"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."
Copyright 1999-2006, Mainchi Daily. Used with permission. All rights
reserved. Ryann Connell is a Staff Writer and Senior Desk Editor for the
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