Does testosterone change your cholesterol?
The effect of androgens on lipids
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When men have low natural testosterone, they often have bad cholesterol levels. When they take testosterone medicine, some bad cholesterol goes down but good cholesterol also drops. We still don't know if this helps or hurts their heart.
Surprising Findings
Testosterone therapy lowers HDL (good cholesterol), which is typically seen as harmful to heart health.
Most people assume boosting testosterone improves health markers—but this shows it may hurt the very cholesterol that protects the heart.
Practical Takeaways
If considering testosterone therapy, ask your doctor to monitor both HDL and LDL cholesterol before and after starting treatment.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When men have low natural testosterone, they often have bad cholesterol levels. When they take testosterone medicine, some bad cholesterol goes down but good cholesterol also drops. We still don't know if this helps or hurts their heart.
Surprising Findings
Testosterone therapy lowers HDL (good cholesterol), which is typically seen as harmful to heart health.
Most people assume boosting testosterone improves health markers—but this shows it may hurt the very cholesterol that protects the heart.
Practical Takeaways
If considering testosterone therapy, ask your doctor to monitor both HDL and LDL cholesterol before and after starting treatment.
Publication
Journal
Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes and Obesity
Year
2013
Authors
A. Monroe, A. Dobs
Related Content
Claims (5)
Doctors aren't sure if taking testosterone helps or hurts your heart, because some recent studies say it’s risky and others say it’s fine.
Men with naturally low testosterone tend to have higher levels of the 'bad' cholesterol and lower levels of the 'good' cholesterol, which might mean their heart health is at greater risk.
Giving men extra testosterone seems to lower their 'bad' cholesterol and total cholesterol (which is good), but it also lowers their 'good' cholesterol (which might not be so good).
Giving testosterone to men with low levels might help their cholesterol and fats in the blood get better, but we still don’t know if that actually makes their heart safer or not.
Taking testosterone therapy might slightly lower the 'good' cholesterol and could raise the 'bad' cholesterol, which could change how your body handles fats in the blood.