Free Republic

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. women will soon have another drug option designed to boost low sex drive: a shot they can give themselves in the thigh or abdomen that raises sexual interest for several hours.</p> <p>The medication OK’d Friday by the Food and Drug Administration is only the second approved to increase sexual desire in a women, a market drugmakers have been trying to cultivate since the blockbuster success of Viagra for men in the late 1990s. The other drug is a daily pill.</p>

One of the greatest paradoxes about birth control is that, while it may make sex seem more available to women, many women taking the drugs feel less in the mood. The connections between hormonal contraceptives and symptoms of low libido are long established. But research reveals further reasons women may be experiencing less sexual pleasure while on the Pill, ring, patch, implant, or IUD. Not only have hormonal contraceptives been shown to significantly decrease women’s testosterone levels, and lead to severe depression and suicide attempts . . .

ATLANTA - In a troubling reversal, the nation's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials who had no immediate explanation. The birth rate had been dropping since its peak in 1991, although the decline had slowed in recent years. On Wednesday, government statisticians said it rose 3 percent from 2005 to 2006. U.S. health officials said it was possibly a one-year statistical blip and not the beginning of a new upward trend. But several experts said they have been expecting a jump. They blame the increase on increased federal funding for abstinence-only...

1 hour, 42 minutes ago BERLIN (AFP) - Khat, a plant whose leaves are chewed as a mild drug in East Africa and the Gulf, contains chemicals that may boost male fertility, an international conference was told. Called by its Latin name of Catha edulis, khat has been known for centuries for inducing a sense of euphoria and, say some of its champions, also improves a man's sex drive and ability to sustain an erection. The stimulant in the leaves is called cathinone, which is swiftly broken down by enzymes into cathine and norephedrine, part of a group of chemicals...