Findings of recent study of veterans has shown that when low testosterone in them were restored to normal they had a lower risk of heart attack, stroke or death from any other cause compared to their peers who remained untreated.

Study researchers stated that findings of the study contradicted the previous studies that questioned the efficacy of the hormone treatment. The mixed results from the previously conducted studies left doctors without any strong guidelines on treating men for low testosterone.

This left the Food and Drug Administration advising against over-prescription because of an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

But findings of the new study is said to be far more significant as it considered more than 83,000 patients over the course of 15 years, from 1999 to 2014.

Researchers analyzed record for 83,010 male veterans. They divided the participants into three groups. First group had men whose treatment was to restore testosterone to normal levels, second group had men who were treated but whose levels did not return to normal, and men in third group were those who were not treated. The men were followed-up with an average of 4.6 to 6.2 years after treatment.

Researchers found that the difference in benefit from testosterone treatment between the group restored to normal levels and those who were only treated for low testosterone was found to be very small. But men those who got some kind of treatment saw a small benefit over the men who were not treated, the researchers said.

Dr. Rajat Baru, a cardiologist at Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said, “It is the first study to demonstrate that significant benefit is observed only if the dose is adequate to normalize the total testosterone levels”.