A woman’s waning desire for sexual interaction is often attributed to the aging process but not every woman loses interest in the opposite sex once past menopause.  Many postmenopausal women remain sexually active and happy about it while others experience some very real physical issues that make sex less pleasant than it once.  Others just don’t seem to miss it.

There’s hope for romance in the future, however, even when a medical condition called hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) has been diagnosed.  A research team based at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, have just released the findings of a Phase II study involving a testosterone-based gel that was reported to improve sexual satisfaction by more than 200% in women with HSDD.  The gel, to be marketed as LibiGel once final testing is completed and the drug is approved for sale, contains testosterone, the sexual hormone most often associated with men.

Women, too, require testosterone for sexual arousal but the female body’s ability to produce the male hormone diminishes after menopause.  To use the libido-restoring new gel, women simply apply it to the upper arm, where it is absorbed through the skin in a controlled dose all day long.

The research team evaluated the intimate lives of more than 2,200 30- to 70-year-old women to measure the potential benefits of the gel.  About 26.7% of premenopausal women participating in the study reported low sex drives but more than half, 52%, of postmenopausal women did so.

Within the study group, women who were surgically menopausal seemed to have the greatest difficulties, with 12.5% of them diagnosed with HSDD.  Women who experienced natural menopause had HSDD about 1.2% more often then premenopausal women.  The medical condition, HSDD, is a more extreme lack of desire that is characterized by enough anxiety to seriously test relationships.

While using LibiGel, the surgically menopausal women reported 238% more satisfying sexual encounters than before using the gel.  The very high rate of success of the testosterone-laced gel makes it highly desirable in the treatment of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women.  The gel is still undergoing testing at this time, however, with current study participants who are all experiencing menopause and have HSDD, too.

The July 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine carries the details of the UNC study.  The study was a joint effort between UNC researchers and BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the gel’s manufacturer.  BioSante is headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois.

Source: BioSante Pharmaceuticals