Most people think of testosterone as “the defining male hormone”, said biochemist Daniel Kelly on The Conversation. But women produce it too, and testosterone therapy has long been used to treat low libido and improve energy.

Testosterone is also increasingly being used to manage menopause-related symptoms, such as brain fog and mood swings. But concerns are growing that the treatment’s surge in popularity on social media is fuelling demand that vastly outstrips evidence for its long-term safety and efficacy.

How widespread is this use?
In England, NHS prescriptions to women for testosterone gel increased tenfold between 2015 and 2022, said The Pharmaceutical Journal. There has also been a “very sharp increase” in testosterone referrals to the NHS in Wales for post-menopausal women, a consultant told the BBC. But getting a prescription can be a “postcode lottery”, so some women are “posing as men” to buy products from online pharmacies.

The UK has also approved the sale of Androfeme, a testosterone cream formulated specifically for female patients, but it is currently available only through private clinics.

Does it work?
Most studies have focused on testosterone’s effect on low libido. But preliminary evidence indicates that it could help with “a wide range of menopause symptoms, from mood changes to muscle loss”, said New Scientist.

In a UK study published last year involving 510 women at a specialist menopause clinic, improvements in mood, cognitive symptoms and libido were reported after four months on testosterone gel. However, placebo-controlled trials have not proved conclusively that testosterone alleviates brain fog, mood, bone density or fatigue, endocrinology professor Susan Davis, who led many of the studies, told LiveScience. Yet online, women are bombarded with “the most sky-high expectations imaginable”, said gynaecology professor Nanette Santoro.

What are the concerns?
Female patients in the UK are typically prescribed a tenth of a sachet of men’s testosterone gel, which is measured out “by eye”, said Kelly. That’s a “less precise way to deliver a hormone for which the therapeutic dose is so small”. Too much testosterone can increase the likelihood of unwanted side effects, such as voice deepening or rapid growth of facial and body hair. The potential impacts of extra testosterone on cardiovascular health and breast cancer risk are also “poorly understood”, said LiveScience, and there is little data on other long-term safety implications for women.

US Democrats don’t know whether to trust the numbers or their guts. Recent voter intention surveys are predicting a “blue wave” in next month’s midterm elections, but the party faithful are not so sure. Some fear that a Republican resurgence – or maybe just a polling error – could still upend their hopes of taking control of Congress.

‘Believe the polls’
Donald Trump’s “historic unpopularity” is hurting Republican candidates, and “all of the signs point to a big blue wave”, said political scientist Daniel W. Drezner on Substack. But Democrats and their supporters are going to “keep their powder dry out of fear that Trump pulls off another comeback”.

Pollsters in some of this summer’s state primaries “struggled to reach certain demographics” and may have produced less accurate predictions, said Bill Scher in Washington Monthly. But this time, “you should believe the polls”. Beyond voter surveys, there is “lots of other data”, including Trump’s “abysmal job approval”, that point to big Democratic gains in the midterms. 

Trump thinks otherwise. “My REAL polling numbers” are the “best they have ever been”, he said on Truth Social in August even as his approval ratings plummeted. 

‘Can’t keep up’
It’s unlikely that an “unrecorded mass of Trump voters” will save Republican candidates in November, said The Daily Beast. But a blue wave “isn’t a sure thing”. The polls are depicting a “disastrous picture for Republicans”, but they could be distorted by “inaccurate sample groups, skewed data sampling and unknowable voter behaviour”.

Pollsters “can’t keep up” with the “sharply increased demand for polling” created by a larger-than-usual number of competitive races in the midterms, said The Washington Post. Such demand affects the results. Voters are “tired of being surveyed” and “reluctant to pick up the phone”.

Some Republican candidates “see a polling mirage” in the results, said Axios. Polls “underestimated Trump’s support in 2016, 2020 and 2024”, and even a “modest” discrepancy might spell the difference between continued Republican dominance of Congress and a Democratic majority. Even so, “most pollsters believe Democrats have the edge” in next month’s vote.

A man puffs on a pipe during an anti-government demonstration in Tirana. Youth-led protests are spreading across Albania as Prime Minister Edi Rama resists calls to resign over alleged corruption and rising education costs.

Armend Nimani / AFP / Getty Images

Oxfordshire: Church Cottage, Turville
Characterful 17th century Grade II cottage that featured in The Vicar of Dibley. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen/breakfast room, recep, garden, parking. £375,000; Robinson Sherston.

Oxfordshire: Thorne Cottage, Hornton
An attractive honey-coloured Hornton-stone cottage dating back to the 17th century. The property is full of character, with plenty of original features such as mullioned windows. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen, 2 receps, detached 1-bed selfcontained annexe, garden, garage. £525,000; Butler Sherborn.

Devon: Rose Cottage, Babbacombe
Picturesque Grade II thatched cottage dating back to the 1840s. The property occupies a delightful location, perched above Babbacombe Beach, with wonderful sea views which can be enjoyed from a number of terraces. Main suite, 4 further beds (1 en suite), family bath, kitchen, 3 receps, garden, outbuildings, parking. £850,000; Knight Frank.

Devon: Strawberry Cottage, Tiverton
A beautifully renovated thatched cottage set in over an acre of mature gardens. 3 beds, family bath, kitchen/dining room, recep, snug, study, garden, garage with room above. £575,000; Stags.

The right’s scrounger rhetoric dominates the benefits debate. Labour must fight back – and win
Frances Ryan in The Guardian
Like “Victorians punishing” the “lower orders”, the right assumes benefits are theirs to control, writes disability activist Frances Ryan. But this “is 2026”, and it’s Labour facing pressure to overhaul social security. Will they “improve conditions” for those of us “who rely on it, or buckle” to the “bubbling” sentiment that the disabled are “grifting ‘perks’ while everyone else struggles”? This government has a “once-in-a-generation” chance to tackle the “debilitating mess of bureaucracy and barriers” that we face. Will it “be grabbed or thrown away”?

Harry and Meghan are shining. William will just have to get over it
Jennie Bond in The i Paper
As “The Working Royals” go up against “Private Citizens”, it’s almost like “It’s A Royal Knock Out” is back, writes former royal reporter Jennie Bond. With their recent “awayday in Nottingham”, complete with “briefing notes” for the press, the Sussexes are “beginning to look like a rival court”. The couple may “have been less than loyal to the Crown”, but they can’t “be accused of disloyalty to the charities” they support. Their attention-grabbing antics “won’t please William”, but at least they want “to do a bit of good”.

A new Baywatch is the tonic we all need
Rowan Pelling in The Telegraph
Fox TV is reviving “Baywatch”, the “pneumatic favourite” of 1990s teenage boys, writes Rowan Pelling. In this beach lifeguard drama packed with “gorgeous actors”, the “plot wasn’t the point, so much as the slow-motion, physique-fetishising sprint” to save swimmers “in peril”. A revamp of such “addictive candyfloss” could be “a cross-generational hit, as parents” get nostalgic “and their offspring suddenly dream of being lifeguards”. Maybe it’ll inspire our “doom-scrolling young to take swimming lessons. There are worse inducements than hotties in swimsuits.”