Women May Need Some Sexual Healing
Most who report dysfunction, though, say it's not distressful

(HealthDay News) -- Sexual problems appear to be fairly common among women -- but not many seem too worried about it.

"Forty percent of patients have sexual concerns, and 12 percent have enough of a concern that it's a significant dysfunction in life," Sheryl Kingsberg, chief of behavioral medicine at MacDonald Women's Hospital in Cleveland, told HealthDay. The percentages were reported in a study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"This needs to be addressed," Kingsberg said. "This is a wake-up call to health-care professionals of the importance of sexual health and sexual quality of life."

Study author Dr. Jan Shifren, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, though, was somewhat relieved that more women weren't expressing distress over their sexual problems.

"The good news is that 12 percent is a very different number than 40 percent," Shifren told HealthDay.

Women's bodies, including the vagina, change as women age. The vagina becomes shorter and narrower, according to the Women's Health Information Center. The vaginal walls become stiffer and thinner, and most women find they're less lubricated during sexual activity. Other factors that can affect the quality of sex include illness, disability and some medications, which can be drying or can reduce libido.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, the study detected age-related differences.

"The highest prevalence of sexual dysfunction was in older women, but they experienced less associated distress," Shifren said. "The most distress occurred at mid-life, and the youngest women had the lowest prevalence of problems and of associated distress."

Nearly 32,000 women older than 18 were included in the study. It was funded by Boehringer Ingelheim International, which makes flibanserin, a drug designed to address female sexual dysfunction. The drug is currently being tested in clinical trials.

Just over 43 percent of the women reported having some sort of sexual problem. That included 39 percent who said they had diminished desire and 26 percent who reported problems with arousal. Nearly one-fourth of the women said they had trouble reaching orgasm.

But far fewer women -- just 12 percent -- reported being distressed about their sexual problems.

The study also found that women who were depressed had more than double the risk for sexual problems as women who were not depressed.

Other chronic conditions, however, did not seem to have an effect. The researchers asked about diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, but none of those issues made a significant difference.

Options for treating women's sexual problems remain somewhat limited. Over-the-counter products as well as prescription medications are available for vaginal dryness, according to the Women's Health Information Center. Counseling, either individual or couples, is an option for some problems. But medical options now available to men are not yet available for women, though some are on the horizon.

"There is research going on, and my hope is that women are finally going to have some options when it comes to sexual disorder treatments," Kingsberg said. "Right now, there are very limited options, but I think it's coming."

On the Web

To learn more about the female sexual dysfunction, visit the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

SOURCES: HealthDay News; Jan L. Shifren, M.D., associate professor, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology, Harvard Medical School, and director, Vincent Menopause Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Sheryl Kingsberg, Ph.D., chief, Division of Behavioral Medicine, MacDonald Women's Hospital, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland; November 2008, Obstetrics and Gynecology; National Women's Health Information Center (www.womenshealth.gov)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: Nov. 30, 2009
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