Low Testosterone Link to Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Jeffrey Newman

Low levels of the male sex hormone testosterone in older men has now been associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. This was the finding of a team of researchers at Saint Louis University in a co-investigative study with Queen Mary Hospital at the University of Hong Kong. The study will be published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and the study was led by Leung-Wing Chu M.D. Chief of the division of geriatric medicine at the University of Hong Kong. The study included 153 men at least 55 who did not have dementia. Of these 47 had mild cognitive impairment. Within a year, 10 who were part of the cognitively impaired group developed probable Alzheimer’s disease. These men were measured to have low levels of testosterone in their body tissues; elevated levels of ApoE 4 (apoliproprotein E protein which is correlated with higher risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and high blood pressure. Researcher have suggested tjat testosterone may have a protective value against Alzheimer’s disease. Now studies are being develop to examine the use of testosterone in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.