Preface

Scientists and public health professionals are beginning to acknowledge sexual health and its role in reproductive and mental health of people. Sexual dysfunctions are common and have psychological and social consequences. As suggested by the title, the book "Sexual Dysfunctions - Special Issues" represents a painstaking analysis of some of the issues in the field that are worth mentioning.

The target audiences for the book are those health care providers who are interested in sexual and reproductive health, clinicians who treat chronic diseases that affect sexuality to some extent, and researchers who would like to study epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment of sexual dysfunctions.

The main goal of this book is to provide a new perspective on sexual dysfunctions through contribution of experts from different disciplines.

The literature on sexual dysfunctions is relatively limited worldwide. Thus, the first section presents a systematic review of the prevalence of sexual dysfunctions in men and women along with the associated subjects in this area.

Many patients and medical professionals assume that sexual functions are not of concern in chronic diseases. For example, cancer survivors were so busy with the treatment and its side effects that they never thought about their sexual life. However, the truth is that sexuality is a major concern even in disabled patients, and should be integrated in the management plan of patients. Sexual function and dysfunction in some medical conditions is discussed in Section two.

Sexual dysfunctions were considered to be merely a psychological matter for many years. Experimental studies using animal models have made a remarkable contribution to changing this perception and have had a significant part in studying physiology and treatment of sexual dysfunctions. The last section provides some examples of these studies, which might be of interest to investigators of sexual function and dysfunction.

There are many related topics that are not included in this edition, which will surely be addressed in the revisions. It is my hope that the readers will find this

#### VIII Preface

book to be valuable and practical in education, research and treatment of sexual dysfunctions.
