First UK guidelines for women's sexual health

Health 29 Sep 10 Testosterone deficiency can cause sexual disorders in women as well as men, researchers from Oxford University and elsewhere have shown. They have issued a set of guidelines and recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of testosterone deficiency and sexual disorders in men and women, as part of a review of the latest published research. The British Society for Sexual Medicine is among organisations which last week published the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of sexual problems. The new advice covers both genders but was the first for women to be published in the UK. Professor Margaret Rees of Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is a co-author of the review which prompted the new guidance. She said: 'Doctors and patients tend to shy away from the discussion of sexual concerns even though sex is recognised as being beneficial to health. That could mean potential problems being ignored and so worsening over the long term.