Local doctors are testing medication to treat a condition called hypo-active sexual desire disorder that causes young women to lose interest in sex.
It's the most common type of female sexual dysfunction that's usually linked to the hormonal changes women go through after menopause.
However, it's estimated that 20 percent of women who have not gone through menopause have a low sex drive or lose interest in sex.


It's not clear what causes HSDD in young women, but the new drug being tested by doctors does not involve hormones.
"This is a drug that works in the brain and changes ones thoughts from non-interest in sex, to normal interest in sex," said Dr. James Simon.
The drug is called Flibanserin.
Initially it was tested as an anti-depressant.
It didn't really work. But doctors discovered that severely depressed patients, particularly women, showed an increase in their sexual desire when taking the medication.
Flibanserin is now being studied as a possible treatment for HSDD in women between the ages of 18 and 45.

Women take pills twice a day.
"This requires, we think, about a month's worth of taking it, for it to kick in and it is most likely to work while a woman is taking it," said Simon. "We don't know if it will have a persistent effect, once she discontinues."
Doctors said they haven't seen any serious side effects with the medication, but that's one of the things they are looking for in the study.
Even if the drug proves effective it could be at least two years before it's widely available.