In the past we have discussed a range of treatments aimed at enhancing female libido, such as a nasal sprays and gels to enhance testosterone levels. However, to date there have not been any treatments that have reached the status required to market such a product (other than Intrinsa, which was withdrawn for commercial reasons). That is why we were initially hesitant about a new treatment that was the subject of several recent trials. Yet, it appears to be tackling the issue from a different angle from most other products being investigated to provide a solution for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Here we consider what is currently known about the treatment.

The treatment, which goes by the name Lorexys, is a drug that contains bupropion and trazodone. Those active ingredients are often used in antidepressants and work by changing the balance of brain chemicals that play a part in regulating sexual excitation and inhibition. This is in line with the dominating theoretical model, known as Kinsey dual control model. According to that model, brain chemicals such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine inhibit and activate sexual activation in the brain. Therefore, the idea is that an effective treatment is possible if we are able to establish the precise ratio between the active ingredients and the brain chemicals.

Although this model seems straightforward, the process of finding the precise ratios is likely to be arduous. We currently know that several antidepressants, which have taken decades to develop, can cause sexual side effects that include lowered sexual drive. In addition to that, even if the team is certain that they have found the appropriate ratio, dosage will still remain an issue that needs to be investigated before the treatment is marketed. Similarly, we do not yet know anything about the time it takes for the treatment to work and whether there are side effects that may render the treatment unsuitable for some individuals.

On the other hand, there is no denying that the treatment targets an interesting channel (the brain is the body’s largest sexual organ after all) and that if it were to be efficacious then it is likely to have significant implications for the millions of women suffering from FSD.

In addition to this product, Flibanserin is another product in the area of medicine that is currently being considered by the FDA and also targets the brain.

Researchers in Australia have been given approval to conduct clinical trials regarding a nasal spray that may increase the occurrence of orgasm for women. The spray is known as Tefina. The Australian trials of Tefina are to due start recruiting participants within the coming month, while there are already on-going trials in in Canada and USA.

The spray, which contains a testosterone gel, is fast absorbing and its effects are intended to last for a few hours. If approved, it would be recommended for the times when a woman anticipates sexual activity. Despite containing testosterone, the treatment does not appear to have side effects such as deepening of the voice, increased facial hair or acne.

Anorgasmia, which is a condition where an individual is unable to achieve orgasm despite adequate stimulation, is thought to occur in up to 1 in 3 pre-menopausal women. Anorgasmia is most commonly treated with psychotherapy or sex therapy, but there are no medications that are prescribed with direct relevance to anorgasmia. Therefore, the news of a new treatment is likely to be a cause for optimism among the affected individuals. However, clinical trials tend to be rather lengthy and the results would still need to go through various approval processes. As such, there may be some time before the treatment is out on the market.

Diabetes is already known to cause erectile dysfunction in men but until now there has been no data supporting the theory that the sexual health of women might be affected too. According to a recent study, levels of sexual desire and the amount of sexual activity engaged in by women who are diabetic and those who are not have been revealed to be the same however women who suffer from diabetes report less sexually satisfying events.

The study included women of all ethnicities who were between the ages of 40 and 80 and 2,270 women participated altogether. The group was divided into three and included those with diabetes who took insulin, those who had the disease but who did not take insulin and a control group who were healthy and did not have diabetes.

Out of the entire group, 486 were diabetics including 139 who took insulin and 63.7% of the whole group reported some sexual activity over a 3 month period. The research gleaned that those who were diabetic and treated with insulin were twice as likely to have problems specifically with lubrication and 80% of them had greater difficulty with trying to reach orgasm than healthy women. The study’s authors took into account factors such as race, weight, hormone therapy, age and of course, relationship status.

Knowing that diabetic women are more likely to encounter problems with sexual function means that this risk can be avoided with special diets and exercise and we should be more aware of the effects of this condition on our sexual health. It has also been suggested that symptoms of sexual dysfunction might be brought on by nerve damage caused by elevated levels of blood sugar. A study like this is important in the area of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) considering firstly, that FSD is barely recognised as a condition and also since in the area of treatment, there is next to nothing available.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has announced that the marketing authorisation (MA) for Intrinsa in the European Union has been withdrawn. This product has been available since 2006 and has been used for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in women.

Warner Chilcott Ltd, the MA holders, voluntarily requested that the MA be removed and this wish was carried out subsequently by the European Commission. It seems that the product was not commercially viable.

The Online Clinic will no longer prescribe this treatment for HSDD but we will keep patients informed of future female sexual dysfunction therapies that we feel will benefit our female sexual dysfunction patients.

The human sex drive is often thought to be greater among men and this has always been put down to the higher levels of testosterone in the male body but a recent study carried out at the University of Michigan has prompted us to question the role of testosterone in sexual desire. The results of the study are published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour and offer us further insight into the validity of an area of medicine that has been labelled female sexual dysfunction (FSD).

105 men participated in the study and 91 women and they answered questions regarding their sex lives, their attitudes towards sex, to their own bodies and with sexual desire. Their testosterone levels were also checked.

Having always thought that a high level of testosterone in men was the reason that men had greater sex drives than women, the researchers were surprised to discover that women who had higher levels of testosterone in their bodies were less inclined to want to have sex with a partner than women with lower levels of testosterone. Furthermore, women with higher levels of the sex hormone were more inclined to masturbate than women with lower levels of testosterone, even though they did not desire sex with a partner as much. Sexual desire seems far more layered an issue than previously thought. Maybe our definition of sexual dysfunction is not even correct?

