Testosterone is known to increase your libido and musculature, but researchers at the University of Adelaide suspect that the sex hormone may have further benefits to your wellness. According to Gary Wittert, a professor of medicine who is leading the team, testosterone may help to prevent type 2 diabetes.
For the clinical trial, which took place in the last month, Wittert managed to recruit 800 volunteers in one day. Why did these tubby male baby boomers rise to the occasion so quickly? Free testosterone injections. According to Stuart Roberts, a health-care analyst with Bell Potter Securities Ltd. in Sydney, if the trial shows positive results, testosterone could be used as a mainstream therapy rather than just to spice things up in the bedroom: ‘This is what gets you away from the “snigger factor” with testosterone. And, because testosterone is cheap and easy to make, it won’t be an impost to the health-care system.’ The International Diabetes Federation says fighting the disease costs $471 billion to treat worldwide.
Getting away from the “snigger factor” could also help to improve cases of testosterone deficiency. According to a paper published in 2009 by Malcolm Carruthers at London’s Centre for Men’s Health, ‘Like global warming, awareness of the effects of testosterone deficiency is also increasing as the general public surf the oceans of information available on the Internet, but still the condition remains largely unrecognized and untreated.’
For the study, which was discussed today at the 10th International Congress of Andrology in Melbourne, the scientists aim to recruit 1500 pre-diabetic men ages 50 to 74 years with relatively low testosterone and waist circumference of 95 centimetres (37 inches) or more. It seems as though volunteers won’t be in short supply, as in addition to the 800 men who signed up on the first day, another 3200 had clicked on a Web link calling for participants.
These men will be given either testosterone or a placebo, alongside a weight loss programme provided by Weight Watchers International Inc. This is because diabetes has been linked to obesity, and reducing body fat and exercising has been shown to stop as much as 30% of those at risk of diabetes from developing it within five years.
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