From the article:
“When indicated, testosterone treatment is both essential and safe in elderly patients with symptomatic late onset hypogonadism, or testosterone deficiency,” said study lead author Aksam A. Yassin, M.D., Ph.D., Ed.D., chairman of the Institute of Urology & Andrology in Norderstedt-Hamburg, Germany. “Further analysis is needed to confirm if our findings are due to a direct effect of restoring physiologic testosterone levels.”
Specifically, investigators found that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome dropped from 56 to 30 percent after 57 months of treatment with testosterone-replacement medication to regulate hormone levels. In addition, triglycerides, and levels of blood sugar and pressure significantly decreased, while the average waist circumference shrank by 11 centimeters.
Beginning in 2004, investigators collected data from 261 patients with late-onset hypogonadism, characterized by both low testosterone levels and sexual dysfunction, at three centers in Germany. Patients received 1,000 milligrams of a long-acting testosterone drug, called undecanoate, on the first day of the study, at week six, and then every three months.