Although the study size was very small, the outcome leads us to think that this whole area of female sexual dysfunction is wrong-headed. If a woman does not desire sex with another person and she is happy with that, is this sexual dysfunction? If she is unhappy with the situation then that is a completely different matter. If the findings of this study are borne out in a further, much larger study, it would lead us to the conclusion that scientific research focussing on testosterone levels is heading in the wrong direction. Remember that the biggest sexual organ in the body is the brain, not the testes or the ovaries. Our guess is that the scientific community is looking in the wrong area for a solution – if indeed there is a problem to begin with…

Once again the topic of the female orgasm has come up in the news and it confirms that there is still a lot we don’t know about the female body and how the orgasm occurs. There is some empirical evidence linking the orgasm to exercise. 40% of the women participating in a survey reported such an experience in places such as their gym, embarrassingly, or even their sitting room carpet where the orgasm was brought on by repetitions of tummy crunches and other such abdominal exercises. The correlation between orgasm and these exercises was particularly strong among the women who participated but others experienced orgasm while climbing rope, lifting weights or running even.

Interestingly, these events were not associated with sexual fantasy or sexual thoughts of any kind, allowing us now to look at exercise as a form of treatment for this branch of female sexual dysfunction. If nothing else, this discovery might give some of us the impetus to go to the gym more often!

Sometimes when women say, ‘not tonight, I have a headache’, they really mean it; 90% of women who are treated for headache and migraine report problems with sexual function. This dysfunction is commonly reported as pain when having sex and a lack of sexual desire, which is also known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), one aspect of the umbrella term for sexual problems and women, female sexual dysfunction (FSD). These kinds of headaches include migraines and chronic headaches, which are characterised as more than 15 headaches in the month.

Last week it was found that 91% of women being treated for headache or migraine and who were participating in an Italian survey, were also experience less than normal levels of sexual function, with 20% diagnosed with HSDD. 17% felt they had a low sex drive but they were unconcerned about it.

Previous research shows that all types of chronic pain will have an effect on sex drive and the ability to become aroused. The researchers behind the survey also say that often headaches accompany other disorders such as depression and these disorders could be the direct link to sexual dysfunction rather than the headaches themselves.

There are still few treatments available for FSD and since libigel’s late stage trials did not go so well, we are excited about such treatments in trial stage at the moment. Trimel Pharmaceuticals Corp. is happy with the results of mid-stage trials in which they met all of their primary goals with their drug, Tefina, a gel containing testosterone that is administered through a nasal device.

The drug is specifically for women who suffer from anorgasmia, which describes the condition where women cannot reach orgasm, and according to the pharmaceutical company, affects one in five women before and after menopause, all over the world.

At the moment, only Intrinsa is licensed for women with HSDD but it is appropriate for very few women who suffer from low libido because they must be menopausal or post-menopausal and also be on oestrogen replacement therapy.

Recent findings show that approximately 61% of sexually active older women in their 60s through to their 80s were happy with their sex lives and this was also the case for those who did not have a partner or who were not at that time sexually active. 67% said they achieved orgasm most of the time or always. Is the concept of female sexual dysfunction therefore all a load of hype? Is it true then that it is a condition created by the pharmaceutical companies in order to make mega bucks? Or are older women just enjoying sex more with age? Conversely, only one five of these women reported having a high sex drive.

The study was carried out at the University of San Diego in order to assess sexual activity and levels of satisfaction among women over the age of 60. 806 women participated and they were an average age of 67 years. Both the youngest and oldest women showed the highest levels of satisfaction. The results of this study are published in the American Journal of Medicine.

The researchers explained that the satisfaction they experienced with their sex lives was based on their need to keep their relationships functioning. They also suggest that the older these women got, the more the feeling of closeness, of the emotional and physical kind, would suffice and help women become sexually satisfied. Furthermore, the study showed that some women who were in long-term relationships could be fully satisfied by a touch or caress.

Half of the women over the age of 80 reported that they experienced orgasm most of the time but rarely did they report sexual desire. This contrasts with the traditional scientific explanation that desire comes before sex according to those who carried out the research. Using evidence from the study and looking at this traditional model we can see that there are reasons beyond desire that spur on a woman’s choice to engage in sexual activity.

The study’s author also suggests that the emotional or physical closeness in a relationship can heavily outweigh the importance of having an orgasm. The author suggests that the study could indicate a need for a more positive approach to sexual wellbeing among women and the potential need to move away from the limiting focus on sexual activity and function on their own.

Libigel late stage trials proved disappointing when it did not meet its primary or secondary endpoints relating to an increase in satisfaction and desire in postmenopausal women. Shares in Biosante have fallen a massive 77%. The gel delivers testosterone into the bloodstream quickly and is applied once a day. Details of this efficacy trial were announced earlier and they showed that there was no material difference when comparing the gel with the active ingredient and the one with the placebo.

Two trials were carried out and in both trials those who were treated with Libigel experienced less distress during sexual activity and an increase in testosterone levels, however the improvements compared with the baseline were insignificant.

We think that it is highly unlikely that Libigel will be progressed any further. The best hopes of a medication that deals with Female Sexual Dysfunction and more specifically, Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, probably lies in a medication that influences the brain directly as the brain is the body’s main sexual organ – everything is controlled from there!

Apricus Biosciences is finally ready to market their erectile dysfunction treatment, Vitaros this November in Canada. They hope that the drug will be available in Europe by the end of 2012 if it is approved by the regulators here.

This drug will be the first topical treatment for erectile dysfunction that is sold on prescription and requires less time to get to work than current treatments available. A drop is placed at the tip of the penis and produces results within 6 minutes. The active ingredient in Vitaros is Alprostadil, an ingredient that is usually injected into the penis or administered as a suppository into the urethra. As one can imagine, this topical version of the ingredient will be a more attractive alternative.

