Testosterone in Post Menopausal Women

An article in the medical journal Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology says that testosterone therapy is a promising option for treating women with HSDD (very low libido or desire)

Somboonporn W.Androgen and menopause.Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Aug;18(4):427-32.

From the article abstract:

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Androgen therapy is being increasingly used in the management of postmenopausal women. The most common indication is to improve sexual function. The aim of this review is to evaluate current knowledge pertaining to testosterone and sexual function in postmenopausal women.

RECENT FINDINGS: The change of testosterone levels during the menopause transition remains controversial. A correlation of endogenous testosterone levels and sexual function is still inconclusive. A Cochrane Review and recent randomized control trials have, however, consistently demonstrated that short-term testosterone therapy in combination with traditional hormone therapy regimens improves sexual function in postmenopausal women, particularly surgically menopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

An adverse effect on the lipid profile has been identified which appears to be mostly associated with oral methyltestosterone. Data for other effects of testosterone and long-terms risks are lacking. Testosterone may act in a variety of ways in different tissues. This is, however, an area that requires further investigation.

SUMMARY: Testosterone therapy is a promising option for treating women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder after surgical menopause. Two remaining questions need to be answer: who is most likely to benefit from testosterone therapy and what are the long-term health risks?

Testosterone For Women Studies and News

Testosterone and Libido in Post Menopausal Women
Researchers writing in the medical journal Gynecological Endocrinology say that there is emerging evidence that androgens are significant independent determinants affecting libido and satisfaction, as well as mood, energy and other components of women’s health.

Testosterone in postmenopausal women
An article in the medical journal Current Opinion in Obstetrics & Gynecology says that testosterone therapy is a promising option for treating women with HSDD (very low libido or desire)

Testosterone enhances libido and decreases depression
Researchers reporting in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences say Testosterone enhances libido and decreases depression.

Schutter, et al. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci.2005; 17: 372-377. Depression Administration of Testosterone Increases Functional Connectivity in a Cortico-Cortical Depression Circuit.

From the abstract: “Increasing evidence suggests that the steroid hormone testosterone (T) enhances libido and decreases depression. Even a single administration of T (0.5 mg sublingually) in healthy young women is sufficient to enhance physiological sexual responsiveness….” Read the abstract

Testosterone For Libido Loss In Women
September 19, 2005’s Washington Post reported “a position statement from the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) and published in its journal, Menopause,” that testosterone therapy may aid many post-menopausal women dealing with loss of libido. You can read the Washington Post article here.

Study: An overview of testosterone deficiency and supplementation in women.
Davis SR, Androgen treatment in women. MJA 1999;170:545-549.

The researchers state: “Women reporting loss of libido may find physicians insufficiently empathetic, and a biological cause for sexual dysfunction in women is rarely sought. However, it is gradually becoming more accepted that androgen deficiency in women may underpin a variety of symptoms and pathophysiological conditions and that, in selected women, androgen replacement therapy is of clinical benefit.”

“Testosterone insufficiency in women: fact or fiction?”
Guay, A, Davis SR. Testosterone insufficiency in women: fact or fiction? World Journal of Urology 2002;20(2):106-10.

The researchers state: “Androgen deficiency is a true medical condition in both pre- and post-menopausal women. The most important recommendation is to listen to the patient and consider androgen deficiency when the symptoms are present, even if they seem non-specific…Treatment with androgens has to be monitored carefully because of the possible harmful effects of excessive levels of testosterone.”

Bone Loss and Testosterone in Women with Anorexia Nervosa
A study is being recruited, Anne Klibanski, M.D., Principal Investigator, by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) to determine among other things if low dose testosterone will be a benefit in preventing bone loss in women with Anorexia Nervosa.

From the abstract: “Women with Anorexia Nervosa have been found to have low bone density. The study will determine whether administration of low doses of a natural hormone, testosterone and/or risedronate, a medication to help prevent bone breakdown will improve or prevent bone loss in this condition.”

Testosterone Beneficial for Libido and Cholesterol
Researchers reviewing the current medical literature on the role of Testosterone in enhancing libido in post-menopausal women say; “The available evidence is that adding testosterone to estrogen therapy, with or without progestin, appears to be effective in improving sexual function in postmenopausal women and is associated with a reduction in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.”

The findings appear in The Cochrane Library, read the abstract and summary of this article .

HRT, Testosterone and Post Menopausal Women – Problems of Sexual Dysfunction
Researchers writing in the medical journal Maturitas say that HRT along with testosterone supplementation helps postmenopausal women who complain of problems related to intimacy.

Women, Testosterone and Cardiovascular Disease
Researchers writing in the medical journal Coronary Artery Disease say that their study “could suggest that the development of cardiovascular disease after menopause is due not only to estrogen decline but also to androgen decline.”

The Use of Testosterone with Estrogen and Progestogen and Its Effect on Breast Cell Proliferation

Researchers writing in the medical journal Menopause say “Addition of testosterone may counteract breast cell proliferation as induced by estrogen/progestogen therapy in postmenopausal women.”

Low Testosterone and the Pro-Inflammatory State in Aging Men

Researchers writing in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation “suggest that a close relationship exists between the development of a pro-inflammatory state and the decline in Testosterone levels” and that “observational and interventional studies suggest that Testosterone supplementation reduces inflammatory markers in both young and old hypogonadal men. ”

Maggio M, Basaria S, Ceda GP, Ble A, Ling SM, Bandinelli S, Valenti G, Ferrucci L. The relationship between testosterone and molecular markers of inflammation in older men. J Endocrinol Invest. 2005;28(11 Suppl 2):116-9.

Other Links
Testosterone for Men
Testosterone and Bone Loss in Elderly Men
Older Men and Testosterone
More Testosterone Research Concerning Older Men
Testosterone replacement therapy and the risk of prostate cancer
Testosterone, Estrogen and Bone Loss
Risk factors for testosterone loss in aging men

The medicinal value of testicles have been documented in the Bible, the writings of the ancient Egyptians and from India. Indeed, nearly every ancient culture believed that the testicles held some form of masculine power. From our Age Management Booklet…read more

Testosterone’s Favorable Effects on an Important Metabolic Component of Chronic Heart Failure

Researchers writing in the European Journal of Heart Failure say that testosterone improves fasting insulin sensitivity in men with chronic heart failure and may also increase lean body mass, these data suggest a favorable effect of testosterone on an important metabolic component of CHF.

Malkin CJ, Jones TH, Channer KS. The effect of testosterone on insulin sensitivity in men with heart failure. Eur J Heart Fail. 2006 Jul 5

Other Articles
Researchers in Sweden writing in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, say “not only estrogens but also androgens are of importance for bone health in elderly men.”

Older Men and Testosterone
From the study abstract: “Male hypogonadism is a clinical situation characterized by a low serum testosterone level in combination with a diversity of symptoms and signs such as reduced libido and vitality, decreased muscle mass, increased fat mass and depression.

Testosterone replacement therapy and the risk of prostate cancer
The article says “The belief that testosterone increases the risk of prostate cancer is so widely accepted that study after study that tries to show it and can’t keeps getting repeated over and over,” says Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, a Boston urologist and author of the 2004 review. “People don’t believe it.”

Risk factors for testosterone loss in aging men
“The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serum levels of testosterone and free testosterone to lifestyle in aging males”

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