IS TESTOSTERONE SAFE?

Recently, I have heard of many men who are conscious of their age. It appears that more and more men are going for their botox injections to take away the wrinkles. Some are even trying out testosterone injections and cream. I am quite sure that testosterone will enhance libido, but is there a downside?
The June 30th online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine carried an article by Dr Shehzad Baseria of Boston on the " Testosterone in Older Men with mobility limitations " trial. This study involved about 209 elderly males, average age 74yrs. They were randomised and given transdermal gel patches. one group received placebo and the treatment arm consist of transdermal gel patches containing 100mg of testosterone. They applied the patches daily for 6 months. The trial was terminated prematurely by the data monitoring and safety committee, because of an increase in heart attacks and other CVS events, including hypertension, arrhythmias, and there was one CV death. There were 23 events in the treatment arm ( 106 pts ) and 5 events in the 103 patients in the placebo arm.
Granted that the numbers of patients are small, but I think it still gives us an idea that testosterone is not exactly harmless, even transdermal.
Oh, I nearly forgot. The patients who received testosterone transdermal, were obviously more mobile and active after the testosterone patches, so it did achieve its primary objective.