Why love is all in the mind for women

For half of us at least, it may seem blindingly obvious.

But after years of research scientists have concluded once and for all that, for women, sex is all in the mind.

The announcement was made by the makers of Viagra, who have abandoned their attempts to produce a female version of the impotence drug.

They found that the way Viagra works - by boosting the supply of blood to the sexual organs - while sufficient for men, had little effect on the fairer sex.

Instead, a woman's brain is the most crucial organ when it comes to sex - and a carefully chosen remark or gesture from a lover will prove far more effective that any pill currently available.

The results are a disappointment for pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which could have made billions from a female Viagra pill.

Scientists carried out eight years of testing on 3,000 women.

They found that while women given Viagra had an increased blood flow to the pelvic area, they did not feel significantly more aroused.

Dr Mitra Boolel, who led the research, said: 'There's a disconnection in many women between genital changes and mental changes.

'This disconnection does not exist in men. Men consistently get 23million men and makes Pfizer more than £1billion a year.

With some studies suggesting the proportion of women suffering from sexual dysfunction is nearly 50 per cent higher than among men, a female equivalent would be a massive money-spinner.

But announcing the end of the research programme, which cost hundreds of thousands, Pfizer's head of development Joe Feczko said female sexual disorders were simply more complicated than male impotence.

'Diagnosing sexual difficulties in women involves assessing physical, emotional and relationship factors and these complex and interdependent factors make measuring a medicine's effect very difficult,' he added.

The findings were greeted as a welcome piece of common sense by women observers. Author Kathy Lette said: 'Women have an emotional libido and we've known that for decades. It's just a question of when men will cotton on.

'To please a woman in bed, all a man has to do is a poetry course. They also have to learn that the Kama Sutra is not an Indian take-something-much deeper - from relationships involving romance and love. While men also desire that, they are not programmed for it in the same way.

'Buying us a bunch of red roses is far more likely to work and is far healthier for all of us.'

Pfizer is now studying other forms of treatment for female sexual disorder.

It may be beaten to the marketplace by another U.S. drugs company which has developed what has been called the world's first 'lust drug', PT-141.

Although it has been tested only on men so far, the fact the spray-administered drug acts on the part of the brain that governs sexual excitement means it may reach the parts Viagra has not been able to.