Low Testosterone News

Testosterone Treatment for Multiple Sclerosis

Very little attention has been paid to exploring remedies or slowing the progression that target two other consequences of multiple sclerosis (MS) - impaired cognitive function and brain atrophy.

A pilot study by UCLA researchers recently published their work in the journal Archives of Neurology in which they described treating men with MS with testosterone gel. Testosterone gel is widely available at compounding pharmacies around the country but should be used under the direction of a physician. Subjects received a topical gel form of testosterone  providing 100 mg of testosterone per day. The testosterone study lasted for one year. The study produced great results: the use of the testosterone gel showed an actual improvement in cognitive function and a dramatic slowing in the rate of brain atrophy in male MS patients.

Here is more information about the study:

Taken from Arch Neurol. 2007;64:683-688. Objective To study the effect of testosterone supplementation on men with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Design, Setting, and Participants Men are less susceptible to many autoimmune diseases, including MS. Possible causes for this include sex hormones and/or sex chromosome effects. Testosterone treatment ameliorates experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, an animal model of MS, but the effect of testosterone supplementation on men with MS is not known. Therefore, 10 men with relapsing-remitting MS were studied using a crossover design whereby each patient served as his own control. There was a 6-month pretreatment period followed by a 12-month period of daily treatment with 10 g of the gel containing 100 mg of testosterone.

Main Outcome Measures Clinical measures of disability and cognition (the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite and the 7/24 Spatial Recall Test) and monthly magnetic resonance imaging measures of enhancing lesion activity and whole brain volumes.

Results One year of treatment with testosterone gel was associated with improvement in cognitive performance (P = .008) and a slowing of brain atrophy (P <.001). There was no significant effect of testosterone treatment on gadolinium-enhancing lesion numbers (P = .31) or volumes (P = .94). Lean body mass (muscle mass) was increased (P = .02).

Conclusion These exploratory findings suggest that transdermal testosterone gel treatment is safe and well tolerated and has potential neuroprotective effects in men with relapsing-remitting MS.

Trial Information clinicaltrials.gov