Sex sells. And Sprout Pharmaceuticals just scored the diamond ring with the FDA approval of its previously rejected female Viagra drug Flibanserin. But is it just selling us the image of desire or can it authentically fix our female libido problems? 

This libido issue has been recognized as a “medical” problem, initially termed hypoactive sexual desire (H.S.D.D. ) with its own diagnostic code until 2013 when it was renamed female sexual interest/arousal disorder (F.S.I.A.D.).  The name change, as silly as it sounds, is important because it indicates a new and more accurate understanding of a more realistic sexual response cycle for women. The idea that this new pink Viagra treats a disorder that isn’t even still in the books only adds insult to injury when you consider both the significant side effects, including fainting and low blood pressure from Flibasnserin (a failed antidepressant), and the almost non-existent increase in sexual response.   

Only two days after the approval of Flibanserin, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, a company of less than 40 employees, was sold for $1 billion, easily covering the $100 million dollar initial investment, spent mostly on an elaborate social media campaign equating a dubious drug approval to equal rights for women. The one good thing that has come from the FDA drug approval and even the bogus PR movement “Even the Score” developed to persuade the FDA to cave on the drug, is that now we can speak freely and honestly about female libido- and the fact that most women want more of it, but often have no idea how to get it. 

How about we begin instead with some basic sex education and dispel a few persistent myths about how libido works as well as how it changes. The persistent and harmful belief that sexual desire is or should be spontaneous is where the trouble starts. We all remember those initial early stirrings of sexual hunger, when it was some odd animal unleashed in us, just by being near the crush of the month, or even the frenzied, rip-your-clothes off feelings in the biologically driven stage of falling in love. Who doesn’t love that kind of spontaneous eruption of desire? It’s like surfing a giant wave, or dancing around a bonfire. So yes, there are times- rare and beautiful as they are- when our libido spontaneously takes us on a fantastic ride, sometimes resulting in an over the top orgasm.   

And then there is life: children, bills, figuring out the Feng Shui of correct furniture placement, dealing with in-laws, trying to progress in careers, cars breaking down, and you know… getting to an exercise class. Somehow, spontaneous sexual desire doesn’t usually mix in this list. This is where we have to start working for a new and more reliable form of libido. As adults, this is the moment when we have to both want and learn how to generate our capacity for desire. And this is where the libido story falls apart for most women. Study participants stated, “Once I started, it wasn’t an issue. It was getting me started.” And “I hate having to ‘wind myself up’ to do it,” said another participant. “It makes me feel broken.”  These comments reflect the real problem with female libido, that most women don’t understand: what makes desire work over the long-term is being willing to own and cultivate our erotic selves.   

It is a big leap to take responsibility for our own erotic impulses. It is much easier to let them lie dormant under a giant stack of old guilt or wounds of  being sexual, emotional disconnection from our partner, silent shame about our body image, or just having no idea about how to access a fantasy life. It is grown-up business that requires both curiosity and commitment to our erotic soul for it to flourish. And most women equate that work with being broken. We know now that desire is not usually the leader- just waking up our capacity to be aroused is enough to kick desire awake. And arousal is available through any of our senses if we go looking for it.

Giving up the longing for spontaneous desire to take you over and leaning towards getting good at cultivating responsive desire is the only pill you need to take.  Not only will you avoid the pain and embarrassment of frequent fainting spells, which will not help your libido, but you will invent exciting new pathways in your brain to actually get to the passion we all truly want.

Stay tuned in the next weeks for real ideas on how to make your own desire cure.

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Image licensed via Shutterstock

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The latest erectile dysfunction drug could be genetically modified spider venom.

Erectile dysfunction impacts an estimated 30 million American men and that number is growing. Why do more and more men have difficulty getting and staying in the mood, if you know what I mean? Well, it’s partially because getting an erection often has a lot to do with your overall health. ED is caused by a number of factors including heart disease, obesity, certain prescription drugs, sleep problems, and alcohol use as well as stress. And the more that men are hit with chronic illness as they age, the less likely they are to be able to bump and grind.

That’s why ED has opened up the dams to a rush of pharmaceutical wealth. From Cialis to Viagra the market is huge and as more men fall into this category, the cash flow increases. Enter genetically modified spider venom, the newest addition to the world of erectile dysfunction drugs.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty: ED is caused by a lack of blood flow to the penis. Most prescription ED drugs are phosphodiesterase inhibitors, which relax the muscles allowing blood to flow more freely. The erection lasts as long as the blood and the erection valves stay open. That’s where the Brazilian wandering spider comes into the picture.

