Barbara Gattuso was in her late 30s when she first noticed a change in her attitude towards sex with her husband, Gregg. “I never spoke to him about it, but sex was just – I could care less,” she says. Over the years, Gattuso, now 66, became adept at hiding from her husband in order to avoid rejecting him outright; she’d often go to bed early, and get up before he did. "After a while, it was like ‘what is happening here? I love my husband, we have an incredible marriage, beautiful children; what is going on?’"

The problem was desire. While most people who’ve been in a long-term relationship can attest to a dampening of the initial fireworks over time, Gattuso had no interest in sex whatsoever. And it wasn’t just her husband; she couldn’t raise a flame for anybody. Some sexual psychologists claim that such fluctuations in sexual desire are perfectly normal – particularly as women get older. Others believe this kind of desire deficit is a medical condition; the result of an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.

Now there may be a drug to treat it. On 3 and 4 June, the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) will convene an advisory panel to recommend whether Flibanserin – touted as the “female Viagra” – should be approved for use in patients, or confined to the dustbin. The question is divisive, however – with strong arguments for and against.

Faulty circuitry

So what causes this absence of sexual desire, and how might Flibanserin help? Women clearly aren’t alone in hitting against sexual problems as they age; the popularity of Viagra is a testament to that. To quote the comedian, George Burns: “Sex at age 90 is like shooting pool with a rope.” However, the nature of the problem often differs between the sexes.