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Date: | Fri, 17 Oct 1997 06:46:39 -0500 |
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>>If orgasms are triggered
by oxytocin responses, then it is obvious to me that she has to have at
least *some* oxytocin in her system.
The relationship between oxytocin and orgasms goes the other way. Orgasms
are not *triggered* by oxytocin responses. Rather, an orgasms *triggers*
the release of oxytocin. There is no known link between the level of
oxytocin in the body and the physical sensations of orgasm. Think about it:
when a mother gets a shot of pitocin to induce labor, she doesn't start
going "oh, yes, oh my, oh yes yes YES" like the scene in the cafe from "When
Harry Met Sally."
Oxytocin does not cause orgasms. Oxytocin is released *following* an
orgasm. Oxytocin is also released when a baby nurses, and when a person eats.
Perhaps this woman has a genetic abnormality that results in the some stage
in the process of oxytocin manufacture being blocked, or perhaps she has no
oxytocin receptors -- no, you said she does have labor when given pitocin,
so it can't be the receptors. I would suspect a biochemical problem before
a psychological problem.
Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anthropology and Nutrition
Texas A&M University
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