Denise Bell King was the star of Steve Wright's Radio 2 show recently, alongside Jerry Springer and Trudie Styler, Sting's wife, writes Katherine MacAlister.

And by all accounts, the 39-year-old Oxfordshire woman stole the show with tales of her new alternative to Viagra, LoveLife.

Steve promised to give the Chinese herbs a go and he may well join her list of 2,000 clients.

Considering she only launched the product at Christmas, it has caught on immediately.

Part of its success must be down to the bad press Viagra has been getting recently.

The British Medical Journal has already reported long-term impotence, eyesight problems and headaches among Viagra users.

So it's not surprising to discover that more and more people, who want to pep up their love lives, are turning to alternative medicine.

LoveLife is one of the natural options on the market.

Based on an ancient Chinese remedy, it naturally increases energy to the organs instead of concentrating on sustaining an erection.

Or as Denise put it: "After an oil change it takes time for the residue of dirty oil to work its way through a car, so that it is only after a couple of weeks that the engine is firing on all cylinders. The same is true of LoveLife."

For the first two weeks the herbs cleanse and detoxify the liver and kidneys which make up the filtration system of the body.

Denise said: "LoveLife actually sorts out the root cause of the problem." Research has shown that as many women as men were not achieving the most from their love lives.

Jackie Thomas, a psychiatric nurse from Bicester, has been married for 12 years. She admitted her sexual appetite was at a low before she started taking the herbs.

She said: "In every other way we have a very strong marriage but for the past ten years our sex life has decreased, basically since the birth of my first child," she explained.

The 35-year-old tried everything from counselling to St John's Wort tablets, but to no avail.

Jackie said: "I went to the doctor and they said there was nothing they could do. I would have done anything, you get that desperate, so I probably would have tried Viagra, but I'd think twice now."

Then she opened a national women's magazine and saw the write-up about LoveLife.

"I have noticed an improvement, although nothing drastic," she admitted.

Jackie is sure that as many women as men suffer from sexual problems and low libidos.

"It's not the sort of thing people talk about or admit, but when I have mentioned it other women have agreed.

"I do get very tired and have a full-time job and two kids. But then other people manage and seem to have a healthy sex life as well."

LoveLife costs £39.95 for a two-week supply. For further information call 01189 401794. Factfile

There are more than two million impotent men in the UK

According to the Lancet, the current death toll from Viagra is 69 among men, with an average age of 66. The majority had heart attacks, two had strokes and 14 died or developed symptoms after having sex

Chinese doctors believe impotence is caused by low kidney energy

Story date: Monday 05 April

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