The oxytocin, the pleasure hormone

The secretion of oxytocin has very positive effects on our physical, psychological and sexual abilities. It tends to make us sociable and increases the emotional attachment with our partner, friends or family. Oxytocin also enhances feelings of joy, confidence and can impact on your mood, your stress management as well as your sexuality (as much the female orgasm as the male ejaculation).

With age, the oxytocin effects on the body tend to dwindle down, making the need for oxytocin supplementation greater as years pass by. This decline can be explained by 3 reasons:

• The cells that produce oxytocin become less able to increase their production of oxytocin after stimulation, resulting in too low levels of oxytocin when needed
• The levels of oxytocin decrease in central brain areas where emotions are created
• The number of oxytocin receptors in the target cells, which are essential for oxytocin action, drops in elderly persons.

The lack, as much as the excess of oxytocin creates a hormonal unbalance that is important to adjust.

© Dr. Thierry Hertoghe, Brussels

To go further on this topic, you can read Dr. Hertoghe’s book Passion, Sex and Long life