whole field of sexual medicine for women.
Testosterone therapy can come with side effects for women, including acne and hair growth, the researchers found.
There are some concerns that testosterone could cause the sort of long-term health problems found in men, like increased risk of heart disease, Dunaif said. Also, women’s bodies convert testosterone into estrogen, which might boost estrogen levels and influence risk of breast cancer.
But Kavaler noted that testosterone used to treat women comes at a tenth of the dose needed for men.
“The risks are lower because we use so much less in women,” Kavaler said. “The doses are