News May 2007
New Hopes For A Female Viagra
More than 7 years after Viagra
hit the market, women are still asking: "What about us?"
Now, what Viagra did for men, a new drug being studied could do
for a woman's sex drive.
For years, low libido in women has been blamed on the laundry,
the soccer games, the dishes and life in general.
While that may be partially to blame, millions of women have questioned
how they can love their partners and spouses, but lose interest
in their sex drive.
"Is this normal, what's wrong with me, what can I do to make
it better?" asks one woman, who preferred to not be identified.
"Then you start getting into insecurities. What's this going
to do to my marriage, what are all the other women doing about this."
Until now, the answer has been - nothing.
That's why the clinical trial of a new drug is exciting - both
to potential patients and doctors.
It was originally investigated as an anti-depressant.
"But it didn't work well," says UT Southwestern gynecologist
Bruce Carr. "Now the company that was investigating it was
going to shelve it but they found when they looked at the data that
the women that had taken it, one of the side-effects is increased
sex drive, or increased libido."
Dr. Carr is among the investigators of Flibanserin - a daily medication
to improve a woman's sex drive.
Last year, the FDA refused to approve Intrinsa, a testosterone
patch for women.
Instead of increasing hormone levels, Flibanserin targets the pleasure
zones of a woman's brain.
For this phase three study, researchers are looking for pre-menopausal
women, between 18-to-45 years old, in a stable, heterosexual relationship,
with no other serious medical conditions.
Doctors say if it works, Flibanserin will help women and men.
"It'll hope both," says Dr. Carr. "It'll help fulfill
their [a woman's] needs and also their husbands needs and it could
really improve relationships."
That's why this North Texas mother and wife enrolled.
"I'm doing it for me, I'm doing it for my husband really.
Partly because I'm trying to figure out if something's wrong with
me that can be fixed," she says. "I'm hopeful."
She doesn't know if she's getting the real medication, or a placebo.
Nor would she reveal if she's experiencing an improvement in sex
drive.
But she knows many other women are also hoping this drug can do
for them what Viagra did for men's sex lives.
Source: http://www.wfaa.com/
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