Monday, May 24, 2010
FDA considers the 'pink Viagra' for women
Posted by Sex and Love editor on Mon, May 24, 2010 at 10:52 AM
As reported by the WashingtonPost.com, on June 18 the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee will consider a pill designed to increase a woman’s sex drive. Produced by the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, Flibanserin sparks female sexual arousal by tweaking brain chemistry. Like female arousal, exactly how the drug works is unknown. However, the "pink Viagra" appears to decrease levels of serotonin while boosting dopamine and norepinephrine.
Since Viagra’s skyrocketing success after its release in 1998, companies have scrambled to produce a similar drug for women. The market for female Viagra is estimated to be $2 billion in the U.S. alone. Pfizer hoped Viagra would work for women, but they soon discovered that turning a woman on is
more complicated than exciting a man.
Just as Viagra was originally designed to treat heart conditions, Flibanserin was developed as an antidepressant. Clinical studies proved the drug did little to alleviate depression, but it did have a curious side effect. The company then studied Flibanserin for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), which affects as many as 10% of females. More than 5,000 premenopausal women, 18 to 50 in the United States, Canada, and Europe with HSDD were given a 100-milligram daily dosage that doubled their average monthly sexual encounters from 2.7 to 4.5 compared with 3.7 among the control group. However, is this enough of a boost to justify daily dosage? Some fear the promise of more sex may mask the risks of this drug.
Some believe HSDD was merely a disease invented and promoted by drug companies. To a certain degree, a loss of sexual desire is a natural part of getting old---so is death but nearly all drugs are designed to avoid this as long as possible. Others believe a low sex drive is merely a symptom of larger problems, physical or mental.
So far, the only reported side effects of Flibanserin are the usual: nausea, dizziness, and drowsiness. The long term effects will not surface until many years after the drug has been released, much like the hearing loss newly linked to Viagra.
When considering a new drug, the FDA must also anticipate how it may be abused. Will this drug make women desire partners who are abusive or otherwise detrimental? Will it make women desire men indiscriminately? Will the drug become a new kind of Roofie, something men slip in women’s drinks in order to take advantage of them?
Read more at washingtonpost.com
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