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Claude Schulman, MD, PhD

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 146 words of the full text and any section headings.

In their epidemiologic study, Al Snih et al¹ showed the role of obesity and frailty on mortality and disability in a population of older men. The inclusion of additional potential factors related to obesity and frailty would have benefited from the evaluation of male hormones. Indeed, it is well recognized that testosterone deficiency is frequently associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome.^2-3 Stratification for male hormones in the different groups studied could have brought additional light to our understanding of the impact of male hormones on mortality and disability in this population, potentially opening a window for testosterone treatment in these groups of men, who have an increasing incidence of disability and mortality with the aging of the population and increasing life expectancy.

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Correspondence: Dr Schulman, Department of Urology, University Clinics of Brussels, Route de Lennik 808, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium (Claude.Schulman@ulb.ac.be).

1. Al Snih S, Ottenbacher KJ, Markides KS, Kuo Y-F, Eschbach K, Goodwin JS. The effect of obesity on disability vs mortality in older Americans. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(8):774-780. FREE FULL TEXT 2. Nieschlag E, Swerdloff R, Behre HM; et al. Investigation, treatment and monitoring of late-onset hypogonadism in males ISA, ISSAM, and EAU recommendations. Eur Urol. 2005;48(1):1-4. FULL TEXT | ISI | PUBMED 3. Bhasin S, Cunningham GR, Hayes FJ; et al. Testosterone therapy in adult men with androgen deficiency syndromes: an endocrine society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91(6):1995-2010. FREE FULL TEXT

Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(22):2528.

RELATED LETTER

The Effect of Obesity on Disability vs Mortality in Older American: The Potential Implication of Testosterone—Reply
Soham Al Snih, Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, Kyriakos S. Markides, Yong-Fang Kuo, Karl Eschbach, and James S. Goodwin
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(22):2528.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

RELATED ARTICLE

The Effect of Obesity on Disability vs Mortality in Older Americans
Soham Al Snih, Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, Kyriakos S. Markides, Yong-Fang Kuo, Karl Eschbach, and James S. Goodwin
Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(8):774-780.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT