NAMS supports limited role for testosterone tx.(News)

Postmenopausal women with symptoms of decreased sexual desire may be candidates for testosterone therapy, according to a new position statement from the North American Menopause Society.

But the group did not go so far as to recommend testosterone without concomitant estrogen therapy because there are no data on the safety and efficacy of testosterone therapy alone in postmenopausal women.

The position statement, which applies to women who have experienced either spontaneous menopause or surgically induced menopause, was developed by an editorial board comprising experts in clinical practice and research who reviewed published data. The statement was then approved by the board of trustees of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

The development of the position statement was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals (Menopause 2005; 12:497-511).

"There really aren't a lot of guidelines about how to approach the problem," Jan L. Shifren, M.D., said in an interview. Dr. Shifren chaired the editorial board that developed the statement.

Although there are some good data on the efficacy of testosterone therapy, there are no products on the market that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat sexual desire disorders in postmenopausal women, said Dr. Shifren, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard University and director of the Vincent Menopause Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Counseling about the risks and benefits of the treatment should include information that the therapy is being prescribed off label, the statement said.