{"id":16009,"date":"2025-07-23T13:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/16009\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T13:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:14:08","slug":"testosterone-cream-developed-in-wa-revolutionises-treatment-for-menopausal-women-but-at-treble-the-price","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/16009\/","title":{"rendered":"Testosterone cream developed in WA revolutionises treatment for menopausal women but at treble the price"},"content":{"rendered":"

A testosterone cream developed in WA is revolutionising the way doctors treat a common side effect of menopause.<\/p>\n

But the medication is not listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and costs three times more than the men\u2019s version of the product.<\/p>\n

Androfeme is the only testosterone cream in Australia approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to treat hypo-active sexual desire dysfunction \u2014 a common side effect of menopause responsible for a distressing loss of libido.<\/p>\n

Doctors and pharmacists have labelled medication a game changer but it\u2019s inaccessible to many women as it\u2019s not listed on the PBS, costing $100 for a tube that lasts 100 days.<\/p>\n

The equivalent treatment for men is on the PBS and costs less than a third of the price at $31.60.<\/p>\n

\"AndrofemeCamera IconAndrofeme is the only testosterone cream in Australia approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to treat hypo-active sexual desire dysfunction Credit: 7NEWS\/supplied<\/p>\n

When mum-of-two Jane Capelli turned 40, she experienced hot flushes, insomnia, irritability, headaches, and zero libido.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didnt feel like my old self, something was missing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her hormone levels plummeted while she was in the midst of perimenopause.<\/p>\n

Her doctor prescribed hormone replacement therapy but it was the testosterone cream, Androfeme, that made the biggest difference.<\/p>\n

\"JaneCamera IconJane Capelli turned 40 and experienced hot flushes, insomnia, irritability, headaches, and zero libido. Credit: 7NEWS\/supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like my old self again, energy and clarity have improved, the fog feels like its lifting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Doctors hope Androfeme will be added to the PBS this year to help women like Ms Capelli.<\/p>\n

Lawley Pharmaceuticals pharmacist Michael Buckley said the product was a \u201cgame changer\u201d for women.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until then women didn\u2019t have a female specific testosterone treatment and if they were going to be treated they were forced to use male products that couldn\u2019t be measured easily,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

General practitioner Lucy Caratti said testosterone had a huge impact on women\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

\"GeneralCamera IconGeneral practitioner Lucy Caratti said testosterone had a huge impact on women\u2019s health.\u00a0 Credit: 7NEWS\/supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cTestosterone is a huge player in women and it\u2019s been very much overlooked, been thought of as very much a male hormone, but we know its effects on the brain, heart, bones and of course the libido,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen are already paying quite a lot for their estrogen and progesterone so being able to subsidise some of the testosterone will make a really big difference for people to be able to afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company behind Androfeme is conducting trials to measure the impact of testosterone cream on other common menopause side effects including bone loss, loss of muscle strength and brain fog.<\/p>\n

If the results are positive, the cream could eventually be used to treat those symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A testosterone cream developed in WA is revolutionising the way doctors treat a common side effect of menopause.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-16009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication","12":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}