Additionally, since the topical treatment is non-systemic and gets to work on the isolated area of the penis, there are little or no side effects experienced such as those that are associated with the taking of PDE5 inhibitors like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.

The pharmaceutical company ran into trouble with this drug in 2009 having run out of cash but over the last year and a half they have been working hard to get themselves back on track and Vitaros is not their only market hopeful.

Phase III trials for Femprox, a treatment for female sexual dysfunction, revealed a 44% higher arousal rate in women compared to those who had been given a placebo. With such interest in the area of female sexual dysfunction (especially hypoactive sexual desire disorder), the company looks set to enjoy a wealth of success over the coming years if it can get its products through the regulators.

Biosante Pharmacueticals, who are running phase III trials for the latest hopeful in HSDD (hypoactive sexual desire disorder), Libigel ( testosterone gel) have now completed the recruitment part of their trial and now may commence the study which will observe the safety and efficacy of this treatment for menopausal women in relation to cardiovascular and breast cancer safety.

The study will be carried out over a 12 month period beginning after the last person was enrolled and then the analysis will be carried out by Biosante Pharmacueticals.

The company expects to present the Libigel NDA (new drug application) at the end of 2012. We will be updating this page with all of the latest news in FSD (female sexual dysfunction) as soon as it comes in.

On and on goes the debate about whether or not Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) can be addressed as a physiological disorder. According to recent experimentation carried out in the US, certain areas of the brain that normally light up when thinking about sex fail to do so in women who have low levels of sexual desire.

10 pre-menopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of HSDD participated in the experiment along with 7 who were deemed as having a normal sexual function. The women were watched as they looked at a television for 30 minutes where images alternated between a blank blue screen, everyday programmes and erotic videos every minute. Their brain activity was monitored using MRI to pick up which parts of the brain were stimulated by blood flow at certain points of observation.

Between those who experienced a normal sexual function and those who were clinically diagnosed with HSDD the blood flow in the brain seemed to suggest opposite responses at certain points. It is not at all clear what these findings mean but the fact that there were distinct differences between the responses of the two groups does seem to indicate that there is cause to suspect that HSDD may have a physiological root rather than a psychological one.

The sample size was very small but the findings definitely suggest that this is an attractive area for research. It is absolutely clear from surveys that some women suffer from low libido and this causes them distress. Whether the low libido is symptomatic of another condition or a condition in its own right has not been demonstrated to any meaningful degree but it is very difficult to tell a woman that it is all in her head when she is clearly upset at not being able to have a sexually fulfilling relationship.

The UK National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles reports that 15.6 per cent of women suffer continual sexual problems for 6 months or more.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has been informed that Warner Chilcott UK Ltd has withdrawn its application which sought to extend the treatment scope of the hormonal patch, Intrinsa.

Intrinsa is presently authorized for women who have their uterus and both ovaries removed and women who are treated with oestrogen replacement therapies. In August an application was made to the European Medicine’s Agency in order to extend the licence of Intrinsa to broaden the patient population in order to include menopausal women experiencing a low libido but the application has been withdrawn. The reasons for this are as yet unknown beyond the fact that commercial considerations were at the heart of the decision. We will be updating our blog with the latest information as soon as it comes in and reporting on the ever controversial topic of female sexual dysfunction.

Bayer pharmaceuticals and EndoCeutics are performing trials for a treatment that may be the answer to the problem of certain aspects of female sexual dysfunction. It goes by the name of Vaginorm and eases the effects of vaginal dryness.

Phase 3 trials are being carried out presently in Canada and the US and so far, the outlook is a positive one. Vaginorm is inserted into the vagina and not only lubricates the area but the compound serves to increase DHEA levels which affect the functioning of the female genital organ. A decrease in DHEA causes the symptoms of menopause. They estimate that Vaginorm could help 75% of women who are experiencing sexual difficulties post menopause.

This is an exciting time for both Bayer and EndoCeutics and hopefully the results will justify the $330 million spent on research costs.

Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder seems to be a bit of a hot topic at the moment. Is it a psychological condition that does not need to be treated physically or a psychological condition with physical manifestations that can be abated with the right kind of treatment? This is the question that is causing such controversy and diversity of opinions.

Who is making the headlines on this topic? It seems male doctors, journalists and academics are doing most of the talking and funnily enough they suggest that the condition should not be treated with drugs as the manufacturing of these drugs only serves to satisfy the appetite of a population that doesn’t really need help but are being made to think they need help by the greedy pharmaceutical companies. It has even been suggested that Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder is something that has been invented by the pharmaceutical companies.

I wonder if they would say the same to their male erectile dysfunction patients who often have no medical reason for their sexual dysfunction but are experiencing ED as a direct result of their psychological disposition, anxiety or fear.

Women who do not want to have sex anymore cannot simply shut down. Sex is a huge part of every relationship and it is important for a woman to have the opportunity to rectify any problem as a result of having a low libido in order to save her relationship as well as to feel good about herself.

In order to be diagnosed as having HSDD one must experience a marked distress with this condition and it must not be associated with any other disorder or psychological symptom such as depression or caused as a result of the consumption of prescription or illegal substances.

When HSDD was first identified, it was known as frigidity and was defined so by men, according to the feminists, as the failure of women to have vaginal orgasms. In the beginning there were two forms of sexual dysfunction in human beings: In women it was frigidity and in men it was impotence. It was not until the late seventies that the experience was labelled as a disorder.

