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Testosterone
Not Linked
to Women's Sex Drive
Although testosterone therapy is an effective treatment for low
sexual desire in some women, new research has found that levels
of this hormone do not correlate with sex drive in young women.
In contrast, low levels of DHEA,
a chemical that can be turned into testosterone, are associated
with decreased sexual desire in women. Although the body naturally
produces DHEA, in recent years it has become a popular over-the-counter
supplement.
"Our hypothesis was that there
would be a relationship between low sexual desire and...testosterone
levels," Dr. Susan R. Davis, from Monash University in Clayton,
Australia, stated. "We didn't go looking to do a DHEA study, but
the data is the data."
Davis presented her team's findings
Thursday June 17th, 2004 in New Orleans at the annual meeting
of The Endocrine Society.
The study involved 1432 women,
between 18 and 75 years of age, who were randomly selected from
the population in Victoria, Australia over a 15-month period.
Each subject gave a blood sample for hormone testing and completed
a sexual function questionnaire on the same day. The analysis
focused on women younger than 45 years because they had the greatest
range in sex hormone levels.
Sexual function, which included
desire, arousal, responsiveness, orgasm, and pleasure, declined
with age, the researchers report. A low DHEA level was tied to
low sexual desire and arousal. In contrast, testosterone levels
were not associated with either of these factors.
Neither DHEA nor testosterone levels
were linked to sexual responsiveness, orgasm, or pleasure, the
investigators point out.
So should DHEA supplements be recommended
for women with low sex drive and low DHEA levels? Not necessarily,
Davis said, adding that "a low DHEA level may simply be a marker"
for low total sex hormone levels. "It's possible that testosterone
is still the best therapy."
Reference
Source 89
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