Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (187 page)

10
. R. L. Barbieri et al., “Insulin Stimulates Androgen Accumulation in Incubations of Ovarian Stroma Obtained from Women with Hyperandrogenism,”
Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism,
vol. 62 (1986), p. 904.

11
. R. J. Chang, R. M. Nakamura, H. L. Judd, and S. A. Kaplan, “Insulin Resistance in Non-Obese Patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome,”
Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Metabolism,
vol. 61 (1985), p. 946; C. A. Stuart et al., “Insulin Resistance with Acanthosis Nigricans: The Role of Obesity and Androgen Excess,”
Metabolism,
vol. 35 (1986), p. 197.

12
. K. Kelly et al., “Psychodynamic Psychological Correlates with Secondary Amen-orrhea,”
Psychosomatic Medicine,
vol. 16 (1954), p. 129; M. M. Gill, “Functional Disturbances in Menstruation,”
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic,
vol. 7 (1943), p. 12.

13
. T. B. Clarkson, M. R. Adams, J. R. Kaplan, C. A. Shively, and D. R. Koritnik, “From Menarche to Menopause: Coronary Artery Atherosclerosis and Protection in Cynomolgus Monkeys,”
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 160, no. 5, part 2 (May 1989), pp. 1280–85.

14
. T. Piotrowski, “Psychogenic Factors in Anovulatory Women,”
Fertility and Sterility,
vol. 13 (1962), p. 11; T. Loftus, “Psychogenic Factors in Anovulatory Women: Behavioral and Psychoanalytic Aspects of Anovulatory Amenorrhea,”
Fertility
and Sterility,
vol. 13 (1962), p. 20.

15
. Though some might argue that all cysts should therefore be removed when they are first diagnosed and are relatively small, I disagree. Not all cysts grow rapidly, and not all cysts replace all normal ovarian tissue. And of course, some cysts go away on their own.

16
. B. S. Centerwall, “Premenopausal Hysterectomy,”
American Journal of Obstetrics
and Gynecology,
vol. 139 (1981), p. 38; R. Punnonen and L. Raurama, “The Effect of Long-Term Oral Oestriol Succinate Therapy on the Skin of Castrated Women,”
Annals of Gynaecology,
vol. 66 (1977), p. 214.

17
. W. B. Cutler, “Human Sex-Attractant Pheromones: Discovery, Research, Development, and Application in Sex Therapy,”
Psychiatric Annals,
vol. 29 (1999), pp. 54–59.

18
. J. G. Annegers et al., “Ovarian Cancer: Reappraisal of Residual Ovaries,”
American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 97 (1967), p. 124; G. V. Smith, “Ovarian Tumors,”
American Journal of Surgery,
vol. 95 (1958), p. 336; V. S. Counselor et al., “Carcinoma of the Ovary Following Hysterectomy,”
American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 69 (1955), p. 538; R. H. Grogan, “Reappraisal of Residual Ovaries,”
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 97 (1967), p. 124.

19
. Theodore Sperof, “A Risk-Benefit Analysis of Elective Bilateral Oophorectomy: Effect of Changes in Compliance with Estrogen Therapy on Outcome,”
American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
(Jan. 1991), pp. 165–74.

20
. D. W. Cramer and B. L. Harlow, “Author’s Response to Progress in Nutritional Epidemiology of Ovarian Cancer,”
American Journal of Epidemiology,
vol. 134, no. 5 (1991), pp. 460–61; D. W. Cramer et al., “Galactose Consumption and Metabolism in Relationship to Risks for Ovarian Cancer,”
Lancet,
vol. 2 (1989), pp. 66–71; D. W. Cramer, “Lactose Persistence and Milk Consumption as Determinants of Ovarian Cancer Risk,”
American Journal of Epidemiology,
vol. 130 (1989), pp. 904–10; D. W. Cramer et al., “Dietary Animal Fat and Relationship to Ovarian Cancer Risk,”
Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 63, no. 6 (1984), pp. 833–38.

21
. C. J. Mettlin and M. S. Diver, “A Case-Control Study of Milk-Drinking and Ovarian Cancer Risk,”
American Journal of Epidemiology,
vol. 132 (1990), pp. 871–75; C. J. Mettlin, “Invited Commentary: Progress in Nutritional Epidemiol-ogy of Ovarian Cancer,”
American Journal of Epidemiology,
vol. 134, no. 5 (1991), pp. 457–59.

