Men who take testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) are notmore likely to experience cardiovascular events orthromboembolism, but they are at higher risk of obstructivesleep apnea (OSA), according to a new study.In fact, the study of 6844 male US military service members,retirees, and their dependents found that TRT was associatedwith a small but significant decrease in cardiovascular (CV)event risk, mainly due to a lower incidence of coronary arterydisease (CAD), Alexander P. Cole, MD, of Brigham andWomen’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues reported in apaper published online ahead of print in BJU International.
The 2-year absolute risk of cardiovascular events was 8.2% for TRT users compared with 10.5% among controls (men notusing TRT and who had no history of prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, thromboembolism, or OSA). When theinvestigators looked at congestive heart failure, stroke, and CAD separately, CAD was the only end point with significantlylower risk among TRT users.