Testosterone therapy may be beneficial for men with late-onset depression. (Initial Depression Treatment).

A recently reported study examined testosterone therapy in men with late-life depression. Paul J. Perry, Ph.D., and colleagues note that andropause or "low-testosterone syndrome" has been hypothesized to be associated with dysphoria and major depression in aging males. They also note that a recent review supported the possibility of testosterone therapy as a beneficial treatment for hypogonadal males, but found it to be ineffective in eugonadal males.

Perry and colleagues conducted an open-label trial of physiologic or supraphysiologic doses of testosterone in 16 elderly eugonadal men with major depression and a Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) score over 18. Subjects were excluded if they were currently using or had used antidepressent drugs in the past year or if they had delusions or hallucinations, active suicidal ideation, active substance abuse,…