Lybridos Or 'Female Viagra' Could Be On Sale By 2016

Gentlemen Watch Out..
Could a pill increase a woman's sexual appetite?
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Could a pill increase a woman's sexual appetite?

Reports suggests that in as little as three years, a new pill that heightens a woman's sexual desire and improves her satisfaction levels in the bedroom, could be on the market.

The new drug called Lybridos, developed by Dutch and US firm Emotional Brain, has been dubbed the 'female viagra' by the media.

According to The Telegraph, the company's founder Adriaan Tuiten describes the recent results of a trial involving more than 200 women, which have not yet been published, as "very, very promising".

In an extensive feature with The New York Times magazine, Tuiten also indicated that if all goes well, his drug could be on sale by 2016.

PICTURES: Scroll down to see the health benefits of orgasms

Emotional Brain was set up in 2001 to research innovative health care, with a focus on women's sexual health. Since then, studies into the causes of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) have lead to the development of targeted drugs designed to meet women's needs.

However, concerns have already been raised about how a drug that can boost the female sex drive will be received by the public.

Gynecologist Andrew Goldstein, who helped conduct the study, told The New York Times that: “You want your effects to be good but not too good.”

He recalled past research into the development of a drug to treat a decrease in sexual desire.

“There was a lot of discussion about the need to show that you’re not turning women into nymphomaniacs. There’s a bias against — a fear of creating the sexually aggressive woman.”

Commentators have already picked up on this controversial line of thought, with their spin on how a world filled with rapacious women might look!

According to the NHS, sexual problems affect around 50% of women, and become more common as women get older. Forms of FSD can include loss of desire, loss of arousal, problems with orgasm and pain during sex.

Joanna Coker, psychosexual therapist, told HuffPost UK LIfestyle: "The positive benefit of this kind of drug is that it could be a quick fix, which is much quicker and cheaper than psychosexual therapy.

"However, if low sexual desire disorder is part of a relational issue within the couple, using 'female viagra' may mean issues are not addressed and resentment continues to grow."

She adds there is also a small danger that if the drug were used to privilege sexual desire over the right to refuse sex, this could potentially lead to coercive and abusive behaviour within the relationship.

For more information about sexual and relationship therapy, please visit COSRT.

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