Better screwing via chemistry. You just know bremelanotide is going to be a blockbuster drug, if it doesn't make women's vulvas fall off, or have some other nasty side effect.
Our culture always wants to find shortcuts for every natural process.
The Search for the Female Equivalent of Viagra - New York Times : Even in the most sexually liberated and self-satisfied of nations, many people still yearn to burn more, to feel ready for bedding no matter what the clock says and to desire their partner of 23 years as much as they did when their love was brand new.The market is saturated with books on how to revive a flagging libido or spice up monotonous sex, and sex therapists say “lack of desire” is one of the most common complaints they hear from patients, particularly women.
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More recently, another potentially promising treatment for hypoactive desire has been making its way through clinical trials. The compound, called bremelanotide, is a synthetic version of a hormone involved in skin pigmentation, and it was initially developed by Palatin Technologies of New Jersey as a potential tanning agent to help prevent skin cancer. But when male college students participating in early safety tests began reporting that the drug sometimes gave them erections, the company began exploring bremelanotide’s utility as a treatment for sexual disorders.Studies in rodents demonstrated that the drug not only gave male rats spontaneous erections, but also fomented sexual excitement in female rats, prompting them to wiggle their ears, hop excitedly, rub noses with males and otherwise display unmistakable hallmarks of rodent arousal. Importantly, the females responded to the drug only under laboratory conditions where they could maintain a sense of control over the mating game. Take away the female’s opportunity to escape or proceed at her preferred pace, and no amount of bremelanotide would get those ears to wiggle. In other words, Annette M. Shadiack, director of biological research of Palatin, said, “this doesn’t look like a potential date-rape drug.”
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Women in the treatment group also were slightly more likely to have sex with their partners during the course of the trial than were those in the control group, although who initiated the romps was not specified.Larger trials of the drug at some 20 clinical centers around the United States are now under way. Among other things, the researchers will try adjusting the dosage to see if more bremelanotide may provoke a more robust response with a minimum of unpleasant or embarrassing side effects.
For example, researchers are as yet unsure whether sustained use of bremelanotide will end up doing what the drug was meant to do in the first place, and bestow on its beaming clients a truly healthy tan.
Dinner and a movie works too.
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Wow, and here I thought the mild nausea side effect of Bremelanotide was a problem. Now we have to worry about "women's vulvas fall off" ??!! LOL
But keep in mind this drug isn't being marketed as a 'party drug', and probably will require a prescription when available (provided the FDA gives a crap about women's health issues). Not to say it won't end up being used by SOME party goers, just like viagra has, but it isn't dangerous anyways and doesn't drive people insane with arousal. ha
And while 'dinner and a movie' works nicely for a normally functioning woman - if it's with a partner she already likes - this treatment is for women who have problems in that department (sexual arousal disorder), due to early menopause or as a result of cancer treatments, etc etc.
So in the future those women can have dinner, a movie, and THEN a sniff of Bremelanotide for a completely fulfilling evening with their loved one.
...*if* the FDA gives a damn about women. :)
Claire: hope there are not freaky side effects, and the FDA doesn't ban the drug for the wrong reasons. If the drug is safe, it should be available. Why not? A healthy sex life is good for everyone.
Insurance plans should cover it too, btw.
Seth - good point about the insurance plan coverage. Viagra et al are covered by many plans too, so I can't see why Bremelanotide would be any different.
As far as freaky side effects go - there aren't any that I've ever heard of. The last issue of the Bremelanotide Bulletin lists the "Adverse Affects in Phase IIa Subjects" for postmenopausal women treated with it, and aside from nausea, nasal congestion (you sniff it), and headache, the other side effects are not very prevalent... and certainly not freaky. :)
Plus even those side effects may very well be related to the dosage, just like they discovered with men in Phase IIb (see an earlier report on the Bulletin site), so lowering it will almost definitely lessen the adverse effects with no loss of effectiveness.
And I agree - good sex is good for everyone, so the FDA should allow people having problems in that area to have some relief (in every sense of the word).