Increase in testosterone level makes most men victim to prostate enlargement when they hit their 80s.
A study by the University of California- Santa Barbara, built on previous research, suggests that the unnatural overabundance of the hormone, testosterone may be a prime reason of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) or simply called prostate enlargement.
This research warns millions of men who use testosterone supplements to counteract low testosterone as they may be putting themselves at risk for prostate enlargement.
According to the researcher Benjamin Trumble, people taking testosterone replacement therapies were entering themselves into an uncontrolled experiment, just like what happened to women with estrogen replacement therapy from the 1980s to the early 2000s. The Women's Health Initiative study came out and showed that all these women were putting themselves at risk for breast and other cancers.
Professor Michael Gurven added that in testosterone levels decrease with age. Many men use supplements to increase these levels but there's probably a reason why a person's body is producing less testosterone than it used to and if they try to trick it and flood it with testosterone supplements it may cost their health.
It was also found that men with low testosterone and low diabetes risk, those with relatively higher testosterone or HbA1c were at higher risk of prostate enlargement.
The research finds out that prostate enlargement is not necessarily an inevitable part of male aging. It is a disease that our low-pathogen, resource-abundant sedentary lifestyle is creating for us.
The research is published in the Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.
