Libido refers to our sexual desire, or the emotion and mental energy related to sex. Another term for it is “sex drive.” Your libido is influenced by: biological factors, such as testosterone and estrogen levels.

Low libido, or reduced sexual desire, can affect both men and women. It is not unusual for a person’s interest in sex to fluctuate over different periods of their life due to hormonal changes, age, and stress.

However, low libido can be a problem if it causes stress, affects a person’s overall well-being, or leads to anxiety about their relationship.

Low libido can have an underlying medical cause, or it may be due to lifestyle factors. In this article, we explore the causes of low libido in men and women, the potential treatments, and when you should speak with a doctor.

Causes of Low Libido in Men and Women

Chronic Medical Conditions

Several chronic illnesses and diseases can affect sexual function. These include:

Diabetes: High blood sugar levels can cause vascular and nerve damage. These effects can result in erectile dysfunction in men and decreased blood flow to the genitals in women. Women with diabetes may also experience higher rates of yeast and bladder infections, which can make the sexual experience painful or uncomfortable.

Osteoarthritis: People who experience joint pain and stiffness might find it more difficult to participate in sexual activities.

Heart disease: Heart disease can lead to damaged blood vessels and decreased circulation. This damage can reduce blood flow to the genitals, decreasing arousal or lubrication.

High blood pressure: High blood pressure can also affect blood circulation.

Cancer: Treatments for cancer, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, can all affect libido.

Obstructive sleep apnea: Research suggests that untreated obstructive sleep apnea can cause symptoms of low libido.

Medications

Some medications can cause sexual dysfunction or lowered sexual desire. These drugs include:

• antidepressants with serotonergic effects
• antipsychotics that increase prolactin levels
• medications for an enlarged prostate, including finasteride and dutasteride
• hormonal contraceptives
• medications for high blood pressure
• recreational drug use or excessive alcohol consumption can result in low libido

Hormonal Causes

“Testosterone is the hormone of desire, arguably for women as well as for men,”. Low testosterone levels usually mean low sexual desire. Levels dip as men age; other causes include chronic disease, medications, and other drug use. Other hormones can play a role, too, such as low levels of thyroid hormone or, rarely, high levels of prolactin, a hormone produced in a gland at the base of the brain.

Women may experience low libido during menopause for a number of reasons. Estrogen levels drop suddenly during these years, causing vaginal tissue to become dry. That, in turn, can lead to discomfort and pain during intercourse and discourage a woman’s sexual desire. Menopause can also lower testosterone, the hormone that boosts libido in women as well as men.

Psychological Factors

Chronic stress, in particular, can interfere with your body’s hormone levels, and result in a low libido. The arteries can also narrow and restrict blood flow in response to stress, which can also lead to erectile dysfunction. Stress can also reduce your libido by distracting you and taking your mind off sexual desire.

Libido and depression share a complicated link. “Depression can change the body’s biochemistry and therefore reduce libido,” says Mark L. Held, PhD, a clinical psychologist in the Denver area. “It’s also harder to feel sexual when you’re depressed.” Some medications commonly used to treat depression may also lower libido as a side effect.

It’s hard to feel sexy when your self-confidence is down or when you have low self-esteem. Someone who feels unattractive is less likely to want to engage in sex. “Fears of rejection may also come in to play.”

Chronic Fatigue

An imbalanced lifestyle, lack of daily essential nutrients and chronic medical conditions can result in fatigue, a significant depletion of cellular energy and sexual desire.

Lack of Sleep.

A good night’s rest might be hard to come by, but you need sleep to keep a sharp mind, a healthy body, and an active libido. “When you’re exhausted, you’d rather catch up on sleep,” says Alan W. Shindel, MD, clinical instructor and fellow of andrology at the University of California at San Francisco. Physically, a lack of sleep can elevate cortisol levels, which also leads to low libido. Even more surprising in the sleep-ED connection? One recent study found that men with restless leg syndrome (a neurological disorder characterized by jumpy, creepy-crawly sensations as you’re falling asleep) are at higher risk for erectile dysfunction, probably due to low dopamine levels.

Side effects of Long term Drugs Intake

As mentioned, long term medications may invariably lead to tiredness and even depression and therefore lowering sexual desire and libido.

Can Drugs and Supplements Help?

Pills and tables touting that they can boost your sex life may be appealing, but you may want to think twice before spending your money. While their claims are tempting, they may not be backed by scientific evidence and may even lead to unwanted side effects.

In fact, using male sexual enhancement supplements to boost your libido or address erectile dysfunction may do more harm than good. Ingredients can trigger side effects, cause allergic reactions and other effects when they interact with other drugs. Some may even contain potentially dangerous impurities or small amounts of hidden pharmaceutical drugs that can produce dangerous reactions.

With a few exceptions, most supplements for sexual function haven’t been studied scientifically and at best they have a placebo effect. When researchers did clinical trials for the prescription medication sildenafil [Viagra], the placebo response was about 30%. This implies that the brain is the most important organ for enhanced libido. In men, the brain controls the stimulus to get blood flow to the penis, and furthermore, it controls orgasm and ejaculation. That’s why a lot of people with normal vascular function still have sexual dysfunction.

A 2015 review of top-selling supplements for men’s sexual health, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, found little or no evidence to support claims they could improve aspects of sexual performance.

Some sexual function supplements may contain potentially dangerous impurities or small amounts of hidden pharmaceutical drugs — like traces of PDE5 inhibitors, medications in the same class that includes prescription erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra. This can produce dangerous, even life-threatening, reactions.

