WOMEN’S HORMONE HEALTH
For decades, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), now more commonly called menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), has been one of the most controversial areas of women’s health.
The conversation became especially complicated after the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) studies were published in the early 2000s. Headlines about breast cancer, heart disease, stroke and blood clots caused many women and physicians to become reluctant to use hormone therapy.
But the story is considerably more complicated than the headlines suggested.
Today, decades of additional research have helped clarify an important concept:
The benefits and risks of hormone therapy depend heavily on a woman’s age, time since menopause, medical history, type of hormone, dose, route of administration and reason for treatment.
In November 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it was initiating changes to the boxed warnings on menopausal hormone therapy products, including removing certain broad warnings concerning cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and probable dementia. In February 2026, the FDA announced approval of labeling changes for six menopausal hormone therapy products.
This does not mean HRT is risk-free.
It means the conversation around menopause treatment is becoming more individualized.
And estrogen isn’t the only hormone worth discussing.
Testosterone is also an important hormone in women, and research from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and other countries has increasingly examined testosterone therapy for postmenopausal women-particularly those experiencing persistent, distressing loss of sexual desire.
At Valyr Health, we believe women deserve a discussion based on the totality of the evidence rather than a single lab result, a frightening headline, or a one-size-fits-all treatment philosophy.
What Is Menopause Hormone Replacement Therapy?
Menopausal hormone therapy replaces hormones that decline during the menopausal transition.
Depending on the individual, treatment may include:
- Estrogen
- Progesterone or another progestogen
- Testosterone in selected women
- Local vaginal estrogen
- Other menopause-specific therapies
The appropriate treatment depends on symptoms, reproductive anatomy, age, time since menopause and individual risk factors.
Estrogen
Estrogen is generally the primary hormone used to treat many menopausal symptoms.
It can help with:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Sleep disruption related to vasomotor symptoms
- Vaginal dryness
- Genitourinary symptoms
- Pain with intercourse
- Some menopause-related quality-of-life issues
Progesterone
Women who have a uterus generally need an appropriate progestogen when using systemic estrogen because unopposed systemic estrogen can stimulate the endometrium and increase the risk of endometrial hyperplasia and cancer.
Women who have had a hysterectomy may not require progesterone, depending on their clinical circumstances.
This is one reason hormone therapy should be individualized rather than treated as a single medication.
What Did the FDA Change About Menopause HRT?
The FDA’s 2025 announcement was significant, but it is important to understand exactly what happened.
In November 2025, the FDA requested labeling changes to menopausal hormone therapy products, including removal of certain boxed-warning language concerning cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and probable dementia.
Then, in February 2026, the FDA announced that it had approved labeling changes for six menopausal hormone therapy products. The changes involved systemic estrogen-progestogen therapy, systemic estrogen alone, systemic progestogen and topical vaginal estrogen products.
This is an important distinction:
Removing or changing a boxed warning does not mean that HRT is completely safe.
The FDA itself continues to recognize that hormone therapy has risks and that treatment decisions should account for the individual patient’s circumstances.
The FDA’s action is better understood as an attempt to provide a more nuanced description of the benefit-risk balance.
Why Did HRT Become So Controversial?
Much of the controversy traces back to the Women’s Health Initiative.
The WHI randomized trials included more than 27,000 postmenopausal women, with an average age around 63 years. Participants received either conjugated equine estrogen alone or estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate, depending on whether they had undergone hysterectomy.
The results generated enormous concern about hormone therapy.
However, subsequent analyses demonstrated that age and time since menopause matter.
Women who begin hormone therapy closer to menopause generally have a different baseline cardiovascular risk than women beginning treatment in their 60s or 70s.
A review of WHI findings concluded that the benefit-risk balance appears more favorable in healthy women who are younger than 60 or within approximately 10 years of menopause, while initiating systemic hormone therapy much later requires substantially more caution.
This concept is sometimes called the timing hypothesis.
What Are the Benefits of HRT for Women?
