'Female Viagra' Has Arrived, But Does it Work?

Can we say goodbye to the floundering female sex drive?

by erin mayer

Forget Vitamin D, this is the supplement we've all been waiting for: Viagra for ladies! But hit the pause button on your excitement. Lady Prelox (yes, it has the word 'lady' in the name) might not do its job all that well.

Billed as the female version of Viagra, Lady Prelox goes on sale in the U.K. this month. According to the International Business Times, the pill contains pycnogenol, a substance found in French pine bark. I have no idea what this has to do with dwindling libido, but it sounds cool. The theory behind the pill is the same as the theory behind Viagra, that sexual dysfunction is an issue of poor circulation. While this has been proven in men — hello, erectile dysfunction — there has yet to be significant evidence that circulation is the main issue behind female sexual dysfunction.

Nord Pharma, manufacturer or Lady Prelox, funded a study that looked at "100 women aged 37 to 45," half of whom took Lady Prelox, and found that "women who took the supplement showed a larger improvement in the Female Sexual Function Index, a medical tool for evaluating female sexual health." So a study funded by the manufacturer of the pill had favorable results (shocker), but doctors are so far unconvinced. Dr. Graham Jackson told the Daily Mail, "We know that in men sexual dysfunction is mainly a vascular problem. We don't have any concrete evidence of this in women yet, but I suspect there may turn out to be a link."

Viagra for ladies could still be a game-changer, but time will have to tell. Curious women looking to get their hands on Lady Prelox have to fly to the U.K. and fork over approximately $62 per package. That seems a little pricey for a product that maybe, kinda, sorta works.

[h/t Jezebel]