DO BLOOD CANCER TREATMENTS AFFECT FERTILITY?

DO BLOOD CANCER TREATMENTS AFFECT FERTILITY?

Blood cancer is one of the most devastating diseases that have affected millions of people across the world. This disease occurs in the bone marrow and significantly affects the body’s immune system. The causes of blood cancer are still unknown. However, there are some risk factors associated with blood cancer including a weak immune system, ageing, and family history.

Treating this disease is in itself a tough task. Only well-renowned hospitals who have highly qualified oncologists and latest treatment techniques can offer successful treatment. We at Max Healthcare, offer a holistic and integrated oncological care by consolidating views of experts. Not only this, but we are also equipped with pioneering technology for every type of blood cancer.

However, it is essential to know that the first step of the treatment begins by identifying the signs of blood cancer and visiting a doctor for an accurate diagnosis. During the diagnosis, our doctors try to find out the reason for blood cancer. After a complete evaluation of blood cancer symptoms and causes, suitable treatment options are recommended.

Now, there are various questions related to blood cancer treatment that bother patients and their family, and they become susceptible. One such question is if blood cancer treatment affects fertility or not?

As per doctors, fertility problems are some of the side-effects of cancer therapies like chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, it may not occur in all the cases as it cannot be predicted or even controlled. The only way to ensure that infertility issues do not harm the patient is to be fully aware and prepare the patient for its proper management.

Below is everything that one needs to know to get about the connection between blood cancer treatment and fertility.

How Blood Cancer Treatment Affects Fertility?

As per the doctors, infertility issues are not caused by blood cancer but its treatment. However, Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, is believed to lower the sperm count. Apart from that, cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy can have an impact on fertility. Here is how:

Chemotherapy

The drugs used during chemotherapy can impact the fertility of the patient, irrespective of their gender. For instance, in men, chemotherapy can diminish the sperm count in semen (azoospermia). In women, it can lead to early menopause or ovarian failure. The magnitude of the impact depends on the group of medications that are prescribed during the therapy. In the case where women start showing the symptoms of early menopause, the doctor may recommend hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to reduce the symptoms.

Radiation Therapy

As the therapy uses high beam radiation, it can affect the patient’s fertility. The small doses of radiotherapy or radiation therapy cause more damage to the reproductive organs than a high dose. In men, the radiation can affect testes and reduce the sperm count. It can also lead to lower testosterone levels. In women, radiotherapy can affect fertility by restricting ovaries from producing eggs and also harm the womb, making it unable to support a pregnancy.

What to Do?

Patients who are concerned about their fertility have various options to cope with their infertility. Some of these include:

• Sperm banking or freezing sperm for later use
• Freezing eggs
• Using donor eggs and sperm
• Surrogacy
• Adoption

Though these options are recommended by the doctors, their acceptance remains a personal choice of the patients. For more information on these alternatives and other side effects of blood cancer treatment, patients can consult our oncologists and make the right choice. Though the primary aim of cancer treatment is to save the patient, we at Max Healthcare, also ensure that complications like infertility are carefully avoided when possible. 

Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in one of several areas of the breast, including the ducts that carry milk to the nipple, small sacs that produce milk (lobules), and nonglandular tissue.Sometimes breast cancer stays in the tissue in which it began. Bit it can also move into other nearby tissue or lymph nodes.

Breast cancer does not discriminate. It affects mothers, daughters, working women, celebrities — and even some men. For women, the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is about 1 in 8; for men it is 1 in 1,000.

Some women are more likely to develop breast cancer than others. They include older women; those who have a mother, sister, or daughter with breast cancer; those who have previously had breast cancer or a benign breast condition; women with dense breasts; those who have had radiation to the chest or breast; and women who drink a lot of alcohol. Having several risk factors doesn’t mean a woman will inevitably develop breast cancer. Likewise, having few risk factors doesn’t offer 100% protection against it.

Treatments for breast cancer include removal of the affected breast (mastectomy), removal of the tumor and small amount of surrounding tissue (lumpectomy), radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.

Six things you should know about breast cancer risk

Six things you should know about breast cancer risk

There’s no one big way to reduce your risk for breast cancer, but a combination of approaches could make a difference.

In recent years the statistical picture of breast cancer has brightened, thanks to early detection and advances in treatment. More tumors are being caught at an early stage; the rise in incidence of the disease has slowed; and the death rate has dropped. Nevertheless, breast cancer is still the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the second most likely (after lung cancer) to take their lives.

