- A synthetic hormone that's on the pharmaceutical fast
track could solve your beauty and bedroom needs all at the same time.
-
- "You could theoretically get tanned and have, certainly,
a lot of erectile activity and you might actually start to lose weight,"
said Dr. Robert Dorr, a researcher at the University of Arizona.
-
- The so-called Barbie drug came about when skin cancer
researchers decided to test a hormone called Melanotan II on a group of
men. Their hope was to stimulate a natural tan without the sun. In addition
to the glowing skin the men got, they stumbled on surprising side effects
-- so exciting that one researcher even tried it out on himself.
-
- "After about 10 days of taking this Melanotan II,
I lost about 10 pounds," Dr. Mac Hadley said.
-
- "We know that it causes a short-term feeling of
fullness or nausea," Dorr said.
-
- Researchers say the hormone also triggers immediate sexual
benefits.
-
- "Even at a very low starting dose, every subject
had an erection," Dorr said.
-
- Several companies are developing customized drugs based
on Melanotan II. Each is focused on a different benefit. An Australian
lab is now testing an injection called EpiTan, which claims to produce
tanned skin without any of the dangerous side effects from ultraviolet
rays.
-
- "It is a total duplicate of the normal tanning process
in humans, except it occurs without sunlight," said Terry Winters.
-
- In the United States, researchers are working on a sexual
spin-off called PT-141 -- a nasal spray that promises to boost the libido
in both men and women.
-
- "When we give it to humans, it produces blood flow
into the genitalia," said Carl Spana, with Palatin Technologies.
-
- While each product will be marketed for one specific
use, researchers say it's a win-win situation for patients.
-
- "If taken as a sexual enhancer, it would also cause
tanning if you used it frequently, and it would have the weight loss potential,"
Dorr said.
-
- Dr. Monica Ramirez, psychologist and author of Never
Good Enough, says she sees the benefits.
-
- "Any pill that can help people lose weight, get
a tan and improve their sex life has got to be a winner for a lot of people,"
Ramirez said.
-
- But she worries about the ideology drugs like this would
encourage.
-
- "It just raises the bar. So now, everybody is expected
to be thin enough, and beautiful enough, and sexy enough and it just creates
a whole new way to feel like a failure," Ramirez said.
-
- EpiTan has completed phase two clinical trials in Australia
and is expecting Food and Drug Administration approval to begin trials
in the United States by mid-2004. PT-141 has completed phase two clinical
trials in the United States. It must pass a phase three pivotal trial before
going on the market.
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- http://www.nbc17.com/health/2652603/detail.html
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