Testosterone replacement therapy in the ageing man

摘要

The benefits of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for men suffering from hypogonad-ism of organic origin are well established. Many symptoms of male ageing are common to hypogonadism, which led to the speculation they could result from the partial hypogonadism often observed after 50 years of age. Whether there is a cause and effect relation and a significant benefit of TRT at this age is however still a matter of debate. To clarify this issue we reviewed the 43 double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trials that we found in the literature in which men of mean age >50 years with baseline testosterone low to low normal with respect to the normal young adult range (<50 years old) testosterone were treated with testosterone (T) preparations [1]. Most of these trials can be found in recent comprehensive reviews [2-4].