Testesterone therapy benefits men with Alzheimer's

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Treatment with the male hormone testosterone can help improve quality of life in those with Alzheimer's disease.
Some men with Alzheimer's disease do have reduced levels of testosterone. So perhaps treatment with the hormone would be beneficial? To find out, researchers at the University of California gave testosterone or placebo to a group of 16 men with mild Alzheimer's disease and compared them with 22 healthy elderly men for 24 weeks.

Those on the testosterone did better on caregiver quality-of-life assessment than those on placebo. When it came to cognItive tests, however, there was no obvious improvement although there were on visuospatial testing. There was a non-significant trend towards improved quality of life among the healthy controls who took testosterone. The findings suggest that testosterone therapy could be helpful for men with mild Alzheimer's disease, especially those who have low testosterone levels.

Source
Archives of Neurology online 12th December 2005

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