Testosterone Boosts for Women?

Supplements can improve a woman's sex drive—but the effects may be small

- BY LYDIA DENWORTH

MORE THAN 20 YEARS after menopausal hormone therapy fell out of favor, it is having a renaissance. There is better clarity on the benefits and risks of estrogen and progesterone for women of a certain age. Women are also demanding more attention to their needs. All of this helps to explain the exploding popularity of a related supplement: testosterone. Social media would like us to believe that if estrogen can relieve a woman's hot flashes, testosterone can make her hot in bed. But is it true?

Like estrogen and progesterone, testosterone occurs naturally in women and men, although relative levels of these hormones differ by biological sex. Women have about one-tenth the amount of testosterone that men have. Estrogen and progesterone are particularly important for female reproductive functioning. But surprisingly, “testosterone is not necessarily any less important,” says obstetrician and gynecologist Jill Liss, who's on the faculty at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical school.

In women and men, testosterone affects strength and body composition. It also influences brain pathways tied to sexual motivation and reward and increases blood flow and sensitivity. “We have extremely good data on the effects of testosterone on nearly all aspects of sexual function in women,” says ob-gyn James Simon of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. When used on the skin in a cream or gel, testosterone can increase desire, arousal, orgasmic function and sexual responsiveness, according to a 2019 Global Consensus Position Statement by experts in menopause and sexual health.