Ray Moynihan, of ‘Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals’ fame, claims that there are no reasonable biological markers for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in women. His book promotes the idea that it is the pharmaceutical companies who are inventing this condition with the hope of making millions from the treatments in development.

Dr. Sandy Goldbeck –Wood, a specialist in psychosexual medicine, speaks from another perspective and explains that doctors are seeing patients who are worried about losing their partners as a result of their lack of sexual desire. Doctors want to help these patients but knowledge of the subject and the availability of successful treatments are limited. There is another way to deal with this limiting condition other than to ignore it or fob it off as a quirk like men have done for decades. Women should have the choice to treat the condition. Instrinsa is a prescription medication for treating of HSDD and is a form of hormone replacement therapy. This type of therapy will only work if the lack of sexual desire is a result of low testosterone levels however this is only one of many reasons for low libido. Another treatment called Flibanserin has recently been rejected by the FDA in the USA but it is yet to be assessed in the EU. A combination of research into new treatments and more acceptance of female sexual dysfunction as a treatable condition can only serve to ease the frustrations of the women who suffer, most of the time in silence.

The Journal of Sexual Medicine published an interesting new study which was carried out to assess the effects of a placebo on women who suffer from Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD). One third of women who experienced a low libido felt an improvement after taking a placebo pill. Some of the detailed analysis seems to demonstrate a very powerful link between psychological triggers and physical reactions.

By way of background, in the 90s, clinical trials were carried out in response to the hype surrounding drugs like Viagra and Cialis which are used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men, in the hope that these drugs would have a similar effect on aspects of female sexual dysfunction. The drugs did not work but recently researchers returned to the data collected regarding the consumption of Cialis by women and the results could be breakthrough.

Improvements regarding psychological aspects, such as their experience of desire altered substantially, but also their relationship with arousal and some felt more sufficiently lubricated. Reports of more frequent orgasms and orgasms that were more easily attainable were among the interesting discoveries.

50 women participated in the initial study, aged between 35 and 55 years old and took either Cialis or a placebo for 12 weeks.nThey were asked to have sexual intercourse three times per month and vast improvements in the frequency of sexual encounters were reported. Andrea Bradford, the author of the study, said that this may also have been due to the increase in level or frequency of sexual thought due to having to have more sex, speaking about sex more and writing about their sexual experiences.

Bremelanotide is a research compound that we have written about many times in the past. Research has been carried out for some time on its use in the treatment of sexual dysfunction and the latest studies were discontinued in 2008 due to vastly increased blood pressure levels amongst those taking the drug. However, Palatin Technologies (the pharmaceutical company behind bremelanotide) has just boasted positive Phase 1 results. They say that they have eliminated the problem of the increase in the level of blood pressure by having the bremelanotide administered subcutaneously. This method of application presents consistent blood plasma levels without changing the blood pressure levels. Not only may these results get bremelanotide further down the regulatory route to a license, but Erectile Dysfunction is not the only condition that is treatable in this way. As of yet there is no FDA approved treatment for Female Sexual Dysfunction(with Intrinsa only licensed in the EU), but Palatin thinks it may have a chance with bremelanotide.

Palatin will meet with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) towards the end of 2010 to discuss the next phase of bremelanotide’s trials. In this phase, Palatin hope to test bremelanotide as a treatment on its own and also as a drug which will work alongside a PDE-5 inhibitor (such as Viagra, Cialis or Levitra). The PDE-5 inhibitor family of medications is not successful for all men who suffer from erectile dysfunction, so combining both or even a new mono-therapy may make for some promising results.

Over 25% of men with ED do not respond to oral treatments currently available, such as Viagra. The CEO of Palatin explains that this is another reason why the future of bremelanotide is important for the likes of these men who don’t have another option. As it stands, what will not come with this treatment is the convenience of administering it orally. Subcutaneous application might inhibit the popularity of the treatment but if it means that men who otherwise have no other option may finally be able to treat their condition, perhaps convenience will not be the primary concern.

As expected, the panel convened by the Federal Food and Drug Administration has voted against granting Boeringer Ingelheim’s Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder medication flibanserin approval.

The panel was chaired by Julia Johnson, the chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Medical School of the University of Massachusetts. She said in a statement that the drug was not sufficiently effective to outweigh the risks that it posed. The panel voted unanimously against it.

Boeringer said that Flibanserin, also known by its commercial name Girosa, controlled the levels of dopamine and norepinehrine, which both act on sexual desire. It also reduced the level of serotonin, which is thought to lower libido.

Analysis of two trials into the drug, which was originally developed as an anti-depressant, indicated that the difference the medication made to women’s sexual desire when compared to those taking the placebo was not convincing enough to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in libido.

Though not required to do so by law, the FDA generally follows the recommendations of its panels.

Boehringer have vowed to continue to work on the treatment and have said they plan to work with the FDA to address the concerns raised by the advisory committee. They drew attention to the fact that the committee recognised that there was a significant unmet medical need for women suffering from Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and they pointed out that there is still no FDA approved treatment for the condition.

The pharmaceutical industry is waiting eagerly for the FDA to take a vote on whether to approve the controversial new drug flibanserin, which is designed to treat Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) in women.

The FDA has already released a report, prepared as background information to the vote taking place today. It expresses concerns about the safety of the drug, directing the committee to consider whether women would be alerted by the labelling to the extensive possible drug interactions. It also expressed concerns as to whether members of the general public taking other medications or with histories of psychiatric disorders would respond well, as the report stated that the population taking part in the trials were generally healthy and taking few, if any, concomitant medications.

Aside from issues of safety and tolerability, the prospect of the drug being approved has stirred up a huge amount of debate over whether this is just a case of the pharmaceutical industry trying to profit from women’s sexuality.

