The sensationalism hype of testosterone in the media
The media loves to cause hype. We get so many alerts these days about the use of testosterone therapy and all these poor people who have suffered from using various forms of it. The media loves to create hype and rehash stories again and again, often at the expense of the rational truth. While some people have suffered from using testosterone therapy you need to look at the big picture and not just focus on a handful of court cases. That’s right a handful of court cases out of millions of users each year. Using any kind of medication comes with risks, especially if you are predisposed to connecting conditions mentioned in the package insert. Testosterone is no exception.
So, why all the hype around conflicting research studies and testosterone court cases? Well, it’s called media sensationalism. Here’s a definition:
sen·sa·tion·al·ism
noun – (especially in journalism) the use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke public interest or excitement.
(taken from google)
Most of the court cases you hear about in the media are to do with heart attacks and strokes.
There have been quite a few research studies done over the last few years concerning the use of testosterone therapy in men and all the studies have been flawed or have been found to be inconsistent in their results. Even the EU and FDA found that the research and results was inconsistent and that the true long term side effects of using testosterone therapy remain largely unknown. (it’s for this reason that they won’t approve any more testosterone products for the time being and have updated all packaging to reflect this. Al packaging says that there MAY be an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, along with all the other warnings on the package insert.)
You can read more about the testosterone heart attack debate in these articles:
Does testosterone therapy cause heart attacks?
Testosterone, the FDA and the risk of stroke
European Medical Agency conclusions on testosterone
When you take a look at the court cases against AndroGel and Testim you can see that in total there are only a few hundred plaintiffs. The testosterone industry is already more than a $billion industry and may reach $5billion by the end of 2018. There are currently million users of testosterone therapy users all over the world. You do the math. The percentage of plaintiffs is negligible when you consider how big the industry is. Although everyone should know about these court cases, it seems to us that the media sensationalism is unjustified.
NOTE: it goes without saying that you should consult with your doctor before taking any kind of hormone or testosterone therapy. You should also be monitored regularly by your symptoms and blood work to make sure that you are making good progress and have raised your testosterone levels to within the normal limits and are not heading above the upper limits.