US Food and Drug Administration approved flibanserin, which will be sold as Addyi, for the treatment of sexual dysfunction in premenopausal women.
The little pink pill, unlike the blue diamond-shaped Viagra pill for men, works on HSDD (Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder) in females. This means a low sexual drive. Addyi corrects and boosts chemicals in the brain increasing libido or sexual drive, says Dr Shelly Singh , gynecologist, Primus Super Speciality Hospital.
She goes on to explain that about 20-30 per cent of women suffer from libido problems but as mentioned there are multiple reasons for the same. “Women with a low sex drive would be candidates to take the drug. HSDD could occur due to hormonal changes, surgery or diseases like diabetes, stress, previous sexual abuse or low self esteem. It will not act when a low sex drive happens due to relationship problems. Some people argue that low sexual drive is not a medical condition,” says Dr Shelly.
This is the first FDA approved treatment for sexual desire in men or women. This new drug, Addyi, is sold for sexual dysfunction, but doctors in the city remain concerned about risks and expectations over a pill that has been dubbed “female Viagra.”
“The drug hasn’t been found to be very effective. In some studies, it just increased one more sexually gratifying event in the month compared to a placebo. It’s not like Viagra. It’s more like an anti-depressant in that way,” says Dr Shelly and Dr A Shanti, consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Global Hospitals adds, “We are giving this drug to increase endometrial thickness and not for sexual pleasure. Most doctors are prescribing this drug in mostly pre-menopausal woman. For young women we are giving infertility cases to increase endometrial thickness.”
“PDE5 inhibitor inhibits PDE5 amino acid so it increases nitric oxide which relaxes smooth muscles of blood vessels which increases the blood flow. It is effective in women who have decreased lubrication. But it did not improve sexual desire in women,” explains Dr Shanti.
Doctors have expressed worry whether the drug actually fixes the problem. “There’s so much controversy about the drug because it has very marginal effects. It doesn’t help too much. And has major side effects when taken with alcohol and some drugs like anti-fungal drugs. It was rejected by the FDA twice for the same reasons but due to major lobbying by some groups and politicians which said there was a gender bias regarding drugs for female sexual disorders as compared to those in males, it was approved in August 2015,” reasons Dr Shelly.
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The meaning
Female Viagra is a drug used by women to increase sexual pleasure. Given the success of drugs to treat erectile dysfunction, such as Sildenafil (Viagra), Tadalafil (Cialis) and Vardenafil (Levitra), drug companies have sought a comparable drug for women. Viagra has even been tried as a treatment for sexual dysfunction in women. The drug to has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.