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Again, for those interested.
Bob from Houston
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Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 16:05:55 -0500
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X-From: Maxim Bily <imax(AT)ODYSSEE.NET>
Subject: Cross-Gender Sex Pill
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Cross-Gender Sex Pill
A new drug designed to treat impotence in
men
may have surprisingly similar effects in
women
By ARNOLD MANN
rwin Goldstein could hardly wait
for the FDA to
approve Viagra. The renowned
Boston University
urologist is so excited about last
week's approval of
the first-ever impotence pill for men
that he is opening a
new sexual-dysfunction clinic, and will
soon begin
prescribing the drug--for women.
As doctors learn more about the causes of
impotence,
they're becoming increasingly convinced
that the
underlying mechanisms of male and female
sexual
dysfunction may not be so far apart. And
if that's the case,
it's entirely possible that the same
pharmacological
science that restores sexual function to
men can work
similar magic in women.
Viagra trials in women are already under
way in Europe. In
April the FDA is holding an
invitation-only meeting of
scientists and pharmaceutical executives
to discuss
possible testing and use of the drug in
women in the U.S.
And in June leading sex researchers will
devote their
annual meeting in Cape Cod to discussing
how a range of
impotence drugs might be tested in female
patients. If
the medications prove effective, they
could offer women a
safer alternative to the current best
weapon against
female sexual dysfunction,
hormone-replacement
therapy, which carries a slightly
increased risk of cancer.
Meanwhile, with the approval of Viagra
(release date:
mid-April) as an impotence treatment,
doctors will be
able to prescribe it "off-label" for
women too. "We intend
to use it in women once it's released for
men," Goldstein
says. "Not even a question."
Viagra's effects on the hydraulics of
male sexuality are
pretty straightforward. Originally
developed as a heart
medication, the drug works directly on
the blood vessels,
blocking an enzyme called
phosphodiesterase. This
enzyme prevents the release of certain
neurotransmitters--most notably one
called cyclic
GMP--that cause the smooth muscles
surrounding
arteries to relax, allowing the arteries
to expand. When
this occurs in penile arteries, it leads
to engorgement,
which leads to erection.
While Viagra doesn't work for every
impotent man, it does
work for up to 80% of them. "There
appears to be no
group that has been tested that has a
zero response," says
urologist Dr. Harin Padma-Nathan of the
University of
Southern California. Even men with the
most severe forms
of impotence--spinal-injury victims,
diabetics, those who
have undergone prostate-cancer
surgery--have
responded.
Such results ought to mean good things
for women too.
Female genitals fill with blood during
sexual stimulation
just as male genitals do, resulting in
engorgement of the
clitoris and lubrication of the vagina.
As women age, they
experience some of the same genital
problems men do,
as a number of ailments--particularly
atherosclerosis and
diabetes--impair blood flow; this leads
to vaginal dryness,
pain during intercourse and problems in
achieving
orgasm. Indeed, according to one study,
more than a third
of women in the 18-to-59 age group
experience sexual
dysfunction, compared with just 10% of
men. "Male
sexuality has always been viewed as more
important,"
says Julia Heiman, a psychologist at the
University of
Washington and one of the nation's
leading experts on
female sexual dysfunction. "A man needs
an erection to
have intercourse, so it's easy to regard
a man's sexuality
as important and a woman's as sort of an
interesting
pastime."
How effective Viagra is in women awaits
the outcome of
the tests. The FDA and Pfizer, the
manufacturer, do not
encourage women to use it. "We strongly
recommend
against women taking their husband's
pills or physicians
using it off-label," says Raymond Rosen,
professor of
psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School in
New Jersey, who will chair the Cape Cod
meeting.
Still, when it comes to Viagra, some
physicians see
potential benefits in careful, off-label
use. Goldstein
plans to test female patients--mostly
postmenopausal
women--for impaired blood flow and give
the drug to
those he thinks it can help. He has
already received
E-mail from women eager to try it. Other
doctors are
bracing for the same. "The Viagra
avalanche is about to
begin," says Rosen. "Where the oral
contraceptive was
liberating for younger people, Viagra may
be the
sexual-liberation pill of older adults."
This time both men
and women will be getting in line.
Impotence Drugs in the Works for Women
--Viagra (chemical name: sildenafil):
Relaxes muscle cells
to enhance blood flow. Early female
trials under way in
Europe; U.S. female trials will be
discussed at an FDA
meeting later this month
--Vasomax (phentolamine): Oral version of
an approved
injectable drug. Dilates blood vessels to
increase flow.
Male trials are near completion in the
U.S.; female trials
are planned
--Spontane (apomorphine): Works through
the central
nervous system. Male trials are nearing
completion;
female trials are planned
--Prostaglandin creams: Applied to
surface of the genitals
to stimulate blood flow. Male trials
under way; female
trials planned
-- Maksim (Max) Bilymail to: imax(AT)odyssee.net
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