The Progress We’re Making

Birthdays are a useful thing—although it’s increasingly easier to celebrate them for our children (or grandchildren) than for ourselves. Here at MiddlesexMD, we’re celebrating a milestone: It was five years ago this month that we launched our website. While I’ve been practicing medicine for much longer (did I say it’s not easy to celebrate every milestone?), this marks five years of encouraging women to learn about and take charge of their sexual health throughout their lives.There are a number of ways to measure how far we’ve come, like marking our children’s height on a chart. The first that comes to mind is the number of women who’ve been in touch.

We’ve been in contact with hundreds of thousands of women (and men who love them) from 209 countries. Many have thanked us for solving a specific problem, or for simply providing some hope and a path to follow.

We’ve talked to hundreds of women in person, too, at medical conferences. Nurse practitioners and other health care providers have said how grateful they are to have a resource for patients and, because many of them are women, have shared personal stories, too.

As a physician, I have more options available to me than I did five years ago. Osphena comes to mind as a treatment for vaginal and vulvar pain. And while localized estrogen products have been on the market for a while, I’ve noticed more advertisements for them. While too much advertising—especially of pharmaceuticals—can sometimes just be noise, I see the ads as an increase in conversation about women’s sexual health. And that’s a good thing.

I’m hopeful about increased conversation at the FDA, too. Last fall I attended meetings to discuss how the agency reviewed and set priorities for drugs to treat women’s sexual health challenges. It’s been rewarding to join with colleagues in Even the Score, a campaign for women’s sexual health equity. In March, eleven members of Congress signed a letter to the commissioner of the FDA, expressing the firm belief that “equitable access to health care should be a fundamental right” and noting the disparity between the number of FDA-approved drugs for male sexual dysfunction (26) and female sexual dysfunction (0).

It will take some time for new treatments to make their way through development, testing, and FDA approval. In the meantime, I’m also happy to note more books (including my own) and websites offering information, encouragement, and community to women as they navigate midlife and beyond. 

I hope you’re talking, too—to your partner, your friends, your sisters, and your health care provider. When we share our experiences, we feel less alone. And we can also learn from each other about what’s happening and what works to keep us vital and engaged. Because we know that even at—especially at—midlife and beyond, we’ve still got it!