 265×
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