Sexuality in midlife: Where the passion goes?
Women's sexuality is highly capricious and multifaceted. Sexual functioning is an imperative component of women's lives and has progressively received public health, medical and even pharmaceutical attention. Sexual functioning, however, declines with age, leading to much debate about the contribution of menopause to sexual activity and functioning among women. The past two decades have witnessed an explosion of research into female sexuality. It is now understood that healthy and satisfying sexual function may extend all through the life cycle, and does not finish with end of child bearing years. Very few women's healthcare physicians are adequately trained to monitor a woman's sexual health through her menopausal transition and beyond, much less how to treat the sexual problems that can arise during this special time. The strong association of physical health and psycho-social factors with sexual functioning accentuates the clinical domineering to explore these factors when discussing women's apprehensions regarding sexual dysfunction. It is need of hour to create scientific evidence to help women's health care physicians understand the requirements of women in these special years of her life and help deliver the care they need and so rightly, deserve.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Air Force Hospital, Kanpur, UP, India.
Navneet
N
Magon
Monica
M
Chauhan
Sonia
S
Malik
Duru
D
Shah
Female sexual dysfunction; menopause; midlife; perimenopause; sexuality