BILSILVERLITE

Researchers are unveiling breakthroughs that truly work for grown-up women (we promise: not a stiletto or silly gadget among them).

Courtesy of Prevention

A fulfilling sex life is one of the most important ways to stay connected to your partner and boost self-esteem. But great sex doesn't just happen on its own--and less so as you age. Your need for intimacy changes, and your body may not respond the same way it did when you were younger. Here, five common reasons that women over 40 find their libido lagging, and the scientific interventions that can get it happily humming along again.

Help Reaching Orgasm
Libido Enhancing Drugs

Reason: You Have Low Testosterone
We tend to think of testosterone as a "male" hormone. But small amounts--delicately balanced with estrogen--fuel a woman's sex drive. Unfortunately, at menopause testosterone starts to decline, which can cause desire to plummet. Hormone therapy throws off the balance even more. A blood test and your gynecologist can determine if low testosterone is to blame. Luckily, studies show that stabilizing testosterone levels can rev up arousal in postmenopausal women--and improve all areas of sexual response, from lubrication to stronger, more powerful orgasms.

How Science Can Help
Testosterone gel
Although the FDA has not yet approved a testosterone gel specifically for women, many doctors simply prescribe the male version off-label or have a compound created by a pharmacist (a female gel is in the works--see "2 Libido-Enhancing Drugs" below). And no, it won't make you grow hair on your chin or give you huge muscles. "The doses prescribed for women aren't large enough to stimulate male characteristics," says Anita Clayton, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Virginia and author of Satisfaction: Women, Sex, and the Quest for Intimacy.

Libido-boosting herbs
Certified sex researcher Beverly Whipple, PhD, professor emerita at Rutgers University and coauthor of The Science of Orgasm, recommends ArginMax for Women, a nutritional supplement containing ginseng, ginkgo, multivitamins, and minerals. Science backs her up. ArginMax increased sexual desire, including clitoral sensation and orgasm frequency, in several studies. In one, women taking the supplement daily for 4 weeks reported a 74% improvement in satisfaction with their sex lives. In another study, men taking the male version of ArginMax experienced similar results.

Birth control with benefits
"Ironically, oral contraceptives increase levels of a protein that binds with testosterone and makes it less available to get our brains thinking about sex," says Clayton. But hormonal contraceptives that are inserted into the vagina and release a minimal amount of localized hormone (such as the NuvaRing), or are administered through the skin (such as a patch) and nonhormonal methods (such as condoms or spermicides) can free up that testosterone--and your sexual desire

-- From the Editors at Netscape Sex makes the brain grow. At least, it works that way in rats.

When we experience stress or anxiety, it can stifle brain growth, previous research has shown. So does the opposite hold true? Would pleasant experiences help brain cells to grow? Princeton University researchers wanted to know, so they studied the effect of sex on laboratory rats.

The study: LiveScience.com reports that the researchers gave adult male rats access to sexually-receptive females either once a day for two weeks or just one time in two weeks. In addition, they measured the blood levels of each rat for stress hormones called glucocorticoids, which the Princeton team thinks cause the detrimental effects that unpleasant or stressful experiences have on the brain.

Study Shows that Sex Boost the Brain!

http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/mens-sexual-health/sex-boosts-brain-growth?icid=main|main|dl3|sec1_lnk3|166670

Researchers are unveiling breakthroughs that truly work for grown-up women (we promise: not a stiletto or silly gadget among them).

Courtesy of Prevention

A fulfilling sex life is one of the most important ways to stay connected to your partner and boost self-esteem. But great sex doesn't just happen on its own--and less so as you age. Your need for intimacy changes, and your body may not respond the same way it did when you were younger. Here, five common reasons that women over 40 find their libido lagging, and the scientific interventions that can get it happily humming along again.

Help Reaching Orgasm
Libido Enhancing Drugs

Reason: You Have Low Testosterone
We tend to think of testosterone as a "male" hormone. But small amounts--delicately balanced with estrogen--fuel a woman's sex drive. Unfortunately, at menopause testosterone starts to decline, which can cause desire to plummet. Hormone therapy throws off the balance even more. A blood test and your gynecologist can determine if low testosterone is to blame. Luckily, studies show that stabilizing testosterone levels can rev up arousal in postmenopausal women--and improve all areas of sexual response, from lubrication to stronger, more powerful orgasms.

How Science Can Help
Testosterone gel
Although the FDA has not yet approved a testosterone gel specifically for women, many doctors simply prescribe the male version off-label or have a compound created by a pharmacist (a female gel is in the works--see "2 Libido-Enhancing Drugs" below). And no, it won't make you grow hair on your chin or give you huge muscles. "The doses prescribed for women aren't large enough to stimulate male characteristics," says Anita Clayton, MD, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Virginia and author of Satisfaction: Women, Sex, and the Quest for Intimacy.

Libido-boosting herbs
Certified sex researcher Beverly Whipple, PhD, professor emerita at Rutgers University and coauthor of The Science of Orgasm, recommends ArginMax for Women, a nutritional supplement containing ginseng, ginkgo, multivitamins, and minerals. Science backs her up. ArginMax increased sexual desire, including clitoral sensation and orgasm frequency, in several studies. In one, women taking the supplement daily for 4 weeks reported a 74% improvement in satisfaction with their sex lives. In another study, men taking the male version of ArginMax experienced similar results.

Birth control with benefits
"Ironically, oral contraceptives increase levels of a protein that binds with testosterone and makes it less available to get our brains thinking about sex," says Clayton. But hormonal contraceptives that are inserted into the vagina and release a minimal amount of localized hormone (such as the NuvaRing), or are administered through the skin (such as a patch) and nonhormonal methods (such as condoms or spermicides) can free up that testosterone--and your sexual desire

-- From the Editors at Netscape Sex makes the brain grow. At least, it works that way in rats.

When we experience stress or anxiety, it can stifle brain growth, previous research has shown. So does the opposite hold true? Would pleasant experiences help brain cells to grow? Princeton University researchers wanted to know, so they studied the effect of sex on laboratory rats.

The study: LiveScience.com reports that the researchers gave adult male rats access to sexually-receptive females either once a day for two weeks or just one time in two weeks. In addition, they measured the blood levels of each rat for stress hormones called glucocorticoids, which the Princeton team thinks cause the detrimental effects that unpleasant or stressful experiences have on the brain.

Study Shows that Sex Boost the Brain!

http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/mens-sexual-health/sex-boosts-brain-growth?icid=main|main|dl3|sec1_lnk3|166670