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Low testosterone levels in older women linked to reduced heart disease risk
09 Nov 2009
Postmenopausal women with low testosterone levels may be at a reduced risk of heart disease, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
This is in contrast to women with higher testosterone levels, who are more likely to suffer from these conditions after the menopause, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, US, discovered.
Study leader Anne Cappola explained that, for many years, it was thought that testosterone levels only played an important role in men and were "largely irrelevant in women".
"It is now largely accepted that premenopausal women with polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition in which androgens are elevated, have increased health risks," she said.
"However, the clinical relevance of testosterone in women over the age of 65 had remained uncertain until this recent study."
The findings could be partly explained by the finding that a greater degree of insulin resistance occurred in women with higher testosterone levels, which is itself a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease.
Last year, it was revealed that women with high testosterone may be more likely to give birth to a boy rather than a girl.
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