Natural performance boosters – A healthy lifestyle

Lifestyle changes can help boost sexual activity without medication. The best way to boost and improve one’s libido is to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to focus on improving one’s overall health condition. The issues relating to libido and sexual desire and performance will be naturally be improved and enhanced.

Data have shown that in men, weight loss alone improves sexual function. It is probably because fat makes estrogen, which fights testosterone needed for sexual function.

Other things that can help for both sexes: exercising and smoking cessation, which improve blood flow to the sexual organs; limiting alcohol intake, since large amounts can dampen sexual reflexes and the ability of men to maintain an erection; and eating a healthy diet, which helps maintain a healthy weight.

A Healthy Diet with a combination of nutrients

Many good quality supplements focus on omega-3 fatty acids (such as those found in fish oil), vitamin E, various B vitamins, or various combinations.

There’s strong evidence that certain diets like the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, and the MIND diet can help improve overall health. These diets contain foods with large amounts of these vitamins and minerals.

Caviarlieri – Swiss Caviar Cell Therapy Supplement for Long Term Superior Health

Caviarlieri’s most promising effect is the overall rejuvenation and regeneration of many aspects of the body. By providing nutrition at the cellular level on a daily basis, Caviarlieri can help accelerate cellular repair and renewal against damaged cells, boosting cellular energy levels, elevate mood and promotes good sleep quality etc..

This has been made possible through the meticulous and advanced technological formulation of its premium ingredient – Caviar Cellular Extract. The formulation of these Bioactive ingredients are potent and allow it to deliver its maximum effect to organs of our body. As we age, the human body loses its vibrancy, lower energy levels and stamina. Caviarlieri delays these aging manifestations and enhances the restoration of one’s youthful vigor in all possible aspects.

Potent and effective nutrition with efficient delivery mechanism via peptides have been proven contribute to significant increase in cellular energy, physical stamina, mood elevation and therefore enhanced libido, sexual desire and sexual satisfaction.

Caviarlieri’s premium key ingredients have been studied and proven to have certain benefits to these problems:

• A deficiency of Selenium in the body plays a part in reducing libido. The right supplementation of Selenium will assist in improving one’s drive. Caviarlieri’s key ingredients of Caviar Cellular DNA extracts, marine peptides and also selenium can help reduce oxidative stress and remove free radicals. Due to its strong antioxidant properties, this caviar supplement can help to prevent sperm damage as well.
• Another synergistic ingredient of Caviarlieri is Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 increases blood flow to dilating blood vessels. An erection cannot be achieved if the blood flow is not strong enough. CoQ10 also helps to preserve nitric oxide levels. Nitric oxide is important in achieving and erection and maintaining it since an increase in its levels naturally occur during arousal to stimulate sexual potency.
• Another key ingredient of Caviarlieri is Marine Collagen. Known as one of the main building blocks of our body, collagen I helps to maintain and enhance the integrity of our tissues and skin. Natural production of collagen decreases with we age but Caviarlieri can enhance the production of collagen within our body naturally at the cellular level, improving overall health conditions.

In addition to Caviarlieri supplementation, there are many natural measures to improve one’s sex life which includes changes in lifestyle habits, reduction of stress, taking care of one’s mental health and regular medical check-ups specially with testosterone and other hormonal levels.

Caviarlieri is Backed by Science

Caviarlieri is not a drug but a potent pharmaceutical grade food supplement and the list of Scientific Studies published in PubMed and Europe PMC are as follows:

1. Acta Bio Medical/ Official Journal of the Society of Medicine and Natural Sciences of Parma Vol 82 – N2/2012

Title of the report: Improving Sperm Quality and Spermatogenesis through a Bioactive Marine Compound: an experimental study

2. Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents ISSN – 0393-974X/2012

Title of the report: Effective Properties of a Sturgeon-Based Bioactive Compound on Stress-Induced Hippocampal Degeneration and on In Vitro Neurogenesis

3. Acta Bio Medical / Official Journal of the Society of Medicine and Natural Sciences of Parma Vol 84-N1/2013

Title of the report: Testing a novel bioactive marine nutraceutical on osteoarthritis patients

4. Acta Bio Medical / Official Journal of the Society of Medicine and Natural Sciences of Parma Vol 82 – N2/2012

Title of the report: A Sturgeon-derived Bioactive Compound beneficially modulates nuclear receptors controlling metabolic functions in patients with Metabolic Syndrome

5.Rejuvenation Research Volume 15 Number 2, April 2012

Title of the report: Beneficial Modulation from a High-Purity Caviar-Derived Homogenate on Chronological Skin Aging”

6. Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents ISSN – 0393-974X/2012

Title of the report: Beneficial Effect of a Sturgeon-Based Bioactive Compound on Gene Expression of Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha Matrix Metalloproteinases and Type-10 Collagen in Human Chondrocytes

7. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostics Research V 8(11) November 2014

Title of the report : A Double- Blind, RCT Testing Beneficial Modulation of Bdnf in Middle-Aged, Life Style-Stressed Subjects : A Clue to Brain Protection

8. .Rejuvenation Research Volume 17 Number 2, April 2012 (Europe PMC)

Title of the report: Protective Effect of a Fish Egg Homogenate Marine Compound on Arterial Ultrastructure in Spontaneous Hypertensive Rats

Why is Caviarlieri a safe and potent option?

Caviarlieri is not a drug but a oral food supplement approved by the Swiss Public Health Authority. Unlike drugs or medications, there are no side effects for long term use. Caviarlieri is also listed on the “Cologne List” as it is free of steroids, hormones and stimulants which makes it safe for long-term use.

It is important to remember that healing and recovery begins at the cellular level.