Testosterone: The Anti-Aging, Muscle Building, Sex Drive and Mental Sharpness Hormone!
Although women authors including Gail Sheehy and Susan Rako, M.D. have described this deficient testosterone state in women, almost no one talks about it and almost no one does anything about it. When women are placed on hormonal therapy, whether birth control of estrogen replacement,
their testosterone levels drop dramatically.
Background Information
Testosterone is recognized as the
hormone of desire: it makes muscles for boys and turns them into sexually functional men. But testosterone
is very important to a woman, too. She produces increased amounts of this hormone in her puberty, because testosterone is the precursor to estrogen. Without testosterone, there would be no "woman."
A woman's testosterone levels are highest in the early twenties. The decrease in sex drive we see thereafter is often due to oral contraceptives which suppress all sex hormone production (testosterone, estrogens and progesterone). The treatment is relatively simple: add back some testosterone. - (1*, 2*)
However, physicians see more effects from testosterone deficiency as a woman approaches and enters menopause. The ovaries produce the majority of testosterone and estrogens. With the cessation of 80% of hormonal production, a peri- menopausal woman suffers from estrogen, progesterone and testosterone deficiency. The replacement of estrogen alone does not correct an absent sex drive, loss of muscle tone and general lack of mental get-up-and-go. - (1*, 2*)
Detecting Insufficient Testosterone Levels:
The laboratory tests for testosterone are not helpful. Some women with very low levels do not have symptoms, while others do. The laboratory tests measuring total and free testosterone are rarely of assistance.
