Word: flibanserin
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...distress. When we look at this against a backdrop of a common and distressing problem that affects 1 of 10 women and for which no treatment exists, well, we are feeling very positive," said Michael Sand, director of clinical research for Boehringer Ingelheim, which originally developed the drug, flibanserin, in the 1990s as an antidepressant. (The drug proved not to work for depression...
Whether or not the FDA approves flibanserin to treat women's libidos, the German company's trial results have reignited a decade-long debate over the merit of the HSDD diagnosis - the most commonly diagnosed female sexual dysfunction - which some psychologists say is a made-up condition, promoted precisely for the service of moments like this: a drug-company rep at a conference on sex declaring that a treatment has been discovered...
Certainly, there may be women who will do better after taking flibanserin, says Judy Norsigian, executive director of the women's health advocacy Our Bodies Ourselves, based in Cambridge, Mass. But she thinks the diagnosis of HSDD unnecessarily medicalizes women's sexual lives. Attempting to treat low libido with a pill ignores the fact that many women's level of desire is deeply affected by everyday life stress and interpersonal relationships. Add to that a cultural milieu that at once promotes shame and ignorance about women's sexuality while wildly inflating their expectations for sex. In many cases, says Norsigian...