Summary

As evidenced by the literature review, androgen hormone replacement may produce an overall increase in sense of well being, and often results in a decrease or elimination of depression, anxiety and altered mood states. Androgen hormone replacement may be beneficial in preventing, treating, and in some cases reversing many chronic diseases of aging, thus having a direct impact on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL). With access to thousands of women daily in clinics across the nation, primary care and women’s healthcare practitioners have a unique opportunity to open the dialogue of altered mood states in their midlife female patients, and discuss viable treatment options. Androgen decline can start as early as 30 years old, so these conversations are not limited to the obvious menopausal or postmenopausal women.

Societal costs of depression and associated mood disturbances in the US have been reported to surpass $210 billion annually (Greenberg, 2015). Considering women suffer from depression and other mood disturbances more than twice as much as men, it is imperative healthcare providers expand their horizons in the areas of treating hormone related depression, anxiety and altered mood states, and broaden the scope of their education and knowledge about the role all hormones, including androgens, play in optimizing women’s health.

The “Raise Awareness” Androgen Hormone Therapy for Women ePortfolio and subsequent creation of an online education and eTraining platform presented here could pave the way in affecting the health, well-being and HRQOL of women across the country, and possibly across the globe.