Hormones & female libido link unclear...
Women have complained since the arrival of Viagra of not having a pill to treat their most common sexual disorder, a low libido.
About half of all women say their sex drive could use a boost, but taking more hormones, as a sexual dysfunction pill for women would probably contain, may not be the answer.
Australian research has recently shown the link between women's hormones and sex drive to be more complicated than one might think.
A research team from Monash University in Melbourne and the Jean Hailes Foundation looked for sexually linked hormones like testosterone and androgens in the blood samples of over 1,000 women.
These women were then questioned on their sex drive and ability to achieve orgasm.
The scientists found no correlation between hormone levels and sex drive. In particular, women with high testosterone levels were just as likely as women with lower levels to report low libido.
In contrast, women with low levels of a steroid known as DHEAS were more likely to report low sex drive. Most women with low levels of the steroid, however, did not experience sexual problems.
Though the study disputes the argument that high testosterone levels are correlated with increased sex drive in women, it does not rule out the use of testosterone patches, which have been shown in studies to increase sexual performance.