Drugs Not The Solution For Low Libido

While drug companies are pouring millions of dollars into finding a chemical solution for low libido in women, a small Canadian company has pitted itself against the pharmaceutical giants with a much safer solution that uses our sense of smell.

“Women are being targeted as the next big windfall of profits for drug companies as they eye the increasing incidence of low libido in women,” said Linda Ryan, President of the Orion Group Ltd, a small innovative health company that’s been researching the area of female sexual health. “For most women, a low libido has its roots in her emotions so developing drugs that could alter a women’s emotional state is a dangerous precedent.”

Ryan’s company has been collaborating with Medaro Medical Ltd, a UK-based firm which was founded by sexual health advocate Liz Paul. The two women became alarmed when Proctor and Gamble’s Intrinsa patch, which was rejected by the FDA for safety conce
s, received approval for sale in Europe.

“Intrinsa is being hailed as the ‘pink Viagra’,” says Paul. “But it just puts more chemicals into a women’s bloodstream with a promise of better sex. Unfortunately, a women’s sexual response is intricately more complicated than a romp between the sheets. We have enough hormones to manage without adding more harmful ingredients to complicate things.”

Medaro Medical has been working in the area of female sexual dysfunction and the problem of low libido from a psycho-semantic approach. The company funded research in molecular chemistry and engineered a sophisticated aroma designed to trigger the mood centers of the brain using the sense of smell. The aromas are delivered to the nose of the user through a small non-transdermal patch worn on the wrist. Scentuelle has been available in Europe for the past two years and is now available in the US and Canada.

“Women are increasingly suspicious of taking drugs to manage their sexual health, especially after all the controversy over HRT,” said Ryan. “Drug companies do not have the long-term health of women in mind. They’re looking for the immediate fix to build their profits. Now they have their sights on the huge opportunity provided by the ageing boomer demographic.”

North America’s 85+ million ageing baby boomers are facing the ‘use it or lose it’ proposition when it comes to their sexual health. Complaints of low libido are on the rise due in part to the millions of women entering their menopause years. However, most sex therapists agree that low libido in women is often emotionally based and caused by stress, relationship issues, lifestyle and just plain tiredness.

“Few women think about having sex after a stressed out day at the office,” says Paul. “Women are not looking for a female version of Viagra. We first need time to relax which can then trigger a change of mood. That’s exactly what Scentuelle is designed to do.”

Ryan knows her company is up against the massive marketing budgets of the large pharmaceutical companies but remains undeterred. “I think women are fed up with being told what’s best for the health of our bodies, especially when it comes from men. Scentuelle was developed from a woman’s state of mind. It works naturally with her sensibilities. That’s a powerful marketing message.”

Scentuelle is available from www.Walgreens.com and www.ScentuellePatch.com.n