Testosterone replacement therapy may help elderly men with mild Alzheimer's disease.  The University of California, Los Angeles team found that replacement hormone therapy significantly improved quality of life for Alzheimer's patients. This UCLA study also reported improvements in energy levels, physical health and interpersonal relationships There are testosterone receptors in the brain. Low testosterone levels are common in men suffering depression. This 60 year old author is here to report decreased libido, altered mood and loss of muscle mass are all depressing. :-) The goal of hormone replacement is to restore levels to those normally present for several decades during early adulthood.  Safe levels at age 30 will remain safe when restored to that same level later in life.  Adverse effects from hormone replacement result only from excessive doses ."  ~ Elmer M. Cranton, MD "Traditional ( AMA ) medicine thinks you're okay as long as your testosterone levels are somewhere between 200 and 1250 nanograms per deciliter. In other words, they won't prescribe hormone replacement therapy until your testosterone levels match that of the five-year-old girl down the street; the one that makes all those cute cut-out dolls and insists that all her clothes be pink." read the entire article at Testosterone Magazine. Prescription Estrogen replacement for women is common but Prescription Testosterone replacement for men is rather unusual.   Get you insurance company to pay or your doctor to prescribe if you are hormonally above the lowest 10% of men your age. "Endocrinologically, the difference between the irreversibly hypogonadal man and the post-menopausal hypogonadal woman is not very great.  Neither has adequate levels of androgens or estrogens and they both can be expected to show similar tendencies; i.e. hypogonadal men also tend to have frequent MI's and bone fractures. There is some evidence of a protective effect of testosterone against heart attacks and bone fracture. Testosterone is the hormone which regulates the structure of all body proteins and assures the development and integrity of the genitals in males. The testicles normally produce about 7-10mg of testosterone daily. A deficiency below this level causes only modest changes initially such as an increase in weight, progressive aging of the face, muscular weakening, weakening of bone tissue sometimes followed by rheumatism and arthritis of the vertebrae. Slow transformation of the body organs causes the failing of memory, irritability, general fatigue, the development of arteriosclerosis, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, atrophy of the skin, hypertension and increased cholesterol and body fat." Read the Full Medline Article.