Testosterone replacement therapy does not affect Caucasian men and Mexican-American men the same. In fact, a new study published in the Journal of 础濒锄丑别颈尘别谤鈥檚 Disease, shows Caucasian men may be at risk of brain damage from the treatment.
Over the past decade, (TRT) has continued to attract new patients, as well as controversy.
is a real disease. It鈥檚 just there鈥檚 on what levels are considered abnormally low, and which patients actually need supplements. And while testosterone therapy has been shown to provide it also has serious risks, such as .
Now, a study from the in Fort Worth is calling attention to a new risk associated with testosterone replacement therapy 鈥� cognitive impairment, or dementia. And the risk isn鈥檛 the same for all men.
Your Brain, Stress And Testosterone
鈥淢exican American men probably won鈥檛 have detrimental effects with respect to cognition but Caucasian men may have detrimental effects from the testosterone if they have high oxidative stress,鈥� says Rebecca Cunningham, PhD and Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience.
Cunningham explains high oxidative stress seems to be associated with these detrimental effects of testosterone. So what is oxidative stress?
鈥淚t鈥檚 a byproduct of oxygen consumption in the cells,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 fine, but in high levels it can damage the cells, especially brain cells and it鈥檚 also involved in a lot of neuro-degenerative disorders such as disease and Parkinson鈥檚.鈥�
shows Caucasian men with the combination of high oxidative stress and high testosterone levels were more likely to have dementia. While Mexican American men, who tend to have lower oxidative stress, she says, had no higher levels of dementia associated with higher testosterone.
Most testosterone replacement clinics don鈥檛 test for high oxidative stress levels.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e saying is, maybe you should add another test in there, especially with the Caucasian men to be sure they really are good candidates,鈥� Cunningham says.
The good news is that if the oxidative stress levels are too high, there are a number of ways to bring them down. A healthy diet, Cunningham says, high in antioxidants can help.
Foods Packed With Antioxidents
- Red Beans
- Wild blueberry
- Red kidney bean
- Cranberry
- Artichoke
- Blackberry
- Prune
- Raspberry
- Strawberry
- Red Delicious apple
- Russet potato
- Plum
Source: WebMD Public Information from the United States Department of Agriculture
