(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Testosterone is a male hormone that is known to boost muscle growth in young men. It is often used to treat older men to help fight age-related muscle loss. Muscle loss is also a problem for astronauts during long missions in space. While astronauts exercise regularly to reduce muscle loss during space flight, this is not always enough. In this NASA study, healthy men, average age 35 years, were confined to head-down tilt bed rest for 70 days to mimic space flight-related effects on muscle. None of the 24 men who completed the study were allowed to get up during the 70 days. Eight did no exercise (controls), while the other 16 followed a strict and specially designed routine of aerobic and resistance exercises. In addition, half of the exercise group received intermittent periods of testosterone treatment. The findings of the study showed that exercise reduced the losses of muscle size and strength and that the added testosterone treatment resulted in increased muscle size. Thus, while astronauts should continue to exercise to stay healthy, treatments like testosterone may be a safe supplement where exercise alone is not enough.
