Men who used testosterone replacement therapy to treat symptoms of androgen deficiency had a 33 percent lower risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and stroke compared to those who did not receive any hormone therapy.

The findings from the Kaiser Permanente study were published in JAMA Internal Medicine journal.

Symptoms related to androgen deficiency can be treated with testosterone replacement therapy given by injection, orally or topically. Some recent studies, however, have raised concerns that testosterone replacement therapy may increase the risk for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. Other studies report that low testosterone levels in older men are associated with increased cardiovascular risk and that testosterone replacement therapy may have cardiovascular benefits.

“Our study found no indication of an increased risk for cardiovascular events for men with androgen deficiency,” said T. Craig Cheetham, PharmD, MS, study lead author, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation. “Our hope is that these findings help alleviate the concerns that patients with androgen deficiency and their doctors may have had about prescribing and taking testosterone replacement therapy.”

The study evaluated 44,335 male patients at Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Northern and Southern California who had been diagnosed with androgen deficiency between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2010. Of these, 8,808 men were treated with testosterone replacement therapy, while 35,527 were never dispensed testosterone. The men were followed for a median of 3.4 years and researchers found:

• Of the men who never received testosterone, 10.2 percent had a heart attack or stroke during the study period.
• Of those who received testosterone replacement therapy, 8.2 percent had a heart attack or stroke during the study period.