Deadly 'iku iku byo' reaches a climax
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20061115p2g00m0dm040000c.html/
Growing numbers of Japanese women are afflicted with an illness that
gives them orgasms virtually 24 hours a day. And with suggestions
that it could be deadly, the women hardly know whether they're coming
or going, according to Shukan Post (11/24).
"If a guy simply taps me on the shoulder, I just swoon. Even when I
go to the toilet, my body reacts. I'm a little bit scared of myself,"
one woman sufferer tells Shukan Post.
Another adds: "When I got on the train one day, I could feel blood
gushing toward a certain part of my body and it felt so good I almost
let out a moan. It was sheer murder when everybody got pushed into
the carriage."
Yet another woman has her say.
"Even the vibration of my mobile phone is enough to set me off," she
says. "My friend said there's something called Iku Iku byo (Cum Cum
Disease). I guess I've got that."
What may be afflicting these women, the best-selling weekly says, is
an ailment called persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS).
PSAS has been described as an affliction that brings about orgasm
through the slightest of jolts regardless of whether they're aroused,
or even thinking about sex. What's more, orgasms experienced by PSAS
sufferers are not just momentary phenomena, instead affecting women
over anywhere from a few days to a week, with one reported case
seeing 300 orgasms in a single day.
Awareness in Japan of PSAS -- which was first documented by Dr.
Sandra Leiblum in the United States five years ago -- is growing,
especially in the blogsphere, where it is being called Iku Iku byo.
Hideo Yamanaka, a doctor at the Toranomon Hibiya Clinic in Tokyo says
the disease can be debilitating.
"For women to orgasm, they need to have some sort of sexual
stimulation. There are nerves around the female genitals which react
to sexual stimulation. The body gradually builds up to a crescendo,
that ascends to a climax," the doctor tells Shukan Post. "However,
with this disease, women are mysteriously reaching climax without any
external sexual stimulation at all. One possible cause that I can
think of is an irregularity in the sensory nerves."
PSAS discover Leiblum says that the disease has a tendency to strike
post-menopausal women in their 40s and 50s or those who've undergone
hormonal treatment. But she adds that there have also been cases
reported among women in their 30s, stressing that too little is known
about the syndrome to pinpoint anything and adds that the nature of
the ailment means that many sufferers may be too ashamed to report it.
PSAS numbers in the U.S. are high enough for support groups to have
popped up, suggesting it won't be too long before Japan sees the same.
"Awareness levels are still too low," Jeannie Allen, the head of PSAS
Support, tells Shukan Post. "I think there's a strong possibility
that there are Japanese patients."
Manga artist Akira Narita, who says he has slept with over 1,000
different women, says he has come across some he believes may have
had PSAS.
"There must have been about 15 who came without me doing a thing.
We'd only need to stare in each other's eyes and they'd start
wiggling about, gripping tightly onto whatever was around them and
their bodies would start to shake. There were others who'd orgasm
repeatedly just because I'd stroked their hands," the self-professed
sexpert says. "I'd always thought of these women as types who got off
in their minds, but I think perhaps they may have had PSAS."
PSAS is not sex addiction and, considering the constant orgasms can
be draining, can often be a painful and demeaning experience. Many
sufferers are driven to the verge of suicide, prompting medical
experts to recommend anybody who suspects they have the ailment to
seek a doctor's advice immediately.
"Anybody who has the slightest suspicion," physician Yamanaka tells
Shukan Post, "should get to a gynecologist or neurologist straight
away." (By Ryann Connell)
November 16, 2006
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WaiWai stories are transcriptions of articles that originally
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