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Pastimes : Another Good Reason Not To Be Married -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwarda who wrote (5644)	8/10/1999 3:28:00 PM
From: Elmer Flugum	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6545

For Women, New Hopes for Romance nytimes.com Some women who need to take antidepressant medications find themselves forced to make a difficult choice: treat their depression or enjoy a satisfying sex life. Sexual dysfunction is a common side effect of antidepressant treatment, and some women end up deciding that taking the drugs is just not worth it. Now, a new study of nine women suggests that sildenafil citrate, marketed as Viagra, can help some women taking antidepressant drugs recover the romantic side of their lives. The drug restored sexual response all nine subjects, according to the study, which appears in the August issue of Psychiatric Services. Before they began taking sildenafil, the women in the study had no orgasms or only reduced orgasms. Earlier studies have found that sildenafil is effective in treating sexual response problems in men who are taking antidepressants. The new study is very small, but it offers some hope that sildenafil may also be effective for women. Dr. H. George Nurnberg, vice chairman of clinical psychiatry programs at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, said Viagra might work by enhancing the blood flow that triggers sexual response. In the study, the nine women took sildenafil one hour before they engaged in sexual activity. All nine reported a significant reversal of sexual dysfunction, usually after taking the first dose of the drug. A 50-milligram dose of the medication worked for seven of the nine patients; two patients required a 100-milligram dose. Few side effects were reported by subjects in the study, according to the researchers. An inability to reach orgasm, or a delay or reduction in orgasm, develops in 45 percent to 60 percent of people who take antidepressants, Dr. Nurnberg said. The problem is particularly common in those taking selective serotonin uptake inhibitors, a class of antidepressants that includes Prozac, Zoloft and other drugs. Many people who suffer from depression take antidepressants for long periods of time to prevent relapse, Dr. Nurnberg said. "There's a big danger that women, like men, will stop taking their antidepressant medication because it interferes with sex," he added. Previous studies have indicated that sildenafil can be taken safely with the class of drugs that includes Prozac. But Dr. Irwin Goldstein, professor of urology at the Boston University School of Medicine, cautioned that while sildenafil seemed promising, it was not a cure-all. The findings of the new study, the researchers said, should be viewed as preliminary, because the sample size was so small and because the researchers knew that the women were taking sildenafil, which might have influenced the results. A larger, more tightly controlled study must be done before the findings can be viewed as solid. Still, Dr. Goldstein said, "In a new field, we need studies like this that point us in the right direction. Then we can go ahead with larger, more rigorous studies."