Researchers have found that priming a person’s mind with an image or word can have a significant effect on what they will do or say soon after — something similar may be occurring when patients request prescriptions from doctors for testosterone replacement therapy options.

Many patients are learning about the so-called risks of “Low-T” or reduced testosterone levels, especially in middle-aged men, not from their doctors but from pervasive television advertising by drug makers who are selling T-Gel products. So when they hear symptoms that match what they are experiencing, including loss in strength and sex drive, they are more likely to ask for the product. And that may be problematic for medical professionals.

The study used nearly 200 participants who complained about significant pain, but then split them into two groups — one of those who asked for the prescription painkillers oxycodone or Celebrex and the other of patients who merely described their symptoms. The results, according to the conclusions published in the journal Medical Care, were significant.

Physicians who were not primed to be thinking about painkillers recommended other options than oxycodone 99 percent of the time, and 75 percent of the time for Celebrex. Those that asked for the former got it 20 percent of the time; the latter half the time.

The study did not focus on the rates for doctors who were writing prescriptions for drugs linked to testosterone replacement therapy side effects. On the other hand, the substantial increase in patients getting what they asked for regardless of the actual benefits could find a correlation in terms of these medications to treat low testosterone, and it is something that testosterone treatment class action lawsuit lawyers will likely examine going forward.