Hormone Replacement Therapy
How Testosterone Therapy Benefit Men with Diabetes
Doctors sometimes recommend testosterone therapy to treat certain health conditions in their male patients.
Many men undergo testosterone therapy for non-medical uses, such as enhancing sexual performance, achieving higher energy levels, and building muscle mass.
Now there is evidence to suggest that testosterone therapy can benefit men who have type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is an increasingly common medical condition. More than 34 million people in the United States have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and approximately 90 to 95 percent of those with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.1
Diabetes is a condition in which there is too much sugar, also known as glucose, in the bloodstream.
Body cells use glucose as energy.
Insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, helps “unlock” the cell to absorb glucose from the bloodstream; as the cells absorb the sugar, blood glucose levels decline.
In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.
In those with type 2 diabetes, the body cells become resistant to the effects of insulin.
In both types of diabetes, the cells fail to absorb sugar from the blood, allowing blood glucose levels to remain high.
High glucose levels can cause complications, such as heart disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, vision problems, and other health issues. High blood sugar and insulin resistance can also contribute to obesity. The body stores the excess glucose as fat.
Doctors typically treat type 2 diabetes with medications that help lower blood glucose levels, improving the body’s sensitivity to insulin, and stimulating the production of insulin.
Doctors use a blood test, known as an A1C level, to assess a patient’s glucose levels’ stability over the previous two or three months.
They also use A1C levels to determine when a patient is in remission, which means the patient’s blood glucose levels so low that the patient is no longer considered to have diabetes.
Doctors consider a patient to be in remission when the patient’s A1C drops below 6.5 percent for six months without using diabetes medication.
The Connection between Type 2 Diabetes and Testosterone in Men
While both males and females can develop type 2 diabetes, the condition is more common in men than in women. About half of all men with type 2 diabetes have low serum testosterone (LST) levels.2, 3
Testosterone is a hormone that affects a man’s appearance and sexual development.
Produced mainly in men in the testicles, Testosterone stimulates sperm production and sex drive and helps build muscle and bone mass.
Testosterone also helps the body absorb glucose in response to insulin. Men with low Testosterone often experience insulin resistance, so their bodies need to produce more insulin to keep blood glucose at healthy levels.
The weight gain associated with low testosterone levels can also increase insulin resistance and reduce insulin production.
Men who have normal testosterone levels tend to develop subcutaneous fat just beneath the skin. Those with low testosterone levels, in comparison, tend to develop visceral fat deep within the abdomen. Visceral fat can wrap around the organs to cause chronic disease. Visceral fat near the liver and pancreas can interfere with insulin production and increase insulin resistance.
Researchers estimate that 25 percent to 50 percent or more of men with type 2 diabetes have low testosterone levels. Men with low testosterone levels are more likely to develop diabetes, and men with diabetes are more likely to produce low Testosterone.
Medical researchers are still trying to determine if diabetes causes low Testosterone or if LST causes type 2 diabetes, but the results of a new study suggest that raising testosterone levels can often reverse type 2 diabetes in males.4, 5
Research Shows Testosterone Can Benefit Men with Type 2 Diabetes
In an 11-year study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, researchers followed 356 men with type 2 diabetes and low Testosterone. The participants received regular diabetes treatment from a German urology clinic, along with diabetes self-management training. Half of the study subjects agreed to receive regular testosterone injections and act as the test group; the other half of participants opted out of testosterone treatment and therefore served as the control group.6
The researchers followed both groups for 11 years and discovered some astonishing results.
More than a third of the participants who received testosterone injections went into diabetes remission, which means their A1C levels dropped below 6.5 percent for six months without diabetes medications.
Another 46.6 percent of participants reached normal glucose levels with the use of diabetes medicines. This means that most participants who received testosterone injections achieved normal glucose levels, thereby significantly reducing their risk of complications from diabetes.
In contrast, none of the 178 participants who opted out of the testosterone injections reduced their glucose levels.
What’s even more impressive is that the testosterone group participants had considerably higher glucose levels and A1C levels than those in the control group, and the testosterone group still had better results. The test group receiving Testosterone also had fewer deaths, heart attacks, and strokes and had fewer diabetes complications compared with the control group.
While medical researchers are still working to understand the connection between Testosterone and type 2 diabetes in men, it is clear that testosterone therapy can be beneficial for men who have type 2 diabetes or are at risk for developing the condition.
But don’t just take our word for it. Find out for yourself. Call us this week to schedule an appointment.
