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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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0 5 - 1 2 - 2 0 0 4 'Female Viagra' hyped without risk assessment
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Last year marked both the fifth anniversary of Viagra's launch and the release of two prominent new drugs: Levitra and Cialis. The blockbuster success of these male erection products has created an incentive for drug companies to develop a "female Viagra," especially when the potential market for women's sex drugs is estimated at more than $1.5 billion a year.
The first company to gain FDA approval stands to reap a large chunk of that money. Farthest along is a testosterone patch for women called Intrinsa, intended to boost the sex drive in women who lost interest after their ovaries were removed.
Last week, a Food and Drug Administration committee recommended the agency hold off approving Intrinsa because no long-term data verifies the drug's safety. That's a temporary setback for Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Intrinsa's manufacturer, but it can't stop a new era for women.
Just as millions have been taking estrogen and progesterone since the 1960s for birth control or menopause treatment, someday it may be just as common for women to take testosterone, or some other product, for low libido.
P&G can continue its pursuit of FDA approval after assembling more data, and more than a dozen other pharmaceutical companies are developing and testing other sex drugs for women.
The FDA is right to be cautious. How can we forget the recent glut of drug failures?
Two years ago the Women's Health Initiative concluded that hormone-replacement therapy increases women's risk of breast cancer and heart disease. And the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx was pulled from the shelves in September after it was linked to heart damage.
Since persistent gaps exist between advertisements that promise a lot and scientific truth, it's easy to see Intrinsa could become the next hormone-replacement or Vioxx debacle.
As a sociologist who studies sexuality, I know many women have lots of sexual problems. But many of those problems can be traced to cultural, relationship and psychological factors. It bothers me that because of the "Viagracization" of sex, pharmaceutical companies have hijacked the characterization of women's sexual problems. Sure, some women may be helped by a new sex patch or pill, but this quick fix might just put a Band-Aid on a larger problem. And using a patch or pill comes with health risks.
But big pharmaceutical companies want us to believe sexual problems are a result of our biology alone, not related to cultural and psychological factors. After all, an orgasm pill can be marketed in a profit-making system; social change cannot.
As the era of sexual medicine unfolds, expect exaggerated claims on the part of Big Pharma. Proctor & Gamble, for example, declared Intrinsa increased the sexual activity of the women the company studied by 74 percent. But they failed to emphasize that the increase amounts to, at most, one additional sexual act a month.
While this modest improvement can be significant for some women, the spin seems to exaggerate the benefits. Luckily, the FDA's advisory committee saw through that. The benefit is overshadowed by the patch's possible health risks.
It's ironic that in the 1960s drug companies told women they could stay sexy and "feminine forever" by taking estrogen. Now that we know this treatment comes with certain dangers, drug companies are telling women they can stay sexy by taking testosterone.
Well, it's time for women to turn the tables and tell the drug companies what to do: Stop trying to pedal drugs that benefit your bottom line at the expense of our health.
Heather Hartley is assistant professor of sociology at Portland State University. She has published several academic articles on the search for the "female Viagra." Hartley lives in Southeast Portland.
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