This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in JAMA

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In Reply: We agree with Dr Renshaw that future advances in understanding of pedophilia will likely rest in the hands of science and medicine. Recent technological developments that allow for a detailed study and exploration of the mind/brain relationship could prove to be the crucial complement to the behavioral, pharmacological, and psychotherapeutic interventions currently in practice. A study conducted on a group of patients with sexual disorders including pedophilia has documented that endogenously produced opiates are released in specific brain areas during sexual arousal.¹ It is unknown, however, whether the pathological release of such opiates may explain the addictive quality sometimes associated with sexual drive in some pedophilic patients. Similarly, it is possible that the pattern of opiate release in various brain areas differ in either an aroused, or an unaroused, sexual state between persons who either are, or are not, sexually disordered.

The potential to further pursue such research . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

Medical Research in Pedophilia
Domeena C. Renshaw
JAMA. 2003;289(10):1243.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT