Should a 60-Year-Old Man Take Testosterone?

Whether a 60-year-old man should take testosterone depends almost entirely on whether he has genuinely low testosterone levels confirmed by blood tests, along with symptoms that match. Testosterone therapy is not a general anti-aging treatment, and most major medical guidelines recommend against prescribing it to men who simply feel older. But for men who have both documented low levels and clear symptoms, the evidence for meaningful benefits has grown substantially in recent years, and long-standing fears about heart attacks and prostate cancer have been largely addressed by large clinical trials.

Getting the Diagnosis Right

The starting point is a blood test, not a symptom checklist. The American Urological Association considers a total testosterone level below 300 ng/dL a reasonable threshold for diagnosing low testosterone, but with a critical caveat: it requires two separate morning blood draws, because testosterone fluctuates throughout the day and peaks in the early hours.¹ A single low reading is not enough to start treatment.

The picture gets more complicated in older men because total testosterone can sometimes stay in a normal range even while the biologically active fraction (free testosterone) drops. One study of healthy aging men found that total testosterone did not significantly decline, but free testosterone progressively decreased with age.² This means a man whose total number looks fine on paper might still have a genuine deficit in the testosterone actually available to his tissues. Guidelines from The Endocrine Society note that measuring free or bioavailable testosterone can be useful in cases where total testosterone sits in an ambiguous middle range.³

Why Feeling Tired at 60 Is Not the Same as Having Low Testosterone

This is where many men and even some clinicians get tripped up. The symptoms of low testosterone overlap almost completely with the symptoms of just being 60: lower energy, reduced sex drive, weight gain, poor sleep, depressed mood. The physiology of normal aging is complex and often shares the same vague symptoms as true testosterone deficiency.⁴ Add in the medications many older men take for blood pressure, cholesterol, or depression, and pulling apart what is caused by low hormones versus what is caused by everything else becomes genuinely difficult.

Research from a prospective Swedish cohort reinforces this diagnostic challenge. While sexual symptoms show the strongest link to biochemically confirmed low testosterone, those same symptoms in older men are frequently driven or amplified by other conditions, particularly depression and metabolic disorders.⁵ The practical upshot: if you feel lousy at 60, it is worth getting tested. But the blood test has to come first. Treating symptoms alone without confirmation of low levels leads to prescriptions that are unlikely to help and may introduce unnecessary risk.

What Testosterone Therapy Actually Improves

For men who do have confirmed low levels, the most consistent and well-documented benefit is in sexual function. The landmark Testosterone Trials (TTrials), which enrolled men 65 and older with confirmed low testosterone, found that treatment significantly increased sexual activity, sexual desire, and erectile function compared to placebo.⁶ A deeper analysis of those trials showed that testosterone improved 10 of 12 measured aspects of sexual activity, with increasing levels of testosterone corresponding to better sexual desire and activity.⁷

There is an important limitation here, though. For men whose primary problem is erectile dysfunction, testosterone alone may not be the best first step. Evidence shows that phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (medications like sildenafil) produce substantial improvement in erectile function, and adding testosterone on top does not improve outcomes further compared to placebo.⁸ Testosterone also does not help sexual function in men whose levels are already normal. The benefit is specific to men who are both deficient and symptomatic.

Bone Density

Bone loss accelerates in aging men, and testosterone plays a role in maintaining bone mineral density. The bone sub-study of the TTrials found that testosterone treatment increased spine bone density by about 7.5% and estimated bone strength by roughly 11% over one year, significantly more than placebo.⁹ A broader narrative review found that many studies support a benefit of testosterone therapy on bone density in men with low levels and weakened bones, though no study has yet proven that this translates into fewer fractures.¹⁰ That gap matters. Denser bone is encouraging, but the clinical question men care about — will I be less likely to break a hip? — remains unanswered.

Mood and Mental Sharpness

The mood picture is modest. In the TTrials’ vitality arm, testosterone did not increase energy but slightly improved mood and depressive symptoms. For men with treatment-resistant depression, a systematic review found that testosterone therapy significantly improved depressive symptoms and enhanced verbal memory and visuospatial processing in older or testosterone-deficient men.¹¹ However, broader cognitive benefits remain elusive. A randomized trial of 788 men aged 65 and older treated for one year showed improvement in sexual function but no improvement in cognitive function overall.¹² A smaller trial in men with mild Alzheimer’s disease found better caregiver-rated quality of life but no statistically significant cognitive gains with testosterone.¹³

In short, you should not expect testosterone to sharpen your thinking or clear brain fog. It may take the edge off low mood in genuinely deficient men, and it may help with specific depression that hasn’t responded to conventional treatment. But the evidence does not support using it as a cognitive enhancer.

