That’s the title of a radio show I’ll be recording with several other experts in the area of female sexual dysfunction this Friday while I’m in New York.  The show is for a program called “Patient Power,” which is designed to bring listeners current information on various health conditions.

I thought I’d share with you three ideas that I have about this topic.

1. No pharmaceutical cure for a complicated problem.  Men have Viagra because for many men (not all), erectile dysfunction is a largely mechanical or biological problem.  Not so for women.  In fact, research has found that Intrinsa, a low dose hormone patch for women that was to increase sex drive was released in Europe, was found not to make much difference.  Because it doesn’t look like a good investment of a pharmaceutical company’s research dollars, the money for research isn’t there.
2. Limited money for research.  Researchers at universities need money to fund their projects.  Because there is much shame surrounding women’s sexuality, the research dollars aren’t there except for topics related to prevention of pregnancy and disease.
3. Little interest in the fields of psychiatry and psychology.  Most psychiatrists (who prescribe medication) and psychologists (who don’t) get very little training in the area of sexuality.  Beyond knowledge that some medications may cause sexual side effects, most people who work as clinicians don’t have much interest in the topic of sexuality, either.

That’s what I’ll be talking about with Andrew Schorr, the host of “Patient Power.”  When I get back from the Women’s Sexual Health Foundation conference in New York, I’ll tell you more.  In the meantime, if you have any thoughts about this, please let me know.

Dr. Stephanie Buehler

Director, The Buehler Institute

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