There is substantial evidence indicating that stress, reduced mood, diminished wellbeing, poor cardiovascular health, poor nervous system health, inflammation and poor sleep can significantly impair female sexual function. These factors often lead to decreased libido, arousal difficulties, and diminished sexual satisfaction. This is the reason we address all these elements within the Luminara formula. Below is a summary of key findings from human studies, which elucidate these relationships.

Stress

Reduced Sexual Arousal and Hormonal Imbalance: A study found that women experiencing high levels of chronic stress exhibited lower genital arousal, decreased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and higher cortisol levels compared to women with average stress levels. These physiological changes were associated with diminished sexual arousal and satisfaction.

Daily stress and female sexual dysfunction: Research has shown that internal daily stress accounted for 9% to 26% of the variance in sexual problems and 47% of sexual aversion and desire problems, indicating a strong link between daily stress and female sexual dysfunction.

Daily Subjective Stress and Sexual Desire, Arousal, and Activity in Healthy Men and Women: Clinical evidence demonstrated that daily stress negatively impacts sexual desire, arousal, and sexual activity in both men and women. Higher stress levels were associated with reduced sexual interest and engagement. Conversely, engaging in sexual activity was linked to lower stress the following day, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between stress and sexual function. This highlights the benefit of reducing stress to positively effect sexual desire, arousal and sexual activity, which in turn positively effects sexual activity thus reducing stress.

Mood

Depression and Anxiety Correlation: A systematic medical journal review reported that mood disorders, including depression and anxiety, are closely linked to sexual dysfunction in menopausal women. The review found that women with these mood disorders had significantly lower sexual desire and satisfaction compared to those without such conditions.

Impact of depression on sexual function and quality of life: Research has indicated that women with major depression often experience sexual dysfunction, which adversely affects their overall quality of life. A study emphasized the importance of addressing sexual health in the treatment of depressive disorders.

Conceptualizing sexual dysfunction in depression and anxiety: A study found a multifaceted relationship between sexual dysfunction and mood disorders, emphasizing that psychological factors like depression and anxiety can significantly impair sexual desire and arousal in women.

Wellbeing

Association of resilience with female sexual dysfunction: Research investigated the association between resilience—a measure of psychological well-being—and female sexual dysfunction (FSD). The findings suggest that lower resilience levels are significantly associated with higher instances of FSD, indicating that psychological vitality plays a crucial role in sexual health.

Cardiovascular

Concurrent Measurement of Genital Lubrication and Blood Flow During Sexual Arousal: A study of women viewing stimuli of varying sexual intensity while researchers concurrently measured genital lubrication and blood flow found a link between genital blood flow and sexual arousal. Results demonstrated that increased genital blood flow was associated with higher levels of sexual arousal, highlighting the importance of vascular responses in female sexual function.

Measuring female sexual arousal via genital blood flow: Research has evaluated the effectiveness of Laser Doppler Imaging (LDI) as a noninvasive method to measure genital blood flow in women during exposure to various visual stimuli. The results demonstrated that erotic stimuli significantly increased genital blood flow compared to other conditions. Moreover, a strong correlation was found between physiological arousal (as measured by LDI) and subjective reports of sexual arousal. These findings underscore the importance of adequate genital blood flow in women’s sexual response.

Anatomy and Physiology of Female Sexual Function and Dysfunction: Research has reviewed the anatomy and physiology of female sexual function, highlighting that sexual arousal is initiated by neurotransmitter-mediated vascular and nonvascular smooth muscle relaxation, resulting in increased pelvic blood flow. Impairments in this process can lead to sexual dysfunction, including reduced libido.

Cardiovascular Disease and Female Sexual Health: Clinical evidence highlighted that cardiovascular disease (CVD) can impair female sexual function by affecting arousal, lubrication, and orgasm, emphasizing the need for cardiovascular health in maintaining sexual well-being.

Female sexual dysfunction as an early indicator of cardiovascular disease: Research has found evidence that sexual dysfunction in women may be an early indicator of cardiovascular disease, highlighting the interconnectedness of sexual and cardiovascular health. Growing evidence shows that female sexual function, especially arousal, is significantly affected by genital vascular impairment, which can lead to female sexual dysfunction.

Nervous System

Neurological Foundations of Female Sexual Function: Health and Dysfunction: A study outlined how the central and peripheral nervous systems coordinate female sexual response, including arousal, lubrication, and orgasm. It emphasizes that intact sensory, autonomic, and somatic pathways are essential for normal sexual functioning. Disruption to these neural circuits can significantly impair libido and sexual satisfaction.

Inflammation

Inflammation disrupts sexual arousal and pleasure in healthy women: Research has examined how inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein (CRP), affects sexual arousal and pleasure in healthy women. Results showed that higher CRP levels were linked to reduced arousal and pleasure, suggesting inflammation may impair sexual experiences.

Systemic Inflammation Linked to Lower Sexual Arousal in Healthy Women: A study found that elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation, predicted reduced sexual arousability in healthy women. The research suggests inflammation may interfere with sexual responsiveness, underscoring the importance of physical health and immune regulation in maintaining optimal female sexual function.

Sleep

The Impact of Sleep on Female Sexual Response and Behavior: A Pilot Study: Research has found that women engaging in longer sleep duration was associated with increased next-day sexual desire and a higher likelihood of engaging in sexual activity. Each additional hour of sleep corresponded to a 14% increase in the odds of sexual activity the following day.

Associations of Sleep and Female Sexual Function: Good Sleep Quality Matters: Research analyzing data from the DREAMS registry found that better sleep quality was significantly associated with higher sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction among midlife women. Poor sleep quality correlated with increased sexual distress and dysfunction.

Association Between Sexual Function in Women and Sleep Quality: A cross-sectional study has revealed that women with sexual dysfunction had a higher prevalence of poor sleep quality compared to those without sexual dysfunction, suggesting a strong association between sleep disturbances and impaired sexual function.