Psychoneuroendocrinology of Aging Men. Changes, Consequences and Counteractions

Current demographic statistics show that modern societies are rapidly aging. Aging in general is accompanied by an increased susceptibility to physical and mental disease as well as an increased risk of mortality. Health care costs are expected to rise enormously. Therefore, successful aging with less disease burden and dependency is emerging as one of the most crucial health care goals of the upcoming decades. In this dissertation, endocrine health and its age-related changes are focused. In men, a continuous decline of sex steroids such as testosterone or dehydroepiandrosterone occurs around the ages of 40 years leading to psychological and physical adaptation processes. The presented results indicate an integrated hormone parameter consisting of declining sex steroids as a useful biomarker of healthy aging in men. Furthermore, psychosocial risk factors such as depressive symptoms or chronic stress were shown to be associated with an intensified age-related decline of this integrated hormone parameter. In addition, the age-related deterioration in body composition was also shown to be associated with psychosocial risk and protective factors.