Vision and Strategies for Men's Health Research in an Aging Society

ditures increase. Furthermore, the rising demand for social security benefits places an astronomical financial burden on the nation. The aging of a society involves not only individuals’ health problems, but also major social costs, such as increases in the tax rate derived from increases in medical expenditures. In this sense, through focusing on the prevention and treatment of aging-associated diseases in men, men’s health research may suggest better solutions for aging-associated diseases at the individual level. It is also expected that applying the findings of men’s health research in clinical practice can contribute to alleviating the suffering caused by those diseases, along with reducing medical costs and expenditures at the level of society. Men’s health research covers the following topics: 1) testosterone and late-onset hypogonadism; 2) prostate and prostate-related diseases (benign prostate hyperplasia [BPH], prostate cancer, and prostatitis); 3) men’s reproductive organs and related disorders (erectile dysfunction [ED], premature ejaculation [PE], and Peyronie disease); 4) semen, sperm, and infertility; and 5) chronic diseases affecting testosterone, the prostate, and sexual function (e.g., diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypertension). With age, the prevalence of male climactericrelated disorders such as BPH, prostate cancer, ED, and sexual dysfunction sharply increases, in contrast to analogous aging-related disorders in women. Therefore, men’s health research is broadening its scope and gaining more attention. The number of published clinical and basic science research papers related to testosterone was 658 in 2010, 691 in 2011, 751 in 2012, 761 in 2013, 834 in 2014, 839 in 2015, 846 in 2016, and 806 in 2017. According to the number of published papers, the amount of testosterone-related research continuously increased from 2010 to 2014, peaked between 2015 and 2016, and then showed a sharp decrease in 2017. This trend reflects the fact that a wide variety of studies related to testosterone were conducted in basic science fields, elucidating the role of testosterone and its mechanism of action, as well as in clinical practice fields, due to the release of many new drugs for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), including oral drugs, patches, gels, and injections such as Nebido. However, in the most recent years, no remarkable new drugs have been developed and no strikingly new topics related to testosterone have emerged in the field of basic science, which may explain the recent decrease in the number of published papers in this area. Of note, some researchers have recently argued that TRT can have negative effects on the cardiovascular system, which is raising concerns