Does testosterone fight artery disease?The primary male sex hormone sex hormone n. Any of various steroid hormones, such as estrogen and androgen, affecting the growth or function of the reproductive organs and the development of secondary sex characteristics. testosterone has traditionally been considered a major contributor to heart disease in men. Surprising new findings suggest that this hormone may actually protect men from the clogged arteries that can lead to a heart attack. What tipped researchers off was evidence that didn't fit the testosterone theory of male heart disease. For example, previous studies showed that men who had suffered a heart attack tended to have abnormally low concentrations of testosterone circulating in their bloodstream. Gerald B. Phillips and his colleagues at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons College of Physicians and Surgeons: see Columbia Univ. in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. wondered whether high concentrations of the hormone might actually shield men from heart disease. To test that theory, the team studied 55 men who had chest pain or other symptoms of atherosclerosis atherosclerosis (ăth'ərōsklərō`sĭs): see arteriosclerosis. atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries , a condition in which fatty debris coats the walls of the arteries. None of the recruits had suffered a heart attack, but all had undergone angiography angiography or arteriography X-ray examination of arteries and veins with a contrast medium to differentiate them from surrounding organs. The contrast medium is introduced through a catheter to show the blood vessels and the structures they supply, including , a procedure that yields X-ray pictures of the vessels supplying the heart with blood. The researchers found that men who had low concentrations of testosterone in their blood were significantly more likely to exhibit more serious coronary clogging than their peers with high concenterations of the hormone. Even when the team excluded men pwho were sick rom other causes or had unsusual hormone readings that might skew (1) The misalignment of a document or punch card in the feed tray or hopper that prohibits it from being scanned or read properly. (2) In facsimile, the difference in rectangularity between the received and transmitted page. the results, the correlation remained statistically strong. "I couldn't believe it when I saw it," Phillips says, noting that the possibility of the link's occuring by chance is less than 1 in 1,000. The study is the first to find a relationship between testosterone and the degree of atherosclerosis, the team states in the May ARTERIOSCLEROSIS arteriosclerosis (ärtĭr'ēōsklərō`sis), general term for a condition characterized by thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of the blood vessels. AND THROMBOSIS, published by the American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA), n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities. . A relationship between testostorone and atherosclerosis doesn't necessaryily mean that low concentrations of the hormone lead directly tot he disease. Yet the correlation is so strong that Phillips believes there's more to the testosterone and heart disease story than previously suspected. It may be that testosterone helps men ward off heart disease, while estrongen, the primary female sex hormone, plays the same role for women, Phillips speculates. Both men and women produce testosterone and estrogen but in varying amounts. The new findings are preliminary, however. "This has to be confirmed," Phillips cautions. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion