Estrogen/progesterone and testosterone are not exclusively female/male hormones. Testosterone may boost sex drive and increase muscle mass, as well as provide some psychological benefit in women. Estrogen is the most important regulator of bone health in both men and women. There are people with estrogen insensitivity syndrome, both men and women, and from all reports they are having an extremely uncool time:
It would be part of HRT for menopause for the reasons I gave: mental health, sexual desire, muscle maintenance.
The discussion about estrogen in men is just for context. It's not unusual to talk about levels of any hormone in men or women. There's nothing "shocking" about testosterone in women, or estrogen in men.
I was fixating on semantics but it's not the point.
Not my area but for what it's worth UpToDate (KA Martin, RL Barbieri, JL Shifren @ MassGen Brigham) address it in expert opinion form:
> We do not suggest the routine use of androgen [testosterone] therapy for postmenopausal women. Levels of endogenous androgens do not predict sexual function for women; however, androgen therapy that increases serum concentrations to the upper limit or above the limit of normal for postmenopausal women has been shown to improve female sexual function in selected populations.
The linked out sexual dysfunction article (JL Shifren):
> In our practice, we rarely use testosterone, but will prescribe it when greatly desired by a peri- or postmenopausal patient with low libido associated with distress who has no contraindications to testosterone therapy or identifiable etiology for sexual dysfunction and is otherwise physically and psychologically healthy. Typically, the patient has already tried other safer interventions prior to the testosterone prescription, including low-dose vaginal estrogen, relationship interventions (eg, sex therapy, date nights, use of sexual aids such as vibrators, books), and adjustment of antidepressant medication (when indicated) [12]. At least one visit with a sex therapist is strongly advised prior to pharmacologic treatment, as this safe and effective intervention may make pharmacologic therapy unnecessary or enhance the response to treatment. Testosterone levels should not be used in determining the etiology of a sexual problem or in assessing efficacy of treatment, as no clear association between androgen levels and sexual function has been found in several large, well-designed studies.
Why on earth would we give testosterone to menopausal patients?