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Review
. 2015 Sep;44(3):649-61.
doi: 10.1016/j.ecl.2015.05.009.

Menopause and Sexuality

Kimberley Thornton  1 , Judi Chervenak  1 , Genevieve Neal-Perry  2
Affiliations
Review

Menopause and Sexuality

Kimberley Thornton et al. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Sexuality is an important component in the lives of menopausal women. Despite the importance of sexual function in menopausal women, sexual dysfunction increases with age. Age-related decline in sexual function may significantly reduce quality of life, making recognition of sexual dysfunction by physicians important for getting menopausal women effective care. Sexual dysfunction can result from multiple etiologies including psychosocial factors, medication side effects, vulvovaginal atrophy, chronic illness, or hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Discovering the etiology and identifying modifiable factors of the sexual function will help define appropriate treatment.

Keywords: Hormone therapy; Hypoactive sexual desire disorder; Menopause; Sexuality; Vulvovaginal atrophy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The Authors have nothing to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Characteristic hormone changes in the menopausal as compared to premenopausal women
Compared to premenopausal women, menopausal women experience significant shifts in serum levels of gonadal steroids and gonadotropin. Reduced ovarian estradiol synthesis results in a 4.5-fold increase in the estrone to estradiol and 1.4-fold increase in the FSH to LH values in menopausal women. Menopausal women synthesize 0.2-fold less androgens than premenopausal women. However, the fold change is not nearly as great as that observed in estradiol. Data from Rothman, M.S., et al., Reexamination of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol and estrone levels across the menstrual cycle and in postmenopausal women measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Steroids, 2011. 76(1–2): p. 177–82.
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