Testosterone Protects Breasts, Muscles & Waistlines
Get tested and don't leave out of HRT if you have insufficient levels. But, like everything else, it's nuanced and needs to be individualized.
Maleness Protects Femaleness
I have been writing about this natural phenomenon for years.
Nature never does anything without a reason.
Testosterone (T) is the most abundant biologically active hormone in women.
Take that in…
Male androgen receptors (AR) are located throughout the body including female breast tissue, where T decreases tissue proliferation.
Cancer
Cancer is “growth out of control”. That’s why we all fear it. Cancer cells can become immortal and live longer than us.
Natural “growth controllers” help keep cancer in check, and breast tissue safer.
(This is why my product Hormone Balance & Protect is filled with one of the most amazing, powerful, and well-sourced botanical formulas, which is all about “growth control” to prevent cancer and keep us and our breast and prostate tissue safe.)
Testosterone
Testosterone naturally inside the body metabolizes to DHT and then to 3-beta diol.
3-beta-diol looks just like the protective anti-cancer estrogen, estriol.
And like breast-protective soy isoflavones.
Recent clinical data supports the role of T in breast cancer prevention and treatment.
Women with symptoms of hormone deficiency treated with pharmacological doses of T alone or in combination with anastrozole (A), delivered by subcutaneous implants, had a reduced incidence of BCA. In addition, T combined with A effectively treated symptoms of hormone deficiency in BCA survivors and was not associated with recurrent disease.
Most notably, T+A implants placed in breast tissue surrounding malignant tumors significantly reduced BCA tumor size, further supporting T’s direct anti-proliferative, protective, and therapeutic effect.
Of course, many functional doctors use melatonin as a natural aromatase inhibitor, not A.
Grapeseed extract is also a natural aromatase inhibitor as well as tamps down the gene. That is why I put this in Hormone Balance and Protect.
In experimental studies, testosterone action is anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic (stops cancer growth in its tracks).
Animal studies suggest that testosterone may serve as a natural, endogenous protector of the breast and limit mitogenic and cancer-promoting effects of estrogen on mammary epithelium.
In premenopausal women, elevated testosterone is not associated with greater breast cancer risk.
The risk of breast cancer is also not increased in women with polycystic ovary syndrome who have chronic estrogen exposure and androgen excess.
However, in postmenopausal women, who are oestrogen deplete and have increased adipose aromatase activity, higher testosterone has been associated with greater breast cancer risk.
Thus, talk to your doc about adding T to your BHRT.
Also, T helps protect muscle mass. Muscles slow down aging, and T helps boost metabolism and keep torsos thinner!
Balance
Everything is about balance. Too much T is not good for the heart, skin, or temper.
A seasoned doc will share the positives and negatives of all hormonal therapies. But each woman and man have their own hormonal best footprint that must be found. These footprints also, frustratingly, change over time as we age, or when life situations occur.
To be clear though: Available data indicate the inclusion of testosterone in HRT regimens has the potential to ameliorate the stimulating effects of hormones on the breast.
However, testosterone therapy alone cannot be recommended for estrogen-deficient women because of the potential risk of enhanced aromatization to estrogen in this setting.
If you don’t have any estrogen, you do need to be on some kind of anti-aromatase players, natural or pharmaceutical.
Knowledge is power.
Stay buffed.
Dr. B.
References:
Testosterone and breast cancer prevention. Maturitas. 2015 Nov;82(3):291-5. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2015.06.002. Epub 2015 Jun 24. PMID: 26160683.
Hormones For Breast Cancer Survivors eBook Berkson DL
Postmenopausal testosterone therapy and breast cancer risk. Maturitas. 2004 Dec 10;49(4):267-75. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2004.06.020. PMID: 15531122.