Deer velvet sex properties for scientific study

By CATHY ARONSON

Deer velvet is about to be scientifically tested as a sexual stimulant for men, using the same research methods as the top-selling anti-impotence drug Viagra.

A New Zealand trial, believed to be the first in the world, will ask 30 couples to report on their sex lives.

If the study proves what traditional Chinese physicians have claimed for 2000 years - that deer velvet is an aphrodisiac - it could increase New Zealand's already booming $35 million to $40 million export market for the product.

The research, by Psychology Centre clinical psychologist Helen Conaglen, is being carried out for an unnamed over-the-counter deer velvet capsule product.

Dr Conaglen is looking for 30 men aged between 45 and 65 in steady heterosexual relationships, with no medicated health conditions.

Half the male participants will be given the real deer velvet capsules and the other half will be given dummy pills. The study is called a double-blind trial because Dr Conaglen will also not know who has the real pills.

The participants will fill in an anonymous questionnaire on their sexual activity - the same one used in the Viagra trials - before and after the three-month trial.

Hormone levels will be measured by blood tests before and after the trial.

"We don't know if the anecdotal evidence that deer velvet improves sexual function is real or in the mind. This research will be the first known controlled study in the world."

New Zealand Game Industry Board velvet manager Mark O'Connor said that if the research proved the product was an effective aphrodisiac, then it could justify further generic research of deer velvet.

New Zealand is a world leader in deer velvet research and has already scientifically proved its health and stamina benefits.

Last year Jenny Shipley hit the headlines after she visited Korea and suggested New Zealand could boost its market share if it promoted deer velvet as a virile, sensual, robust product like its main competitor, Russia, which charges twice the price.

Mr O'Connor said that, by law, New Zealand could not promote the product's unproven aphrodisiac reputation.

He said deer velvet aphrodisiac properties were well-known in Korea but New Zealand was also entering largely untapped Western markets like the United States and needed research to back up its claims.

"There is a short step from vitality to virility, though. It is quite exciting and it could certainly have a large significance in the US as a natural alternative to Viagra, which has brought sexual functions into the mainstream."

Mr O'Connor said the US made up only 2 per cent of New Zealand's market, but was seen as a key platform and a back-up to the variable Korean market.

He said deer velvet had a wide variety of uses and New Zealand research had to be selective to make optimal use of marketing and limited funding.

But if the research proved the product had positive results, it would bump up its priority.

"It would be the ace in the hole."

The only known tests of deer velvet's aphrodisiac qualities were conducted on Japanese rats in 1969. These showed increased testosterone and oestrogen levels.

Velvet from antlers is harvested in mating season, when testosterone levels are high and create high minerals, amino acids, cartilage and hormones.

Large antlers are also important in the deer's sexual life, to attract females. Large antlers are therefore considered more potent.

But Dr Conaglen does not know if size make any difference to the velvet's potency.

The results of her study should be confirmed by the middle of next year. They will first be made available to her client and then published in medical journals.