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Iraq War Bucks Trend Toward Decrease In Violent Conflicts May 26, 2005 Oral Contraceptives Permanently Reduce Libido? Oral contraceptives for women cause the female body to overproduce sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) which is a protein that binds to testosterone. Testosterone enhances sexual desire in women just as it does in men.
here) Hormonal changes induced by oral contraceptives (OC) are not immediately reversible after discontinuation of use, according to new research issued today at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) Fourteenth Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress. Despite the benefits of OC, their use has been associated with sexual dysfunction and androgen insufficiency. OC are known to decrease serum testosterone levels by decreasing ovarian production of testosterone and by increasing production of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) from the liver. It has been assumed that these changes are reversible after discontinuation of OC use. In the study of 102 pre-menopausal women with female sexual dysfunction, SHBG values in the OC group were seven times higher than those in the never-user group. OC lowers the free androgen index, in part, by substantially increasing SHBG levels. Despite a decrease in SHBG values after discontinuation of OC use, SHBG levels remained continuously elevated for up to one year in comparison with those in the control group. The free androgen index may remain low for a prolonged period. Decreased libido, problems havng orgasms, painful intercourse, and other side effects of the Pill may be long lasting and perhaps even permanent for some women.
Panzer warns: "It is important that when doctors advise women to take oral contraception that potential side-effects, including loss of sexual appetite and arousal, are pointed out. "If, as our study suggests, the Pill can cause a long-term or permanent loss of libido, that is something women need to be made aware of."
Keep that in mind the next time a fairly new drug is found to have an unexpected side effect and the US Food and Drug Administration comes under a chorus of criticism for failing to foresee some problem. Discovery of drug side effects is hard to do even when a drug has been studied for decades. Will women who have suffered a decreased desire for sex from taking oral contraceptives have to resign themselves to permanently reduced libidos?
The picture following treatment with tibolone was quite different. There was only a minor influence on circulating estrogens, and SHBG levels were reduced by 50%.
After oral intake, tibolone is rapidly converted into 3a- and 3b- hydroxy tibolone, both having estrogenic properties, and the D4 isomer, which is known to possess progestogenic as well as androgenic activity.
The marked reduction in SHBG levels and as a consequence increased concentrations of free testosterone implies an enhanced circulating androgenic activity. This may be important as regards some clinical effects of tibolone. A drug to suppress SHBG production would need to be either safe to take for the long term or capable of resetting liver SHBG production in a way that sticks once the drug is stopped.
and diminished desire for sex DOES help avoid pregnancy.... Blue said at May 26, 2005 08:35 PM: Then could the Pill also depress ambition and the drive to succeed?
Lei said at May 27, 2005 12:34 AM: Is Blue trying to blame the pill for his/her own depressed ambition and lack of drive to succeed? It just seems ridiculous that first we give women oral contraceptives that end up causing dysfunction then dose them up with something else that probably has undesirable side effects as well.
Jody said at May 27, 2005 01:15 AM: I think the important question for all guys is, "Can we find a pill that has the opposite effect, at least on libido?" Braddock said at May 27, 2005 07:10 AM: Over the years I've noticed that women not on the pill seem more passionate, more compulsive in their ardor. This might seem odd given the chance of pregnancy and the damping effect you might expect on sexual energy. This androgen suppression idea does mesh with my sexperience. Another less quantifiable effect is a certain change in body odor that occurs in women on the pill. Pheromones might be altered or diminished by the foreign hormonal effect. marie said at May 27, 2005 01:21 PM: If some of the hormonal changes are permanent, would this make it more difficult for the affected women to become pregnant? Clearly, being disfunctional sexually would decrease the amount of sex a woman would have. hehe Perhaps this marginally impacts the birth rate as well as the divorce rate? Also, I'm interested in the implications of the hormonal change would have on any children conceived after OC use. Could this impact aggressiveness, sexual identity of the child, etc?
Rob McMillin said at May 30, 2005 09:24 AM: Jody -- the first man -- and I am certain it will be a man -- to discover and market such a thing will not only be stupefyingly rich, he will never again pay for a drink in his life. Frat houses will buy the stuff in Mexico and pour it into the libations. now, if only we could get sex-segregated drinking fountains ... T J Madison said at June 1, 2005 03:03 PM: It definitely depends on which progesterone is used in the pills. For a while my woman shifted over to a "cheaper" variant.
all those women opting for the pill in long-term relationships and both partners involved never realizing they're actually promoting the decline of their sexual relationship and intimacy, one of the cornerstones of a romantic relationship. It's downright frightening to think of the whole cultural effect that widespread use may be inducing. mary gillett said at January 21, 2006 03:27 PM: I would like to know more about the effect of the contraceptive pill on sexual drive. sanford said at January 30, 2006 11:35 AM: Actually, this is a poorly designed study that proves nothing. All the women in the study were at a clinic to be treated for "sexual dysfunction". They were already either on the pill or not on the pill. So they all already had "sexual dysfunction", whether or not they were on the pill. Then they compared the women who were on the pill to the women who were not on the pill. They never measured anyone's levels before they started taking the pill! They claimed the women who were on the pill and then stopped, had SHBG levels that were "elevated", but their levels were only compared the other women who weren't on the pill. How do they know that their levels weren't higher to begin with? Not only that, but they claim 30% of women on the pill have sexual dysfunction. I just think this is a silly study that was published in a low-level journal. This article would never be accepted for publication in a highly respected journal. They need to do a PLACEBO-controlled prospective study (measure levels and sexual function before the pill, during the pill, and after the pill) to show anything meaningful.
Lis Riba said at February 3, 2006 06:09 PM: Given that the risks of not taking the pill are unintended pregnancy (and possible abortion) I don't think that anyone could ethically do a double-blind study where some women think they are getting the Pill but are actually getting placebo. I wrote about it in 2003: Doctor Cynthia Graham recently conducted one of the first double-blind placebo-controlled studies of oral contaceptives effects on women's sexuality (involving women who had already been sterlized, so there was no pregnancy risk).
adversely affected sexuality in the Edinburgh women, with 12 of the 25 women in this group also reporting the side effect of reduced sexual interest. There were modest negative effects of the combined pill on mood, more noticeable in the Edinburgh women.
was associated with no adverse effects on sexuality and some improvement in well-being in both centres." The effects of steroidal contraceptives on the well-being and sexuality of women: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, two centre study of combined and progestogen-only methods. Someone in the audience said that since issuing this and other articles attributing adverse sexual effects to contrace...
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