6 June 2011
Weight loss can reverse testosterone deficiency
by George Atkinson 
Low testosterone and male sexual dysfunction due to obesity may be reversible with weight loss, European medicos have told The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston Seventy-five obese men were enrolled in the study between 2007 and 2010. The men had hormone testing, measurements of body fat and assessment by questionnaire of signs of androgen deficiency (including erectile dysfunction and low sex drive). Initial assessment of the 75 patients showed that 54 had signs and symptoms of androgen deficiency, and 27 had low testosterone levels. The higher the men's body mass index, waist circumference and body fat, the lower their testosterone levels were.
Out of these patients, 17 underwent gastric bypass surgery and were reassessed three and 12 months later. The men who had weight-loss surgery lost an average of 90.2 pounds. One year after surgery, their testosterone levels increased significantly and were within the normal range, showing a reversal of testosterone deficiency. "Morbidly obese men have a high prevalence of low testosterone, and of sexual dysfunction," said study co-author Jean-Paul Thissen, from the University of Louvain in Brussels. "It is reassuring that these problems are potentially curable by weight loss." Related:
Testosterone benefits short-lived
Sugar causes testosterone to plummet
Testosterone Deficiency Relatively Rare, But Will Rise Dramatically
Source: The Endocrine Society
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