The Heart Question

For years, the biggest concern about testosterone therapy in older men was cardiovascular risk. Early observational studies suggested a possible increase in heart attacks and strokes, and in 2015 the FDA added a general warning about cardiovascular events to testosterone product labels. The picture has shifted considerably since then.

The TRAVERSE trial, published in 2023, was specifically designed to answer this question. It enrolled over 5,000 men aged 45 to 80 with cardiovascular disease or elevated risk factors and randomized them to testosterone gel or placebo. The primary cardiovascular endpoint occurred at similar rates in both groups: about 7% in the testosterone arm and 7.3% in the placebo arm.¹⁴ This met the bar for statistical noninferiority, meaning testosterone did not increase cardiovascular events in a population specifically selected for being at higher risk. A large observational study of U.S. veterans with low testosterone and multiple medical conditions found a similar pattern: testosterone treatment was not associated with increased cardiovascular events, and in men who already had heart disease, transdermal testosterone was associated with a modestly lower risk.¹⁵

That said, the TRAVERSE trial did flag a few secondary signals worth knowing about. A higher incidence of atrial fibrillation, acute kidney injury, and pulmonary embolism was observed in the testosterone group.¹⁴ These were not the trial’s primary outcome and the numbers were small, but they warrant monitoring, especially in men with pre-existing heart rhythm issues.

Prostate Safety

The old clinical wisdom held that giving testosterone to an older man was like feeding a fire in the prostate, risking both prostate enlargement and cancer. Decades of evidence have not supported that fear. A randomized trial drawing on TRAVERSE data examined prostate safety events and found no significant difference in prostate cancer rates between testosterone and placebo groups. The incidence of high-grade prostate cancer was 0.19% in the treatment group versus 0.12% in the placebo group, a difference well within chance.¹⁶ Urinary symptoms, biopsy rates, and surgical procedures were also comparable.

A large recent study of elderly men with low testosterone took this further, finding that testosterone therapy was actually associated with a 16% reduction in the risk of prostate cancer. Sensitivity analyses that excluded men with elevated PSA or a family history of prostate cancer showed a similar reduction.¹⁷ On the other hand, that same study found a 13% increase in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), the non-cancerous prostate enlargement that causes urinary trouble. Meta-analyses of both randomized and observational studies have broadly concluded that testosterone therapy is safe in men with prostate conditions, and in some cases even improves lower urinary tract symptoms.¹⁸

Still, AUA guidelines recommend measuring PSA in men over 40 before starting therapy to rule out an existing cancer diagnosis.¹ The screening is a precaution, not a sign that therapy is inherently dangerous to the prostate.

Polycythemia and Blood Thickness

The most common medically significant side effect of testosterone therapy is polycythemia — a rise in red blood cells that thickens the blood. This one is not controversial; it happens frequently and it matters. Men who developed polycythemia while on testosterone had a roughly 35% higher risk of major cardiovascular events and blood clots compared to men whose blood counts stayed normal.¹⁹ Guidelines call for regular blood count monitoring, and if the hematocrit rises above 52%, therapeutic phlebotomy (essentially a blood donation to thin things out) is recommended.²⁰

This is the main reason testosterone therapy requires ongoing medical supervision. Missing a blood check and running with an excessively high hematocrit for months is one of the clearest paths to a genuine complication. Before starting therapy, baseline hemoglobin and hematocrit should be measured and discussed.¹

Sleep Apnea

Testosterone therapy has a complicated relationship with obstructive sleep apnea. The evidence that testosterone worsens sleep apnea is thinner than often assumed — a review found that the studies linking the two were mostly case reports with small numbers, and only one placebo-controlled study (using doses above normal therapeutic range) showed development of sleep apnea in healthy subjects.²¹ Nevertheless, because testosterone may exacerbate sleep-disordered breathing in some patients, current practice recommends asking about sleep apnea symptoms before and after starting treatment, and avoiding testosterone in men with severe untreated sleep apnea.²² If your sleep apnea is well-managed with a CPAP or similar device, this is less of a concern.