Data aside, breast cancer looms large in our health concerns because most of us know it personally. Some of us have had the disease ourselves, and others have experienced it through friends or relatives. Particularly unsettling is its seeming randomness: Nothing seems to explain why one woman develops breast cancer and another doesn’t. Granted, family history and certain gene mutations can substantially increase risk. But such factors aren’t involved in most breast cancers. Moreover, we can’t do much about them, or about many of the other risks associated with the disease, including older age (the 10-year risk of developing breast cancer jumps from 1 in 48 at age 40 to 1 in 26 at age 60), early menarche (first menstrual period), having no children (or bearing the first at a later age), and late menopause.

Researchers have found associations between certain nutritional factors and breast cancer risk, although not all associations have resulted in risk-reducing strategies. For example, the American Institute for Cancer Research has found there just isn’t enough evidence to recommend for or against many of the things that once seemed promising, such as eating more soy or taking supplements like vitamin E, vitamin C, or selenium. Researchers have found little support for the common assumption that dietary fat increases breast cancer risk, and the evidence that fruits and vegetables are protective is weaker than was once thought.

But evidence is accumulating that we can lower our risk through certain healthy lifestyle choices, such as increased exercise, and clinical studies suggest some medical strategies. Medicine had much less to offer as recently as 1996, when the best we could say was, “Unfortunately, there is little we can do to reduce our risk of breast cancer.” New information is developing all the time, but for now, here are seven factors that could affect your risk and what you can do about them:

1. Weight gain

Many studies show that weight gain is a risk factor for breast cancer after menopause. An American Cancer Society study found that women who gained 20–30 pounds during adulthood (that is, after age 18) were 40% more likely to develop breast cancer after menopause than women who gained no more than 5 pounds. The link is estrogen, which is believed to promote the development of breast cancer. Fat tissue converts precursors in the body into estrogen, keeping the hormone in circulation even when ovarian production stops at menopause.

A Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) concluded that weight gain since age 18 or since menopause increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, except those who are using postmenopausal hormone therapy. (In women taking hormones, the external source of hormones is much higher than what can be made by body fat, so the fat doesn’t contribute to increased risk.) The NHS researchers also found that losing 22 pounds or more after menopause decreased the risk of breast cancer.

What to do? Do all you can to avoid gaining weight as an adult, and try to enter menopause at a healthy weight. If you’re overweight, try to lose weight.

2. Activity level

Many studies have shown that women who engage in regular physical activity have a lower risk of developing breast cancer compared with women who are sedentary. You may reduce your risk by 20%–30% by getting three to four hours of weekly exercise, from moderately intense (brisk walking and yoga, for example) to vigorous (such as jogging, cross-country skiing, and aerobic dance). Exercise also reduces the risk of recurrence if you have been treated for breast cancer.

Regular exercise works in several ways. It can help you achieve and maintain a healthy body weight; it may influence circulating hormones and reduce the exposure of breast tissue to estrogen; and it can influence levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factors, which have been linked to the growth of breast cancer cells.

What to do? To reduce breast cancer risk, the American Cancer Society recommends moderate to vigorous activity for 45–60 minutes on at least five days of the week. (This is a step up from the 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week that’s recommended for reducing chronic disease risk in adulthood.) Formal exercise (such as walking programs, swimming laps, cardio-fitness workouts, or aerobics classes) is a good way to get a sustained workout. But you can also do housework or gardening activities — as long as you breathe as hard as you would during a brisk walk or jog.

3. Alcohol

Women who consume even a few drinks per week have an increased risk for breast cancer. It’s not known exactly why. Alcohol may raise estrogen levels, an important player in the development of breast cancer. It may interact with carcinogens or inhibit the body’s capacity to detoxify them.

What to do? Women at average risk for breast cancer should limit their intake of alcohol to one drink per day. Women who have had breast cancer or are at increased risk for it for other reasons may want to avoid alcohol altogether.

4. Vitamin D

Higher blood levels of vitamin D are associated with a lower risk of breast cancer compared to women with low levels of the vitamin. For example, one study found that women who got plenty of vitamin D in early life — either in their diet or by spending time outdoors, where sun exposure triggers vitamin D production in the skin — had a lower risk for breast cancer. Another investigation linked high blood levels of vitamin D with a 50% reduction in risk for breast cancer. Reaching those levels requires more than the recommended intake of 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D per day for women ages 50–70.

