Q: The print and broadcast media are full of reports about so-called female Viagra. How Does the Female Viagra Drug for Women Differ from the Viagra Designed to Treat ED symptoms?
A: As Pfizer discovered in its trials of Viagra in women test subjects, female sexuality is fundamentally different from that of males. While men usually find their desire for sex growing (pun intended) as they become aroused, the same phenomenon is not observed in women. Pfizer’s trials revealed that Viagra did little or nothing to affect women’s desire for sex, the lack of which is the primary form of female sexual dysfunction.
Scientifically, it is known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder or HSDD. The quest for a way to counter HSDD has more recently focused on brain chemistry and how it might be rebalanced to increase sexual desire.
Addyi, a drug that first went on sale in the United States in October 2015, is designed to decrease brain levels of serotonin, a hormone known to inhibit sexual desire. It is also designed to increase brain levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, both of which are believed to increase sexual desire.
Although it’s been on the market for a couple of years, it has not been the roaring success that its advocates predicted. A number of different factors are to blame. The increase in sexual desire among women taking the drug has been estimated at one-half to one additional satisfying sexual event a month, and the drug must be taken daily to achieve those modest results.
Add to that the reluctance of insurers to cover the drug, and it’s easy to see why Addyi has not taken off in the way its manufacturer hoped. Another factor holding down sales of Addyi has been the prohibition of alcohol consumption for as long as a woman is on Addyi.