A drug to boost female libido

Men have viagra since 1998 to increase their sexual abilities. Women will have flibanserin soon to boost their libido.

Tested on several thousands of women suffering from disorders of desire, this drug has significantly improved their sex lives, according to studies presented recently at the 12th Congress of the European Society for Sexual Medicine.

After the advent of the little blue pill and its competitors, which have transformed the treatment of male sexual disorders and conquered a billion dollar market, pharmaceutical companies began looking for their female equivalents.

But the challenge has proved to be more difficult than expected, partly because sexuality is much more complex in women than in men. A testosterone patch called Intrinsa has been marketed in 2007, to decrease the desire after surgical menopause.

Outside this narrow framework, the notion of female sexual dysfunction is not unanimous. For skeptics, it is just a business idea of pharmaceutical companies to sell new drugs. But this is a real disease, but frequently ignored, say experts.

According to the trials on the flibanserin, it is not known much about female sexuality because there has been little academic research in this area and some taboos. Like in case of Viagra, the benefits of flibanserin on libido were discovered incidentally.

This product acts on the central nervous system at the level of serotonin receptors. It was initially used as an antidepressant, but its effects on female desire appeared to be more convincing.

The studies have been conducted in the United States and Europe on premenopausal women suffering from "hypoactive sexual desire" (DSH). Unknown to the general public and even doctors, this term is jargon used in textbooks of psychiatry to define sexual disorders characterized by a lack of desire. During 24 weeks, volunteers were treated with 100 mg of flibanserin or placebo.

To assess its effects in a field as complex as female sexuality, the investigators used an electronic logbook. After several weeks, these parameters were statistically improved in women treated with flibanserin.

The effects are undeniable, but beware, this is not the same concept as for erectile dysfunction. Here it will be a daily treatment for a long period.

Marketing is announced around 2011. A deadline that does not confirm the laboratory Boehringer Ingelheim, which wants to be very cautious while awaiting additional results. A handful of other drugs with different modes of action are under study, in very preliminary phases of clinical or animal studies.

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