About Hormones Women Testosterone & Women
Testosterone & Women
There is growing evidence that just as for men, testosterone is important for preserving lean muscle mass, assertiveness, and bone density in women. It also helps women ward off depression, maintain healthy libido, and sustain the health and sensitivity of their vaginal tissue. The big difference in testosterone needs of men and women is that women only need about a tenth of the circulating testosterone as do men. So, where does a woman produce testosterone and how does she replace it?
Roughly 30 percent of women's testosterone is manufactured by the ovaries. The remaining 70 percent occurs as adrenal androgen precursors (DHEA and androstenedione) are transformed. Unfortunately their production capacity unavoidably declines with age. Thus, as women age, their testosterone levels diminish.
Though not a steep decline as happens with estradiol at menopause, testosterone loss is more gradual. It imitates the DHEA decline that begins in young adulthood. Still, the effect is profound: on average, women experience a 50% drop in testosterone levels between the ages of 20 and 50-before menopause. Ovarian production of testosterone decreases with age and menopause less than the adrenal precursors so it is interesting that after menopause, the percentage of total circulating testosterone from ovaries increases from 30% to more than 50%.
Why is that important? When we consider the idea promoted by many gynecological surgeons, that a postmenopausal ovary is useless, many women are convinced to have surgery. The rationale is that the “useless” organ can be removed during a hysterectomy because it is doing nothing and may be a cancer risk. However, that practice leaves women with a sudden drop in testosterone production. They feel it intensely, and it probably accounts for the frequently reported depression and drops in libido. Many women also experience weight gain after a total hysterectomy that removed their ovaries. Sadly, even with adequate estrogen replacement, these women say, "I just don't feel the same as I used to feel.”
At OptiGenics, we check women’s testosterone levels. Like with men, free testosterone levels are most important. In women whose ovaries are intact, restoring DHEAs to youthful levels often restores the testosterone levels sufficiently. If not, we can add bioidentical testosterone to a woman's ERT cream. In our experience, this always brings testosterone into the desired range. For women who had their ovaries surgically removed, we must generally begin treatment with bioidentical testosterone replacement.
How important is this really? The significance of testosterone replacement for women is emphasized when you understand that, even with ERT, most women continue developing osteoporosis (thinning bones). Traditional physicians confronted with this usually just add Fosamax or increase estrogen doses - even to the point of generating side effects. But several recent studies demonstrated normalization of bone density when testosterone was replaced. This is another reason we ascribe to the principle of replacing all the hormones that decline with age. We want to assure that we avoid many of the diseases of aging.
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