So here comes the female Viagra, but is it necessary?

Drugs can cure male impotence but can they fix a lack of desire, asks Rita de Brun.

AS basic instincts go, there’s little more primal than sex. Yet natural as it is, some need help with the firing of desire. While many favour aphrodisiacs such as honey, figs and oysters, others, namely women with low libido, are turning their backs on the foods of love and trying sexual desire drugs instead.

Given the success of Viagra, which generated almost $2bn in worldwide sales in 2010, it’s hardly surprising that pharmaceutical companies have been racing each other to launch a chemical fix for sexually dysfunctional women.

It’s hard to put a figure on the potential value of that market, as while US studies show that between 9% and 26% of women have hypoactive sexual desire disorder (prolonged loss/lack of libido), some say drug companies exaggerate the number and hype the condition, so they can push chemical solutions on women.

Despite numerous attempts, no female desire-enhancing products have succeeded in getting FDA approval. Yet there’s hope that two new drugs, Lybrido and Lybridos, which are currently being tested across America, will do just that.

If they succeed, they’ll be stocked in pharmacies in 2016, and while that might be good news for women, it’s possible that the drugs will cause more problems than they solve.

After all, what man’s ego wouldn’t be damaged by the knowledge that a woman needs drugs to desire him? And what if men forget the tender art of seduction when faced with a woman whose passion-potion ensures she’s ever-ready for sex?

In their bid to make a financial killing, drug companies are treading choppy waters. While Viagra’s goal was simple, in that it treated the physical symptoms of impotence, the causes of lack of desire are various and complex.

“I would be amazed if a single drug would solve desire problems for more than a tiny minority whose needs fit the exact model the drugs are designed for,” says sexologist and sex therapist, Emily Power Smith.

“Those who would benefit from a chemical solution to loss of libido would be a minority among users,” agrees psychologist, Rosemary Troy, adding that drugs shouldn’t be the first port of call for desire problems in a loving, caring relationship. “Women should check first if there’s a physical reason for their symptoms, or if they’re a side-effect of necessary drugs.

“Sometimes desire goes when a couple become too familiar with each other and when they stop making an effort romantically. Widespread use of porn by men can leave women feeling inadequate and embarrassed by their bodies.”

“Women with sexual dysfunction should have their hormone levels tested,” adds Power Smith.

“Too much oestrogen can lead to a desire to cuddle rather than have sex.”

“Drugs may bring blood-flow to a woman’s genitals but that’s no guarantee she will desire her partner. Not feeling heard and not being listened to play havoc with women’s libido.

“Over time, a woman may no longer be turned on by the mere sight, touch or smell of a man, so he needs to show he fancies her, that she’s more than a mere receptacle for him. Foreplay needs to be more than a two minute fiddle between a woman’s legs before penetration. ”

Yet Power Smith has come across women who might be enticed by the notion. “They want a quick cure, one that wouldn’t entail examining the rest of their lives.”

For women like that, the results of the Lybrido and Lybridos trials can’t come soon enough.

View points

Desire drugs are a great idea. They could save couples from counselling, break-up and divorce. They may even prevent affairs. It would be great if there was a desire drug for men: one that would make them fancy their wives, not other women!

— Valerie Roe, MD of Valerie Roe PR

... things are far more complex. Losing desire is an emotional as well as a physical issue and if the emotional well-being is looked after, the physical will follow. I’m not convinced that a pill is a quick fix

— Sheila O’Flanagan, author and journalist