Vaginal dryness and quality of life in mature women

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Abstract

The issue of maintaining the quality of life in aging women remains relevant, especially in light of the nationwide concept of active aging. Sexuality is one of the important components of the quality of life of pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women, and sexual dysfunction is an important factor that reduces the quality of life. Sexual dysfunction is considered as a part of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), and in the transition period of a woman's life, it most commonly occurs due to vulvovaginal atrophy. Consequently, the diagnosis and treatment of sexual dysfunction in peri- and postmenopausal women is usually related to diagnosis and therapy of GSM. The analytic review examines the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of symptoms of vulvovaginal atrophy with an emphasis on vaginal dryness as the most frequent and early symptom of the disease, on the one hand, and the main cause of sexual dysfunction in menopausal women, on the other. Standard and auxiliary methods of therapy are proposed, which, when combined, can provide an improvement in the quality of sexual life with simultaneous prevention of GSM progression. Key words: menopause, genitourinary syndrome of menopause, vulvovaginal atrophy, vaginal dryness, sexual dysfunction, topical estrogens, lubricants, moisturizers for vaginal use. For citation: Kuznetsova I.V. Vaginal dryness and quality of life in mature women. Consilium Medicum. 2020; 22 (6): 9-14. DOI: 10.26442/20751753.2020.6.200327

About the authors

Irina V. Kuznetsova

Higher Medical School

Email: ms.smith.ivk@gmail.com
д-р мед. наук, проф., рук. направления Moscow, Russia

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