The strongest evidence for menopausal hormone therapy concerns treatment of menopausal symptoms.
1. Reducing Hot Flashes and Night Sweats
Vasomotor symptoms-particularly hot flashes and night sweats-can dramatically affect quality of life.
Systemic hormone therapy is among the most effective treatments for moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms.
The Menopause Society notes that hormone therapy can be appropriate for many women when initiated before age 60 or within 10 years of menopause, provided individual risks and benefits are considered.
2. Improving Genitourinary Symptoms
Declining estrogen can affect tissues of the:
- Vagina
- Vulva
- Urethra
- Bladder
Symptoms can include:
- Vaginal dryness
- Burning
- Irritation
- Pain during intercourse
- Urinary symptoms
For women whose symptoms are primarily genitourinary, local vaginal estrogen can be an important treatment option.
Importantly, systemic HRT and local vaginal estrogen aren’t interchangeable. The appropriate therapy depends on the symptoms being treated.
3. Protecting Bone Health
Estrogen deficiency after menopause contributes to accelerated bone loss.
Hormone therapy can reduce bone turnover and decrease fracture risk while treatment is being used.
The WHI trials demonstrated reductions in hip fracture among women receiving hormone therapy.
This does not mean HRT is automatically the first choice for osteoporosis treatment in every woman. But preservation of bone density is an important potential benefit when HRT is otherwise appropriate.
4. Quality of Life
Menopause isn’t simply a change in reproductive hormones.
Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, vaginal symptoms and other changes can interfere with:
- Work
- Exercise
- Relationships
- Sexual function
- Mood
- Sleep
- Daily activities
For appropriately selected women, reducing these symptoms can have a substantial effect on quality of life.
Does HRT Reduce Heart Disease?
This is one of the areas where oversimplification can be dangerous.
It would be incorrect to tell women that HRT is a cardiovascular prevention medication.
The WHI trials did not demonstrate a universal cardiovascular benefit.
However, subsequent analyses indicate that the cardiovascular effects of hormone therapy may differ substantially depending on age and proximity to menopause.
The Danish randomized trial known as the DOPS study is particularly interesting. Women who were recently postmenopausal and randomized to hormone therapy had fewer composite cardiovascular events during long-term follow-up, although the study was relatively small and its findings should not be generalized to every woman.
The more appropriate conclusion is:
Timing matters, baseline cardiovascular risk matters, and HRT should not be prescribed solely as a cardiovascular-prevention strategy.
Does HRT Increase Breast Cancer Risk?
This question deserves nuance because different hormone regimens can produce different outcomes.
The WHI estrogen-plus-progestin trial found an increased breast cancer incidence during and after treatment, while estrogen-alone results were different. Long-term WHI analyses have continued to demonstrate differences between estrogen-alone and estrogen-plus-progestin therapy.
This is one reason it is inaccurate to say simply:
“HRT causes breast cancer.”
The relevant questions are:
- Which hormone?
- Which progestogen?
- What dose?
- What route?
- How long?
- At what age?
- What was the woman’s baseline risk?
Women with a personal history of hormone-sensitive cancer require individualized evaluation and may not be candidates for systemic hormone therapy.
What About Dementia and Cognitive Health?
The relationship between hormone therapy and cognition is complicated.
Hormone therapy should not currently be promoted as a dementia-prevention treatment.
Some observational research has suggested benefits under particular circumstances, while randomized trials have not established hormone therapy as a reliable strategy for preventing cognitive decline.
Timing may again matter, but the evidence does not justify prescribing systemic HRT solely to prevent dementia.
What About Testosterone for Women?
This is where the conversation gets particularly interesting.
Women naturally produce testosterone in the ovaries and adrenal glands. Testosterone levels generally decline across the reproductive years, although the relationship between testosterone concentration and symptoms is complex.
Despite its association with male physiology, testosterone is also biologically important in women.
However, the evidence for testosterone treatment in women is considerably narrower than the evidence for estrogen therapy.
