2001-08-06
Diana Davis

One of the most common health complaints of middle aged women is lack of sex drive.

Yet, there's little available to treat the problem.

Could the solution be as close as the health food store?

A herbal remedy now available promises to improve women's sexual fitness. Does it deliver on those promises?

A recent study by prestigious Stanford University says that this pill called arginmax does improve women's lackluster libido. Less than 100 patients were tested, but the buzz from that one study has women grabbing the supplement from health food stores and on the web.

It costs about a month. Is it money well spent? One woman in the study says arginmax saved her marriage.

At the age of just 29, Hendy Lund and her husband quietly kept a bedroom secret. I lost my libido. I had no sex drive," she said. But Hendy says she found help in the six pills she takes every day.

"It's not like I woke up one morning and said, 'OK, honey let's go.' But the impulse went from rolling over and saying, 'Not tonight,' to 'OK, yeah, we could do this.' And by the end of 30 days, it was "Yeah, OK we can do this!!

The nutritional supplement Hendy takes is arginmax. It's available on the internet and at some health food stores. At some of Atlanta's GNC stores, it's difficult to keep arginmax on the shelves.

"They come back with some really good feedback on it," said GNC's Stephanie Blaze. "I would have to say its a really good seller."

In a small clinical trial, researchers say arginmax improved women's sexual desire and overall satisfaction.

"It is not a pill you take before you have intercourse," said Dr. Mary Lake Polan. "This is a nutritional supplement you continue to take like a vitamin."

Stanford's Dr. Polan conducted the month-long study of 93 women. Half took arginmax. The others took a placebo. Neither, the volunteers or doctors knew who was taking what. By study's end, only 38 percent of the placebo group reported improved sexual satisfaction, compared to 62 percent of the women taking arginmax.

They showed significant improvement in sexual function in terms of improved sexual relationship, improved interest in sex, and in some cases, improved numbers of encounters with intercourse," said Dr. Poland.

Arginmax is a combination of l-arginine, ginsing, ginko damiana and 14 common vitamins and minerals. Dr. Polan says the main ingredient, the amino acid l-arginine, increases nitric oxide in the body. She says that can increase blood flow.

"And we know with sexual arousal there's increased blood flow, and in fact, that's one of the ways female sexual arousal is measured," the doctor said.

But not all scientists are covinced that arginmax really works. They point out that its key ingredient, l-arginine, isn't new and that the ingredient can even be found in foods like walnuts.

Some sexual health experts call the claims made by arginmax far-fetched.

"L- arginine has been around a long time," said Dr. Candy Tsouronis, a researcher. "It's been studied in a lot of other disorders even in heart disorders. If it really was as effective as some of these manufacturer's websites claim, we would have heard about it a long time ago."

But heny is sold.

Its a vitamin, so its like taking any other vitamin," said Hendy Lund. "It just happens to have a combination of herbs that also happen to enhance your sex life. What's' wrong with that? Who's going to complain?"

Although many scientists doubt arginma's effectiveness, they all seem to agree that it is safe. No side effects have been reported. But as you've heard, very few women have been tested on this supplement.

Stanford's Dr. Polan says she plans a larger study in the near future.