A new gel could help menopausal women with low libidos.

Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) (MCT) - Doctors in Hampton Roads, Va., have begun a clinical trial on a new female testosterone gel they hope can help menopausal women who have lost interest in sex.

The treatment, called LibiGel, is one of the first therapies geared toward women with low libidos, as opposed to men (think Viagra and Cialis). Patients apply the gel once a day to skin on their upper arm, delivering testosterone through the skin and into the bloodstream.

"There is a real unmet need here," said Dr. Frank Morgan, an OB/GYN with Tidewater Physicians for Women, a practice with offices in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va., that is involved in the nationwide study. "There is no one simple answer for women, but the hope is that this will be a safe treatment that can help a certain number of them."

An estimated 40 million women suffer from some type of sexual disorder, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The most common is a lack of sexual desire, which can harm a woman's relationships as well as her physical and mental health.

While a wide range of physical and psychological disorders can lead to loss of libido, a low level of testosterone _ a hormone that plays a key role in sex drive in both men and women _ often is to blame. Since the ovaries produce the hormone, a woman's interest in sex may drop after she goes through natural menopause or has her ovaries removed, also known as surgical menopause.

Early studies on LibiGel showed it raised blood testosterone levels to normal levels in women who had gone through surgical menopause. Participants reported more satisfying sex lives with no serious side effects.

The new study will expand the number of patients and also test the gel's safety in women with certain risk factors for heart disease and stroke, Morgan said. Doctors also will track women to make sure testosterone doesn't raise the risk of breast cancer.

Doctors have prescribed testosterone pills to women for years, but side effects include acne and excessive hair growth.

Patients in the new clinical trial will be randomly assigned to get LibiGel or a placebo.

If the trial goes well, the treatment could be available by prescription in about three years.

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© 2008, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).