Viagra for Women

Viagra for women: while it's hard to say who's more anxious to see it behind the counter of your local pharmacy -- men or women -- the real winner will be the company that manages to get it approved by the Food and Drug Administration. According to a new article in the May edition of webmd.com, two new treatments have made significant progress towards the goal of being recognized as the first drug to stimulate the female sex drive.

First in line in the low-female-sex-drive-sweepstakes is a drug called flibanserin(Boehringher-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals) which is currently in "phase III" clinical trials (that's the final phase of drug testing required by the Food and Drug Administration). Although in phase III, Boehringher-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals is keeping a tight lid on flibanserin. Some critics say the drug is actually an anti-depressant. It's effects on the female libido are being closely guarded (BusinessWeek, Jan. 8, 2007).

Meanwhile, another drug -- called bremelanotide -- is in development as well, one that webmd.com reports is supposed to cure low female sex drive and male erectile dysfunction at the same time. Both potential uses are being tested in "phase II" clinical trials, which are early studies required by the FDA to assess how well a drug works and how safe it is.

According to press release from Palatin Technologies -- the company researching bremelanotide -- the drug is administered in the form of a nasal spray, and it acts on the central nervous system, stimulating a region of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is known to be involved in sexual arousal in both men and women.

Seems pretty cut and dried: a type of female Viagra that impacts a woman's state of arousal and increase her desire. But critics say it's not quite that simple.

Researchers at the Dartmouth Medical School point out that -- technically speaking -- arousal and desire are not the same thing. Arousal is the physical and psychological state of being primed for sex (i.e. the penis becomes erect, the vagina lubricates, heart rate increases, and blood vessels dilate). But experts says the lines of "sexual desire" are a bit blurry. It can't specifically be "seen" and has to do with wanting to become aroused.

Other critics feel that the root of "sexual desire" is less a medical issue and more a psychological one. Rosemary Basson, MD (University of British Columbia, Canada) -- according to WebMD.com -- agrees that the medical focus on desire is misplaced. "...Women and men have multiple motivations to be sexual, and desire is only one of these reasons. Desire for sex can also be the desire to feel emotional closeness with someone, to please that person, or to feel attractive..."

While pharmaceutical companies continue to eye the potential windfall such a drug could bring financially, many experts question what is the actual size of the potential market for these drugs. For example, survey results published in the January/February 2005 issue of the International Journal of Impotence Research reported that 43% of women have low sexual desire, while a similar survey in the British Medical Journal reported findings of only 10%. Another study carried out by the Kinsey Institute came up with even lower numbers (7%).

So the jury is still out. A more realistic assessment of the two drugs will happen when and if either finally gets FDA approval.

source:http://www.dentalplans.com/articles/19351/