Combined estrogen and testosterone was tied to higher lumbar spine density in a small menopause report

What the research found

Medical Xpress, on 20 October 2026, reported a conference talk at the North American Menopause Society annual meeting in San Diego, 20 to 24 October 2026. The talk was titled Effect of Combined Estrogen and Testosterone Therapy on Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women. It is not a peer-reviewed paper. Fifty-one postmenopausal women were followed for an average of 4.1 years. Estrogen was used for a mean of 3.5 years, and estrogen plus testosterone for 3.1 years. Bone-density scans were taken at the start, after at least one year of estrogen alone, and after at least one year of the combination. Estrogen alone did not significantly raise T-scores at the lumbar spine, the femoral neck, or the hip. Estrogen plus testosterone did raise lumbar-spine T-scores. The femoral neck and the hip stayed stable. Sona Davis, at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, is the lead author. Stephanie Faubion of the Menopause Society said more work is needed. Ages were not published. This is prescribed medicine for a clinician to weigh. It is not a supplement product to start from a headline, and it is not a substitute for care a clinician has already prescribed. Not medical advice.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

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