Next - A patch for stupidity ?

June 13, 2004 8:38 AM

Testosterone patch 'boosts women's sex drive' but, warn researchers, "If a couple doesn't like each other then no patch will improve their sex life." (BBC)
posted by troutfishing (10 comments total)

Soon, we'll all be covered with patches.
posted by troutfishing at 8:39 AM on June 13, 2004

A recent study suggested as many as one in three women who have had hysterectomies have low sexual desire. One in five said they were distressed about it.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, this isn't 20% of women being distressed, it's more like 20% of the ones who have low desire as the result of hysterectomies (33%), or 1/15th overall. Percentagewise, this is like 6-7%. Not that being distressed about your low sexual desire should be pooh-poohed, but it's by no means an epidemic. In fact, the "disorder" that this article refers to is actually the woman's distress over her lack of desire, not the lack of desire itself. Seems like there may be better [and cheaper] ways of treating distress than with a walloping dose of testosterone. Say, by talking to your partner more...

One major way of preventing ISD is to reserve time for nonsexual intimacy with one’s partner. Couples who reserve weekly talk time and time for a weekly date alone without the kids, will maintain a closer relationship and are more likely to feel sexual interest. Couples should also detach sex and affection, so that neither one is afraid to be affectionate on a daily basis, fearing that it will be interpreted as an invitation to proceed to intercourse.
posted by jessamyn at 10:56 AM on June 13, 2004

Must. .. resist..

Patches? We don't need no stinking patches!

OK, I said it. I'm sorry.
posted by jozxyqk at 12:10 PM on June 13, 2004

A friend who is studying anthropology told me the use of plant estrogens in modern agriculture has reduced overall testicle size in men. I wonder if the same cause is repsonsible for lowered testosterone levels in men and women, which might contribute to this problem, and other problems such as reduced fertility rates.
posted by Potsy at 12:16 PM on June 13, 2004

but, warn researchers, "If a couple doesn't like each other then no patch will improve their sex life." (BBC)

Roofies patch, anyone.......?

/just kidding, of course......please no flames
posted by Rastafari at 12:37 PM on June 13, 2004

i say we run this by Phil first
posted by Satapher at 5:11 PM on June 13, 2004

Potsy: So am I becoming less of a man because I have about a pound of soy products a day? ;)

Anyway, I get the sense that female sex drive is mostly a mental (emotional etc.) desire, compared to men's which is mostly a physical impulse. Women have like a tenth of men's testosterone (which really does drive almost all desire, sexual or otherwise), and while maybe they're more sensitive to it, I think that's definitely a sign.
posted by abcde at 9:42 AM on June 14, 2004

adcde: You could have low testosterone, seriously. Maybe some zinc supplements are in order.
posted by Potsy at 6:47 PM on June 14, 2004

Surely there is some benefit in taking something to reduce sex drive too. After all, having a sex drive when you're not the sort of person who wants to go steady with someone, nor have some one night stand, is pretty annoying :-D
posted by wackybrit at 8:50 PM on June 14, 2004

abcde - I have heard that, among Buddhist male monks - in certain traditions, the eating of soy products has been long recommended to reduce sexual desires.

I'd disagree with your assertion that female sexual desire is largely mental.
posted by troutfishing at 8:27 AM on June 15, 2004