This well-written text thoroughly addresses two quality of life issues in patients with a variety of neurological disorders: sexual and reproductive function. The de vasta stating effects of a variety of neurological diseases are well known to both the lay and medical communitIes, and are treated in numerous texts. However, as we continue to experience therapeutic breakthroughs in the tields of neurology and rehabilitation medicine, physicians and patients must become more aware of the issues discussed in this text. It is particularly important, as emphasized throughout the chapters, that the physician or therapist initiate conversations with the patients concerning both the possibility of parenting a child, as well as the ability of the patient to enhance his/her sexual functioning. Commonly in the patient who is otherwise perfectly normal, there is a reluctance to discuss these topics and couples often feel embarrassed to initiate a conversation with their physi­ cians. This reluctance to initiate a discussion is even more apparent in patients with a variety of neurological disorders, in which there are overriding fears concerning both function and survival, as well as deep concerns about their own attractiveness, and their sexual and repro­ ductive ability.

Inhalt

1 Male Anatomy and Physiology.- 2 Management of Neurologic Diseases in Pregnancy, Delivery, and the Postpartum Period.- 3 Issues of Female Physiology and Reproductive Responses in the Neurorehabilitation Setting.- 4 The Role of the Menstrual Cycle in Chronic Disorders of the Nervous System.- 5 Principles of Sexuality Counseling.- 6 Diseases of Peripheral Nerves.- 7 Extrapyramidal Disorders.- 8 Sexuality and the Adolescent with Developmental Disorders.- 9 Neuromuscular Disease and Sexuality in Adolescents.- 10 Sexual Dysfunction Following Stroke.- 11 Sexual Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis.- 12 Sexual Rehabilitation Issues in Spinal Cord Injury.- 13 Traumatic Brain Injury.- 14 The Geriatric Population.- 15 Sexually Transmitted Diseases.