While Boeringer (the company that developed Flibanserin) has launched an aggressive campaign to educate the public about HSDD (including a documentary for the Discovery channel and a tour by an ex-Playboy model who describes herself as suffering from HSDD) there is still a huge amount of concern that the underlying psychological causes of low libido might be ignored.

Some doctors believe that HSDD can be treated medicinally, others believe in psychotherapy and counselling. Perhaps the only thing that will decide the best way forward is when there is a medication available, offering women options to treat the condition.

That choice could still involve Flibanserin. As the New York Times pointed out, staff reports do not necessarily indicate which way an FDA panel will vote, and even the vote does not predetermine the final decision. Watch this space...

Boehringer Ingelheim has posted new late-stage data from their clinical trials into their libido-boosting drug Flibanserin, which they are currently waiting for the European Medicines Agency and the Food and Drugs Agency to approve.

The findings from the Phase III trials were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Obtetricians and Gynaecologists showed that a high proportion of the women taking Flibanserin at the 100 mg dose reported that, compared with the placebo, there was a significant improvement in their condition.

The study involved 1,378 women who are pre-menopausal who used a 7-point scale to assess the severity of their Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) and whether the medication made a difference to their libido.

After 24 weeks, 48.3% of the women said that they felt their condition was very much improved, compared with 30.3% taking the placebo. This counts as a statistically significant difference, which the FDA and other regulators consider alongside other matters when deciding whether or not to approve a new medication.

The panel from the FDA is set to vote in mid-June as to whether or not to grant approval. If they do, Flibanserin will become the first oral medication to be approved for the treatment of HSDD in pre-menopausal women. We do not yet have a target date for the European Medicines Agency.

Currently there is some confusion about low libido with women, with some doctors arguing that the medicalisation of the condition will lead to psychological reasons for sexual problems being overlooked. However, others think that the drug is a huge step forward and will encourage doctors and patients to discuss the problem more openly.

Several papers, including the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, have covered the story that scientists have published a study indicating that taking the contraceptive pill can lower a woman’s sex drive.

Scientists from the German institute the University of Heidelberg have published findings in the Journal of Sexual Medicine estimating that women taking hormonal contraception were more likely to suffer from female sexual dysfunction, a condition characterised by low sexual desire.  This is sometimes described as Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.

1,086 women were recruited for the study, most of whom had been sexually active during the preceeding month. As is usual with studies investigating FSD, they were asked to fill in questionnaires on their levels of sexual activity and sexual satisfaction over the past month. The team then analysed the data in relation to what contraception methods they used.

They discovered that especially compared to those using condoms, women taking the pill suffered from higher levels of sexual dysfunction.

The team have suggested that this data could have big implications for younger women. However they warned that the results should be interpreted with caution, as they do not demonstrate ‘causality but rather association’.

With every new drug trial for a medication to treat Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD), the papers love to greet it as the new ‘Female Viagra’. But now Pfizer, who actually manufacture Viagra, have stated that they will not be seeking to develop a medication for FSD, despite promising trial results into a new drug.

They have published research into a new medication which could work in a very similar way to how Viagra works with men to enhance female arousal. The experimental treatment works to increase blood flow to the genitals, promoting feelings of desire.

There have been reports of women taking Viagra in an attempt to ameliorate their low libido, but with mixed results.

Though Pfizer says the latest results for the medication, currently known as UK-414,495, are promising, the drug only acts to increase blood flow and does not affect mood, desire or emotional problems. Female Sexual Dysfunction is generally acknowledged to be a more complicated disorder than erectile dysfunction, with a far higher number of cases linked to emotional and psychological factors.

The clinical trials done by Pfizer were performed on animals, rather than humans. The company do not intend to move on to human trials, saying that the chemical compound was not suitable for human development, but believe that the discoveries made during the trial could open the door to a product being created in the future.

The lead researcher Chris Wayman said that the information gathered during the trial shed light on the processes that control sexual desire and could help establish the pathways involved in female arousal.

A new report has suggested that women suffering from female sexual dysfunction (FSD) are being prevented from seeking help due to societal and cultural barriers.

Published by Datamoniter, the report says that because the condition, charecterised by long-term low libido in women, is not life-threatening it is frequently ignored or dismissed by the medical community.

The head of women’s health analysis at DataMoniter, Maya Marescott, said that the stigma attached to talking about sex and sexual dysfunction in a clinical environment was acting as a barrier to doctors and patients discussing any sexual problems.

A recent study of healthcare providers in the US showed that only 34% of American doctors would bring up a discussion about sexual health with their patients while in the UK it was revealed that 75% of women would not discuss their sexual health with their GP, due to a belief they would not be interested.

Currently there is only one medication that GPs can prescribe to treat Female Sexual Dysfunction, Proctor and Gamble’s Intrinsa patch. However it is only suitable for post-menopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy.

Another company is developing a pill called Flbanserin that may be suitable for a much larger patient group and which has already had promising results in clinical trials, but it is unlikely to be available for at least a year.

However if it is approved it may encourage women to discuss the problem with the doctors – the advent of medical solutions such as Viagra did much to remove some of the stigma from erectile dysfunction.

Ms. Marescotti however warned that as FSD was a complicated condition, caused be a variety of factors, finding a ‘quick fix’ for the problem would be hard to achieve.

Good news for BioSante, a company conducting trials into a new treatment for female sexual dysfunction called Libigel. A data monitoring committee has recommended that the medication is suitable for continued trials after positive data on safety, taken from a phase III clinical trial, was released.

