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Randomized trial · measured other health measures

20-week trial in 148 older men: combined training, testosterone and supplements improved chair stands

Midttun and colleagues · Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2024

Original title: Beneficial effects of exercise, testosterone, vitamin D, calcium and protein in older men-A randomized clinical trial.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

On the 30-second chair stand test, the group that got strength training, testosterone and supplements scored a median 13 vs 10 for controls (P = 0.003). Effects of strength training alone are not stated.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Randomized trial
Who or what was studied
148 people · men aged 70 or older with low testosterone and trouble moving, median age 77
What was tested
20 weeks of progressive strength training plus vitamin D, calcium and protein; testosterone shots; both together; or nothing
What it measured
Other health or performance measures
How long
20 weeks
Who has a stake
Company stake
Bayer gave the testosterone drug and placebo free; authors declare no conflicts and say Bayer had no role.
Journal
Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 2024
Source
PubMed record 38890228. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Randomized: people were put into groups by chance, so the groups start out alike.
  • •Medium size: 148 people.
  • •Lasted 20 weeks.
  • •Measured other health measures, not death from any cause and healthy aging itself.
  • –Company stake: Bayer gave the testosterone drug and placebo free; authors declare no conflicts and say Bayer had no role.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

Each dot is one on-topic paper on this question. Steps near the top answer the question more directly.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: death and healthy aging

    0

    Not done yet. This is the step that would answer the question.

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    9

    7 benefit, 2 no difference

    ↑ This study is the ringed dot

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    9

    8 benefit, 1 mixed

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does strength training help you live longer?”

Linked to longer life; not proven.

Confidence: low. Based on 26 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Of the other 8 papers on the same step: 6 benefit, 2 no difference. This one found benefit. It agrees with most of them.

  • Counted on the ladder, but not quoted in the page’s main findings.

Other papers on the same step

See all 26 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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