Mood lighting? Study shows bright light may help men with low libido
Rome - Men who have lost their sex drive may regain their libido with repeated exposure to bright light, the results of an Italian study released Monday showed.
Scientists at the University of Siena recruited 38 men with low sex drive and subjected them to 30-minute, early-morning sessions of light therapy using a "light box". One group was exposed to an intense, artificial light, while a control group was treated with a dimmer light.
After two weeks, the first group's average sexual satisfaction scores jumped from 2 to 6.3 out of 10, and their testosterone levels increased from 2.1 nanogram per millilitre (ng/ml) to 3.6 ng/ml, the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) said in a statement.
Subjects in the control group showed no significant improvements in sex drive.
"Light therapy has been used successfully in the past to treat some forms of depression and this study suggests now that it may also work to treat low sexual desire in men," said Eduard Vieta, a professor at the University of Barcelona Hospital Clinic.
"The mechanism of action appears to be related to the increase of testosterone levels," said Vieta, treasurer of the ECNP and chair of his university's psychiatry and psychology department.
Low sexual drive in men is currently treated via testosterone injections, antidepressants and other medications. Before light therapy can become a viable alternative, its effectiveness will have to be confirmed by larger studies, researchers said.
- DPA
