Why Has “Low Testosterone” Become a Popular Commercial Interest for Pharmaceutical Companies?

by Christiana Care

Question by Starving Idealist: Why has “low testosterone” become a popular commercial interest for pharmaceutical companies?
I have only noticed this in advertisement for last couple of years. Are they simply preying on the insecurities of men? Hoping for a placebo effect?

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/business/story/2012/09/10/testosterone-gets-marketing-push-but-long-term-unknown/57715666/1

Best answer:

Answer by Kiki
It’s for andropause. The male equivalent of menopause.

No it’s not preying on insecurities. It’s commodifying a cure for natural aging processes.

Answer by Ya Coffee
I have been wondering the same thing as you that these drug companies want a bigger market and are preying on men’s insecurities. Men’s testosterone levels go down as they grow older and nature must have a reason for this. When we start to play with nature there can be grave consequences.

I’m glad the FDA is looking into this:

“FDA is investigating the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death in men taking FDA-approved testosterone products. We have been monitoring this risk and decided to reassess this safety issue based on the recent publication of two separate studies that each suggested an increased risk of cardiovascular events among groups of men prescribed testosterone therapy. FDA is providing this alert while it continues to evaluate the information from these studies and other available data. ”

I understand that in one of these studies they stopped it half way through because they could no longer justify putting the subjects life at risk – this means they assessed that the risk was huge.

@Mike – I’m not saying stop it – just keep monitoring it – there is a risk and if you see that indicators show there is damage being done to your heart, you should stop. I’m saying this because my mother took drugs and was not properly monitored when she should have been and when they finally found out the negative effects, it was too late and she died of the drug side effects – be careful!

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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