Professor T. Hugh Jones
Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, and Hon. Professor of Andrology; President of the Androgen Society; Committee member of the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists (ABCD); European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines panel on ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health’
This article is part of a disease awareness campaign fully funded and sponsored by Besins Healthcare UK Ltd.
Tackling testosterone deficiency may help to reduce the toll of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men.
Hugh Jones, Professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, says that naturally produced testosterone improves glucose control in multiple ways. “It stimulates the efficiency of insulin receptors, increases glucose transport across cell membranes and glucose metabolism in cells.”
Professor Jones, who has just become President of the International Androgen Society, has a long-standing interest in links between testosterone deficiency and T2D. His research has shown that 40% of men with T2D suffer from symptomatic testosterone deficiency, and T2D men with testosterone deficiency had more than twice the risk of early death compared to men with T2D and normal testosterone levels.
Yet men who have had their testosterone deficiency treated for six years, achieved the same survival as T2D men without testosterone deficiency. Prediabetes, a condition affecting huge numbers of the population, can be better tackled by managing testosterone deficiency.
Prevention of type 2 diabetes
Strong evidence is building to demonstrate that managing testosterone deficiency in men with prediabetes, alongside lifestyle weight management programmes may prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes, whilst also demonstrating significant reductions in waist circumference and body fat.
Professor Jones is also interested in associations between CVD and testosterone deficiency. “Here we think that naturally produced normal levels of testosterone protect against lipid being deposited in the arteries,” he explains.
These, and other studies, will be critical in the future for helping doctors decide how best to manage men with testosterone deficiency.
Significant further research is ongoing to study how CVD outcomes are affected by the safe management of testosterone deficiency.
“These, and other studies, will be critical in the future for helping doctors decide how best to manage men with testosterone deficiency especially those who have other chronic conditions” says Professor Jones.
If you are affected by any of the issues in this article or want more information, please talk to your doctor.
This content was originally published on 30th November 2021
BHUK/2022/229 | December 2022