It’s the world’s most venomous spider and all five species are found in Brazil and throughout Latin America. The mega-spiders have a leg span reaching six inches and while 90 percent of their bites don’t cause a medical emergency, they’re famous for one particular malady. They can cause priapism, when blood pools in the penis, a positive when it comes to erection.

Since it isn’t exactly realistic to track down entire populations of the venomous spiders for use in an ED drug, scientists are using genetically modified spider cells to replicate the venom. Although we’re still years from the spider venom hitting the market.

According to Wired:

A synthetic way to make lots of a biological product already exists for drug creation. By harnessing genetically modified bacteria, we now grow insulin, tissue plasminogen activator, and human growth hormone in commercial quantities. GMO drug production is not new.

In 2014, researchers successfully created a recombinant baculovirus with the PnTx2-6 gene. They then used this to infect a culture of caterpillar cells which produced the spider toxin.

While from a distance it may seem like a lot of effort for an ED drug, there’s big money in it considering that sales for Cialis and Viagra alone reached $4 billion last year. And if you watch any television show with an older audience, then you know how big the market is. It seems every other commercial is aimed at those with ED. But would ED sufferers be willing to take a genetically modified spider venom as an erectile dysfunction drug? That remains to be seen.

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Image of a Brazilian wandering spider from Shuttershock

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Cute, cuddly and hooked on Viagra? What are zoos doing to pandas? Should we even be breeding endangered species destined to live in captivity?

One-sixth of the world’s endangered panda population lives in captivity (approximate numbers put the total population in the wild and in captivity at about 2,000). A recent article in the New Yorker looked at the difficulty zoos and sanctuaries have in breeding pandas—creatures notoriously fickle when it comes to sex, and with short fertility windows to boot. Just a half-century ago, it was believed to be impossible to breed captive pandas. Success has come though, but not without extreme and bizarre efforts. Some zoos have introduced “panda porn”, which is exactly what it sounds like, and in some cases, they’re giving males Viagra, in attempts to encourage mating.

If there’s one argument zoos and aquariums routinely make over keeping captive animals, it’s that they’re employing state-of-the-art breeding techniques to perpetuate some of the world’s most beloved endangered species, like pandas. But that’s only kind of true.

While captive breeding can lead to offspring of threatened or endangered species, many of those animals often stay in captivity as well. Reintroduction is costly and often fails. A tiger, panda or orca born in captivity may certainly look the part, but she lacks the resume we seek in wild animals. Behaviors are abnormal; the animals can suffer from depression and diseases not seen in the wild. And on the ethical front it certainly opens up a dialogue: What do we gain by keeping fuzzy prisoners in unnatural environments? Should more efforts be put on wild animal conservation in their natural habitats than in captive breeding efforts?

In China, some pandas are being bred in sanctuary settings like those in Wolong and Shangdong, where they’re kept from human contact (handlers don panda suits…seriously) so that babies can be introduced into the wild, while maintaining a (valuable) fear of humans. The programs have been successful in replenishing regional panda populations, but only slightly. Reintroduction to the wild is not as simple as opening a cage; an animal bred in captivity is more often than not, significantly unequipped for handling freedom.

Drawing crowds at places like the National Zoo in Washington D.C. or San Diego’s Zoo, particularly when breeding methods are successful, thriving captive animal breeding perpetuates captivity, keeping zoos and aquariums profit-driven focused first and foremost. More wild swaths of habitat are deforested to build factories to make the stuffed pandas, killer whales and polar bears that the zoos and aquariums hope you’ll purchase on your way out.

Pixar’s recent decision to change the ending of the forthcoming film “Finding Dory” (the sequel to “Finding Nemo”) was inspired by the film “Blackfish“, a documentary that highlights the unimaginable life of captive orcas SeaWorld has been holding prisoner for decades. “Dory’s” director made the decision to change the ending so as not make a film that would be looked back on in 50 years as politically incorrect and insulting.

Africa’s black rhinoceros was recently declared extinct from the wild. Credit can go to poaching as well as insufficient conservation efforts. There was little media attention over the loss of one of the world’s most unique and awe-inspiring creatures. Perhaps that’s because nearly 300 though, are still alive in captivity. Like the panda, mating in captivity is difficult for the rhino. Mothers often reject their young. Formulating a rhino-milk knock-off isn’t easy. Babies develop health issues, which, along with the other sacrifices captivity requires, create behavioral issues we can’t fully even understand as most zookeepers have never observed these animals in their natural habitat.

If humans are able to stop destroying environments other creatures have called home for at least as long as we’ve been here, perhaps some of these other species have a chance to survive. And without the exploitative breeding methods that erode their natural majesty. But for those species where it’s just a matter of time, at what point do we acknowledge that we’ve erased suitable environments for these animals to thrive and just let them die-off as gracefully as possible?

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: Adrien Sifre Photography

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