The review of the results involved the panel examining all the unblended adverse events in the safety study, including serious adverse events and cardiovascular and breast cancer events. So far, there have been no deaths, 6 patients developed cardiovascular problems and 4 breast cancer. The low rate of incidence means that the development programme has the go-ahead to continue.

A spokeswoman for BioSante said that their product was the lead pharmaceutical product in development in the US for FSD in surgically menopausal women and added that that they believed that the treatment, a form of testosterone patch, would be the first product to get approval from the FDA for the treatment of the condition.

They will be facing competition from the makers of Flibanserin, a pill which has had extremely promising results in pre-and-post menopausal women suffering from Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.

The company hope to submit Libigel to the FDA for a new drug application in mid-2011. After the results were announced, shares in the company went up by 5%.

The pharmaceutical firm Vivus has announced that their chief executive officer Leland Wilson will present an overview of the company next week, where they are expected to give an update on a variety of new treatments, including a product to combat hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women. They have already said they are currently looking for a partner with whom they can go forward with clinical trials into their treatment for female sexual dysfunction, Luramist.

The product is a hand-held spray which delivers testosterone and proprietary skin penetration enhancers directly to the skin of women suffering from hypoactive sexual desire disorder. They believe that for pre-menopausal women, the delivery of testosterone to their system will increase the number of satisfying sexual experiences the women have a month.

The product is one of a few being developed to improve female sexual desire, with perhaps the most famous being flibaneserin, nick-named ‘female viagra’. Originally developed as an anti-depressant, pharmaceutical firm Boeringer Ingelheim discovered that while it did not affect mood, it did increase sexual desire in women who had been diagnosed as suffering from HSDD.

Currently undergoing clinical trials, there is significant interest in the pill, as it uses a different mechanism to promote desire from the majority of treatments being developed. Most medications for HSDD in the pipeline use testosterone as the key ingredient in their treatment, such as Lumamist and BioSante’s Libigel.

At the moment, the only treatment for HSDD is Intrinsa, a patch only suitable for post-menopausal women. As the new treatments are largely aimed at pre-menopausal women, the companies involved are hopeful that they will be able to garner significant sales from this large section of the population who currently have no medical recourse to combat the condition.

Valentine’s Day has just been and across the world, millions of men tried to charm the women in their life with extravagant gifts of chocolate. It’s one of the most profitable periods in the year for chocolate manufactures and many people believe that the treat is an aphrodisiac.

Most women will experience some decrease in desire at certain points in their life, but for some women it can be a permanent condition, known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD. So could chocolate really help those suffering from this condition?

Perhaps the many women who swear chocolate can have a huge impact on their mood will be unsurprised by the findings of an Italian scientist, who claims yes.  Published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Dr. Andra Salonia and her colleagues collated data on women’s chocolate consumption, combined with information about their sexual function and levels of depression.

They discovered that women who ate chocolate every day were likely to score higher on the Female Sexual Function index than those who did not. The authors however noted that women who ate chocolate daily were likely to be younger, which might impact on their sexual function scores.

Whether or not chocolate could have potential for treating the disorder, HSDD is increasingly receiving attention from  pharmaceutical firms eager to find a medical cure for the condition. Perhaps the most exciting of the drugs in the pipeline is Flibanserin, a pill that is being touted as ‘female Viagra’.

Trials have already shown the medication significantly increased sexual desire in the women who took part in Boeringer Ingelheim’s trials, which are still ongoing.

Many women (and their partners) are watching the progress of the medication through the different trial stages with interest, but since it could be some time until the medication receives approval, they might do worse than to invest in a nice bar of 70% cocoa.

It is already known to increase serotonin and endorphin levels, acting as a mild anti-depressant, and contains phenylethylamine, produced by the brain when we fall in love.

Well, if it was good enough for Aztec emperor Montezuma (who apparently used cocoa to increase his sex drive) then there’s no harm in trying....

Scientists conducting a clinical trial into a new anti-depression medication have discovered that while the drug does not treat depression very well, it could potentially become the ‘female Viagra’. Scientists have said it could be available in up to 18 months.

Nearly 2,000 pre-menopausal women took part in the trial for flibanserin, who had been diagnosed with the condition hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Those women who took 100mg of the drug daily reported that there had been a significant increase in their sexual desire and the number of satisfactory sexual experiences they had.

In three separate trials involving women in the US, Europe and Canada, the drug proved effective at increasing women’s sexual desire, without affecting their mood. The trials were funded by the manufacturer of the medication, Boehringer Ingelheim.

However a lot of experts have expressed scepticism that low sex drive in women can be solved with medication. Professor Irwin Nazareth of University College London said that reduced sexual interest could be ‘normal’ for some women, while Paula Hall from Relate said that while loss of lidido could be a ‘physical thing’ pills weren’t going to ‘fix a broken relationship or help with looking after the kids.’

The trials are fantastic news for women who suffer from low libibo and are made particularly exciting by the fact that the drug does not seem to increase libido by acting on mood. For too long, women suffering from sexual disorders have had their problems dismissed as being connected to their relationships or state of mind, rather than it being a medical condition.

Clearly, many sexual conditions in women and men can be caused by bad relationships or stress in someone’s personal life. It is well known that ED can be related to stress – but no one suggests that this is true in every case, or that medication could prevent people from examining problems in their home lives.

Hopefully, a medication proven to bring back a woman’s lost libido will significantly act to silence the sceptical voices in the medical community that accept that erectile dysfunction can be medical in origin, while claiming that sexual disorders in women are always rooted in their emotions. The quicker that the medical community abandons such sexist axioms the better!

