Sex Hormone Could Treat Diabetes

Barnsley, England, sex hormone normally acts as a sex enhancer and plays a role in the reproductive system. But new studies show that sex hormones can also be used to treat diabetes.

According to a new study funded by the British drug maker ProStrakan, testosterone gel therapy can fix the fundamental problems in men who suffer from diabetes type 2 (diabetes due to lifestyle).

Diabetes or insulin resistance occurs when the body does not know how to use insulin to process sugar.

The researchers found that the application of testosterone gel can reduce the problem in men with diabetes who have low testosterone levels, or in men without diabetes but with a bunch of heart risk factors called metabolic syndrome.

Testosterone gel therapy can also lower cholesterol levels and have some positive impact on sexual function.

"These findings support the treatment of testosterone in men with low testosterone and type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome," explained Dr T. Hugh Jones of Barnsley Hospital in England in the journal Diabetes Care, as reported by Health24, Saturday (02/04/2011).

In this new study, researchers tested the gel testosterone gel ProStrakan and dummy (placebo) at 220 male middle-aged and older. Participants use the gel once a day for a year.

As a result, insulin resistance decreased by 16 percent in men who use testosterone gel.

However, this testosterone gel for treatment of diabetes and the function is not a medicine to control blood sugar levels.

The researchers also found that participants were slightly increased sexual function with testosterone gel, but there was no difference in erectile dysfunction or sexual satisfaction as a whole.

The side effects were similar between the placebo gel and testosterone gel, although sometimes the testosterone gel can cause swelling around the joints and in the breast.