Women’s Libido: Estrogen On, Progesterone Off

It’s not news that hormones regulate sex drive, but which hormones do what exactly has never quite been nailed down. Now come researchers at UC Santa Barbara who think they have figured that one out. A UC Santa Barbara news release reports that the researchers found two hormonal signals that had opposite effects on sexual motivation. Estrogen dialed desire up (although with a two-day lag), and progesterone dialed it down. Why do we care? Are you kidding? The findings could help treat low sexual desire, and they could influence the hormone replacement recipes. Wait, there’s more: the research suggested that testosterone, long believed to be a major lust booster in women, may work its magic only because testosterone is converted to estrogen by a particular enzyme. That’s right. It’s the E, not the T.  Read more from UC Santa Barbara.