A new study has shown that sexually satisfied women are healthier than those who are not satisfied with their sex lives. A team of Australian scientists have conducted a study looking at the association between ‘positive wellbeing’ and sexuality and have discovered that women who were sexually happy were also happier generally in their lives.

The group of researchers asked a group of 295 women who were sexually active more than twice a a month for a month to rate their sexual satisfaction, personal well-being and then noted whether they were pre or post-menopausal.

They discovered that 140 of them were dissatisfied with the sex lives, the number evenly split between those who had and those who had not gone through the menopause. They noted that there was a strong correlation between good sexual experiences and a good sense of personal well-being.

However the study has been described as flawed as there is no way of telling whether the women with good sex lives were happy because they were sexually satisfied, or whether they were having good sex because they were happy.

One of the researchers on the study, Susan Davis of the Women’s Health Program at Monash University, said that the key message they wanted to be taken from the study was that sexual desire- or lack of it – was an important issue for women to discuss with their doctors, and it was important for doctors to discuss it with their patients.

We all know high cholesterol is bad for the heart – but new research has suggested that it can reduce a woman’s sex drive as well. A study carried out at the Second University of Naples has shown that hyperlipedemia – or raised levels of blood cholesterol – can prevent women from becoming sexually aroused.

It was reported in the New Scientist that showed that just as men can have trouble achieving an erection if the flow of blood to the genitals is impared, so too women also rely on good genital blood flow to get aroused.

The researchers compared the sexual function of pre-menopausal women with and without hyperlipedemia. They discovered that women with the condition reported significantly lower scores when their arousal, orgasm, lubrication and sexual satisfaction was measured.

32% of the women with abnormal blood cholesterol levels scored so low as to be diagnosed with female sexual dysfunction, while only 9% of the women with normal blood lipid levels had this condition.

The research indicates that female sexual arousal is connected to organic diseases in the same way that men’s sexual problems are. The full study can be read in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

The medical world has become more and more aware of the difficulties faced by women who lack sexual desire, leading to the condition Female Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder being accepted as a medical condition.

However a new study has revealed that when it comes to women having sex, desire is often the last thing to cross many women’s minds. A new book entitled, Why Women Have Sex highlighted the 200 top reasons women gave for why they had sex, with sexual feelings coming extremely low down on the list.

Cindy Meston and David Buss, psychology professors at the University of Texas and co-authors of the book, questioned 1,006 as research for the tome and concluded that while men find most women attractive in some way, most women do not find most men sexually attractive at all.

The answers that the women gave for why they went to bed with someone were fairly wide-ranging, from “for a clearer complexion”  (apparently this was Joan Collin’s response) to “because I felt sorry for them.” 1 in 10 women admitted to having sex because someone gave them presents or bought them an expensive meal. Other respondents said they had sex to cure headaches and improve their sexual skills. This last one was a popular response, and one girl said that she saw each encounter with her boyfriend as a chance to ‘heighten’ her skills.

Perhaps the most depressing answer was “I have sex to relieve the boredom. Because its easier than fighting. Plus it gives me something to do.”

The two researchers concluded that women’s sexual attraction was usually triggered by that most Mills and Boon-y character, the tall, deep-voiced man who smelled good, as these qualities indicate high levels of testosterone. However there was hope for short, squeaky-voiced fellows who smell bad, as men with a lower level of testosterone are seen as good long-term prospects, as they are less likely to run off with other women.

A paper published in the July edition of The Journal of Sexual Medicine has indicated that taking testosterone does not make menopausal women more likely to develop breast cancer.

The study has been greeted with approval by Biosante Pharmaceuticals Inc, which is developing a topical testosterone gel to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women. The gel, named Libigel, is currently in Phase III clinical trials to assess its safety.

The study was done at the Department of Medicine at Alfred Hospital in Australia and was lead by Susan Davies, of the Women’s Health Program. The researchers evaluated 631 women who were treated with testosterone between 1989 and January 2007 as part of a clinical endocrinology practice.

They discovered that testosterone therapy was not associated with any statistically significant increase in the likelihood of a women developing breast cancer compared to the control population and furthermore concluded that testosterone exposure did not increase the risk of breast cancer.

The women took the testosterone on average for 1.3 years and were followed for a further 6.7 years. Taking into account the total number of years the women were followed for, the incidence rate of invasive breast cancer was 299 per 100,000 person-years, very similar to the rate reported for hormone therapy non-users.

BioSante recently issued a press release saying that they considered the study “another significant and reassuring set of data” showing that testosterone therapy was a safe way to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder.

Libigel is the only treatment currently in development for the treatment of HSDD in menopausal women and Biosante are hopeful that it will be the first product the FDA approves for the treatment of the condition. They said that they are planning to seek new drug approval from the FDA in mid-2011.

A study to be published in July’s edition of The Journal of Sexual Medicine has revealed that there has been a significant rise in the number of American doctors prescribing testosterone to combat hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in women.

In a survey sponsored by BioSante, the pharmaceutical company seeking a treatment for female sexual dysfunction, it was revealed that of 2 million prescriptions written for testosterone, 21% of those were for women. 80% of doctors questioned said they believed there was a need for a treatment for HSDD. A further 90% said that they would rather prescribe an approved treatment rather than the off-label therapies currently available.

Testosterone is not yet currently approved as a treatment for HSDD in post-menopausal women in the US although Intrinsa is approved for use in the UK and Europe. BioSante is currently conducting the clinical trials required for FDA approval of an alternative therapy. At the moment there are three trials taking place, two Phase III trials involved 500 patients and lasting 6 months examining the efficacy of the treatment and one Phase III trial to check cardiovascular safety. The testosterone is delivered via a gel named Libigel, which BioSante hope to submit to the FDA for new drug approval in 2011.

