THE little blue pill known as Viagra is keeping many men in pleasure, and for a while there was hope that it would do the same for women. But now researchers know that women need something different to improve their desire for sex, and their enjoyment of it.
"A number of compounds effective in men have limited utility in women," says Dr. Taylor Segraves, a psychiatrist at Case Western School of Medicine in Cleveland. Viagra and its cousins, Levitra and Cialis, increase blood flow to the genitals but often leave women feeling aroused but unsatisfied, experts note.
So attention is turning elsewhere. Several clinical studies are examining the ability of compounds to improve sexual problems in women -- be they low sex drive, slow response to physical stimulation or the inability to experience orgasm. Among the candidates: an anti-depressant, an herbal remedy and a precursor to sex hormones.
Studying women's sex drive is not as straightforward as studying that of men, scientists say. With males, there are clear measures of what constitutes sexual function -- namely, the ability to sustain an erection.
And sometimes, in women, the order of events in a sexual encounter flip-flops compared with men, says clinical pharmacologist Dr. David Ferguson, of Clinical Research Services Consulting in Grand Marais, Minn. Desire, for example, which in men tends to start the fun, might come \o7after\f7 stimulation, especially in a long-term relationship, Ferguson says.
Another reason for the complexity of sex research in general is that "so many things can influence libido," Segraves says. Stress, lack of exercise and diet can all diminish one's sex drive, as can rocky relationships -- or no relationships. Most studies require participants to be with committed partners to reduce these complications. They also require women to have sex once or twice a week to ensure enough data are collected.
Despite the difficulties, trials with pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women recruited from medical centers across the country are underway.
* Wellbutrin. Antidepressants are notorious for knocking down women's libido, but one such drug seems to have a positive effect.
In a 2001 study published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, Segraves and colleagues found that bupropion, also known by the trade names Wellbutrin and Zyban, doubled how often 51 nondepressed women became interested in sex, became aroused and had fantasies. (Women took the drug for eight weeks and the researchers assessed their sexual functioning in interviews.)