What to do? Experts have already begun to recommend 800–1,000 IU of vitamin D per day for adults, partly out of concern that we aren’t getting enough of the vitamin from sunlight to protect our bones and partly because of its association with reduced cancer risk. Natural food sources of vitamin D are limited, and not everyone can get the amount of sunlight needed to trigger adequate vitamin D production in the skin. The best bet is supplemental vitamin D. A standard multivitamin usually supplies 400 IU; you can get an extra 400 IU in a vitamin D supplement.

5. Medication risks

Lifetime exposure to estrogen is a risk factor for breast cancer, so there is some concern about women’s use of oral contraceptives and postmenopausal hormone therapy.

The Nurses’ Health Study found that women taking birth control pills have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer, but it falls to average within 10 years of stopping. An analysis published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings found that premenopausal women who use birth control pills have a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer before age 50, especially if they started taking them before having their first child.

The Women’s Health Initiative trial showed that long-term use of combined hormone therapy (estrogen and progestin, as Prempro) slightly increases breast cancer risk, although the level of risk drops back to normal five years after stopping the hormones. Estrogen therapy alone does not seem to increase the risk.

Studies have shown that women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) during pregnancy (to reduce the chances of a miscarriage) have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Research suggests that the daughters of women who took DES are also at increased risk.

What to do? Birth control pills and hormone therapy have risks as well as benefits. Discuss them with your clinician before deciding whether to take them or for how long. If you know your mother took DES when she was pregnant with you, or if you took DES yourself, let your clinician know so you can discuss a screening schedule.

6. Breast density

Breasts are regarded as dense if they have less fat and more connective and glandular tissue. These features are more common in younger women’s breasts, but they are also found in many older women, especially those taking combined hormone therapy (estrogen and progestin). Breast density is also partly a heritable trait.

For reasons that aren’t fully understood, women with dense breasts are at increased risk for breast cancer. In fact, breast density is trumped only by age and the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in the hierarchy of risk factors. One possibility is that dense breast tissue contains more cells and is therefore more influenced by growth factors and hormones that make cells divide.

What to do? Unfortunately, breast tumors (both cancerous and noncancerous) can be difficult to distinguish against a background of dense breast tissue on a mammogram. That’s because tumors and dense tissue appear white; fatty tissue, on the other hand, looks darker and provides a contrast to the tumors. Digital mammography has been shown to improve cancer detection in women with dense breasts, because it allows the radiologist to fine-tune images so that tiny abnormalities stand out better. Ultrasound or MRI can also help answer questions raised by a suspicious mammogram. Much more needs to be learned about breast density before official recommendations can be made. In the meantime, if you have dense breasts, talk to your clinician about screening with digital mammography.

When the arrival of menopause brings symptoms of depression

A new study suggests that hormone therapy might help with perimenopausal depression. But is it safe for you?

Hormone therapy has long been a controversial topic, and a new study about the role of hormones in depression is adding some fodder to the debate. A study published in the January 10 issue of JAMA Psychiatry determined that hormone therapy may help ward off symptoms of depression in women. Researchers found that perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women who were treated with hormones were less likely to experience symptoms of depression than women in the study who were given a placebo.

But while the findings of the study are important — particularly considering that a woman’s risk of depression doubles or even quadruples during the menopausal transition — that doesn’t mean hormone therapy should be widely used for preventing depression in women at this stage of life, says Dr. Hadine Joffe, the Paula A. Johnson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study. “It’s not a ‘never,’ but it shouldn’t be a standard approach; in general, all of medicine has moved away from using hormones for prevention,” she says.

About the study

The study ran from October 2010 to February 2016 and included 172 perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women ranging in age from 45 to 65 who were experiencing low-level symptoms of depression. Roughly half used a skin patch containing the hormone estradiol for 12 months as well as intermittent oral progesterone pills. The rest received a fake skin patch and placebo pills.

The women were evaluated at the beginning of and throughout trial for symptoms of depression using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Researchers found that only 17% of women in the hormone group developed clinically significant depression, compared with 32% of those in the placebo group.

