The female androgen deficiency syndrome

Abstract

We evaluated the sexual functioning of 11 women who developed demonstrable androgen deficiencies after undergoing chemotherapy with cytotoxic agents and/or bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies for a variety of medical conditions. For comparison, we evaluated the sexual status of 11 subjects with comparable medical, menopausal, marital, and sexual histories, whose levels of circulating testosterone were within normal limits. The results of this clinical study confirm and extend the observations originally made by Waxenberg and his colleagues in 1959, that testosterone deficiency in women produces a marked decrease in libido and sexual responsiveness. Our findings further indicate that the female androgen deficiency syndrome is often indistinguishable from psychogenic desire disorders on clinical grounds alone.