The strongest evidence currently supports testosterone for a specific condition:
Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD)
HSDD involves persistent or recurrent low sexual desire associated with personal distress and is diagnosed through clinical assessment-not simply by finding a low testosterone number.
The 2019 Global Consensus Position Statement, endorsed by multiple international medical societies, concluded that the only evidence-based indication for systemic testosterone therapy in women was postmenopausal women with HSDD.
The International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH) subsequently published detailed clinical guidance for testosterone therapy in women with HSDD.
What Benefits Has Testosterone Demonstrated in Women?
A large systematic review and meta-analysis published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology analyzed 36 randomized controlled trials involving 8,480 participants.
The researchers found that testosterone treatment improved several measures of sexual function in postmenopausal women, including:
- Sexual desire
- Arousal
- Orgasm
- Sexual responsiveness
- Pleasure
- Frequency of satisfying sexual events
- Sexual distress
The meta-analysis found an average increase of approximately 0.85 satisfying sexual events per month compared with placebo or comparator treatment.
This is an important finding because it demonstrates that the effect isn’t simply based on anecdotes.
There is randomized clinical trial evidence showing a benefit.
At the same time, the effect should not be exaggerated.
Testosterone isn’t a guaranteed “libido booster,” and it doesn’t address every cause of low sexual desire.
Testosterone and Sexual Desire: It's More Complicated Than a Blood Test
One of the most important findings from the international consensus statement is that a woman’s testosterone level cannot be used by itself to diagnose HSDD.
Researchers have not established a testosterone cutoff that separates women with and without sexual dysfunction.
A woman can have a testosterone level within the laboratory reference range and still have HSDD.
Conversely, a woman with a relatively low testosterone concentration may have no sexual dysfunction at all.
That’s why proper evaluation considers:
- Sexual desire
- Distress
- Medications
- Relationship factors
- Mental health
- Sleep
- Vaginal or genitourinary symptoms
- Menopausal symptoms
- Medical conditions
- Estrogen status
- Other potential contributors
Symptoms and clinical context matter.
What Does Testosterone Do for Women's Energy, Muscle and Cognition?
This is where marketing frequently gets ahead of the evidence.
Testosterone is involved in many physiological processes, and researchers continue to investigate its effects on:
- Muscle
- Bone
- Metabolism
- Sexual function
- Cognition
- Cardiovascular physiology
But the clinical evidence does not currently justify telling women that testosterone therapy will reliably:
- Increase energy
- Reverse aging
- Build significant muscle
- Burn substantial body fat
- Prevent dementia
- Prevent osteoporosis
- Improve cognition
- Prevent cardiovascular disease
The 2019 global consensus specifically concluded that evidence was insufficient to recommend testosterone for cognitive enhancement, prevention of cognitive decline or general wellbeing.
This distinction is important.
Testosterone has real physiological effects. That doesn’t mean every proposed use has been clinically proven.
What About Testosterone for Women in Australia and Other Countries?
Testosterone therapy for women is not treated identically around the world.
Australia is particularly interesting because testosterone therapy for postmenopausal women has been more established clinically than it has been in the United States.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) registered Androfeme 1, a 1% testosterone cream, specifically for treatment of HSDD in postmenopausal women.
That doesn’t mean Australian physicians prescribe testosterone indiscriminately.
The Australian-approved indication is specifically tied to postmenopausal HSDD and appropriate clinical assessment.
Australian researchers have also been heavily involved in the clinical evidence supporting testosterone therapy for women.
For example, researchers led by Susan Davis and colleagues at Monash University in Australia have contributed substantially to the international evidence base, including the large systematic review of testosterone therapy involving 8,480 women.
This is one reason Australian research is frequently cited when discussing testosterone therapy for women.
What About Testosterone in the United Kingdom?
The United Kingdom has also developed clinical guidance around testosterone therapy for menopausal women.
The British Menopause Society recommends considering testosterone for women with persistent low libido after other contributing factors have been addressed.
The UK’s approach illustrates an important point:
Testosterone isn’t necessarily considered a replacement for estrogen and progesterone.