Untreated depression can cause physical symptoms, such as headaches and fatigue, in addition to emotional symptoms, including persistent sadness and even suicidal thoughts. It can interfere with daily function and reduce quality of life. However, hormone use brings its own health risks, such as a greater chance of blood clots and stroke. “It would be irresponsible to recommend this as a blanket prevention treatment for women,” says Dr. Joffe, who is also executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

But that’s not to say the findings should be ignored. Rather, the key message for women is that depression during perimenopause and early postmenopause should be taken seriously, and women at this stage of life should be more closely monitored for depressive symptoms, she says. In addition, study authors identified at least one risk factor for depression that stood out among women in this group — recent life stress. “A lot of people have stress, so I think it’s an important message that stress contributes to depression,” says Dr. Joffe.

Lessons learned

Depression symptoms are not a sign of someone’s failure to cope. “This really is a brain phenomenon,” says Dr. Joffe. With this in mind, women should formulate some action points based on the findings.

Be aware of depression risk. Knowing that depression is more common during perimenopause and early postmenopause can help you identify worrisome symptoms and take action sooner if they do occur. If you are perimenopausal or in early postmenopause, your doctor should ideally be screening you for mood symptoms at your regular visits. If this is not the case, bring up the topic yourself.

Weigh hormone therapy’s pros and cons. Hormone therapy may be the right choice for some women. Talk to your doctor about the potential benefits and risks of therapy. Consider how long the therapy would be used and whether there are other medical reasons to consider using hormones. Also weigh the benefits of behavioral strategies or antidepressant drugs. Keep in mind that more research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of using this therapy to prevent depression, says Dr. Joffe.

Consider lifestyle changes and treatment. Regardless of whether you opt for hormone therapy or not, non-drug strategies can also be used to reduce the likelihood of depressive symptoms, including lifestyle interventions, such as managing stress and boosting physical activity.

If symptoms do develop, ask your doctor for a referral to a mental health specialist.

Ten Health Benefits Of Sex

In exploring just how sex affects the mind and body, the list of potential benefits appears to be endless. Aside from reproduction, pleasure, and intimacy, sex seems to have a positive impact on many life areas, including work, physical and cognitive performance, marriage, and happiness into our senior years. Sex may also have a positive effect on certain organs and conditions, as well as a preventive effect on some diseases.

For example, a recent study published in the Journal of Management found that maintaining a healthy sex life at home might boost job satisfaction and engagement at work.

Sex may also play a fundamental role in preserving a happy marriage, according to research published in Psychological Science. Partners are suggested to experience a sexual “afterglow” that lasts for up to 48 hours following sexual intercourse. This afterglow is associated with higher levels of long-term relationship satisfaction.

Sex is also considered a significant form of exercise. Sex burns around 85 calories, or 3.6 calories per minute, according to a study published in PLOS One. These few examples are a drop in the ocean of the numerous health benefits of sexual activity and masturbation that are presented in studies from around the globe. Medical News Today provide the low-down on the top evidence-based health benefits of sex.

1) Improves Immunity

Participating in sex one to two times per week appears to be the optimum frequency to boost the immune system, according to research published in Psychological Reports. Scientists can test how tough our immune systems are by measuring levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A (IgA) in saliva and mucosal linings.

Study authors Carl Charnetski, from Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, and his colleague Frank Brennan found that people who had sex once or twice per week had a 30 percent increase in IgA. However, the same results were not seen in individuals who had sex more or less frequently.

Clifford Lowell, an immunologist at the University of California-San Francisco, says that people who are sexually active are exposed to more infectious agents than individuals who are not sexually active. The immune system responds to these infectious agents by producing more IgA, which may protect against colds and flu.

For those of you who have sex more or less frequently than the optimal amount, fear not. According to another study by Charnetski, petting a dog can also significantly raise IgA.

2) Good For The Heart

Physical activities that exercise the heart are good for your health, and this includes sex. Being sexually aroused increases heart rate, with the number of beats per minute peaking during orgasm.

Men, in particular, have been shown to benefit from the effect of sex on the heart. A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, involving men in their 50s, suggested that men who have sex at least twice per week have a 45 percent reduced risk of heart disease, compared with men who have sex less frequently.

The American Heart Association say that heart disease should not affect your sex life. Heart attacks or chest pain caused by heart disease rarely happen during sex and, for the most part, it is safe to have sex if your heart disease has stabilized.

The heart’s response to sex is comparable with mild to moderate effort encountered in daily activities, according to research published in the European Heart Journal. If you can take part in activities that have a similar impact on the heart – such as walking up two flights of stairs – without chest pain, then you can usually assume that it is safe to have sex. More research is currently needed to draw connections between specific cardiovascular conditions and sex, particularly for women and older adults.

