Do Higher Testosterone Levels Lead to Kidney Stones?

[CoastWatcher]

It's been known that androgens play some role in the development of kidney stones. Women are three times less likely than men to suffer with a kidney stone attack. Kidney stones occur in men with far greater frequency in the third and fourth decade of life when the levels of serum testosterone are at their highest. With advancing age, the probability for stone formation in men also decreases as is consistent with the decline in serum testosterone levels.

A study published in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research set out to define "the involvement of serum total testosterone, free testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone in the pathogenesis of urolithiasis (kidney stones) in males by comparing the results with healthy males with no present or past history of urolithiasis (kidney stones) as controls."

• One hundred eight men were enrolled in the study, 78 with stones and 30 healthy controls.
• Total and free testosterone, DHT, and estradiol samples were drawn from all participants.
• The values for each hormone were higher in those patients with stones as opposed to the controls.

The study demonstrates that elevated levels of serum testosterone and serum dihydrotestosterone might be involved in increased incidences of stone formation. The higher levels of estradiol, thought to possibly be a factor in protecting women from kidney stone attack, do not seem to be a protective factor in males with higher serum testosterone levels.

International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, 2016, v6, number 4

International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research

 

[CoastWatcher]

This report interested me from a personal perspective. When I was in my late 30s/early 40s, I dealt with kidney stones three or four times in a short period of time. Hypogonadism, I'm now sure, presented in my mid 50s. I am now 59 and, having achieved success with TRT, I've now had two kidney stones in the space of a few months. An anecdotal report, no question, but the association interests me.