Good day, readers, and I hope that your New Year has gotten off to an uplifting and enriching start.
As March is the one month of the year we in the U.S. officially devote to women (in the form of Women’s History Month), the majority of this column will consist of items about women’s health and about sexual health for both women and men which promises to have particular impact on women’s lives, sexual and other.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA REPORTS “FEMALE VIAGRA” IN DEVELOPMENT First off, here’s an item that is sure to grab the attention of our female readers (as well, ideally, as their interested partners, one would hope). Despite the medical and research community’s longstanding and widespread propensity to de-prioritize or to suddenly forget women altogether as a category when new drugs are being developed or various possible disease cures are being investigated, and the bizarrely low number of clinical trials that will even permit women to enroll as subjects, we have this:
The Associated Press reports that “a drug that could do for women what Viagra has done for men is being tested at the University of Virginia.” A lofty statement, that. They go on to explain that the drug, called LibiGel, “is a testosterone-laden ointment … intended to boost the libido of women who have lost interest in sex.” (This condition – losing interest in sex, that is -- is called “hypoactive sexual desire disorder,” and is said to affect wholly one-third of American women! [my exclamation point]. It is “the most common sexual problem that [U.S.] women have” according to Anita Clayton, a psychiatrist with the UVA Health System consulted by AP. Dr. Clayton, in addition to being a staff psychiatrist at UVA, is the author of the 2007 book Satisfaction: Women, Sex, and the Quest for Intimacy.)
LibiGel – which is being tested in 99 other medical institutions in addition to UVA -- comes in a pump bottle and works, apparently, when the user rubs “a small dot of the gel into the skin of her upper arm. Over the next 24 hours, the gel’s testosterone seeps into her bloodstream, boosting her energy and libido,” explain AP’s writers, based on information provided both by the researchers and the drug’s manufacturers.
Don’t get too excited yet, however. The drug is still in the preliminary testing stage and is far from being approved by the FDA (for safety and efficacy) much less from being readily available to the needy consumer. Further, only 25 women (between the ages of 30 and 65) will be enrolled in the UVA study, though a small study is definitely better than no study at all.
So what can we say? It’s a start. In the meantime, this jaded reporter would suggest that any woman experiencing a low sex drive take the following steps, which are not mutually exclusive: See your doctor, speak frankly and openly to him/her about the situation, and get a thorough checkup. Investigate psychotherapy. (Quite often current relationship issues and/or solo attitudes and negative, at times repressed, experiences of past traumatic or problematic sexual encounters contribute to what may be misdiagnosed as a “loss in sexual desire.”) Also investigate, either in person or on-line, your local woman-friendly sex-toy store, which may offer many toys, creams, and other options that you can use alone or with a partner to reinvigorate your purported “lost” interest, which you may find is not that lost after all. What do you have to lose? It’s better than waiting
patiently and sexlessly till LibiGel and/or other new “miracle” products finally come out.
FDA APPROVES DAILY CIALIS DOSE
In a move that is sure to raise the hopes of men across the country, in early January the FDA approved the once-daily use of two low-dose forms of the anti-impotence drug Cialis. The once-daily dosage will allow men to – as Reuters put it – “attempt [my italics] sexual activity any time between doses.” Eli Lilly and Co., the drug’s manufacturer, had a more positive spin on the news at hand – or at least had the tact (or shall we say market savvy?) to avoid the use of the word “attempt” in a release about developments in treatment of erectile dysfunction. The new dosing, already in use in many parts of Europe, “may be most appropriate for men with erectile dysfunction who anticipate more frequent sexual activity (e.g. twice weekly),” Lilly said. Importantly, Lilly spokeswoman Keri McGrath noted that regardless of dosage, Cialis is unsafe and not advised for any heart patient who takes nitrates (including nitroglycerine). The medicine’s new packaging also carries warnings about potential hearing loss as a newly discovered side effect of Cialis.
MEN WHO SMOKE are MORE PRONE TO IMPOTENCE
And as if you needed another reason to kick the habit, there’s this: Emerging research suggests that men with a pack-a-day habit are nearly 40 percent more likely to have erectile dysfunction than men who don’t smoke. One study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that the risk of erectile dysfunction was nearly doubled for smoking men in their 40s as compared to nonsmoking men in their 50s. “Smoking, because it causes blood vessel constriction, is a very big cause of erectile dysfunction,” said Dr. Larry Lipshultz, chief of male reproductive medicine at Houston’s Baylor College, as quoted in a HealthDay news item. Lipshultz noted that smoking is a factor rather than a sole cause of erectile problems: a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, heavy alcohol consumption, and recreational drug use can all contribute to erectile dysfunction, as can various diseases including diabetes, heart disease, a history of prostate, bladder, colon, or rectum cancer surgery, a history of spinal injuries or hormone imbalance, and even various prescription medications like high-blood-pressure medicines and antidepressants.
Readers who want to know more about erectile dysfunction and its treatment in general can go to this government site for presumably unbiased information and guidance: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/impotence/
TESTOSTERONE SUPPPLEMENTS FOUND TO PROVIDE LITTLE BENEFIT FOR MEN OVER 60
Surprising researchers, a study conducted in the Netherlands and reported on in the January 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that though testosterone supplements do decrease body fat and increase lean body mass in men over 60, they do not improve strength, mobility, or mental abilities as had previously been hoped. The study was based on quality of life and health data gathered from 207 men between the ages of 60 and 80 who had lower than average testosterone levels. In the double-blind study, approximately half the participants took 80 milligrams of testosterone daily for six months, while the other half took a placebo twice daily for the same time period. Participants did not know whether they were taking testosterone or a placebo.
SENIOR SEXUALITY: MYTH VS. FACT
Finally, last but by no means least, I urge all readers, male, female, young, old, animal, vegetable, or mineral, to go to the SeniorSex.org site and take the following test: “Older Adult Sexuality: Myth vs. Fact.” It is short (less than 2 pages long), fun, and extremely edifying. Topics covered include: what is “regular” senior sexual activity?; older adults and STDs; the needs of gay and lesbian seniors; and – one of our favorites – whether it’s normal for senior women to be as interested in sex as senior men (spoiler report: Yes.)
This wonderful site, which we’ve mentioned before at least once in this column, also has posted articles on “Ageism and Sex,” “Body Changes,” and “Senior Sex Tips,” as well as a fabulous resource list of external links, books, and organizations.
To get to the Senior Sex.org Homepage, go to: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/psych431/student2000/dp51/index.html (From the home page, just go to the left-most column to click on any of the specific articles or other links mentioned — but in case you can’t find them we’ve included direct links to some of them below.)
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