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ANN ARBOR,
MI - It's not a subject that most women feel comfortable discussing
amongst themselves or sometimes even with their partners. However,
low sexual libido, a previously understudied condition, is starting
to gain more attention from women and medical researchers alike.
 This
diminished sexual desire often occurs in both men and women with
advancing age and can result from a number of biologic and psychological
circumstances. For women, who are twice as likely as men to experience
low libido, it is often an unfortunate consequence of a hysterectomy
and, ironically, estrogen therapies used to treat menopause-related
symptoms like hot flashes and insomnia.
Additionally,
low libido can lead to feelings of unhappiness, concern and frustration,
plus it can have a major impact on a woman's relationship with her
partner.
Although there
are currently no medications approved by the United States Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of low female libido,
women experiencing a decreased sexual desire shouldn't give up hope.
A new one-year
study being conducted by the University
of Michigan School of Nursing, through the Women's
Health Research Project, as well as at other sites throughout
the U.S., Canada and Australia, may help bring relief to women experiencing
low libido.
The study will
examine whether or not a testosterone patch can improve low libido
in post-menopausal women who have experienced a decline in their
sexual well being. This new investigational therapy, developed by
Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, is a thin, nearly transparent
patch worn on the abdomen.
The idea of
using the male hormone testosterone to treat low libido in women
may seem unusual, but it's a concept that's been around for several
decades. Since the 1930s, experts have studied the role that testosterone
plays in maintaining women's sexual desire and well being. And,
after subsequent research, it has been confirmed that testosterone
does have a substantial impact on women's sexual health.
For most women,
a natural and gradual decline in testosterone levels begins about
10 years before menopause and may be further reduced if they begin
taking estrogen replacement therapy to treat the symptoms of menopause.
However, women
of all ages may experience a decrease in their testosterone, which
in turn can lead to low libido. Often, certain medications including
birth control pills, childbirth and breastfeeding, stress, an illness
or the surgical removal of the ovaries can
affect a woman's testosterone levels explains Nancy Reame, R.N.,
Ph.D., the U-
M study's principal investigator.
"Testosterone
is also a female hormone so when it's suppressed, it can definitely
have a negative affect on a woman's sexual drive," says Reame,
a professor in the U-M School
of Nursing and a research scientist in the U-M Reproductive
Sciences Program. "Fortunately, for this special group of women
where other psychosocial causes have been ruled out, there's been
a movement in the medical community to view low sexual libido as
a potentially treatable condition."
Some post-menopausal
women who use hormone therapy have the option to take a combination
estrogen-testosterone pill to help treat their low libido. According
to Reame, women using such therapy, in addition to estrogen replacement
therapy, have experienced an improvement in their quality of life
over and above the effect of using estrogen alone.
Now, the U-M
study hopes to find out if another option, a testosterone patch,
can bring the same relief to women with low sexual libido. The patch
in higher doses has already been used for several years to bring
relief to men experiencing low libido. In both men and women, there
has yet to be a consensus on whether low libido is the result of
normal aging or a by-product of a disease.
The study,
which is placebo controlled, will look closely at post-menopausal
women who are currently taking hormones and are in a stable, monogamous
sexual relationship. Since libido varies from woman to woman, the
study's participants will be asked to keep a journal while using
the patch to measure its effectiveness.
In addition,
the study will look closely at the side effects and other benefits
of testosterone therapy.
"Given
the recent concerns raised by the finding of large national trials
of long-term hormone therapy, we are especially interested in better
defining the risks and benefits of short-term menopausal therapies
for those women who cannot function without it, but who recognize
the need for regular monitoring and re-assessment," says Reame.
To learn
more about studies being conducted by the U-M Women's Health Research
Project, call (734) 936-3590.
Written
by: Krista Hopson
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