image: Terrence Peppy, MD, administers a testosterone pellet injection to a patient at Orlando Health. The tiny, time-released pellets provide months of symptom relief for menopausal women, but a new survey by Orlando Health finds few people are aware of this safe and effective treatment option. Broadcast quality video and TV script are available here: http://oh.multimedia-newsroom.com/?p=635 view more
Credit: Orlando Health Physician Associates
Orlando, Fla - Menopause is something almost every woman goes through, but is rarely discussed. Most simply accept the life-altering symptoms like hot flashes, fatigue, brain fog and low sex drive as a fact of life. But experts say there is a simple treatment for menopausal symptoms that is safe and effective, but drastically underused. In fact, a new national survey commissioned by Orlando Health and conducted online by The Harris Poll finds most Americans do not even know it exists as an option to improve symptoms due to menopause for women.
“A lot of people think that testosterone treatments are only something men need, but it helps so many women feel better within days of treatment,” said Terrence Peppy, MD, chief of obstetrics and gynecology for Orlando Health Physician Associates. “They have more energy, they're sleeping at night and they can get up and do things that they want to do.”
In women, low-dose testosterone is delivered through a pellet injected under the skin during a quick in-office procedure, but the treatment is drastically underused. The survey found that these testosterone treatments ranked lowest (12%) of all interventions known to improve menopausal symptoms. Estrogen treatments are much more commonly known (43%), ranking below only diet and exercise.
Testosterone therapy is felt to significantly treat the nine symptoms commonly associated with menopause including hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, vaginal dryness, mood swings, brain fog, weight gain and decreased sex drive, while the more commonly used estrogen therapy only treats two. While testosterone therapy is not currently approved by the FDA for use in women, there is growing evidence to support the use of physiologic doses of testosterone in women. A recent publication on the complications of subcutaneous hormone-pellet therapy demonstrated long-term safety. In England and Australia, testosterone has been licensed for use in women for more than 60 years.
“Testosterone pellets are a simple solution and are an option for virtually every patient regardless of their medical condition or history,” Peppy said. “For many, easing symptoms improves their relationships with their partners, gives them energy to exercise and allows them to live their lives as they did before menopause.”
This was the case for Laurie Lane, whose normally fast-paced lifestyle was derailed by progressing fatigue and brain fog. Until she spoke with Dr. Peppy, she was unaware that these major changes to her mood and energy were caused by menopause.
“Nobody says, ‘Here's the date that menopause is coming, and this is what is going to happen,’” said Lane. “So, over time, I was getting more tired, had no desire to be with my husband, my thinking was foggy, things like that, and I had to put two and two together. I finally realized, ‘Oh, this is menopause. This is what happens to women as we get older. Lucky us.’"
Rather than accepting these symptoms as a fact of life, Laurie asked Dr. Peppy for solutions.
“I was very surprised because I'd always heard about estrogen. I'd never heard about testosterone. And I think one of the big fallacies out there is that women should not be putting testosterone in their bodies,” said Lane. “A lot of women just live with these terrible symptoms, but there's something you can do, and everybody needs to know about it.”
Laurie is now back to running and feels better than she has in years. She has shared her results with friends and family, many of whom have since started receiving testosterone pellet injections as well, and she encourages all women to speak with their doctor about how they can take control of their symptoms. Dr. Peppy and his colleagues hope that the treatment will become more widely available as more women share their positive results and speak more openly about their experiences throughout menopause.
Testosterone pellets are released into the bloodstream over time and usually provide about three to four months of symptom relief. Before treatment, patients receive a blood test to measure their hormone levels to determine the needed dosage. After finding what works best for each patient and how long the benefits last, most patients schedule their next injection before leaving the doctor’s office.
Survey Method:
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Orlando Health from February 16-21, 2023 among 2,048 U.S. adults ages 18+. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact ally@mediasourcetv.com.
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Courtesy: Orlando Health
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About Orlando Health
Orlando Health, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $8.1 billion of assets under management that serves the southeastern United States.
Founded more than 100 years ago, the healthcare system is recognized around the world for Central Florida’s only pediatric and adult Level I Trauma program as well as the only state-accredited Level II Adult Trauma Center in Pinellas County. It is the home of the nation’s largest neonatal intensive care unit under one roof, the only system in the southeast to offer open fetal surgery to repair the most severe forms of spina bifida, the site of an Olympic athlete training facility and operator of one of the largest and highest performing clinically integrated networks in the region. Orlando Health has pioneered life-changing medical research and its Graduate Medical Education program hosts more than 350 residents and fellows.
The 3,238-bed system includes 23 hospitals and emergency departments – 18 of which are currently operational with five coming soon. The system also includes nine specialty institutes, more than 100 adult and pediatric primary care practices, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility under the management of Acadia Healthcare, and more than 60 outpatient facilities that include imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with FastMed Urgent Care. More than 4,000 physicians, representing more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the Orlando Health system, which employs more than 25,000 team members and more than 1,200 physicians.
In FY22, Orlando Health served nearly 142,000 inpatients and 3.9 million outpatients. The healthcare system provided more than $782 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more in FY 21, the most recent period for which this information is available. Additional information can be found at http://www.orlandohealth.com, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @orlandohealth.