Abstract
Sexual function is one of the most important aspects of menopausal women, and its disorder is a common condition among this group of women. The long-term side effects of hormone replacement therapy to improve this disorder have led women to seek alternative therapies. The purpose of this review is to summarize clinical trials of herbal medicines that improve the sexual function of menopausal women. In this review article, the content was searched in 6 databases to identify double- and triple-blind clinical trial studies from January 2000 to April 2020. The search was conducted in English and Persian. Studies were considered if they were related to menopausal woman, sexual function and its various domains. A total of 479 articles were reviewed, 31 of which were included in the study after reviewing the full text. In this study, 3 articles on ginseng, 4 articles on fennel, 2 articles on Fenugreek, 3 articles on bindii, 3 articles on Red clover, 1 article on Schisandra, 2 articles on Hops; 3 articles about Black cohosh, 2 articles about soy, 2 articles about Ginkgo biloba, 1 article about Nigella sativa, 1 article about neroli oil, 1 article about maca, 1 article about Date pollen, 1 article about Aphrodite and 1 article on the combination of St John’s wort and vitex were evaluated. Red ginseng, fennel, bindii, Red clover and Black cohosh have the greatest effect on improving the sexual function of menopausal women, and people can be encouraged to use these plants.
Highlights
Sexual desire is the main aspect of human beings throughout life, and sexual health is defined as a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexual desire, not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction, or disability [1]
The tools used in these trials included FSFI (Female Sexual Function Index), GCS (Green Climacteric Scale), QS-F (Quality of Sexual Function), MRS (Menopause Rating Scale), FIEI (Female Intervention Efficacy Index), MENQOL (Menopause Specific Quality of Life), GRISS (Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction), GAQ (Global Assessment Questionnaire), VAS (Stress and Sexual Visual Analog Scale), SSRS (Sabbatsberg sexual rating scale), Vaginal Atrophy Checklist and Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire, among which FSFI and MRS have been used the most in trials
In a 2018 study by Molaie et al, which looked at the effect of a combination of fennel and vitex on menopausal symptoms, the results showed that sexual function did not have a statistically significant difference effect between groups (P = 0.231) [17]
Summary
Sexual desire is the main aspect of human beings throughout life, and sexual health is defined as a state of physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexual desire, not merely the absence of disease, dysfunction, or disability [1]. Sexual dysfunction is characterized by the fact that a person is unable to enjoy this relationship due to difficulty during the sexual response and sexual intercourse stage [2]. This disorder is a common condition that includes the four primary areas of hypoactive sexual desire disorder, arousal disorder, orgasm, and pain during sexual intercourse. Sexual function is one of the most important aspects of menopausal women [4]. There is a common misconception that women lose interest in sex as they get older and will not be able to behave sexually [5]. For many middleaged women, sexual desire is considered a moderate
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