The Science of Orgasm

It used to be difficult to obtain reliable, current, scientific material on sexual health until I added The Science of Orgasm to my library. It is certainly worth the space and the price. The Science of Orgasm is an excellent, well-written assembly of the current scientific understanding of not only the phenomenon of orgasm but of sexual pleasure in general. The fact that sexual science is in its infancy, partly because of lack of federal funding, does not diminish the value of this book. On the contrary, the 358-page, hardcover book addresses most of the questions frequently asked by patients on sex and orgasm.

Health care professionals are the book's primary audience. However, the authors have made considerable effort to make the material understandable to other educated readers; eg, they include a 7-page glossary at the end of the book to explain the scientific terms used. The patients I know who read the book found it useful and entertaining.

Orgasm is the theme of the book, but the larger part of the book addresses sexual function and dysfunction in men and women. The first part discusses the relationship between orgasm and health, including the effects of disease and aging on sexual function and on orgasm. In chapters 4 and 8, respectively entitled “Bodily Changes at Orgasm” and “Pleasure and Satisfaction With and Without Orgasm,” I particularly enjoyed the concise history of how classification systems developed to match current understanding of female sexual dysfunction. Moreover, the authors' acknowledgment of the limitations of the currently available classification systems is fair and unbiased.

To me, chapters 11 through 15 are themselves a valuable reference. They address the effects of drugs on sexual function and on orgasm. The useful information is not limited to prescription drugs. There are 3 chapters dedicated to common approaches to counteracting the adverse effects of drugs on sexual function, the effects of recreational drugs, and the effects of herbal remedies on orgasm.

Chapters 16 through 18, dealing with hormones and orgasm, include valuable information to most physicians, although not necessarily impressive to this endocrinologist.

The information most fascinating and useful to the practicing physician is presented in the last third of the book. Many of the questions frequently asked by patients are addressed in the chapter entitled “Atypical Orgasms.” The chapters entitled “Genital-Brain Connection,” “Orgasms After Brain Surgery,” and “Imaging the Brain During Arousal and Orgasm” give the reader the state-of-science information in a nutshell.

With the exception of chapter 4 (“Bodily Changes at Orgasm”) and chapter 22 (“Imaging the Brain During Arousal and Orgasm”), which include important illustrations of the male and female reproductive organs and of the brain, I was disappointed by the paucity of pictures and illustrations. I hope future editions will overcome this limitation. Another limitation is that the authors tend to fill in the gaps in clinical knowledge with preclinical data without taking the time to acknowledge the limitations of extrapolating from animal research to humans. It also should be noted that the book does not address whether there are differences in orgasmic experiences when sex occurs between male-female partners, during self-stimulation, with homosexual couples, or with other forms of sexual relationships.

The book deserves its eye-catching title. The authors are known among their peers and have published much in the field of sexual medicine and sex research. Komisaruk is a neuroscience professor at Rutgers University; Beyer-Flores is an endocrinology professor and laboratory chief in Mexico. Whipple is one of the most trusted authorities in the field, having a long track record of authoring research articles and best-selling books (The G-Spot), supervising and consulting, and holding office nationally and internationally for the well-established professional societies on sex research. She is now professor emeritus at Rutgers University.