In their paper, Dr Michael C Snabes and Stephen M Simes wrote that they believe many doctors are writing prescriptions for women suffering from low desire as an off-label indication. They warned that this practice was contrary to FDA prescribing standards and raised the risk that appropriate doses were not being delivered. They added that the statistics showed that there was a considerable number of women living with low sexual desire, many of whom felt their lives were being severely affected by the condition.

Yesterday’s papers all carried stories about how intelligent women apparently have better sex. So does IQ means that women are less likely to suffer from female sexual dysfunction? Well, not entirely. The study, done by scientists from Kings College London, actually focused on emotional intelligence, defined as “the ability to identify emotions of one’s self and others”.

Examining results from a survey of over 2,000 women, the researchers did find that there was a link between emotional intelligence and the frequency of orgasms. They focused on twins aged between 18 and 83, taking into account that twins were likely to be more alike than women who were unrelated. The survey included questions on the frequency respondents achieved orgasm through intercourse and masturbation, with a follow-up questionnaire exploring emotional intelligence through the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, a measure of global emotional intelligence. They also examined whether other factors might play a role, such as body mass index, age, educational level or a history of physical or mental abuse, but found that emotional intelligence was not altered by these factors.

The researchers discovered that better emotional intelligence would affect a women’s ability to explain her desires to her partner and also her ability to function sexually. Those women in the lowest quarter of emotional intelligence were twice more likely to have orgasms infrequently compared to those in the top quarter. They therefore concluded in the peer-reviewed Journal of Sexual Medicine that emotional intelligence was a risk factor that should be taken into account when treating and researching treatments for female sexual dysfunction.

A study published by the Medical College of Georgia has indicated that the three most popular medications used to treat erectile dysfunction: Viagra; Levitra; and Cialis may have properties that could be used to treat female sexual dysfunction. While scientists have been theorising as to whether this might be the case and vacillating back and forth between yes and no, the Georgia scientists say they believe there should be further research into the treatment possibilities.

The scientists discovered that in both male and female rats, the pudendal artery, supplying blood to the penis or clitoris and vagina, was relaxed by PDE Type 5 Inhibitors, also known as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. Increased blood flow to the female genitals is a necessary part of a female orgasm. First the rats were given a drug to put the internal pudendal arteries into the same state they would be in a non-aroused state and then they were examined to see the impact of different doses of one of the three impotency medications.

While the male rats showed a fairly typical reaction, with the more drug they received the more relaxed the arteries became, the reaction in the female rats was more complex. They showed relaxation initially, and then with the doses that followed exhibited vacillations between relaxation and contraction. The researchers believe these different reactions provide further evidence that sexual reaction is more complex in women than men.

At the 122^nd Annual Meeting of the American Physiological Society Dr. Kyan J. Allahdadi, post-doctoral fellow in physiology at MCG, said they the findings indicate that scientists should not give up on the possibility of ED medications also being useful to help women living with sexual disorders. He recommended that further investigations take place and said that it was possible that ‘small alterations’ to the compound of the drugs could make them more effective for women.

Scientists at Stanford University believe that they now have proof that hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD, is largely affected by brain activity. The team, comprised of researchers from a variety of disciplines, began the research with the aim of discovering how big a role the brain played in a lack of female sexual desire.

They compared the brain activity of women suffering from HSDD to those who did not have it, studying in total 36 women, all who identified as heterosexual. They showed participants erotic video clips interspersed with footage of women-only sporting events. The sections were spilt up by tranquil montages of flowers, waves and other images to put the women’s brains into a resting state.

They discovered that while generally brain activity was more or less identical between the two groups; there were a few notable exceptions. They found amongst women with HSDD there was a bigger jump in certain areas of the brain while there was less activity in another part. Knowing which area s of the brain showed a specifically different reaction has lead the scientists to the conclusion that having an increased attention to one’s own responses to erotic stimuli plays a part in sexual dysfunction. The scientists noticed decreased responses in the entorhinal cortex, which may be linked to the discovery that women not suffering from HSDD are better able to retain emotional memories relating to sexual events.

The study has provided an interesting insight into the emotional and behavioural element to HSDD. Leah Millheiser, a specialist in female sexual health at Stanford, believes that the research may lead to better treatment of the condition. She said, “The results of this study provide yet another valuable tool for understanding the complexity of female sexual function as it relates to desire. The next step is to translate this information into the clinical realm, specifically as it relates to cognitive and pharmacotherapeutic approaches”.

Despite its extensive clinical testing, a medical journal devoted to research into drug treatments has cast doubt as to the efficacy of the one of the leading treatments for female sexual dysfunction, Intrinsa. The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin have said that the trials into the treatment involved too selective a group of patients, that diagnosis was based on short, invalidated questionnaires and that women taking the placebo medication also reported an improvement in their sex lives.

The patch, manufactured by Proctor and Gamble Pharmaceuticals, is designed to combat the diminishing of sexual desire in post-menopausal women, known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) by releasing a daily dose of the hormone testosterone into the bloodstream through a patch placed on the abdomen. It is given to women who are also being given treatment to raise their levels of the oestrogen. Proctor and Gamble say that the medication has been extensively tested and proven to work.

The scientists have suggested that the results from women taking the placebo suggest that testosterone was not the issue in the first place and have also drawn attention to the potential side effects of Intrinsa. Proctor and Gamble have rigorously defended the claims, saying that having gone through trials with over 1,000 women they are convinced of the efficacy of the product and also pointing out that they have in place an independently managed safety advisory board and risk management plan.