22
. K. M. Fairfield, D. J. Hunter, G. A. Colditz, C. S. Fuchs, D. W. Cramer, F. E. Speizer, W. C. Willett, and S. E. Hankinson, “A Prospective Study of Dietary Lactose and Ovarian Cancer,”
International Journal of Cancer,
vol. 110, no. 2 (June 10, 2004), pp. 271–77.

23
. D. W. Cramer, W. R. Welsh, R. E. Scully, and C. A. Wojciechowski, “Ovarian Cancer and Talc: A Case-Control Study,”
Cancer,
vol. 50 (1982), pp. 372–76; W. J. Henderson, T. C. Hamilton, and K. Griffiths, “Talc in Normal and Malignant Ovarian Tissue,”
Lancet,
vol. 1 (1979), p. 499.

24
. G. E. Egli and M. Newton, “The Transport of Carbon Particles in the Human Female Reproductive Tract,”
Fertility and Sterility,
vol. 12 (1961), pp. 151–55.

25
. B. L. Harlow et al., “The Influence of Lactose Consumption on the Association of Oral Contraceptive Pills and Ovarian Cancer Risk,”
American Journal of Epi-demiology,
vol. 134, no. 5 (1991), pp. 445–61.

26
. B. V. Stadel, “The Etiology and Prevention of Ovarian Cancer,”
American Journal
of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 123 (1975), pp. 772–74.

27
. K. Helzisouer et al., “Serum Gonadotrophins and Steroid Hormones and the Development of Ovarian Cancer,”
Journal of the American Medical Association,
vol. 274, no. 24 (Dec. 27, 1995), pp. 1926–30.

28
. S. E. Hankinson et al., “Tubal Ligation, Hysterectomy, and Risk of Ovarian Cancer: A Prospective Study,”
Journal of the American Medical Association,
Dec. 15, 1993; A. S. Whittemore, R. Harris, J. Intyre, and the Collaborative Ovarian Cancer Group, “Characteristics Relating to Ovarian Cancer Risk: Collaborative Analysis of 12 U.S. Case-Control Studies. Part II: Invasive Epithelial Ovarian Cancers in White Women,”
American Journal of Epidemiology,
vol. 136 (1992), pp. 1184–1203.

29
. Rebecca Ferrini, “Screening Asymptomatic Women for Ovarian Cancer: American College of Preventive Medicine Practice Policy Statement,”
American Journal
of Preventive Medicine,
vol. 13, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1997), pp. 444–46.

30
. Ibid.

31
. C. Granai, “Sounding Board: Ovarian Cancer: Unrealistic Expectations,”
New
England Journal of Medicine,
vol. 327, no. 3 (1993), pp. 197–200.

32
. S. J. Skates and D. E. Singer, “Quantifying the Potential Benefit of CA-125 Screening for Ovarian Cancer,”
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology,
vol. 44 (1991), pp.

365–80; M. M. Schapira, D. B. Matchar, and M. J. Young, “The Effectiveness of Ovarian Cancer Screening: A Decision-Analysis Model,”
Annals of Internal Medicine,
vol. 118 (1993), pp. 838–43.

33
. S. Campbell, V. Bhan, J. Royston, et al., “Screening for Early Ovarian Cancer,”
Lancet,
vol. 1 (1988), pp. 710–11.

34
. E. Andolf, E. Svalenius, and B. Astedt, “Ultrasonography for the Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer,”
British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
vol. 93 (1986), pp. 1286–89.

35
. “FDA Clears a Test for Ovarian Cancer,” FDA News Release (Sept. 11, 2009); available online at
www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm182057.htm
.

36
. W. Hamilton, T. J. Peters, C. Bankhead, and D. Sharp, “Risk of Ovarian Cancer in Women with Symptoms in Primary Care: Population Based Case-Control Study,”
British Medical Journal,
vol. 339 (August 25, 2009), available online at
www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/339/aug25_2/b2998
.

37
. Gilda Radner, a well-known comedienne and wife of actor Gene Wilder, died of familial ovarian cancer. To prevent this from happening to others, Wilder has publicized the genetic risk for those who have this disease in their families, usually in first-degree relatives on the mother’s side of the family.