Rather, it may be considered an additional therapy for appropriately selected women.
The British Menopause Society specifically emphasizes that testosterone is not a universal treatment for menopause symptoms and that evidence for benefits outside sexual desire remains insufficient.
What Does the Research Say About Testosterone Safety?
The available evidence is reassuring-but limited.
The 2019 meta-analysis found no serious adverse-event signal associated with physiologic testosterone dosing in the studied populations. However, women receiving testosterone were generally followed for relatively short periods, and women at high cardiometabolic risk were often excluded from trials.
The most consistently reported androgenic side effects include:
- Acne
- Increased facial or body hair
- Oily skin
At excessive doses, testosterone can produce more significant androgenic effects, including:
- Voice deepening
- Clitoral enlargement
- Male-pattern hair loss
- Changes in body hair
- Potential adverse metabolic effects
Some of these effects may be difficult or impossible to reverse.
This is one reason international guidelines emphasize keeping testosterone concentrations within the physiologic female range rather than deliberately producing very high levels.
Does a Woman Need a "Low Testosterone" Level to Use Testosterone?
Not necessarily.
This is one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding testosterone therapy for women.
A testosterone blood test is useful for monitoring treatment and preventing excessive exposure, but it should not be used as a stand-alone diagnostic test for HSDD.
The Global Consensus Position Statement specifically states that no blood testosterone cutoff can distinguish women with and without sexual dysfunction.
The ISSWSH guideline similarly states that total testosterone should not be used to diagnose HSDD, although baseline measurement is useful before treatment and for monitoring afterward.
In other words:
Treat the patient-not the laboratory number.
What Form of Testosterone Is Used in Women?
The evidence has primarily involved physiologic-dose transdermal testosterone.
Examples include:
- Transdermal patches
- Gels
- Creams
Clinical trials have specifically studied approximately 300 micrograms per day of transdermal testosterone patches in postmenopausal women.
One randomized trial involving surgically menopausal women found that a 300-microgram/day testosterone patch significantly improved sexual desire and satisfying sexual activity compared with placebo.
Another trial involving naturally menopausal women found a significant increase in satisfying sexual activity among women receiving 300 micrograms/day of transdermal testosterone.
What About Testosterone Pellets and High-Dose Testosterone?
This is an area where caution is particularly important.
The international consensus statement does not recommend testosterone preparations that result in supraphysiologic testosterone concentrations, including pellets and injections.
The goal of evidence-based female testosterone therapy is generally not to create testosterone levels similar to those seen in men.
The goal is to provide a physiologic amount appropriate for a woman.
That distinction is extremely important.
Can Testosterone Be Used Alongside Estrogen and Progesterone?
Yes.
Many of the clinical trials evaluating testosterone in postmenopausal women included women who were already taking estrogen therapy.
For example, the major testosterone patch studies included postmenopausal women receiving estrogen therapy.
Testosterone can therefore be considered as a separate component of treatment when clinically appropriate.
A woman might use:
Estrogen → primarily for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and genitourinary symptoms.
Progesterone/progestogen → when needed to protect the endometrium in women using systemic estrogen who have a uterus.
Testosterone → potentially for persistent, distressing low sexual desire/HSDD after other contributing factors have been evaluated.
These hormones have different purposes.
What Are the Risks of Menopausal HRT?
HRT isn’t appropriate for everyone.
Potential risks vary substantially according to:
- Age
- Time since menopause
- Type of hormone
- Dose
- Route
- Duration
- Personal medical history
- Cardiovascular risk
- Breast cancer risk
- History of blood clots
Potential concerns may include:
- Venous thromboembolism
- Stroke
- Breast cancer risk with certain regimens
- Endometrial cancer from unopposed systemic estrogen in women with a uterus
- Gallbladder disease
- Other formulation-specific risks
The Menopause Society emphasizes individualized assessment rather than treating hormone therapy as universally safe or universally dangerous.
Oral vs. Transdermal Estrogen: Does the Route Matter?
