Exercise Enhances Testosterone Replacement Therapy
Regular exercise may enhance the benefits of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in men with late-onset hypogonadism, according to a recent study in South Korea.
“Adding supervised exercise to testosterone replacement therapy is a promising treatment modality to improve efficacy and shorten the treatment period, especially in the treatment of male hypogonadism,” says lead researcher Min Gu Park, MD, from the Department of Urology at Inje University in Seoul, South Korea.
“The ideal treatment has relatively short treatment periods with long durability of response, even after stopping treatment,” he says. “From this point of view, supervised exercise will be a good weapon for the urologist.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Exercise for Patients With Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
Exercise Can Improve Glycemic Control: How to Get Patients Started
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Park and his colleagues investigated the effect of combining exercise and TRT on symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism as well as the durability of response after TRT cessation. They evaluated 50 men in their late 50s or early 60s who had a sedentary lifestyle, erectile dysfunction, and total serum testosterone levels below 350 ng/dL.
They randomly divided the patients into two groups before their 20-week study began:
• Half of the men received 12 weeks of testosterone therapy alone.
• The other half received 12 weeks of testosterone therapy combined with a 20-week supervised physical activity program that included exercise at least 3 times per week.
The exercise program consisted of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, followed by 10 minutes of whole-body stretching, 30 minutes of strength exercises, and an additional 20 minutes of aerobic exercise.
While both groups showed improvements in testosterone levels, the combination group had higher serum testosterone levels at 12 weeks and at 20 weeks than those who received TRT alone. The combination group was also able to sustain these improvements with continuous exercise, even after TRT was stopped.
Park says weight reduction and reduction of visceral fat can have a positive effect on testosterone levels. “We know that TRT alone can reduce visceral fat and weight, but it usually takes more than a year,” he explains. “However, in our present study, the exercise combination group showed significant weight reduction in only three months, which may be related to the higher level of serum testosterone.”
In addition, 72.2% of participants in the combination group reported improvements in erectile function at the conclusion of the study, compared to just 45.5% of the group who received TRT alone.
“We don’t know yet what kind of exercise has better efficacy in improving symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism,” Park says. “But both aerobic and strength exercise are good for endothelial function and maintaining muscle mass, which are related to erectile function and serum testosterone levels.”
He and his colleagues plan to investigate which type of exercise is best for increasing serum testosterone levels and improving symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism.
—Colleen Mullarkey
Reference
Park MG, Cho DY, Yeo JK, Bae JH. Exercise improves the effect of testosterone replacement therapy and the durability of response after cessation of treatment. Presented at: 109th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association, Orlando, Fl. May 19, 2014.