Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Seattle Times
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium
Winnifred Cutler and her colleagues have synthesized a human hormone substance that she hopes will make it a little easier for men to attract women.
The chemical is a copy of the human pheromone - a chemical found in sweat. Like all animal pheromones, it is believed to stimulate response from the opposite sex.
And, predictably, Cutler's research-oriented Athena Institute for Women's Wellness, Haverford, Pa., has put the secret mixture on the market - at $99.50 a vial, by mail order.
The odorless substance appeared to work in a small experiment reported for the first time Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in Seattle.
In the study, 38 men were asked to add a tiny amount of liquid to their after-shave. Some men received an alcohol-and-pheromone mixture; some got straight alcohol.
No one, not even the scientists, knew what each had received until after the test period.
The researchers asked the men to keep track of several activities associated with their sex lives, to be compared with what they had reported before.
The pheromone users - 17 in all - turned out to be busier, sexually, than the 21 who got the straight alcohol, or placebo:
Forty-seven percent of the pheromone users reported they had sexual intercourse more often than usual. But only 9.5 percent of the placebo users did.
Thirty-five percent of the pheromone group said they had slept with a woman more often, compared with 5 percent of the placebo users.
Forty-one percent said they had kissed and petted more often, compared with 14 percent of the placebo users.
Thirty-five percent of the pheromone group said they went out on informal dates more often, compared with 9.5 percent of placebo users.
by CNB