title: Female sexual dysfunction.
abstract: Happiness is an attitude, not an event! The glass is either half-full or half-empty; it simply depends on the viewer. Some rich people are miserable...some poor people are ecstatic. You cannot change the world but you can change yourself. You, and you alone, control your destiny. With very little practice, you can learn to think positively. Postmenopausal estrogen deficiency leads to urogenital atrophy. Sexual dysfunction and urinary dysfunction are the most inevitable but least publicized consequences of estrogen deficiency, and these represent important quality-of-life issues that patients and health care providers are often reluctant to discuss. In addition to estrogen deficiency, oophorectomized women may be subject to androgen deficiency and problems with libido. While the relationship with one's partner is the quintessential factor in female sexuality, hormone deficiency remains important, especially in reference to genital atrophy. Humans are the products of learned behavior. We literally become what we think. "I am sick and tired" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Self-esteem represents learned behavior just as ego does...but there is a world of difference between the two. Sexuality is enhanced by good self-esteem and hindered by ego: two partners working together can reach far greater heights than either alone ever imagined...one and one can equal three! There are good data to substantiate that happy people have more sex and that people who have more sex are happier. Partners need to learn to honor one another, communicate in a positive manner, develop touching salutations, be a spouse at home, and make their bedroom a sacred sanctuary. With a little behavior modification and hormone therapy, sexuality can remain a priority ad infinitum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA.
authors.forename: Murray A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Freedman
mesh_terms: D001284:Atrophy; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012735:Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D014566:Urogenital System / Q000473:pathology