Europe (OTL) - The “little blue pill”, Viagra, has been the boost that millions of men have needed to help lagging libidos since its debut in 1998. Women haven’t been so lucky. Every year, women going through menopause experience a drop in their hormones, causing a significant decrease in sexual desire and interest. Women everywhere have been waiting ten years for a “little pink pill” to hit the market.
In 2004, there was a promising study done on a testosterone patch from Europe. Testosterone is the hormone linked to sexual libido in both sexes. The study lasted 52-weeks and did produce increased results in satisfying sexual encounters for the women in the group. The study was published in the November 6th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The biggest side effect was unwanted hair growth due to the increase in testosterone levels in the system. There were some instances of acne as well, and four women were diagnosed with cancer after the study was completed. The unwanted hair and acne were directly linked to the patch, but the cancer may have been a preexisting condition in study participants.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration denied a patent in the U.S. in 2004, due to lack of long term safety data. The FDA maintains that testosterone therapy for women must be completely safe before they will release it to be sold within the United States, but the testosterone patch is currently available in Europe.