According to research by an international team of scientists testosterone could recharge the sex lives of older women.
New research has found that testosterone patches can significantly increase the sex drive of postmenopausal women not on hormone replacement therapy.
The study, led by Professor Susan Davis from Monash University is the first research which has demonstrated that testosterone alone in the form of a skin patch can significantly improve the sexual well-being of postmenopausal women.
Dr. Davis, a Professor of Women's Health at Monash's Department of Medicine says many women after menopause experience a loss of sexual interest and in many instances they seek medical treatment.
Dr. Davis says a number of studies have shown that treatment with testosterone improves sexual well-being in postmenopausal women using oestrogen therapy, but many women do not want to take oestrogen and she says they have found that treatment with a patch which delivers 300 micrograms (ug) of testosterone each day offers a significant improvement in sexual function in postmenopausal women with low libido who are using no other hormone therapy.
The study involved 814 postmenopausal women from 65 centres in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Sweden and participants were selected at random to receive either a patch delivering 300ug of testosterone daily or a placebo.