Hormonal Contraceptives May Decrease Libido

By Jody Smith HERWriter

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It hardly seems fair, but a study in The Journal of Sexual Medicine indicates that the women most likely to experience Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) are women taking hormonal contraceptives.

The most common sexual dysfunction turned out to be lack of sexual interest. A most frustrating state of affairs, since this rather defeats the purpose of using these contraceptives in the first place.

Women using non-hormonal contraceptives were found to have the lowest risk of FSD.

" 'Sexual problems can have a negative impact on both quality of life and emotional well-being, regardless of age,' said researcher Dr. Lisa-Maria Wallwiener of the University of Heidelberg, Germany. 'FSD is a very common disorder, with an estimated prevalence of about two in five women having at least one sexual dysfunction, and the most common complaint appearing to be low desire.' "

Some of the other factors taken into consideration in this study were age, prior pregnancy, partnership status and smoking. All of these factors, and more, may play a part along with use of hormonal contraceptives.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/187715.php

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Add a Comment1 Comments

anniesdavid

This study is only an observational study which means it does not prove cause and effect that the pill causes low libido.

The participants selected for this study were female medical students and they do not necessarily reflect other groups of women.
One should assume that female medical students lead stressful lives,and may be different than the general population. Therefore, if you are trying to understand the association between hormonal contraception and sexual dysfunction, a more diverse, general population would be needed to answer this question. Because sex and desire can also be affected by stress, partner-related factors, and medical issues, it is hard to draw sweeping conclusions based on observational data.

May 7, 2010 - 3:39pm

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