Originally published February 8 2006
Birth control may contribute to loss of sexual desire, according to recent study
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
New research from a team at the Lahey Clinic in Boston suggests that birth control pills may be behind the loss of sexual desire in some women.
Women who take birth control pills might be at increased risk for a long-term loss of sexual desire, according to new research from a team at the Lahey Clinic in Boston.
"We have known for a long time that 30 to 40 percent of women on birth control pills have decreased libido," said study co-author Dr. Andre Guay, director of the Center for Sexual Function/Endocrinology at the clinic.
But his findings, published in the January issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine, showed that lowered testosterone levels caused by use of birth control pills can persist for up to a year after a woman stops taking them.
Birth control pills decrease circulating levels of androgens, which modulate sexual functioning, Guay wrote in the report.
When a woman is on the pill, androgen production in the ovaries is inhibited and the production of a protein called sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) goes up.
They did blood tests to measure production of SHBG, a protein made by the liver that binds to testosterone.
Levels of SHBG are high in women taking oral contraceptives and in women during their late stages of pregnancy.
The team found that the SHBG values in the women who continued using birth control pills were four times higher than those who never used it.
And even though the SHBG values went down after women stopped using birth control pills, the levels in those who discontinued remained high compared to the levels of those who never used them.
"If that binding protein is still a bit elevated, you might have a decrease in libido that persists," Guay said.
"This is not a surprise," said Dr. Richard Spark, director of steroid research at Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center.
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