Study: Viagra may aid female sexual function
Depression drugs' side effects treated
NEW YORK - Women who have trouble getting sexually aroused as a side effect of taking antidepressants may be helped by
The study, the first objective research to show a role for Viagra in boosting female sexual function, found that almost three times as many women taking the impotence pill had orgasms compared with those given a placebo. Previous studies hadn't shown a benefit from Viagra for women in general. The data appear today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
As much as 70 percent of men and women who take antidepressants lose interest in sex or are unable to function sexually, a reason why many of them stop taking their medicines, according to researchers. While men may be prescribed impotence medicines such as Viagra,
"If sexual functioning is getting in the way of taking the medicines correctly and for a long enough time, then the use of Viagra, according to this study, may be a helpful antidote," said Croft, medical director of the San Antonio Psychiatric Research Center in Texas. "The solution is going to be to find new agents that don't produce sexual dysfunction. For now, this is another option that physicians can have to help their patients."
Researchers in the study looked at 98 women on antidepressants whose average age was 37. The women in the study didn't have any sexual problems before beginning on antidepressants, Croft said.
The participants, randomly assigned Viagra or a placebo, were told to take the pill one to two hours before sexual activity for eight weeks. The women on Viagra were more likely to say they had an increase in orgasms and partner satisfaction compared with those taking the placebo. Overall, Viagra didn't increase their sexual drive or desire for sex, Croft said.
Seventy-two percent of the women who were given Viagra said they had an improvement in sexual function compared with 27 percent in the placebo group.
