The Peter Attia Drive

#371 – Women's sexual health: desire, arousal, and orgasms, navigating perimenopause, and enhancing satisfaction | Sally Greenwald, M.D., M.P.H.

03 Nov 2025

Audio

Description

View the Show Notes Page for This Episode Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content Sign Up to Receive Peter's Weekly Newsletter Sally Greenwald is an OB-GYN who specializes in women's sexual health from a hormonal and physiologic perspective, with expertise spanning desire, arousal, pelvic floor function, contraception, and menopause care. In this episode, she explains why sexual health is a vital component of overall well-being, exploring topics such as the drivers of desire, the anatomy of sexual function, myths and realities around orgasm, and the role of hormones in perimenopause and menopause. She also covers vaginal and pelvic health, pain with sex, evidence-based therapies for low desire and arousal, how contraception and medications can affect sexual function, and practical strategies for enhancing sexual satisfaction and maintaining intimacy across life stages. This episode offers a comprehensive, evidence-based discussion with immediate real-world relevance for women as well as for men who want to better understand their partners. We discuss: How sexual health influences physical health, emotional well-being, and relationships [3:15]; Understanding the physiology of the female orgasm, sexual comfort and satisfaction, and the disparity between men and women [12:45]; Foreplay, the science of desire, and methods to help women cultivate arousal and connection [19:00]; The physiology and sources of female lubrication, the role of clitoral nerve anatomy in pleasure, and the use of lubricants and vibrators to enhance comfort and sexual health [23:45]; Understanding female anatomy and what is needed for orgasm [31:15]; Understanding sexual desire, how to cultivate it, the role of hormones, and testosterone therapy in women [41:15]; Personalizing perimenopause care: how desire for ovulation guides the choice between contraception and menopausal hormone therapy [49:30]; Considerations for choosing contraceptives and hormonal therapies during perimenopause [59:45]; Factors negatively affecting desire, and why female libido persists with age and fluctuates across the menstrual cycle [1:11:00]; How sexual trauma and physical pain can affect sexual health, and evidence-based strategies for recovery [1:15:15]; Vaginal care routine: lubricants, moisturizers, topical hormones, and other approaches for vaginal health [1:19:15]; Tips for sexually satisfying your female partner [1:25:45]; The pharmacology of arousal: various treatments for low sexual desire in women [1:30:30]; Sex during and after pregnancy: impact on arousal, safety of sex, and how to manage postpartum recovery and pain [1:37:45]; How Sally would redesign sex education [1:42:15]; Sally's optimism about a new era in women's sexual health [1:49:00]; and More. Connect With Peter on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube

Transcription

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.

0 upvotes

🗳️ Sign in to Upvote

Popular episodes get transcribed faster

Other episodes from The Peter Attia Drive

Transcribed and ready to explore now

#375 - The ketogenic diet, ketosis, and hyperbaric oxygen: metabolic therapies for weight loss, cognitive enhancement, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, brain injuries, and more | Dominic D'Agostino, Ph.D.

08 Dec 2025

The Peter Attia Drive

#374 - The evolutionary biology of testosterone: how it shapes male development and sex-based behavioral differences, | Carole Hooven, Ph.D.

01 Dec 2025

The Peter Attia Drive

#372 - AMA #77: Dietary fiber and health outcomes: real benefits, overhyped claims, and practical applications

10 Nov 2025

The Peter Attia Drive

#370 - AMA #76: Peter evaluates longevity drugs, aspirin for CVD, and strategies to improve muscle mass — promising, proven, fuzzy, noise, or nonsense?

27 Oct 2025

The Peter Attia Drive

#369 ‒ Rethinking protein needs for performance, muscle preservation, and longevity, and the mental and physical benefits of creatine supplementation and sauna use | Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.

20 Oct 2025

The Peter Attia Drive

#368 ‒ The protein debate: optimal intake, limitations of the RDA, whether high-protein intake is harmful, and how to think about processed foods | David Allison, Ph.D.

The Peter Attia Drive

#371 – Women's sexual health: desire, arousal, and orgasms, navigating perimenopause, and enhancing satisfaction | Sally Greenwald, M.D., M.P.H.

This episode hasn't been transcribed yet

Other episodes from The Peter Attia Drive

#375 - The ketogenic diet, ketosis, and hyperbaric oxygen: metabolic therapies for weight loss, cognitive enhancement, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, brain injuries, and more | Dominic D'Agostino, Ph.D.

#374 - The evolutionary biology of testosterone: how it shapes male development and sex-based behavioral differences, | Carole Hooven, Ph.D.

#372 - AMA #77: Dietary fiber and health outcomes: real benefits, overhyped claims, and practical applications

#370 - AMA #76: Peter evaluates longevity drugs, aspirin for CVD, and strategies to improve muscle mass — promising, proven, fuzzy, noise, or nonsense?

#369 ‒ Rethinking protein needs for performance, muscle preservation, and longevity, and the mental and physical benefits of creatine supplementation and sauna use | Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.

#368 ‒ The protein debate: optimal intake, limitations of the RDA, whether high-protein intake is harmful, and how to think about processed foods | David Allison, Ph.D.

Sign in to Audioscrape

Share this moment