Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- AndroFeme
- A 1% testosterone cream made for women. It has a United Kingdom licence for postmenopausal women with low sexual desire, but supply of the licensed pack is still being established.
- Androgenic effects
- Unwanted male-type effects of too much testosterone, such as acne, extra hair growth, a deeper voice or an enlarged clitoris.
- Biopsychosocial assessment
- Looking at physical, emotional, relationship and medication causes of a problem together.
- British Menopause Society (BMS)
- The United Kingdom professional society for healthcare professionals working in menopause care, which publishes practical prescribing tools.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Controlled drug (CD)
- A medicine with extra legal controls because it can be misused. Testosterone is in Schedule 4 Part 2.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The United Kingdom law, alongside the UK GDPR, on how personal information must be handled.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a patient when something goes wrong that causes, or could cause, significant harm.
- Equality Act 2010
- The law protecting people from discrimination, including because of sex or gender reassignment.
- General Medical Council (GMC)
- The regulator of doctors in the United Kingdom, which sets prescribing standards.
- General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
- The regulator of pharmacists and pharmacies in Great Britain.
- General practitioner (GP)
- The patient's family doctor.
- Genitourinary syndrome of the menopause (GSM)
- Vaginal dryness, soreness, painful sex and urinary symptoms caused by low oestrogen.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting the fundamental standards registered care providers must meet.
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Medicines that replace oestrogen, and usually progestogen, to relieve menopause symptoms.
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The main United Kingdom law on licensing, prescribing, supplying and advertising medicines.
- Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD)
- Persistently low sexual desire that causes distress.
- Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
- A highly accurate laboratory method for measuring small amounts of hormones in blood.
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- The United Kingdom regulator of medicines and medical devices.
- Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001
- The law setting out how controlled drugs are prescribed, supplied, stored and recorded, grouped into Schedules.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The body that publishes national evidence-based guidance for health care in England.
- NICE guideline NG23
- The national guideline Menopause: identification and management, which recommends a trial of HRT before testosterone is considered.
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- The regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom.
- Off-label use
- Using a licensed medicine in a way its licence does not cover, such as a different patient group or dose.
- Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI)
- Loss of normal ovarian function before the age of 40.
- Prescription-only medicine
- A medicine that can only be supplied against a valid prescription.
- Records Management Code of Practice (2023)
- National guidance on how long health and care records should be kept and how they are managed.
- Regulation 284
- The part of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 that bans advertising prescription-only medicines to the public.
- Schedule 4 Part 2
- The group of controlled drugs, mainly anabolic steroids such as testosterone, with lighter controls than Schedules 2 and 3.
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- A common group of antidepressants that can reduce sexual desire.
- Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
- Another group of antidepressants that can reduce sexual desire.
- Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)
- A blood protein that carries sex hormones and affects how much testosterone is available to the body.
- Special (unlicensed medicine)
- A medicine without a United Kingdom licence, made or imported to meet an individual patient's need.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- A written step-by-step instruction for carrying out a task consistently and safely.
- Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)
- The official document describing how a licensed medicine should be used.
- Therapeutic use exemption (TUE)
- Permission for an athlete to use a banned substance for a genuine medical need.
- Total testosterone
- The full amount of testosterone in the blood, used to monitor treatment.
- Transdermal
- Absorbed through the skin, as with a gel, cream or patch.
- UK Anti-Doping (UKAD)
- The national organisation that runs anti-doping rules in United Kingdom sport.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The United Kingdom's main data protection law.
- World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
- The international body that publishes the list of substances banned in sport.
- Yellow Card scheme
- The MHRA system for reporting suspected side effects of medicines, open to professionals and patients.