Yes.
Hormone therapy isn’t a single medication.
Estrogen can be administered through:
- Oral tablets
- Transdermal patches
- Gels
- Sprays
- Other formulations
The route can influence pharmacology and risk.
For example, oral estrogen has a greater effect on hepatic protein synthesis and is associated with a higher venous thromboembolism risk than transdermal estrogen in observational data.
This is one reason clinicians may favor transdermal estrogen in women with particular risk profiles.
The right choice depends on the patient rather than a blanket rule.
Who May Be a Good Candidate for Menopause HRT?
A woman may be a candidate for hormone therapy when she has bothersome menopausal symptoms and the expected benefits outweigh her individual risks.
Particularly important considerations include:
Age
Women younger than 60 often have a different benefit-risk profile than women initiating therapy much later.
Time since menopause
Starting treatment closer to menopause generally has a more favorable benefit-risk profile than initiating systemic therapy many years later.
Symptoms
HRT is generally used to treat symptoms-not simply because a laboratory test shows that estrogen has declined.
Medical history
Your provider may need to consider:
- Breast cancer history
- Uterine cancer history
- Blood clots
- Stroke
- Cardiovascular disease
- Liver disease
- Migraine history
- Smoking
- Blood pressure
- Family history
Who May Not Be a Good Candidate?
Hormone therapy requires particular caution or may be contraindicated in certain circumstances, including some women with:
- Estrogen-dependent cancers
- Active or previous significant thromboembolic disease
- Certain cardiovascular conditions
- Unexplained vaginal bleeding
- Significant liver disease
The decision should be individualized.
What About Women Who Have Had a Hysterectomy?
The absence of a uterus can change hormone therapy options.
Women without a uterus generally do not need a progestogen solely for endometrial protection when using systemic estrogen.
This can affect the risk-benefit calculation.
Again, hormone therapy is not one-size-fits-all.
Is Testosterone Part of "HRT" for Women?
This depends on how the term is being used.
Some clinics use “female HRT” broadly to describe estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
But medically, it is useful to distinguish them because they have different evidence bases and indications.
Estrogen has strong evidence for treatment of menopausal vasomotor and genitourinary symptoms.
Testosterone has its strongest evidence for postmenopausal HSDD.
Calling testosterone a universal “third hormone” of menopause can therefore be misleading. The British Menopause Society specifically cautions against portraying testosterone as an essential component of HRT for every woman.
Can Testosterone Improve a Woman's Energy?
This is one of the most common questions-and one of the areas where marketing tends to go beyond the evidence.
Testosterone has important physiological effects, but randomized clinical evidence has not established testosterone as a general treatment for fatigue in postmenopausal women.
If a woman is experiencing fatigue, other causes should be investigated, including:
- Sleep disorders
- Iron deficiency
- Anemia
- Thyroid disease
- Depression
- Medication effects
- Metabolic disease
- Sleep apnea
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Other medical conditions
Testosterone shouldn’t automatically be the answer to unexplained fatigue.
Can Testosterone Help Women Build Muscle?
Testosterone is involved in muscle physiology, and researchers continue to study this.
However, the clinical evidence does not currently justify prescribing physiologic-dose testosterone to otherwise healthy postmenopausal women solely for muscle building or body composition.
The large 2019 meta-analysis did not find convincing evidence for improvements in body composition or musculoskeletal outcomes, although relatively few women contributed data to some of these endpoints.
This is another area where the science is interesting but incomplete.
Can Testosterone Improve Bone Health?
Testosterone may have effects on bone physiology, but current evidence does not support using testosterone as a routine osteoporosis-prevention treatment in women.
Women concerned about bone health should receive appropriate assessment and evidence-based interventions based on fracture risk and bone-density testing.
Can Testosterone Improve Cognition?
At present, there isn’t sufficient evidence to recommend testosterone specifically to improve memory, cognition or prevent dementia.
The international consensus statement concluded that evidence was insufficient for cognitive enhancement or prevention of cognitive decline.
