156: REPLAY Unraveling the truth about testosterone and menopause with Professor Susan Davis

The Hotflash inc podcast

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This podcast originally ran on August 1, 2024

You may have been hearing a lot about testosterone lately – what it is, why we need it, why we can’t get it… I’ve gone to Melbourne, Australia to ask an expert in women’s hormones across our lifespan, and one of the few people who has studied testosterone in-depth.

Professor Susan Davis is a clinician researcher, consulting endocrinologist and head of the Monash University Women’s Health Research Program in Melbourne.

She is going to help us to tackle the current confusion – and hype – over testosterone, armed with what she knows best: the evidence. We talk about it all: the evidence, benefits, and potential misconceptions about testosterone supplementation for women, especially during menopause and perimenopause; the difficulty in measuring testosterone accurately, the placebo effect, risks and benefits of different hormone therapies, including testosterone pellets and creams, and the critical importance of credible sources of information. Professor Davis also highlights her extensive research, including studies on the cardiovascular effects of low testosterone and the physiological impacts on women's health.

Highlights:

03:38 Testosterone's role in a women's hormone structure

06:35 Challenges in measuring testosterone

19:50 Testosterone and cardiovascular health

30:02 The misleading promises of testosterone therapy

32:55 The controversy surrounding pellets

36:17 Breast cancer risks and hormone therapy

40:15 Testosterone for menopausal symptoms

42:12 The role of DHEA in hormone therapy

44:49 The impact of birth control pills

46:26 Navigating hormone therapy and misinformation

50:50 Current research and future directions

53:33 The Influence of social media on health information

56:10 Conclusion and credible resources

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