Women's Health
Good Sex at Midlife and Beyond
By
Feb 1, 2011 - 11:11:56 AM

The North American Menopause Society Launches Sexual Health & Menopause - A Comprehensive Free Online Resource

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - CLEVELAND, Ohio (February 1, 2011)—Menopause does not mean the end of a woman’s sex life, but it often brings changes in sexual function that she needs to understand to maintain good sexual health at midlife and beyond.

That’s a key message of Sexual Health & Menopause, a comprehensive new online resource from The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). The resource, complete with tables and illustrations, is freely available to all on the NAMS website at www.menopause.org/sex.aspx.

“NAMS undertook this project to provide midlife women with sound sexual health information and to encourage women to talk to their healthcare providers about any sexual issue,” says NAMS Executive Director Margery L.S. Gass, MD, NCMP. “This online resource should convince women that discussing sexual problems with their healthcare provider is totally appropriate and is likely to help them find effective solutions. There is no need to be in the dark when it comes to sexual issues at midlife.”

“Midlife women need a thorough understanding about what menopause and aging may mean for their sex life,” says Sexual Health & Menopause co-editor Sheryl A. Kingsberg, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. “NAMS provides that understanding and combats myths in this new online resource.”

“In Sexual Health & Menopause, we provide women with evidence-based answers to their questions about midlife sexuality,” adds co-editor Jan L. Shifren, MD, NCMP, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. “We discuss a wide range of sexual problems, their possible causes, and effective treatments.”

Those problems range from painful sex resulting from menopause-related vaginal dryness to low libido to simply lacking the energy for sex because of sleep problems or busy schedules.

Sexual Health & Menopause lays out the essential facts on these and many other common midlife sexual problems using an online format that allows a woman to easily view the following topics and to go deeper into a topic where and when she wishes:

• Changes at midlife affecting women’s sexuality
• Sexual problems at midlife
• Causes of women’s sexual problems at midlife
• Effective treatments for women’s sexual problems
• Further resources and reminders about midlife sexuality
• Frequently asked questions

Although the online resource was developed specifically for midlife women, healthcare providers should also find it helpful, both as a resource to share with their patients and as a tool to help foster communication about sexual health with their patients. As Sexual Health & Menopause points out, open patient-provider communication about sexual health is sorely lacking in the United States. A recent large survey of US women ages 57 to 85 found that only 22% reported that they had discussed sex with a physician since they turned 50. (See the attached “NAMS Fact Sheet on Sexual Health & Menopause” for more facts and figures on women’s sexual activity and sexual problems at midlife and beyond.)

For interviews with NAMS Executive Director Margery L.S. Gass, MD, NCMP, or with Sexual Health & Menopause co-editors Jan L. Shifren, MD, NCMP, or Sheryl A. Kingsberg, PhD (see attachment for professional profiles), contact Ms. Judy Cerne or Ms. Laura Lytle at McKinney-Cerne Inc by phone (440/352-2081) or email ([email protected], [email protected]).

The Mission of NAMS, a nonprofit scientific organization, is to promote the health and quality of life of all women during midlife and beyond through an understanding of menopause and healthy aging. The Society’s membership of over 2,000 professionals representing a variety of disciplines—including clinical and basic science experts from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and complementary/alternative medicine—makes NAMS uniquely qualified to serve as the definitive resource for health professionals and the public for accurate, unbiased information about menopause (www.menopause.org).

Sexual Health & Menopause is funded by a grant from the Patty Brisben Foundation for Women’s Sexual Health (www.pattybrisbenfoundation.org).

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