Chicago
— A steep decline in levels of the hormone
testosterone can trigger depression in some older men,
researchers said on Monday.
While most men's
testosterone levels decline gradually after age 40, a
severe drop called hypogonadism afflicts roughly 30
percent of men over age 55 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypogonadism>.
The condition can cause
decreased muscle mass and strength, less bone mineral
density, diminished appetite, decreased libido, fatigue
and irritability.
"Hypogonadal men showed
an increased incidence of depressive illness" in the
study of 278 men older than 44, wrote study author Molly
Shores of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care
System, Seattle.
Shores said 22 percent of
the men with hypogonadism were diagnosed with depression
over a two-year period, against 7 percent of those
without the condition.
Testosterone levels
normally peak in early adulthood, and then decrease by
approximately 1 percent per year after age 40.
The study appeared in the
journal Archives of General Psychiatry
<http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/>.
