Sexual needs of women are on radar screen
Submitted by: Marc Gittelman
Submitted on: March 13, 2007
Q: I see many new medicines for men’s sexual needs. Doesn’t anyone care about women? Can you give me some hope?
A: Women have disclosed that they are uncomfortable talking about sex with their physicians. Nearly 75 percent of women believe their physicians would dismiss their sexual health concerns if they brought them up.
Don’t despair! The scientific world is addressing women’s sexual needs and concerns. I just returned from acting as the meeting chair of the scientific congress known as the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and I want to give you some hope.
Medical science is addressing the biological factors that affect women’s desire. We’re studying brain scans to better understand which areas of the brain are responsible for sexual behavior. Women’s sexual patterns are being studied in the older people because the baby boomer is still enjoying their sexuality and they don’t want to those pleasures to end. We are studying the relationship of diabetes and heart disease and obesity to the state of women’s sexuality. We are studying how motherhood affects sexuality for women and their partners. There are scientific studies to understand the effect of religion and the intercultural differences. We have studies addressing sexual fantasies and enhancers.
The take-home message here is that there is a large amount of scientific work and research in progress to help advance the field of women’s sexual health. Just like all good science it takes time, energy, money and years of research before we can produce medicines and therapies that will ultimately be helpful.