A cream made from the same drug used in Viagra could work wonders for women’s libidos, a study shows. Early results from a clinical trial in the US show women with sexual arousal disorder who rubbed the cream on their genitals had greater desire, heightened pleasure and better orgasms. The cream is made with sildenafil – the same ingredient that turned Viagra into one of the world’s biggest-selling drugs.
Rubbed on 10 to 20 minutes before sex, it works by dilating tiny arteries just beneath the skin, boosting blood flow to the vagina. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. This rush of oxygen-rich blood is what’s thought to get women in the mood for sex.
It could help restore intimacy for many of the one in five UK women who suffer with low libido. Viagra pills have transformed the love lives of millions of men around the world since the drug first emerged in the late Nineties. The ‘little blue pill’ is being investigated as a possible treatment for a range of other conditions, from Alzheimer’s disease to heart failure.
However, treating female sexual disorders has been much more challenging. Although there are two drugs licensed for it in the US – one is a tablet that can have severe side effects and the other an injection. Scientists from two independent American research companies, along with Dare Bioscience – the By Pat Hagan San Diego-based company that has developed the cream – recruited 33 women with se.
