Viagra may benefit              women too

Most research shows that Viagra, while effective in treating erectile dysfunction in men, does not help women with sexual arousal or enjoyment. But a new study suggests that the drug could help certain women —those who suffer the sexual side effects of antidepressants — to achieve an orgasm.

Pfizer, which makes Viagra, financed the study, which appears in the current issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers compared the effects of Viagra with a placebo in an eight-week study of 98 women who reported at least a month of sexual dysfunction from taking antidepressants. They found that 72 percent of the women who took Viagra reported overall sexual improvement in a questionnaire that takes into account arousal, enjoyment and orgasm; 27 percent of those taking the placebo reported such gains.

During the study, women taking Viagra suffered headaches and indigestion at a higher rate than women taking the placebo.