Testosterone: The Anti-Aging, Muscle Building, Sex Drive and Mental Sharpness Hormone - for Women too!
Testosterone and Women: Although women authors including Gail Sheehy and Susan Rako, M.D. have described this deficient testosterone state in women and its relationship to a women's sexual health, almost no one talks about it and even fewer do anything about it! When women are placed on the usual female hormonal therapy, whether it be birth control pills or estrogen replacement,
their testosterone levels drop dramatically.
Background Information - Testosterone in Women
Testosterone is now clinically recognized as a hormone that contributes to healthy sexual function in women. Testosterone can effectively boost a women's sex drive and alleviate other symptoms of sexual dysfunction.
Testosterone is the hormone of desire and while it makes muscles for boys and turns them into sexually functional men, testosterone is very important to a woman, too. Women produce increased amounts of the testosterone hormone in puberty because testosterone is the precursor to estrogen. Without testosterone's role there would be no woman.
A woman's testosterone levels are highest in her early twenties. The decrease in sex drive and desire (libido) we see thereafter is often due to oral contraceptives which suppress all sex hormone production (testosterone, estrogens and progesterone). The treatment for low libido in women is relatively simple - add back some testosterone.
In women, the ovaries produce most of the Estrogen and Testosterone is also secreted in the ovaries and adrenal glands. Women are affected by a decrease in testosterone levels during menopause, excessive use of birth control pills, diabetes, high blood pressure or infection. As a women approaches menopause, physicians begin to detect more effects and symptoms from a testosterone deficiency. With menopause and the cessation of a women's hormonal production, rapid declines in estrogen, progesterone and testosterone occurs resulting in symptoms caused by the hormonal deficiency. The replacement of estrogen alone does not treat a low sex drive, loss of libido, loss of muscle, motivation and drive. Testosterone plays an impotant role in restoring sex drive and increasing libido in women.
"Testosterone applied to the clitoris can improve sexual sensitivity. Estriol and testosterone applied to the vaginal area can improve vaginal tissue quality and treat urinary leakage. Taking hormones transdermally can help urinary leakage as well."
Detecting Insufficient Testosterone Levels in Women:
Low testosterone in women is measured by a special blood test that measures the level of the hormone in her body. Insufficient testosterone production in a woman can result in health issues related to the heart, bones and muscle, body strength and weight gain, and impacts the sexual and emotional health of a women including energy, mood and desire.
Symptoms of Low Testosterone in Women:
Low or loss of libido, decreased sexual desire or drive
