“My husband wants me to discuss my lack of interest in sex”… As Gynecologists, this is a patient concern not unfamiliar to us. Has low sexual desire been a concern for you in your relationship? Would you ever consider the use of a medication for its improvement? Well I’d hope that most of my patients would want to first examine the possible reasons for low libido, even if their answer is ‘yes’ to trying a medication for it.
But herein lies the concern. Defining the sources of low libido in women is not easy. Research tells us that nearly 4 in 10 women experience some degree of female sexual distress at some point in our lives. The definition of Female Hypoactive Sexual Disorder is made by conditions characterized by loss of sexual desire, impaired arousal, difficulty in achieving orgasm, or sexual pain, with low desire and sexual pain being the most common.
The stages of female sexual arousal have been well studied, and fairly well defined, since the 1960’s with research done by Masters and Johnson. However, the components of female sexual desire remain complex. Sexual desire in women is likely a multi-factor phenomenon, involving biologic, psychologic and social factors, which can elude clear delineation.