Low Testosterone Levels & Alzheimer’s Disease
As humans, we all dread all kinds of diseases and infirmities. However, some diseases are feared more than the others and it is in this category that Alzheimer’s disease is. A degenerative disorder of the brain, the disease causes a permanent loss of memory not to talk of the cognitive functions that it erodes. Alzheimer’s is also dreaded as one of the most common form of dementia. There is currently no cure for this debilitating disease and what is more, latest research findings have established a connection between low testosterone levels and the disease. That is why testosterone supplements are being sought by men and women as they age.
Published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, a landmark research carried by scientists from the prestigious University of Hong Kong, it was discovered that older East Asian men with decreased levels of testosterone in the blood were diagnosed with the disease in just less than a year. Although, some other factors as genetic predisposition and the environment have been listed as possible factors influencing the disease, the result of the research clearly established a connnection between the neurodegenerative condition and decreased levels of testosterone production even if the exact mechanisms are still being deciphered.
Similar findings have been made by researchers at the Wayne State University and other institutions all over the globe although there is still so much to learn about the testosterone-Alzheimer’s disease link and all the other factors involved. It is also very interesting to note that as men age, the level of production of testosterone decreases while their susceptibility to certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease increases. In a way that has not been fully demystified, it is as if testosterone has protective effects on the central nervous system, especially the brain.