Androgens, that is, male hormones, are also present in women. Naturally produced by the ovaries and adrenal glands in small amounts, they could have an impact on female sexual desire. Explanations.

Androgens are male sex hormones. In women, they are produced in small amounts by the adrenal glands and ovaries. The best known is testosterone, which in both sexes plays an important role in physical health, well-being and sexual function.

Like a deficit, excess androgen in the blood – hyperandrogenism – is problematic. This hormonal imbalance can cause many side effects in women:

• Menstrual cycle disorder, long and irregular cycles or a lack of periods;
• Hirsutism, excessive hairiness;
• Alopecia, hair loss;
• Appearance of acne and excess sebum.

The causes of hyperandrogenism

This androgen overdose may be linked to several pathologies:

• A tumor in the adrenal glands or pituitary gland;
• A genetic disease;
• Polycystic ovary syndrome.

Androgen deficiency is believed to be linked to the absence or decrease in sexual desire in women. It is more precisely, the lack of testosterone that could be involved.

In any case, this is what a team of researchers from Monash University in Melbourne in Australia asserts in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. After 36 tests carried out on a total of 8 women between 480 and 1990, scientists observed that the male hormone had a beneficial effect on the libido of postmenopausal women. By administering testosterone treatment, the researchers observed an increase in the number of sexual partners, but also in the number of orgasms as well as an improvement in self-esteem.

Why is the androgen level going down?

In a study carried out on androgen deficiency and published in the Swiss Medical Review, Dr Rémy Martin-Du Pan, endocrinologist in Geneva explains: “We observe in women with age a regular decrease in androgen levels (testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone). […] A 40-year-old woman will have on average half the circulating rates compared to a 20-year-old woman. ” An age-related decline also observed in men.

Several symptoms can be observed in women with “androgen deficiency”, such as:

• Significant and persistent fatigue;
• A decline in well-being;
• Decreased libido and pleasure.

“These symptoms must be accompanied by testosterone levels located in the lower quarter or below normal levels for a regulated woman”, specifies the specialist.

Age is not the only one responsible for the early decline in ovarian androgens. We can list other factors such as:

• Early menopause;
• Anorexia ;
• Turner syndrome;
• The Depression ;
• The cancer.

If scientific studies on the role of androgens on female desire have been carried out for many years, gray areas remain and no androgenic product aimed at improving female libido has yet been authorized to be used. on the market.

“Almost a third of women experience low sexual desire in their midlife, with associated distress, but no country has an approved formulation or product for testosterone, and there are no guidelines. recognized internationally for the use of testosterone by women, ”said Professor Davis, lead author of the Australian study published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. This research also made it possible to define that the main factors linked to the good functioning of the sexuality of postmenopausal women (orgasm, arousal and sexual desire) were multiple:

• The frequency of sexual activity;
• Changes of partners;
• Feelings towards the partner;
• The estrogen level which acts on the well-being, the proper functioning of the sexual organs or vaginal lubrication.

Indeed, how to be sure of the causes of the decrease in desire in women? If “sexual desire is modulated, at the level of the limbic system and the cerebral cortex, by neurotransmitters and sex hormones”, as Dr. Rémy Martin-Du Pan explains, can we really summarize sexual desire in hormonal activity of an individual?

“Most women, despite an apparent decline in desire and initiative, which would affect 20 to 40% of them, are quite capable of responding to stimulation and feeling pleasure,” says Dr Rémy Martin- Du Pan in his study on the indications and risks of treatment with testosterone.

If androgens do indeed seem to have an effect on the libido of women, the interpretation of the results remains difficult as the dysfunctions related to female sexuality are of multiple origins.