Addyi: an antidepressant, not female Viagra

Addyi: an antidepressant, not female Viagra

By NewsGram Staff Writer

While sexual problems remain a more clandestine affair for women than men, a respite in the name of Addyi has been introduced. This pink pill can pull out women from their depression which is caused due to their sexual inactivity.

With the US FDA giving a green signal to Flibanserin, commonly known as Addyi, the pharmaceutical industry has received its first drug which can treat a flagging or absent libido in women.

Addyi is erroneously being called as the "female Viagra". However, that is not the case! While Viagra treats erectile dysfunction and focuses on the genitals of a man, Addyi works on the central nervous system, thereby targeting the brain and not the genitals.

Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of this pill won the FDA approval after two consecutive rejections in the year 2010 and 2013 respectively. The approval of Addyi is accompanied by various side-effects and caveat. Since Addyi targets the brain, it is classified under the category of antidepressants.

This drug comes with side-effects that include dizziness, nausea, fatigue and somnolence. While Viagra is a pill that men take before a sexual encounter, Addyi needs to be taken everyday. Moreover, this pill can be prescribed only by doctors and apothecaries who watch an online presentation and pass a test related to it.

This prescription of this drug doesn't entail that the woman is ill or is undergoing some relationship problems. Instead, this pill is dispensed for women whose loss of sexual desire causes marked distressed or depression in some cases.

While Dr Lauren Streicher, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwest University believes that this pill will induce women to talk about their sexual problems, Adriane Fugh-Berman, a pharmacology professor and director of PharmedOut thinks that such drugs open way for other "bad drugs" to enter into the market.

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