3) Lowers Blood Pressure

Research conducted by Michigan State University and published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior found that sex in later years might reduce the risk of high blood pressure – at least for women.

Women in the study aged between 57 and 85 years who found sex pleasurable or satisfying were less likely to have hypertension. However, male study participants who had sex once per week or more were twice as likely to experience heart problems than men who were sexually inactive. In another study published in Behavioral Medicine, researchers found that the act of hugging can help a person to maintain a healthy blood pressure.

According to the American Heart Association, high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and can also affect your sex life. High blood pressure has an impact on blood flow throughout the body and can prevent enough blood flowing to the pelvis.

In men, high blood pressure can lead to erectile dysfunction and in women, high blood pressure can lower libido and reduce interest in sex. It is considered safe to have sex if you have high blood pressure. However, if you are concerned or are having problems in the bedroom, seek advice from your doctor.

4) Relieves Pain

A headache may often be used as a reason to avoid sex. However, before you reach for the painkillers, neurologists have found that sexual activity can relieve head pain associated with a migraine or cluster headache in some people.

Sex has been shown to ease the pain associated with migraines and cluster headaches. The research was conducted by the University of Munster in Germany and published in Cephalalgia. In individuals with a migraine, 60 percent of people reported an improvement in pain after sexual activity, while 37 percent of people with a cluster headache reported an improvement.

The University of Munster researchers explain that sex triggering the release of endorphins is the mechanism behind the pain relief. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers and are released through the central nervous system, which can reduce or eliminate pain the experienced with a headache.

In other research published in Pain, women were found to experience reduced pain sensitivity and had an increased pain tolerance threshold when experiencing pleasure through vaginal self-stimulation.

5) Reduces The Risk Of Prostate Cancer

Men who frequently ejaculate could be protected against prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men in the United States.

Research led by Michael Leitzmann, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, and published in JAMA, discovered that men who ejaculated 21 times per month or more were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer than men who ejaculated between four and seven times per month. Leitzmann and team have a number of theories as to why increased ejaculation may help to prevent prostate cancer.

The first theory is that frequent ejaculation may allow the prostate gland to clear out carcinogens, and materials that may orchestrate the development of carcinogens. Another theory suggests that regular drainage of prostate fluid stops crystalloid microcalcifications – which are associated with prostate cancer – from developing in the prostate duct.

Men who have more than 12 ejaculations per month may also benefit, although the researchers note that at this point, the research would not warrant recommending men to change their sexual behavior.

6) Improves Sleep

Do you have trouble getting to sleep at night? Sexual activity could be just what the doctor ordered. Insufficient sleep is a public health problem, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Around 50 to 70 million adults in the U.S. have a sleep disorder.

Sex could be the answer to help you achieve the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.

During sex and orgasm, a cocktail of chemicals are released in the brain, which includes oxytocin, dopamine, and a rush of endorphins. Oxytocin, also known as the “cuddle hormone,” facilitates closeness and bonding, and it surges during sex and orgasm in both men and women.

After orgasm, it is thought that the effect of oxytocin, combined with the release of the hormone prolactin (which is linked to the feeling of satiety and relaxation), makes you feel sleepy.

In women, a rise in estrogen levels during sex has been shown to enhance their REM cycle, according to a study published in the Journal of Women’s Health.

In men, the prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain associated with alertness, consciousness, and mental activity – “switches off” after orgasm. According to a study published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, this process is connected with the release of oxytocin and serotonin, both of which have sleep-inducing effects.

7) Relieves Stress

Stress can cause all kinds of health problems, from headaches, problems sleeping, muscle tension, and upset stomach, to more severe conditions, including a weakened immune system and chronic depression.

Evidence published in Psychosomatic Medicine demonstrated that physical or emotional intimacy in couples is associated with reduced stress levels.

A study published in Biological Psychology found that people who engaged in penetrative sex experienced lower stress-related blood pressure when public speaking than individuals who had masturbated or had non-coital sex. Participants in the study who abstained from sex had the highest blood pressure levels triggered by stress.

Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley in the United Kingdom, hypothesized that the calming effect might be caused by the release of the “pair-bonding” hormone, oxytocin.

