On the advice of influencers, middle aged women are turning to testosterone therapy to combat symptoms of menopause.
Women across the U.S. are turning to testosterone to improve their lives. In a new report, NBC News dug into the latest health trend making a name for itself on social media.
Per the outlet, data from IQVIA, a health technology company, showed that U.S. prescriptions for testosterone increased nearly 50 percent between 2013 and 2023. It's not just men who are getting the hormone therapy, but middle-aged women.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, testosterone can affect a woman's libido, bone and muscle health, mood and energy, and menstrual cycle and fertility. By the time a woman reaches menopause, their testosterone levels may have decreased by half of what they once were.
That fact has swept social media, with influencers touting testosterone therapy as an easy fix to menopause symptoms.
"It feels almost like an epidemic," Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, chief medical officer for Gennev, told NBC News of the new health trend. "They're being told this is the miracle-drug pill that they've been looking for."
Doctors told NBC News that, over the last several years, patients have asked about testosterone therapy more than ever before.
"A patient will say, 'I was listening to this podcast, and they said that I needed this,'" Dr. Amy Voedisch, an OB-GYN at Stanford Medicine, told the outlet. "Or, 'I have this Instagram person that I follow and she said that I absolutely have to be on it.'"
The therapy isn't without controversy, though. The Cleveland Clinic noted that the practice is questionable. That's the case because it hasn't been well-studied in people assigned female at birth.
Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved any such treatments in women. That means that testosterone therapy in women is a bit of a guessing game, as providers have no mandates by which to prescribe and treat.
While there aren't many studies available on the topic, in a paper published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada earlier this year, researchers found that clinical trials support the efficacy and short-term safety of testosterone therapy in women.
"Several randomized controlled trials showed significant improvement in the sexual function of premenopausal and naturally and surgically postmenopausal women with testosterone therapy," the paper read.
There's little data supporting those claims, Dr. Jan Shifren, director of Massachusetts General Hospital's Midlife Women's Health, told NBC News.
Speaking to the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Yvonne Butler Tobah added that, while testosterone may boost sex drive for some women after menopause, there's little research on how safe it is and how well it works long term. She further noted that side effects like acne, hair growth, and weight gain may occur.
Voedisch discussed the adverse side effects in her interview. She recalled one patient who stopped the treatment when she was mistaken for a man on the phone.
Those symptoms, Voedisch said, "may not get better even once you stop, which is really unfortunate." Still, she understands why women are interested in the so-called miracle therapy.
"We have ignored women's health for a very long time in this country," she said. "This comes from a place of frustration and it comes from a place of wanting to feel better."