Functional hypogonadism and prevalence of decreased total testosterone level in type 2 diabetic male patients

Abstract

Approximately 50 % of older obese males treated for type 2 diabetes exhibit low total testosterone levels, and many of them also signs of hypogonadism. Functional hypogonadism nega-tively affects glycaemic control, exacerbates early cardio-vascular complications, causes lower bone mineral density, erectile dysfunction, reduces lean body mass, and accelerates the accumulation of visceral fat. The first part of this paper provides an overview of the pathophysiology, clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of functional hypogonadism. The second part of the article presents the results of a cross-sectional study of obese diabetic male patients, undertaken during the years 2014–2015 at the Diabetic Outpatient Clinic of the General Hospital Celje, with the goal to assess the prevalence of decreased total testosterone level. There were 165 patients included in this cross-sectional study; 87 patients exhibited a decreased total testosterone level (below 11 nmol/l) while 78 had a normal level of total testosterone. The prevalence of decreased levels of total testosterone among obese male patients with type 2 diabetes was found to be 52.7 %.