Researchers from Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland medical centers published an article in the October 2013 issue of the journal, Menopause, showing that the microflora in the vagina changes throughout a woman's reproductive life and that abnormalities in this microflora can cause vaginal dryness and painful intercourse (dysparunea).
They studied 87 women from age 35-60 years of age and found that the microflora changed over the different stages of a woman's reproductive life. They correlated a deficiency of the bacteria, lactobacillus with the degree of vaginal dryness. It appears that creating a cocktail of different microbes could be a treatment for this condition.
