Erectile dysfunction drugs for women? Researchers insist, "Why not?"

Ice for Eskimos

Depressed? Not to worry. The drug industry offers a number of antidepressant drugs you can choose from.

And if you experience side effects from those powerful antidepressants? Not to worry. The drug industry offers a number of drugs that might treat those pesky adverse reactions.

And if you experience side effects from those additional drugs?

Well, that’s how drug company executives pay for private jets, Italian villas, and yachts with helicopter landing pads.

Even cowgirls get the blues

Why would you try to sell an erectile dysfunction drug to women? Selling ice to Eskimos makes more sense. At least the Eskimos can actually use the ice.

Crazy as it sounds, Pfizer scientists actually went there and came back with nothing much. Efforts to find a feminine use for their popular erectile dysfunction drug were discontinued in 2004.

(The name of the drug starts with a “V” and rhymes with Niagara, but I don’t want to use the name because many e-mail servers block messages that contain the word. So we’ll just call it Niagara.)

But somewhere at Pfizer the dream is still alive.

Working with a Pfizer grant, researchers at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine recruited nearly 100 women whose depression had been successfully treated with antidepressant drugs. But each of the women also experienced a common antidepressant side effect: sexual dysfunction. The average age of the women was 37, and all reported normal sexual function before using antidepressants.

Results of the eight-week, placebo-controlled study were less than stimulating.

Many of the women in the Niagara group reported improved orgasm, but without increased desire or arousal. An improved orgasm sounds appealing, but it’s difficult to get from point A (desire and arousal) to point B (orgasm) if point A doesn’t show up on the radar.

Meanwhile, more than 40 percent of the Niagara women experienced headaches. Indigestion and flushing were also frequently reported in this group.

This didn’t stop researchers from putting the best face possible on their results. The lead author of the study told the Associated Press that the message for men and women who need antidepressants is that Niagara may help them stay on the drugs.

Obviously that’s the whole point of the study: Stay on the drugs (and the drugs that treat the side effects of the drugs, and the drugs that treat the side effects of the drugs that treat the side effects, etc.).

Life is good

One of my HSI colleagues sent me the info on this new Niagara study, along with this note: “I think the primary benefit is that most anti-depressants are pink or yellow, and that looks nice with Niagara blue.”

I can’t imagine how the New Mexico researchers overlooked that angle!

But if pill colors are meaningless to you, and adverse side effects are important, let me recommend two e-Alerts.

In the e-Alert “Life is Good” (7/31/07), I told you about several nutrition and lifestyle changes that have been shown to help relieve depression with virtually no adverse side effects.

And many women have already discovered the secret to enhanced libido with a botanical extract from the Amazon, detailed in the e-Alert “It Just Seems Cruel!” (1/15/08).

Talk to your doctor before adding new supplements to your daily regimen. [

Sources:
“Treatment of Women with Antidepressant-Associated Sexual Dysfunction” Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 300, No. 4, July 23/30, 2008, jama.ama-assn.org
“Women on Antidepressants May Benefit from Niagara” Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press, 7/22/08, ap.org