The female Viagra rears its head…yet again

Posted by Liz on Apr 19, 2010 in sexual desire, sexual health | 3 comments

Got sexual dysfunction? Big pharma continues to search for that magical fountain to restore your libido, desire and ‘vavoom’ in the bedroom. This time, the airways are abuzz with data from a study of rabbits. Yes, rabbits. Seems sort of appropriate that a bunny might be the one to get women back into the bedroom, doesn’t it?

Last November, I told you about the antidepressant flibensarin, which research shows may have the ability to positively affect brain receptors and neurotransmittors that play a role in sexual response. In other words, flibensarin may help boost sexual desire in women who have lost an interest in sex. Now, mind you, hypoactive sexual desire and female sexual arousal disorder, which affects up to 40% of women, are serious, distressing conditions. However, there are data that show that sexual desire cannot be put into a neat box, that the mind, body, soul and environment play key roles in women’s sexual health. Once, again, I refer back to Dr. Christiane Northrup, who I maintain, has provided a healthy, non-pharmaceutical approach to overcoming some of the key variables that play a role in loss of desire. If you haven’t checked out that post, I encourage you to do so.

And yet, the pursuit of the gold ring continues.

In the latest bit of research to reveal the “secret garden” investigators found that by stimulating the pelvic nerve, they were able to promote the release of a neurotransmitter (an endogenous chemical responsible for signals between cells and neurons in the body) called VIP (vasoactive intestinal peptide), a hormone that resides mostly in the gut but also increases blood flow.  Under normal circumstances, the action of VIP is broken down by an enzyme called NEP.  However, by giving the rabbits an experimental drug, they were able to block NEP, thereby allowing the VIP hormone to do its job better to increase and maintain blood flow to the genital organs.

The key takeaway messages from this highly experimental study were as follows:

1) The drug was able to block an enzyme that plays a role in preventing blood flow to the genital area during arousal, meaning that it revealed a potentially important pathway for the development of drugs that might do the same

2) This action happened without affecting the rest of the body’s cardiovascular system, which indicates it might be safe

Interestingly, in a press release, company representatives distinctly stated that the particular agent used in the rabbit study was not appropriate for further development and that the company had no interest in developing a drug for female sexual arousal disorder.

So, why did the media jump on this story?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sex sells.

The moral – be careful and delve deeper. Sexual desire is tricky. In women, it entails a lot more than stimulation. What’s more, do we really need another pill in the bedroom? Thoughts?