Communication about sexual problems and sexual concerns in ovarian cancer: a qualitative study.
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This is a review of 172 couples presenting with psychosexual problems. Ninety-four per cent of couples treated showed improvement after a mean time of 2.1 hours with the doctor. Older patients and those with longstanding problems showed lower rates of improvement. It is suggested that if such problems are treated it may help to reduce the rate of sexually transmitted diseases.
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OBJECTIVE: Lithium and benzodiazepines are widely used in the treatment of bipolar patients. Yet studies of the effect of these drugs on sexual function are scarce. This study surveyed sexual function in bipolar patients treated with lithium, either alone or in combination with other drugs. METHOD: Sexual function was assessed by self-rating scale in 104 outpatients (45 men and 59 women) with a DSM-III diagnosis of bipolar disorder who were attending an affective disorders clinic. All patients were under treatment with lithium, either alone (35%) or in combination with benzodiazepines (49%), tricyclic antidepressants (17%), neuroleptics (17%), tryptophan (10%), or carbamazepine (1%). The patients were in a stable and euthyroid state at the time of the assessment. Serum lithium and plasma prolactin concentrations were measured at the same time. RESULTS: Multiple regression analysis revealed an association between concomitant benzodiazepine administration and sexual dysfunction scores. Difficulties in sexual functioning were significantly more common in patients treated with a combination of lithium and benzodiazepines (49%) than in those treated with either lithium alone (14%) or lithium in combination with other drugs (17%). No relationship was found between serum lithium or plasma prolactin levels and sexual dysfunction scores. CONCLUSIONS: Lithium, when given alone, did not appear to have a major effect on sexual function, whereas its combination with benzodiazepines was associated with sexual dysfunction in about half of the patients. More attention should be given to drug-induced sexual dysfunction, since its presence can have important consequences for clinical management and compliance.
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The process of bringing new drugs to market interweaves commercialism, science, clinical medicine, and governmental regulation. Through their authority and public persona as medical experts, academic clinical trial researchers studying these pharmaceuticals are integral to this process, serving as mediators between producers (the pharmaceutical companies) and consumers (clinicians and patients) of new drugs through a complex set of exchange networks. Using examples from my ethnographic research on the search for pharmaceuticals to treat what has become known as female sexual dysfunction, this paper explores the links academic researchers make with drug manufacturers and consumer markets. Academic researchers have become an integral aspect of drug development, not only by conducting clinical trial research, but also by participating in a number of other activities that assist pharmaceutical companies in identifying and creating new markets. In this paper, i examine how researchers attend professional meetings where they present clinical trial data, lecture at continuing medical education conferences, and offer themselves as ' experts' to raise awareness about disorders and their treatments. Modifying a sociology of technology approach, this paper focuses on the actors in the social network who mediate the junctions between technological producers and consumers. This extends work in this area through theorizing the linkages between exchange networks, commodification techniques, and technoscientific developments.
This paper discusses issues relevant to psychiatrists working in a reproductive biology unit: 1. The couple's anxiety. 2. The question of whether psychological conflict can cause infertility. 3. Dealing with the outcome of the workup. 4. Donor insemination. The anxiety of couples applying for an infertility workup can usually be countered by supportive and educative measures. More problematic sources of anxiety that require psychiatric consultation are: 1) Fear that the workup may shatter a myth that explains the infertility, a myth reinforced by unconscious conflicts; 2) An untenable wish that having a child will repair problems in the marriage or in the sense of relief. The psychiatrist is often asked whether psychological conflicts can cause infertility. The most understandable manner in which they do is by their effect on sexual performance. Where there is no sexual performance problem, psychotherapy can be offered if one or both partners experiences psychological pain, but with the understanding that therapy cannot be expected to cure the infertility. Psychiatric consultation at the end of the workup is indicated 1) where irreversible infertility is discovered and mourning is excessive, 2) where a myth to explain the infertility has been shattered, 3) to reassess sexual performance and to deal with the uncertainty, where no physical cause has been discovered. Donor insemination (AID) is fraught with legal and ethical problems. There are no criteria for selecting donors or recipient families, and there is concern that AID may lead to genetic engineering. The psychological effects of AID are uncertain. A study at our clinic suggests that the pursuit of AID involves a two-stage process: first, dealing with the outcome of the infertility workup and second, confronting AID itself; and that the secrecy that surrounds AID obstructs resolution of conflict.
OBJECTIVE: To report two cases of sexual dysfunction induced by fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). SETTING: University teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Two depressed patients who developed ejaculation and orgasmic difficulties after initiation of fluvoxamine therapy. DISCUSSION: The literature concerning sexual dysfunction with serotonergic antidepressants is reviewed, and speculated mechanisms for this untoward effect are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual dysfunction associated with antidepressant drugs, including SSRIs, may be underreported. This troublesome adverse effect may significantly affect patient comfort and compliance. Careful evaluation of sexual function is warranted, prior to and during drug treatment, especially as more serotonergic antidepressant agents become available.
In a previously published part of this review the historical and aetiological aspects of sexual inadequacy were considered and an account given of vaginismus. The main problems found in patients with erective and orgasmic dysfunction were also discussed. In this second part, the author considers the conditions of premature ejaculation and ejaculatory incompentance as well as discussing erective and orgasmic incompetence in more detail. Behavioural and other psychotherapeutic measures are considered and a brief review is made of the use and value of drug therapy in patients with sexual dysfunction.
BACKGROUND: Little is known about sexual problems in patients with cancer. AIMS: To estimate 1) the prevalence and characteristics of sexual dysfunction in patients undergoing treatment for cancer, 2) how sexual dysfunction varies with stage of illness. METHOD: Cross-sectional study of outpatients with cancer attending palliative care and oncology services and matched patients without cancer attending general practice. Patients completed a questionnaire on sexual function designed in a feasibility study, the Derogatis subscale on sexual satisfaction, the GHQ12 and the EuroQol. RESULTS: Patients with all types of cancer are willing to talk about their sex lives and the impact of the disease on their sexual function. This impact was significant when compared to the comparison group of general practice attendees of the same age. Palliative care patients were affected more than other cancer patients. CONCLUSION: This work may lead to greater awareness among healthcare professionals that patients with all types of cancer may experience sexual difficulties. Addressing potential sexual problems during the course of disease may give patients confidence to discuss such issues as they occur, thus avoiding embarrassment or aggravation of the problems later in their illness.
BACKGROUND: Antipsychotic drugs are associated with sexual dysfunction but the mechanisms are poorly understood. AIMS: To ascertain the frequency of sexual dysfunction in patients taking conventional antipsychotics and to determine the possible underlying mechanisms. METHOD: Sexual dysfunction was assessed in 101 patients receiving conventional antipsychotic medication, 57 normal controls and 55 controls attending a sexual dysfunction clinic. RESULTS: Sexual dysfunction occurred in 45% of patients taking antipsychotic medication, 17% of normal controls and 61% of controls attending a sexual dysfunction clinic. Sexual dysfunction was associated with autonomic side-effects in normoprolactinaemic males, but the presence of hyperprolactinaemia overrode other causes of sexual dysfunction. For women, hyperprolactinaemia was the main cause of sexual dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional anti-psychotic medications cause significant levels of sexual dysfunction. Clinicians should routinely enquire about sexual symptoms prior to the prescription of antipsychotics and on follow-up.