Obese boys have “horrendously” low levels of testosterone – spelling a
“grim message” for their future health and fertility, a new study reveals. The
research shows for the first time that heavily overweight boys aged from 14 to
20 have as much as 50 per cent less testosterone than their leaner peers. And
it “significantly increases their potential to be impotent and infertile as
adults”.
The paper, from the University of Buffalo, is published in online
journal Clinical Endocrinology. Its authors were also the first to discover low
testosterone levels in obese, type 2 diabetic men. They said they were
“surprised” to discover the same low levels in this latest study because the
participants were young and not diabetic.
Lead author Professor Paresh Dandona added: "The implications of
our findings are, frankly, horrendous because these boys are potentially
impotent and infertile. "The message is a grim one with massive
epidemiological implications." Although the study is a relatively small
one and the results need to be confirmed with a larger number of subjects,
Dandona said it made the fight against rising obesity even more crucial. He
added: "These findings demonstrate that the effect of obesity is powerful,
even in the young, and that lifestyle and nutritional intake starting in
childhood have major repercussions throughout all stages of life.”
As well as affecting fertility, low testosterone can also increase the
tendency towards stomach fat and reduced muscle, making obesity a vicious
circle. These all add up to an increased risk of diabetes, too. But Dandona
said there was hope that lifestyle changes and weight reduction could bring
testosterone levels back up to normal: "The good news is that we know that
testosterone levels do return to normal in obese adult males who undergo
gastric bypass surgery. "It's possible that levels also will return to
normal through weight loss as a result of lifestyle change, although this needs
to be confirmed by larger studies."
Yahoo Lifestyle
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