Low Testosterone, More Men’s Fractures

Low Testosterone Tied to Osteoporosis Bone Fractures in Men Over 60

Low testosterone levels may make men over 60 more likely to suffer an osteoporosis bone fracture.

Osteoporosis, in which bones get dangerously thin, is most common among postmenopausal women. But it can also strike men in advanced age.

“One third of all osteoporotic fractures occur in men,” write Christian Meier, of Switzerland’s University Hospital Basel, and colleagues.

Meier’s team analyzed data on 609 men older than 60 in Australia. The men got a bone mineral density test and had their blood levels of testosterone checked.

The men were followed for almost six years, on average. During that time, 113 men sustained at least one osteoporosis bone fracture.

Men with osteoporosis bone fractures were more likely than other men to have had low testosterone levels at the study’s start, regardless of other factors including age, weight, bone mineral density, smokin, and calcium intake.

But the researchers caution that the observational study doesn’t prove that low testosterone causes bone fractures or osteoporosis in men. And they aren’t ready to recommend hormone therapy to help men avoid osteoporosis bone fractures.

If such therapies are proven safe and effective at preventing fractures in healthy older men, “it is most likely to be justified only in those with the most severe testosterone deficiency,” Meier and colleagues write in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

More information at Todo en Medicamentos.

Adult Circumcision: No Sex Woes Seen

Men Circumcised as Adults Note No Problems With Sexual Satisfaction or Sexual Function

Adult male circumcision doesn’t hamper sexual satisfaction or sexual function, a Ugandan study shows.

Previous studies have shown that circumcision may curb men’s risk of contracting HIV by half, and, if widely practiced in Africa, might prevent 3 million deaths over 20 years.

Now, in the new Ugandan study, few men — circumcised or not — reported sexual problems.

The study included more than 4,000 sexually experienced Ugandan men aged 15-49 who didn’t have HIV.

After rating their sexual satisfaction and function, the men were split into two groups. One group of men got circumcised immediately; the other group didn’t.

The men completed follow-up surveys six months, one year, and two years after the study started.

Virtually all of the men in both groups at least 98% noted no problems with their sexual satisfaction and sexual function in any of those interviews. And six months after circumcision, almost 99% of men reported no difficulty with vaginal penetration, compared to 98% among those men before circumcision.

More information at Todo en Medicamentos.