Crotch Aid

A breakthrough that could have saved my last relationship? Maybe not, but for some women who need the fire of passion reignited in their loins, there may be hope.

A drug that could do for women what Viagra has done for men is being tested at the University of Virginia, and no, I'm not talking about giving them erections. It is a testosterone-laden ointment called LibiGel, intended to boost the libido of women who have lost interest in sex.

The condition, with the dry clinical name "hypoactive sexual desire disorder", is believed to affect 1/3 of American women, some of which I have dated.

The university joins 99 other medical institutions participating in testing the drug's efficacy and safety. The study is currently seeking 25 women between the ages of 30 and 65 to take part in the national study. Those women must have had both ovaries surgically removed, be currently taking an estrogen supplement and be distressed about their lack of libido. Ovariectomies, or surgical menopause, can lead to a drop in sexual interest because ovaries produce roughly half of the testosterone in a woman's body.

To test the drug, the woman rubs the small dot of gel into the skin of her upper arm, and over the next 24 hours, the gel's testosterone would seep into her bloodstream to boost her energy and libido. A second phase of clinical trials led to a 283 percent increase of satisfying sexual encounters for the women taking the drug.

No word yet on the possible cost of the drug or what the actual ingredients are, but I have it on good word that several major clothing and accessory manufacturers are joining with diamond producers to ban the release of the drug, claiming their products can achieve the same effect, and that approval could bankrupt several of them.