Testosterone is often referred to as a male hormone, but it is very important in women. Testosterone helps you to develop healthy bones, skin, muscles and organs, and without it we would all have a struggle to maintain our muscles, energy levels and sex drive. Because women have a lot less testosterone than men (men have 10 times as much as women) then any drops in their testosterone are far more critical than if there are small drops in a man.
The reason why we need to know the right level of testosterone is because when testosterone is low you can feel depressed, moody, weak or tired and you also tend to lose your sex drive as well. Low testosterone also increases the risk of weight loss, which is why it is vital to think about the management of testosterone deficiency.
Testosterone is circulating in the blood in three forms. Two of these forms total about 98% of the testosterone and are bound to proteins. These are mostly inactive. Free testosterone only constitutes 1 or 2% of the testosterone and is not attached to proteins and circulates freely in the body. This is active testosterone which means that it is made available for immediate use by the body. The two standard blood tests used to measure testosterone levels are thus of the total testosterone and the free testosterone. Total testosterone measures the free and bound testosterone in the blood. The important ratio is that between the free testosterone and the total testosterone.
When measuring your testosterone level, you should remember that testosterone levels will vary each hour of the day, which means that you will need to have blood drawn at the same time each day (ideally in morning when it will be at its peak). You should also try to use the same lab as well to make sure that the methods are the same.
There is still a great deal of debate regarding what the normal testosterone level is for women. So working out what is low testosterone is quite difficult. Moreover, what is low for one woman is high for another.
The general consensus is that the normal total testosterone range is between 15-70 ng/DL for women aged 20-39 and between 4-70 ng/dL for women aged 40-59. Doctors feel that any level below 20 ng/dL is too low in order for a woman to maintain their energy level and sex drive.
The secret with testosterone is to let your body talk to you, to tell you where your levels are. If you are feeling low in energy, or your sex drive is very low, or you are losing weight quickly without trying, then your testosterone levels may not be normal.