Sex: Brain more important than hormones

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Sexual satisfaction involves more than sex hormones -- what happens in the brain may be more important, U.S. researchers found.

Howard P. Greenwald of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and Ruth McCorkle of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., said surgical intervention for cervical cancer often involves removing the ovaries, which reduces or eliminates circulating testosterone -- a hormone that is a factor in both male and female sexual behavior.

"Our findings, which demonstrate the existence of widespread interest and satisfaction with sex in the absence of a crucial hormone underscore the importance of non-hormonal components of sexual interest and satisfaction," Greenwald said in a statement. "That may mean the key to sexual satisfaction is less about biology and more about psychology."

Following cervical cancer treatment, women often struggle with sex and identity, Greenwald said.

However, most studies tracked patients no more than five years after diagnosis but this study, published in the Journal of Women's Health, found that after six years most women's sexual desire and enjoyment rebounds

The researchers interviewed women six to 28 years after initial diagnosis of cervical cancer and found more than 80 percent reported being sexually active and 91 percent indicated they enjoyed sexual activity at least some of the time.