38
. J. K. Tobachman et al., “Intra-Abdominal Carcinomatosis after Prophylactic Oophorectomy in Ovarian Cancer Prone Families,”
Lancet,
vol. 2 (1982), p. 795; Elvio Silva and Rosemary Jenkins, “Serious Carcinoma in Endometrial Polyps,”
Modern Pathology,
vol. 3, no. 2 (1990), pp. 120–22.

39
. C. M. Rivera et al., “Increased Mortality for Neurological and Mental Diseases Following Early Bilateral Oophorectomy,”
Neuroepidemiology,
vol. 33, no. 1 (2009), pp. 32–40.

40
. Denise Grady, “Gain Reported in Combating Ovary Cancer,”
New York Times,
Jan. 5, 2006, pp. 1–3.

41
. Brendan O’Regan and Caryle Hirshberg,
Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated
Bibliography
(Petaluma, CA: Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1993).

Chapter 8

1
. Gina Ogden,
The Return of Desire: A Guide to Rediscovering Your Sexual Passion
(Boston: Trumpeter Books, 2008).

2
. Daniel Amen,
Sex on the Brain
(New York: Harmony Books, 2007), p. 21.

3
. David Weeks and Jamie James,
Secrets of the Superyoung
(New York: Villard, 1998).

4
. Josephine Lowdes Sevely,
Eye’s Secrets: A New Theory of Female Sexuality
(New York: Random House, 1987), pp. 89–90.

5
. Caroline Muir and Charles Muir,
Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving
(San Francisco: Mercury House, 1989). The Muirs teach that finding the sacred spot is often difficult for a woman to accomplish alone. Even if she does locate it, it may be very difficult for her to stimulate it herself, which is the only way to access its healing power and its sexual and spiritual potential. Nevertheless, you can try to locate it in the following way: Squat with two fingers inside the vagina, press your fingers upward toward the navel while pressing down on the pubic bone with the other hand. If you can manage to stimulate or massage the area, the spot will swell. You may then be able to feel it between your fingers. For most women, this part of their awakening process requires the loving touch of a partner who re-spects the vulnerable nature of this spot.

Following the first edition of this book, I received a letter from Robert Svo-boda, the first Westerner to graduate from a college of Ayurvedic medicine in India. As a student of the tantric tradition, with a deep understanding of its complexities and subtleties, he pointed out that to equate tantric yoga only with “enjoyable sex,” as the Muirs do in their book, is to misunderstand and misrepresent this field. Though I find the Muirs’ work helpful, I do not want to mislead my readers into thinking that it represents true tantric yoga. For further reading on tantric yoga, see Douglas Renfrew Brooks,
The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction
to Hindu Sakta Tantrism
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).

6
. Muir and Muir,
Tantra,
p. 74.

7
. Gina Ogden,
Women Who Love Sex
(New York: Pocket Books, 1994).

8
. Paula B. Doress-Worters and Diana Laskin Siegal,
Ourselves, Growing Older
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987).

9
. H. B. Van de Weil, W. C. Schultz, et al., “Sexual Functioning Following Treatment of Cervical Cancer,”
European Journal of Gynecologic Oncology
(1988), pp. 275–81.

10
. Aaron Glatt, S. Zinner, and W. McCormack, “The Prevalence of Dyspareunia,”
Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 75, no. 3 (March 1990), pp. 433–36.

11
. “A View from Above: The Dangerous World of Wannabes,”
Time,
Nov. 25, 1991, p. 77.

12
. Ibid.

13
. J. Shifren et al., “Sexual Problems and Distress in United States Women: Prevalence and Correlates,”
Obstetrics and Gynecology,
vol. 112, no. 5 (November 2008), pp. 970–78.

14
. Bill Albert, Laura Lippman, Kerry Franzetta, Erum Ikramullah, Julie Dombrowski Keith, Rebecca Shwalb, Suzanne Ryan, and Elizabeth Terry Humen,
Freeze
Frame: A Snapshot of America’s Teens,
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (Sept. 2005), p. 21.

15
. J. C. Abma et al., “Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2002,”
Vital and Health Statistics,
Series 23, No. 24 (2004).

16
. S. Harlap, K. Kost, and J. D. Forrest,
Preventing Pregnancy, Protecting Health: A
New Look at Birth Control Choices in the United States
(New York: AGI, 1991).

17
. A. Nicholas et al., “A Woman’s History of Vaginal Orgasm Is Discernible from Her Walk,”
Journal of Sexual Medicine,
vol. 5, no. 9 (September 2008), pp. 2119–24.