American researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara believe they have found the key to female desire. In the journal Hormones and Behavior, they reveal the secret of a problem that arouses the curiosity of millions of men and women. To the question of the decrease in desire which is unleashing sexologists and scientists around the world, our researchers provide a not very sexy answer: it is the hormones’ fault. Here is an explanation not very original but underpinned by a solid scientific demonstration.
Before ovulation, the secretion of estrogen followed by an increase in progesterone before falling at the end of the cycle. It would indeed be estradiol, a hormone of the estrogen family which would be responsible for the increase in sexual desire in women.
The high level of progesterone, observed in the second part of the menstrual cycle, would have the opposite effect by reducing libido. According to researchers’ calculations, female libido therefore peaks just before ovulation.
This hormonal involvement should be used to develop new treatments to remedy the decrease or even the total absence of libido.
