Does Testosterone Supplementation Affect Body Mass In Older Males?

Does Testosterone Supplementation Affect Body Mass In Older Males?

How Is Body Mass Affected By Older Men With Testosterone Supplementation?

You may well be accustomed to the images of bodybuilders and social media stars who are ‘jacked’ and lean.

You may also be aware that the majority of these ‘personalities’ are taking advantage of the benefits that anabolic steroids can offer to create a physique that is muscular and defined.

This is not necessarily exclusive to males either, many females also take advantage of increasing the amounts of male sex hormone can give to produce a rippling torsos and legs.

However, very little is ever documented about the effects that increased testosterone supplementation can have on the body mass for older men.

As men age, their natural testosterone levels deplete.

This leads to a number of changes that can affect:

  • Body composition
  • Mood
  • Energy
  • Motivation
  • Muscle mass
  • Fat distribution
  • Cognitive health
  • Bone density
  • Cardiovascular health
  • Irritability

Yet, these changes happen over a long period of time and therefore are not often noticed.

While we know ‘younger’ people can take advantage of increased testosterone levels to ‘enhance’ their muscular development and growth including fat loss, can the effects be the same for older men?

Will testosterone supplementation provide muscular increases and fat reduction?

There’s very few studies nor information available that cast any light on the benefits for lipid profiles or body composition for men who are older.

Yet, a study has come to light that does exactly that.

Focusing on 38 men who were aged from 60 – 78 years old; they were measured across numerous variables to understand and evaluate the effects.

The results of the study demonstrated the following:

  • Lean body mass increased
  • HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) increased
  • Total fat mass decreased

To summarize, those men 38 men who were part of this study saw an increase of muscle mass and a decrease of total fat mass.

This then could be an effective way to improve quality of life.

It should also be noted that the HDL cholesterol increased too, this can have significant cardiovascular benefits.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21347608/]

What does this mean for older men?

Muscle Mass

It is easy to overlook the muscle mass increases and focus on the cardiovascular health or cardiovascular health benefits.

However, as people age, they find mobility functioning more difficult.

With muscle loss, they become weak. This means that they are at a greater risk of falling and fracturing bones.

Sarcopenia is a condition whereby muscle mass is lost with age. This naturally occurring condition correlates with data that puts them at a higher risk of falls which leads to fractures.

[http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/news/general-news/2015/november/muscle-loss-in-older-people-linked-to-greater-fall-and-fracture-risk.aspx]

Therefore it is important that muscle mass is retained or restored to improve mobility and lower the threat of injury.

High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) Cholesterol 

The liver produces cholesterol which is a waxy substance. Your cells (read every cell) require cholesterol to work.

However, if you have too much cholesterol and your body has no need for the excess it ends up lining that walls of the arteries, this reduces the amount diameter of the arteries making it harder to pump blood around the body.

Too much cholesterol in turn can lead to cardiovascular disease.

It is not quite as clear cut as that though.

There’s two forms of cholesterol:

  • Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL)
  • High Density Lipoprotein (HDL)

The bad cholesterol is the LDL. It is the LDL which clings on to the side of the arteries reducing blood flow and forcing the heart to work harder.

The study that was performed demonstrated that HDL levels were increased after testosterone treatment for older males.

The HDL which is often referred to as the good cholesterol actually clings on to LDL in the blood stream, removes it and takes it away from the artery walls.

It is then transported back to the liver to be reprocessed.

HDL then, essentially acts as a blood vessel and artery cleaning team. The more of it means that less LDL can line the vessels and cause any blockages.

Reduced Total Fat Mass

A reduction in total fat mass can prevent chronic disease such as obesity and its associated additional health concerns such as:

  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Cardiovascular disease

Too much fat mass also places pressure on the organs and skeletal function.

All of these contributing factors can impair quality of life and can shorten life expectancy.

You may think that mating opportunities are far fetched, however, studies have shown that males with lower fat mass and higher muscle mass have increased mating opportunities over their ‘overweight’ peers.

[Lassek, W. D., & Gaulin, S. J. C. (2007). Menarche is related to fat distribution.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 133, 1147–1151.]

Conclusion

Those men who were treated with testosterone supplementation saw a reduction in total fat mass and an increase in lean muscle mass.

This outcome provides numerous health benefits such as increasing mobility function, decreasing bone fracture risk, increasing good cholesterol, reducing cardiovascular disease risk and can increase mating opportunities.

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Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

Ben established this site to be a free resource in 2015. Since then it has gained over half a million visits. He has always been interested in sport and he started playing rugby at the age of 6 represented his town, county and school. Ben also enjoys cycling, has started skiing and is in the Army Reserve representing his Regiment as part of the 150 Regimental Shooting Team. He holds a bachelor's and postgraduate degree in sport exercise & nutrition.

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