Scientists conducting a clinical trial into a new anti-depression medication have discovered that while the drug does not treat depression very well, it could potentially become the ‘female Viagra’. Scientists have said it could be available in up to 18 months.
Nearly 2,000 pre-menopausal women took part in the trial for flibanserin, who had been diagnosed with the condition hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Those women who took 100mg of the drug daily reported that there had been a significant increase in their sexual desire and the number of satisfactory sexual experiences they had.
In three separate trials involving women in the US, Europe and Canada, the drug proved effective at increasing women’s sexual desire, without affecting their mood. The trials were funded by the manufacturer of the medication, Boehringer Ingelheim.
However a lot of experts have expressed scepticism that low sex drive in women can be solved with medication. Professor Irwin Nazareth of University College London said that reduced sexual interest could be ‘normal’ for some women, while Paula Hall from Relate said that while loss of lidido could be a ‘physical thing’ pills weren’t going to ‘fix a broken relationship or help with looking after the kids.’
The trials are fantastic news for women who suffer from low libibo and are made particularly exciting by the fact that the drug does not seem to increase libido by acting on mood. For too long, women suffering from sexual disorders have had their problems dismissed as being connected to their relationships or state of mind, rather than it being a medical condition.
Clearly, many sexual conditions in women and men can be caused by bad relationships or stress in someone’s personal life. It is well known that ED can be related to stress – but no one suggests that this is true in every case, or that medication could prevent people from examining problems in their home lives.
Hopefully, a medication proven to bring back a woman’s lost libido will significantly act to silence the sceptical voices in the medical community that accept that erectile dysfunction can be medical in origin, while claiming that sexual disorders in women are always rooted in their emotions. The quicker that the medical community abandons such sexist axioms the better!