References
- cdc.gov
- academic.oup.com
- webmd.com/
- ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- webmd.com
- dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Doctors sometimes recommend testosterone therapy to treat certain health conditions in their male patients.
Many men undergo testosterone therapy for non-medical uses, such as enhancing sexual performance, achieving higher energy levels, and building muscle mass.
Now there is evidence to suggest that testosterone therapy can benefit men who have type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes is an increasingly common medical condition. More than 34 million people in the United States have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and approximately 90 to 95 percent of those with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.1
Diabetes is a condition in which there is too much sugar, also known as glucose, in the bloodstream.
Body cells use glucose as energy.
Insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas, helps “unlock” the cell to absorb glucose from the bloodstream; as the cells absorb the sugar, blood glucose levels decline.
In people with type 1 diabetes, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.
In those with type 2 diabetes, the body cells become resistant to the effects of insulin.
In both types of diabetes, the cells fail to absorb sugar from the blood, allowing blood glucose levels to remain high.
High glucose levels can cause complications, such as heart disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, vision problems, and other health issues. High blood sugar and insulin resistance can also contribute to obesity. The body stores the excess glucose as fat.
Doctors typically treat type 2 diabetes with medications that help lower blood glucose levels, improving the body’s sensitivity to insulin, and stimulating the production of insulin.
Doctors use a blood test, known as an A1C level, to assess a patient’s glucose levels’ stability over the previous two or three months.
They also use A1C levels to determine when a patient is in remission, which means the patient’s blood glucose levels so low that the patient is no longer considered to have diabetes.
Doctors consider a patient to be in remission when the patient’s A1C drops below 6.5 percent for six months without using diabetes medication.
The Connection between Type 2 Diabetes and Testosterone in Men
While both males and females can develop type 2 diabetes, the condition is more common in men than in women. About half of all men with type 2 diabetes have low serum testosterone (LST) levels.2, 3
Testosterone is a hormone that affects a man’s appearance and sexual development.
Produced mainly in men in the testicles, Testosterone stimulates sperm production and sex drive and helps build muscle and bone mass.
Testosterone also helps the body absorb glucose in response to insulin. Men with low Testosterone often experience insulin resistance, so their bodies need to produce more insulin to keep blood glucose at healthy levels.
The weight gain associated with low testosterone levels can also increase insulin resistance and reduce insulin production.
Men who have normal testosterone levels tend to develop subcutaneous fat just beneath the skin. Those with low testosterone levels, in comparison, tend to develop visceral fat deep within the abdomen. Visceral fat can wrap around the organs to cause chronic disease. Visceral fat near the liver and pancreas can interfere with insulin production and increase insulin resistance.
Researchers estimate that 25 percent to 50 percent or more of men with type 2 diabetes have low testosterone levels. Men with low testosterone levels are more likely to develop diabetes, and men with diabetes are more likely to produce low Testosterone.
Medical researchers are still trying to determine if diabetes causes low Testosterone or if LST causes type 2 diabetes, but the results of a new study suggest that raising testosterone levels can often reverse type 2 diabetes in males.4, 5
Research Shows Testosterone Can Benefit Men with Type 2 Diabetes
In an 11-year study published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, researchers followed 356 men with type 2 diabetes and low Testosterone. The participants received regular diabetes treatment from a German urology clinic, along with diabetes self-management training. Half of the study subjects agreed to receive regular testosterone injections and act as the test group; the other half of participants opted out of testosterone treatment and therefore served as the control group.6
The researchers followed both groups for 11 years and discovered some astonishing results.
More than a third of the participants who received testosterone injections went into diabetes remission, which means their A1C levels dropped below 6.5 percent for six months without diabetes medications.
Another 46.6 percent of participants reached normal glucose levels with the use of diabetes medicines. This means that most participants who received testosterone injections achieved normal glucose levels, thereby significantly reducing their risk of complications from diabetes.
In contrast, none of the 178 participants who opted out of the testosterone injections reduced their glucose levels.
What’s even more impressive is that the testosterone group participants had considerably higher glucose levels and A1C levels than those in the control group, and the testosterone group still had better results. The test group receiving Testosterone also had fewer deaths, heart attacks, and strokes and had fewer diabetes complications compared with the control group.
While medical researchers are still working to understand the connection between Testosterone and type 2 diabetes in men, it is clear that testosterone therapy can be beneficial for men who have type 2 diabetes or are at risk for developing the condition.
But don’t just take our word for it. Find out for yourself. Call us this week to schedule an appointment.
References
- cdc.gov
- academic.oup.com
- webmd.com/
- ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- webmd.com
- dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
