Health

Testosterone Saves the Brain

Testosterone gel against multiple sclerosis

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

16th of May 2007, 13:40 GMT

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Testosterone is not good just for growing big muscles and turn men and women horny. A pilot research at UCLA indicates that testosterone fights multiple sclerosis (MS) in men after another large-scale clinical trial just underway confirmed that the female hormone estriol has the same effects on women. The team led by Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, the director of Multiple Sclerosis Program, has discovered that a testosterone gel for men decreased MS symptoms, brain degeneration and grew up muscle mass in men with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (the most common type).

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive degeneration of the central nervous systems due to the immune system. "MS and many other autoimmune diseases (in which the body attacks its own systems or tissues) are less common in men than in women, at a ratio of about three women to one man." said Voskuhl.

This made researchers suspect that sex hormones and/or sex chromosomes could be behind this higher predisposition, and as testosterone has been found to combat MS-like condition in animals, the team started on this trail. 10 men with relapsing-remitting MS, average age 46, characterized by periods of neurological symptoms, like numbness or difficulty in walking, mingled with remissions, were enrolled. During a six-month pre-treatment phase, their symptoms were just monitored, without any therapy. During the 12 month treatment, each subject applied 10 grams of a gel (100 mg of testosterone) on his upper arms once daily. "After a year we saw an improvement in cognitive performance and a slowing of brain deterioration," said Voskuhl. The men displayed a brain deterioration rate 67 % lower and a muscle mass increase an average of 1.7 kg (3.74 pounds), with no side effects.

"The other optimistic thing about this study was that the protective effect of testosterone treatment on brain atrophy was observed in the absence of an appreciable anti-inflammatory effect, which suggests the protection the testosterone provided may not be limited to MS, but may be applicable to other non-inflammatory neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease." said Voskuhl.

"Overall, the use of the testosterone gel treatment in men with MS was shown to be safe and well tolerated. In addition, our exploratory findings suggest there's a possible neuroprotective effect of testosterone treatment in men, which we feel warrants a larger study." she added.

TAGS:

testosterone | sclerosis | estradiol

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