Low DHEA levels linked to loss of libido in women

• THE recipe for a good sex life looks to include more than just romance, with the discovery that a little-known hormone plays a vital role in the female libido.
• Low levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone, otherwise known as DHEA, appear to be linked to low sexual activity in women, women's health expert Professor Susan Davis has discovered.
• Prof Davis, the research director of Melbourne's Jean Hailes Foundation, tested the blood of 1400 randomly recruited women to find out whether there was a link between sexual activity and either DHEA or testosterone, which has traditionally been thought to boost libido.
• "We couldn't find any associations between low sexual function and testosterone but we found that women with low sexual function had a very strong likelihood of having low DHEA, so low DHEA appears to be a marker of low sexual function in women," Prof Davis said.
• Circulating levels of DHEA and testosterone both progressively decline with age, she added, but women with low libidos under the age of 45 appear to experience a much steeper decline.
• "A woman with low libido will go to the doctor and say 'I don't know if it's because I'm tired, I don't know if it's because I'm stressed, but doctor, would hormone treatments help me?'," she said.
• DHEA replacement is available in the US -- where it is often used by athletes to boost testosterone levels -- but it has not been well tested as a medical therapy and is not available in Australia.
• "The next best thing is giving women testosterone replacement and because DHEA is converted into testosterone there's still good evidence that testosterone replacement might be worthwhile," Prof Davis said.