More women are being prescribed testosterone, a hormone usually linked with men, and most of them are of menopause age. A recent report found that the rate of testosterone prescriptions for women went up nearly 60% from 2024 to 2025, even though the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved a testosterone product for women1. Women aged 45 to 65 accounted for more than 60% of all prescriptions given to women last year1.
The rise has sharpened a debate. Supporters say the hormone can ease a range of menopause symptoms. Others point to possible heart risks and to how little large-scale trial data exists. This article sets out what the available reporting shows, and what it does not.
What happened
The women’s news outlet Formidable reported on October 28, 2026, that “big debates are happening around testosterone in menopausal women,” with prescriptions climbing while concerns about heart risks grow1. The figures it cites come from a report on prescription rates; the article does not describe how that report was carried out or which pharmacies or insurers it covered1.
Testosterone is not only a male hormone. In women it is made by the ovaries, the adrenal glands and the brain, and its level rises and falls at different stages of life1. Levels are shown to decline gradually once a woman enters her 30s1, and production drops heavily after menopause2.
Testosterone therapy comes in four forms: a gel, an injection, small pellets placed under the skin, and a cream rubbed onto the skin1.
The evidence so far
Studies show that low testosterone could be associated with brain fog, lack of energy and low sex drive, according to the Formidable report1. “Associated” means the two tend to show up together; it does not show that low testosterone causes those symptoms or that adding testosterone fixes them.
On treatment, the report points to a study by Newson Research in which women who used testosterone through the skin reported improvements in hot flashes, dizziness and sex drive1. The report does not give the size of that study or say whether it compared testosterone with a placebo (a dummy treatment). The results were the women’s own reports of how they felt.
Dr. Kelly Casperson, a physician and urologist who supports testosterone use by women, says emerging evidence suggests it could lead to better thinking skills, less reliance on antidepressants and lower risk factors for brain diseases such as dementia1. The same report adds that larger clinical trials are still needed to confirm these results1.
What it does not show yet
The rise in prescriptions tells us how many women are getting testosterone. It does not tell us whether it is helping them or whether it is safe for them over many years.
On safety, some research links testosterone therapy with a higher risk of heart attack or stroke in women, Formidable reported1. That matters for a large group: according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited in the same report, more than 60 million women in the US live with some form of heart disease1.
The report concludes that more research is needed to understand what testosterone really does in women going through menopause, and that long-term safety data are still missing, especially on breast cancer and heart risks1.
Who is making the case, and their ties
Much of the push for wider access comes from clinicians who openly support the treatment. Casperson argues that women are held to a different standard than men. “The FDA is asking for more safety data, even though the men’s version of testosterone therapy doesn’t require the same level of safety data,” she wrote1. She also said:
“While testosterone deficiency in men is widely recognized, with over a dozen FDA-approved treatment formulations available approved based on 6 months of safety data, women experiencing similar physiological decline are left without a regulated option.”
Casperson’s view is one side of the debate; the report presents her as a proponent rather than a neutral reviewer of the evidence1.
Companies are also working on products. In 2023, Medherant, a company founded by Professor David Haddleton of the University of Warwick, said it was developing what it called the world’s only testosterone patch for women with menopause symptoms and aimed to start clinical trials that autumn2. Medherant raised almost £3 million for the study, according to its chief executive, John Burt2. Haddleton described the potential to improve women’s lives as “huge,” mainly by helping with loss of sex drive2. As the company’s founder, he is not an independent voice on the product. The 2023 report did not include trial results.
How it fits the field
Testosterone is a separate question from the better-known menopause hormone therapy, which uses estrogen alone or estrogen with progestin. That treatment has its own long history of debate. Early results from the Women’s Health Initiative trial, published in 2003, linked it to stroke, heart disease and breast cancer, and many women and doctors turned away from it3. Later analyses found the original conclusions were flawed, partly because the trial included many women aged 65 and older who already faced higher risks3.
A 2024 follow-up in the journal JAMA looked at more than 68,000 women enrolled between 1993 and 1998 and followed for up to 20 years3. The researchers concluded that estrogen-based hormone therapy is appropriate to treat bothersome hot flashes and night sweats in women in early menopause who want it, but that the trials do not support using it to prevent heart disease or other chronic diseases3. That study was about estrogen and progestin, not testosterone, so it does not answer questions about testosterone.
For testosterone specifically, official guidance has been narrower than many online claims. In the UK, guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have said since 2015 that testosterone can be considered for women in menopause with low sexual desire when standard hormone therapy alone does not help2. The guidance does not extend that to other symptoms such as brain fog or low energy. Even so, in 2023 women seeking testosterone for low libido could not be prescribed it on the NHS, and some used irregular doses of gel approved only for men, experts said2.
In the US, the lack of an approved product has practical effects. Without FDA approval, medicines cannot be covered by insurance, which makes them harder to get1. Only a small number of women have started taking testosterone, partly because it is difficult to obtain1.
What to watch next
- Larger trials. The claims about thinking, mood and brain health would need bigger controlled studies to be confirmed1.
- Long-term safety data. Breast cancer and heart risks are the main open questions named in the reporting1.
- Regulators. Whether the FDA approves a testosterone product for women, and what safety data it asks for, will shape access and insurance coverage in the US1.
- Women-specific products. Patches designed for women, such as the one Medherant has been developing, would need trial results and regulatory approval before they could be widely used2.
For now, the picture is of a treatment whose use is growing faster than the evidence about it. Prescriptions are rising, supporters point to early signals, and the studies that could settle the benefits and the risks have not yet been done.
