Viagra for women! Chew on That!
This blog generally deals with healthy diet. But a poor sex life can make you fat, right? Those consoling Krispy Kremes? That vat of Jamoca Almond Fudge? So some of you might be thrilled to learn that an antidepressant that failed tests is being touted as "Viagra for women" after unexpected side effects.
Flibanserin didn't do anything in trials to lift women's mood but it apparently did lift their flagging sex drive. (Wouldn't that lift mood?) You'd think researchers wouldn't have found this unusual. After all, Viagra started life being developed as a heart medicine.
Just think about the response of those 2,000 women volunteers in the US, Canada and Europewomen who participated in flibanserin's clinical trials. "I'm sorry, doctor. I'm still feeling depressed. But good grief, I'm horny."
Of course there are plenty of women at a certain stage in long term relationships who have held that Viagra was the worst thing that could have happened to them. So now there may be a chance in the future to turn the tables.
Leave it to a doctor not in Italy or France but in England - Professor Irwin Nazareth of University College London - to point out that for some women reduced sexual interest or response may be "normal". And for Paula Hall of Relate, the British counselling service, to say that, "Female loss of libido is a big problem and it is not going away. It can cause problems within a relationship and affect self-esteem...This research is really quite exciting for women with loving partners whose loss of libido is a physical thing. But it is not going to fix a broken relationship or help with looking after the kids or cleaning the house."
Do you suppose either of those points came up when Viagra was being developed for men?
Flibanserin didn't do anything in trials to lift women's mood but it apparently did lift their flagging sex drive. (Wouldn't that lift mood?) You'd think researchers wouldn't have found this unusual. After all, Viagra started life being developed as a heart medicine.
Just think about the response of those 2,000 women volunteers in the US, Canada and Europewomen who participated in flibanserin's clinical trials. "I'm sorry, doctor. I'm still feeling depressed. But good grief, I'm horny."
Of course there are plenty of women at a certain stage in long term relationships who have held that Viagra was the worst thing that could have happened to them. So now there may be a chance in the future to turn the tables.
Leave it to a doctor not in Italy or France but in England - Professor Irwin Nazareth of University College London - to point out that for some women reduced sexual interest or response may be "normal". And for Paula Hall of Relate, the British counselling service, to say that, "Female loss of libido is a big problem and it is not going away. It can cause problems within a relationship and affect self-esteem...This research is really quite exciting for women with loving partners whose loss of libido is a physical thing. But it is not going to fix a broken relationship or help with looking after the kids or cleaning the house."
Do you suppose either of those points came up when Viagra was being developed for men?
Posted on Wednesday 18th November 2009 in
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