8) Boosts Brain Power

Research published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior suggests that frequent sex may improve women’s memory. Results from a computerized word-memory task found that women who had penetrative sex had better memory recognition of abstract words.

The researchers note that at this stage, it is unclear whether sex improves memory or if better memory leads to more sex. However, they say that sex may improve memory by stimulating the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus – the region of the brain that is involved in learning and memory.

Another study, by the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that thinking about love or sex has different effects on our brains.

Thinking about love activates long-term perspective and global processing, which promotes creative thinking and interferes with analytical thinking. However, in contrast, thinking about sex triggers short-term perspective and local processing, which then promotes analytical thinking and interferes with creativity.

9) Increases Lifespan

Do you want to live longer? Sexual activity could hold the key to a longer life. A study published in The BMJ concluded that sexual activity might have a protective effect on men’s health.

The researchers tracked the mortality of almost 1,000 men aged between 45 and 59 over the course of 10 years. They found that risk of death was 50 percent lower in men who frequently had orgasms than men who did not regularly ejaculate.

Other research also concluded with similar results. A 25-year study published in The Gerontologist determined that in men, frequent intercourse was a significant predictor of longevity, whereas in women, those who reported past enjoyment of sex lived longer

The Factors Which Suppress The Female Sexual Desire

Are you one of those women who has been battling the issues with suppressed sexual desire? Is it affecting your relationship? Don’t worry you are not in this battle alone.

Research has exposed that 43 % of women 31 % of men are suffering from some sexual disorders. As it is still a taboo, people refrain from discussing it in public and hence, suffer quietly.

Sexual desire is caused by the libido in our body which is controlled by the brain.The state of being sexually aroused causes a lot of changes in the body.

Thanks to the power of medical advancement, most of the sexual diseases are treatable now, but it is essential to share the problems with your partner and see a doctor.

WHAT IS LACK OF SEXUAL AROUSAL?

It is generally caused due to lack of libido which refrains you from sexual thought and sexual activities.

It needs a hell of an effort to entice women as they seek proper sexual stimulation before sex.

So here are a few symptoms of lack of sexual arousal.

1. Not interested in having sex.
2. Lack of sensual thoughts or fantasies.
3. Restricting the attempt of the partner to heat things up.
4. No response to sexual stimulus be it read, heard or watched).
5. No excitement or failed to turn on during sex.

Now, what are the underlying factors which are keeping you from being sexually aroused?

The reason can be physical which comprises of less genital lubrication, sensation, and congestion or it can be subjective such as loss of interest, stress or dissatisfaction from the interpersonal relationship.

Not all problems are the same, and not all of them have the same reason. The issues vary from women to women. We can categorize the problems of arousal in women in the following ways:

1. Primary – When a woman has enough sexual desire and sexual stimulation but has not been fortunate enough to be blessed with a partner who can satisfy those desires. If a woman has never experienced sufficient arousal, she develops difficulties with time.
2. Secondary – When a woman has had better sexual experiences in the past and has been intensely aroused but currently cannot hit that intensity.
3. Non-situational – When women are not able to get turned on in any sexual situation.
4. Situational – When the arousal of women depends on specific situations.

When the release of hormones, estrogens [1] and androgens [2] decrease in the body, the desire to have sex also decreases.

Other reasons which suppress the sexual desire are thyroid, diabetes, abnormality in prolactin, infection in the vaginal or urinary tract, surgery and use of radiation.

Just like smoking and consumption of alcohol retards your health, they also cause a significant impact on your sexual life.

Some women also go through depression and anxiety regarding the imperfections of their body like small breast or overweight or performance pressure can kill the mood and restricts the arousal.

It is vital to let your partner know what stimulates the desire in you or guide their hands during through your sensitive points during sex. Lack of communication will leave you unsatisfied.

HOW CAN YOU HELP YOURSELF?

The first thing is taking suggestions from a doctor. Once you have taken medicines or went through the treatment, there are a few things which you can do to help yourself.

For getting back the sexual desire, it is necessary to know what turns you on. If you can manage to have one satisfying sexual experience, you will yearn for more.

Try reading erotic books or watch DVDs to find out what you like exactly. Take help of the vibrators and clitoral stimulators to trigger the sensory buds.

Ask your partner to get involved with you in sexual games. Wear sexy lingerie to make yourself feel competent and confident.

Let us know in the comments if your stories of sexual disorders and how you have managed to overcome it.