London - Viagra, the anti-impotence drug that has improved the sex lives of men, also works for women, Italian sexologists reported on Sunday.
Scientists at the University of Catania in Italy who tested the tiny blue pills, known generically as sildenafil, found they helped women get aroused too.
"Our results demonstrate that sildenafil may directly improve female arousal disorder and thus other sexual qualitative functions such as enjoyment and orgasm," said Professor Salvatore Caruso in a report in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The researchers said the pills, made by American pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, may also play an indirect role in sexual enjoyment by increasing the frequency of fantasies and intercourse.
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In the first study on the use of Viagra on women with sexual arousal disorder, Caruso and his colleagues tested the pills on 51 women between the ages of 22-38.
The women were randomly selected to receive Viagra in 25mg or 50mg doses or a placebo over three four-week periods with a week interruption between each.
Each month the women rated their arousal, orgasms, enjoyment and sexual fantasies on a five-point scale.
The Italian scientists said arousal scores of the women taking Viagra rose from 1,5 to 4,2 on both drug doses.
But the placebo group only achieved a 2,6 grade.
Enjoyment scores, intercourse frequency and sexual fantasies all rose in the Viagra group.
The results provided evidence that "sildenafil affects women in a way similar to that found in men with erectile dysfunction", said the researchers.
The Italian findings conflict with those of a study of 577 women presented last year at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists which found the placebo was more effective than Viagra.
Pfizer said it was still assessing whether the drug, available only on prescription, could be developed for use by women. - Reuters
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