Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often experience sexual dysfunction, experts report in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

IBD, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, takes its toll both physically and emotionally. Symptoms like fatigue, pain, gas, and diarrhea can interfere with sexual activity, as can the resulting depression, anxiety, and poor body image. 

To learn more, a team of Dutch researchers collected data on quality of life, depression, fatigue, body image, and sexual function from 287 IBD patients and 197 control participants without IBD. 

While rates of sexual dysfunction were similar between groups, participants with active disease were more likely to have problems when compared to patients in remission and those in the control group.

Men tended to have issues with orgasm, erections, and overall sexual satisfaction.

For women, pain and insufficient lubrication were common problems. 

Depression was also an important factor for both men and women.

“It is important to ask patients about fatigue, mood, and sexual function, and refer them for psychological or sex-therapeutic treatment when needed,” the authors wrote. 

Please click here to learn more about this study. 

We're pleased to announce that new research summary has been posted to the ISSM website.

"The Combination of Dapoxetine and Behavioral Treatment Provides Better Results than Dapoxetine Alone in the Management of Patients with Lifelong Premature Ejaculation" by Dr. Luigi Cormio, et al. was first published online in June in The Journal of Sexual Medicine. 

The study compares results of two groups of 25 men with lifelong premature ejaculation (PE). The first group took on-demand dapoxetine. The second group  took dapoxetine as well, but also received face-to-face behavioral therapy. The men were followed for 24 weeks. 

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that combining dapoxetine with therapy was more effective than dapoxetine alone. 

Please click here to read the summary.