According to a recent study, low testosterone levels in men may be linked with the development of rheumatoid arthritis.
Sex hormones play a significant role in the subsequent development of rheumatoid arthritis and both male and female with such condition are likely to show lower levels of testosterone in their blood than healthy people.
However, it is still ambiguous whether this contributes to the disease or not.
The findings of the research were based on the participants of the Swedish Malmo Preventive Medicine Program (MPMP), which started in 1974 and has tracked the health statistics of over 33,000 people born between 1921 and 1949.
As part of their research, participants were subjected to a series of tests, a questionnaire on health and lifestyle factors, and left blood samples after an overnight fast.
The authors identified all those MPMP participants who were found to develop rheumatoid arthritis up to December 2004 by examining national and regional registers.
Stored blood samples were available for 104 men who consequently developed rheumatoid arthritis, and for 174 men of the same age who were not diagnosed with the disease.
The average period of time between taking the blood sample and diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis was just under 13 years, but ranged from one to 28.
Rheumatoid factor status was known at diagnosis for 83 of the men, almost three out of four (73 percent) of whom tested positive for it; the rest tested negative. Rheumatoid factor is an antibody that indicates the extent of the disease severity and helps to categorise the condition accordingly.
After taking into consideration smoking and body mass index (BMI), both of which can be a cause of rheumatoid arthritis, it was found that men with lower levels of testosterone in their blood samples were more likely to develop the disease.
The details of the research have been published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
-With inputs from ANI
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