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Chapter 42 - Hormones and Female Sexuality

from Section 2C - Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare: Infertility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2024

By
Elisa Maseroli  and
Linda Vignozzi
Edited by
Johannes Bitzer  and
Tahir A. Mahmood
Johannes Bitzer
Affiliation:
University Women's Hospital, Basel
Tahir A. Mahmood
Affiliation:
Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
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Summary

It has been known since the time of Aristotle that the ovaries are involved not only in reproduction but also in regulating female sexual behavior. In the late nineteenth century French physician Roberts reported that Indian women who suffered ovariectomy before puberty had no menstruation or sex drive. Subsequently Knauer restored estrous cyclicity and sexual behavior in ovariectomized dogs, rabbits, and guinea pigs by grafting ovaries into their abdominal cavity, and Brown-Séquard claimed multiple injections of rodent ovarian extracts could re-feminize ovariectomized women.

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Chapter
Information
Textbook of Contraception, Sexual and Reproductive Health , pp. 256 - 266
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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