Why Symptoms Matter So Much in Women's Hormone Therapy
One of the biggest mistakes in hormone medicine is treating a laboratory value as though it were a diagnosis.
Hormones don’t operate in isolation.
Two women can have similar laboratory values but very different:
- Symptoms
- Genetics
- Hormone sensitivity
- Medical histories
- Medication use
- Sleep
- Sexual function
- Quality of life
For menopause treatment, the central question shouldn’t simply be:
“What is your hormone level?”
It should be:
“What symptoms are you experiencing, what is causing them, and what treatment has the best evidence for helping you?”
This is particularly important with testosterone.
There is no testosterone blood level that independently diagnoses HSDD.
What Does the Future of Women's Hormone Therapy Look Like?
Women’s hormone therapy is entering a more individualized era.
Research continues to examine:
- Different estrogen formulations
- Transdermal vs. oral therapy
- Different progestogens
- Vaginal hormone therapies
- Testosterone therapy
- Sexual health
- Bone health
- Cardiovascular outcomes
- Cognitive health
- Individual risk stratification
Testosterone research is particularly active.
A 2026 review of testosterone therapy in women concluded that evidence continues to support sexual-function benefits while researchers investigate potential cardiovascular, genitourinary and other effects. However, improvement in sexual desire remains the primary guideline-supported indication.
The challenge is maintaining the distinction between promising research and proven clinical indications.
The Bottom Line: Menopause Treatment Is More Nuanced Than a Single Hormone or Warning Label
The conversation surrounding menopause hormone replacement therapy has changed dramatically over the past two decades.
The evidence does not support the idea that HRT is universally dangerous.
It also does not support the opposite extreme-that HRT is universally beneficial or risk-free.
The most accurate interpretation is individualized:
For many healthy women who are younger than 60 or within 10 years of menopause, hormone therapy can provide substantial benefits for menopausal symptoms, with an overall benefit-risk profile that may be favorable when appropriately selected.
Estrogen remains the foundation of treatment for many menopausal symptoms, while progesterone or another progestogen may be needed to protect the endometrium in women who have a uterus.
And testosterone deserves a place in the conversation-but an evidence-based one.
The strongest evidence supports physiologic-dose testosterone for postmenopausal women with HSDD, with randomized trials demonstrating improvements in sexual desire and sexual function.
Research from Australia and other countries has helped establish testosterone as a legitimate therapeutic consideration for appropriately selected women, while also demonstrating why testosterone shouldn’t be marketed as a cure-all for menopause, fatigue, aging, weight gain or cognitive decline.
Ultimately, good menopause care isn’t about chasing a “perfect” hormone level.
It is about understanding symptoms, physiology, medical history, risks, goals and the quality of the available evidence-and then making a treatment decision together with a qualified clinician.
That is the approach Valyr Health takes to hormone health: evidence-informed, individualized and focused on the whole patient rather than a single laboratory number.
Frequently Asked Questions
HRT is neither universally safe nor universally dangerous. For appropriately selected women-particularly those younger than 60 or within 10 years of menopause-the benefit-risk balance can be favorable. Individual risk factors and the specific hormone regimen matter.
Risk depends on the specific regimen and duration. Estrogen alone and estrogen-plus-progestogen therapy have produced different findings in WHI follow-up studies. Women should discuss their individual breast-cancer risk with their clinician.
HRT should not be prescribed solely to prevent cardiovascular disease. However, evidence suggests that age and timing of initiation influence cardiovascular outcomes.
Yes, testosterone therapy can be considered for appropriately selected women, particularly postmenopausal women with HSDD. International guidelines support physiologic-dose systemic testosterone for this indication.
No. A low testosterone blood level is not required to diagnose HSDD, and no testosterone cutoff can distinguish women with and without sexual dysfunction. Testosterone testing is more useful for establishing a baseline and monitoring therapy.
There is currently no FDA-approved testosterone product specifically indicated for women in the United States. Testosterone may nevertheless be prescribed off-label in appropriate circumstances.