How Testosterone Is Delivered

If you and your doctor decide to go ahead, you will need to choose a delivery method. Each has trade-offs that affect daily life and how stable your testosterone levels stay.

• Topical gels: Applied daily to the skin, gels bring testosterone to a steady state within the first 24 hours and keep levels stable for as long as you use them. This pharmacokinetic profile avoids the peaks and troughs associated with injections.²³ The downside is daily application, potential skin-to-skin transfer to partners or children, and cost.
• Intramuscular injections: These have been around for decades and are the cheapest option. They produce reliable levels but with more fluctuation between doses. Many men notice a “peak-and-trough” pattern — feeling good for the first few days after injection and then running down before the next one.²³
• Subcutaneous injections: A newer approach where testosterone is injected into the fatty tissue just under the skin rather than deep into the muscle. Available data suggest comparable testosterone levels to intramuscular injection, with easier self-administration and less discomfort.²⁴

Other options include patches, pellets implanted under the skin, and nasal gels, though these are less commonly prescribed. The choice often comes down to cost, convenience, and how you respond to a particular formulation. Some men switch methods after finding that one causes skin irritation or inconsistent levels.

Losing Weight Before Starting Therapy

One of the most underappreciated factors in testosterone levels at 60 is body composition. Fat tissue contains an enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen, so the more body fat you carry, the more of your testosterone gets shunted away. A review of the relationship between body mass and testosterone found strong evidence that weight loss leads to increased testosterone levels, mediated by improved insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, and lower activity of that conversion enzyme.²⁵

In dramatic cases, the effect can be substantial. Men who underwent bariatric surgery saw their average total testosterone nearly triple, from about 200 ng/dL before surgery to about 548 ng/dL afterward.²⁶ You do not need bariatric surgery to see a benefit; even moderate weight loss through diet and exercise can move the needle. Resistance training in particular has been shown to improve hormonal profiles, especially when it uses compound movements with progressive overload, and combining it with aerobic exercise provides benefits beyond what either type achieves alone.²⁷

For a 60-year-old man who is overweight and has borderline-low testosterone, losing 20 or 30 pounds may be enough to push levels back above the threshold where therapy becomes unnecessary. This is worth pursuing before committing to what may become lifelong hormone treatment. It also addresses the metabolic conditions — insulin resistance, inflammation, elevated blood pressure — that contribute to feeling lousy in the first place.

What Happens If You Start and Then Stop

Testosterone therapy tends to suppress your body’s own production. If you stop treatment, your testosterone will drop back to the level it was before, or possibly lower for a time while your system recovers. A study following hypogonadal elderly men who interrupted therapy found that stopping treatment reduced testosterone to pre-treatment levels and led to worsening of obesity measures, urinary symptoms, erectile function, and mood. When treatment was resumed, those effects reversed.²⁸ The authors’ conclusion was straightforward: hypogonadism may require lifelong treatment.

This is worth weighing before you start. Testosterone therapy is not like a course of antibiotics. For men with genuinely low levels caused by an age-related decline, the underlying condition does not resolve on its own. You are signing up for ongoing treatment, regular blood work, and recurring costs. That calculus changes depending on how severely your low testosterone affects your quality of life, and whether lifestyle changes might get you part or all of the way there without medication.

Fertility Considerations at 60

Testosterone therapy suppresses sperm production. For most 60-year-old men, this is not a concern — but for those who have younger partners and are considering fatherhood, it is a critical point. Exogenous testosterone tells the brain to stop sending the hormonal signals that drive sperm production in the testes. If maintaining fertility matters to you, alternative approaches like clomiphene citrate (which stimulates your body to make its own testosterone without shutting down sperm production) are sometimes used off-label. This is a conversation to have explicitly with your doctor before any prescription is written.

The broader question of whether a 60-year-old man should take testosterone does not have a universal answer. The evidence supports treatment for men who have confirmed low levels on repeated morning blood tests, who have symptoms consistent with deficiency, and who have ruled out or addressed other causes like obesity, depression, and medication side effects. For men who meet those criteria, the benefits to sexual function and bone health are real, the cardiovascular and prostate risks are more manageable than once feared, and the monitoring requirements are straightforward. For men who do not meet those criteria, testosterone is unlikely to help and introduces unnecessary exposure to side effects like polycythemia. The line between the two groups runs through a lab result, not a birthday.