Sara Brinkerhoff Newsletter

Help has been found for male dysfunction.

About 5% to 10% of men under 50 have erection problems due to a host of medical and psychological conditions, a number that increases sharply with age. Compared with some of the very unwieldy treatment methods that have evolved over the past 20 years, including penile implants and injections, the introduction of Viagra and drugs like it has been revolutionary. "Although it's not without side effects, it's available, it works for most people, and there wasn't anything like it before," Bancroft says. Meanwhile, there's a push to find an equivalent drug for women, a search complicated by the fact that genital response is far less central to women's experience than erections are to men's. Low sexual interest is the most commonly reported sexual problem in women; researchers are trying tp determine how often it is hormonally based.

Being ill – and taking medicine – can cause sexual problems.

Many common medical conditions, such as depression and high blood pressure, can cause sexual problems. One of the downsides to modern medicine, however, is that the medications used to treat those conditions also can negatively impact sexual functioning. And although Bancroft says he was pushed aside when he tried to research this issue in the 1970s, it has been taken more seriously in the medical community recently.

The 2003 Kinsey study found that negative side effects on sex and mood were the most likely reason for women to discontinue oral contraceptives – sexual impairment was cited by 86% of women who discontinued. “This is an important aspect of women’s reproductive health that has not received the attention that it should from the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry,” Bancroft says.