Yes. Australia provides an important example. The Australian TGA has registered Androfeme 1 testosterone cream for treatment of HSDD in postmenopausal women.
Clinical trials demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in sexual desire and other aspects of sexual function in postmenopausal women with HSDD. The average benefit is moderate rather than universal.
There isn’t sufficient evidence to recommend testosterone as a general treatment for fatigue in women. Persistent fatigue deserves evaluation for other potential causes.
There is not enough evidence to recommend testosterone as a weight-loss medication for women.
No. Testosterone and estrogen have different physiological roles and different evidence-based indications.
Scientific Sources and Further Reading
Scientific References
Menopausal Hormone Therapy
- Women’s Health Initiative-Long-Term Mortality
Manson JE, et al. Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Long-term All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: The Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Trials.
PubMed: WHI long-term mortality study
- WHI Lessons Learned
Manson JE, et al. The Women’s Health Initiative trials of menopausal hormone therapy: lessons learned.
PubMed: WHI lessons learned
- WHI Breast Cancer Follow-Up
Chlebowski RT, et al. Association of Menopausal Hormone Therapy With Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality During Long-term Follow-up of the Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Clinical Trials.
PubMed: WHI breast cancer analysis
- WHI Cardiovascular Outcomes by Age
Rossouw JE, et al. Postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of cardiovascular disease by age and years since menopause.
PubMed: cardiovascular outcomes by age
- Early Menopause HRT and Cardiovascular Outcomes
Schierbeck LL, et al. Effect of hormone replacement therapy on cardiovascular events in recently postmenopausal women: randomised trial.
PubMed: early HRT randomized trial
- Hormone Therapy and Mortality Meta-Analysis
Boardman HMP, et al. Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
PubMed: HRT mortality meta-analysis
FDA / Regulatory Information
- FDA-November 2025 HRT Labeling Announcement
FDA: HHS Advances Women’s Health and Removes Misleading FDA Warnings
- FDA-February 2026 Approved Labeling Changes
FDA: Approved Labeling Changes to Menopausal Hormone Therapy Products
Testosterone Therapy in Women
- Global Consensus Position Statement
Davis SR, et al. Global Consensus Position Statement on the Use of Testosterone Therapy for Women.
PubMed: Global Consensus Position Statement
- Major Testosterone Meta-Analysis-8,480 Women
Islam RM, et al. Safety and efficacy of testosterone for women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trial data.
PubMed: Testosterone meta-analysis
- ISSWSH Clinical Practice Guideline
Parish SJ, et al. International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health Clinical Practice Guideline for the Use of Systemic Testosterone for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women.
PubMed: ISSWSH testosterone guideline
- Testosterone Patch-Surgically Menopausal Women
Braunstein GD, et al. Safety and efficacy of a testosterone patch for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in surgically menopausal women.
PubMed: Testosterone patch RCT
- Testosterone Patch-Naturally Menopausal Women
Shifren JL, et al. Testosterone patch for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in naturally menopausal women.
PubMed: Testosterone patch in naturally menopausal women
- Testosterone Patch-Europe and Australia Trial
PubMed: Testosterone patch randomized trial in Europe and Australia
- Testosterone Therapy-2026 Clinical Review
Lanoff J, Simon JA. Testosterone in Women: Clinical Evidence and Practice Guidelines.
PubMed: 2026 review of testosterone in women
International Practice
- Australia-TGA Registration of Testosterone for Women
Australian TGA: Androfeme 1 testosterone cream
- British Menopause Society-Testosterone Guidance
British Menopause Society: Testosterone Statement
Medical Disclaimer
This article is intended for educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Menopausal hormone therapy and testosterone therapy have potential benefits and risks that vary according to the individual. Testosterone therapy in women is not FDA-approved for women in the United States, and its evidence-based use is narrower than many online claims suggest. Women considering hormone therapy should discuss their symptoms, medical history, risk factors, treatment goals and available options with a qualified healthcare professional.
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