Hormones, Female libido link unclear
Women have complained since the arrival of Viagra of not having a pill to treat their most common sexual disorder, a low libido.
About half of all women say their sex drive could use a boost, but taking more hormones, as a sexual dysfunction pill for women would probably contain, may not be the answer.
Australian research has recently shown the link between women's
hormones and sex drive to be more complicated than one might think.
A research team from Monash University in Melbourne and the Jean Hailes
Foundation looked for sexually linked hormones like testosterone and
androgens in the blood samples of over 1,000 women.
These women were
then questioned on their sex drive and ability to achieve orgasm.
The scientists found no correlation between hormone levels and sex
drive. In particular, women with high testosterone levels were just as
likely as women with lower levels to report low libido.
In contrast,
women with low levels of a steroid known as DHEAS were more likely to
report low sex drive. Most women with low levels of the steroid,
however, did not experience sexual problems.
Though the study disputes the argument that high testosterone levels are
correlated with increased sex drive in women, it does not rule out the
use of testosterone patches, which have been shown in studies to
increase sexual performance.
