Viagra and Women
Viagra Effects on Women
While Pfizer (the manufacturer of Viagra) maintains that Viagra dosage shouldn't be taken by women, there have been several stories of strange and unexpected side effects when women took Viagra.
Keep in mind that these are not medical facts, but rather news stories.
Doctor reports three pregnancies in infertile women after using Viagra
March 23, 2000
Web posted at: 9:14 p.m. EST (0214 GMT)
By Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- In a small study, three of four previously infertile women who used the drug Viagra became pregnant. But the doctor who did the study, Dr. Geoffrey Sher, said women should not grab their husband's Viagra expecting it to cure the most common infertility problems. Rene Danford tried for two years to get pregnant and had even been told to give up on the possibility, before Sher started her on Viagra.
"When it actually worked, and the nurse called and said, 'Honey, you're pregnant.' and I said, 'No, I'm not,' and she said, 'Yes you are.'"
Her 4-month-old son Michael is believed to be the first baby born because his mother took the popular impotency drug.
The women who took Viagra had thin uterine linings, which prevented a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus and developing. Viagra works in men by increasing blood flow to the penis, and it's theorized that Viagra worked in these three women by increasing blood flow to the uterus, thus making the lining thicker, allowing better chances for implantation.
While many fertility experts are excited that Viagra might be able to help some infertile women, they warn that the drug could cause damage to the mother and the developing fetus. Experts say even if more research shows promise in using Viagra, it would have limited application since only a small percentage of infertile women have this particular problem. While an exact number is not known, Dr. Jamie Grifo, the director of the fertility clinic at New York University Medical Center, says out of every 1,000 women who are treated at his center, only three or four have lining problems.
Some doctors interviewed by CNN said they would not try Viagra because it's untested in pregnant women. Viagra has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for men only.
In a statement, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine said: "There are risks to Viagra use. Known side effects for women include high levels of nitric oxide in the womb, which can be both dangerous for the mother and toxic to developing embryos."
But Sher, the Las Vegas doctor who did the study, said he was not concerned that Viagra could harm the baby, since he had the mothers stop using it a week before he implanted the embryo. Sher said the study was designed to see if Viagra would increase blood flow and lead to a thicker uterine lining. But he was not surprised that three pregnancies resulted. He also advised further study before Viagra is considered a fertility treatment.
"If used correctly, the way I've described, it cannot harm the embryo or the baby. What's there to lose, for somebody who's desperate?" he said.
But Dr. Jennifer Berman, an expert on women and Viagra at the Boston University Medical Center, said it's unknown whether Viagra could still have an effect even if discontinued seven days before implantation. She said Sher is using Viagra in a new way: He had it ground up and made into a vaginal suppository which the women inserted four times a day. Sher warned that Viagra must be taken very carefully, and that taking it orally won't help at all and could cause harm.
"I'm deeply concerned people are going to grab their husbands' Viagra thinking here's a miracle drug," he said. "Do not dabble with your husband's Viagra."
The results of Sher's study will be published in the April edition of the British journal Human Reproduction.
Source: CNN.com
Viagra Works for Women, Too
Good Results From Small Controlled Study
May 4, 1999
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) -- The first controlled study of Viagra in women shows the drug, a blockbuster seller for men, also helps many women, doctors reported on Tuesday.
Although the study was small, researcher Dr. Jennifer Berman of the University of Boston says it shows that the same physical mechanisms that can make men impotent can cause sexual problems in women, as well.
Berman did a study with 17 women. Each got either Viagra or a dummy pill, and three months later the women who got Viagra were switched to a placebo and the women who had been given sugar pills got Viagra.
All of her patients were either past menopause or had undergone hysterectomies - both of which cause a loss of production of female hormones and can lead to sexual problems such as a loss of sensation and lubrication.
Berman and the patients did not know which woman got which pill until the end of the study-a standard scientific approach called a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Increased Blood Flow
Viagra, made by Pfizer Inc. and known generically as Sildenafil, works by increasing the effects of nitric oxide, a common body chemical, which in turn gets more blood flowing into the genitals.
The women have the same physical response to Viagra as men, Berman said-increased blood flow to the genital area, which allows the penis to become erect and in women allows for a response to stimulation.
"Objectively, the physiological changes that occurred, sildenafil did appear to significantly increase blood flow and pH and pH is an indicator of lubrication," Berman, who will present her findings to a meeting of the American Urological Association in Dallas, said in a telephone interview.
"Subjectively, with regard to lubrication, sensitivity, the ability to have orgasm, and satisfaction, the women noted a significant difference."
Berman said she had done another study at Boston University with 48 women. While not so carefully controlled-the women all got Viagra and knew it-there was a statistically significant difference.
No Way to Fake It
"It does appear to be Viagra because there are physiological changes that can't be faked,' she said.
Many of the women, aged 22 to 71, had psychological problems with sex, Berman said. These include poor body image, a history of sexual abuse, or marital trouble. "Those women don't respond to Viagra or any drug," she said.
Some men do, however, have a strong "placebo response" to Viagra, meaning that they think it will work so it does. "Eighty-five to 90 percent of men with psychological problems respond to Viagra," Berman said.
Pfizer says seven million prescriptions have been written for Viagra worldwide, which earned the company $788 million last year.
In March a team at Columbia Presbyterian Center in New York found that Viagra has no more of an effect in women than a dummy pill would.
But Dr. Steven Kaplan, the urologist who led the study, agreed his patients may not have been optimal Viagra patients, because many had emotional or psychological problems.
For women, Viagra may not be the universal answer that the little blue pills can be for men, Berman said. Even if it takes care of their physical symptoms, it may not solve their problems.
Sex is simply more emotional for a woman, she said. "Although there are physiological, medical reasons why women have sexual complaints, there are emotional and relational consequences to sexual dysfunction that are relevant to women," Berman added.
"While men can define their sexual function in terms of rigidity, for women it doesn't work that way."
Berman said her team was testing two other drugs for sexual dysfunction in women-the Parkinson's drug apomorphine, being developed by TAP Holdings, a joint venture between Takeda Chemical Industries of Japan <4502.T> and Abbott Laboratories , as well as a combination of the herb yohimbe and an amino acid, L-arginine made by Bedford, Massachusetts-based NitroMed Inc.
Source: ABCNews.com
Viagra does not help older women
March 9, 1999
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)--The drug Viagra (sildenafil) may effectively treat impotence in older men, but it does not help older women with sexual dysfunction, according to a study.
The drug "has little role in improving sexual function in postmenopausal women," conclude Dr. Steven A. Kaplan, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues there and at the University of Sao Paolo, Brazil. The findings are reported in the March issue of the journal Urology.
The authors assessed the effectiveness of Viagra in 33 postmenopausal women reporting sexual dysfunction of at least six months' duration. All of the women took 50 milligrams of Viagra (the same dose used in men) approximately one hour before sexual activity for three months. Sexual function was then assessed through the use of standard questionnaires completed by each of the women at four, eight and 12 weeks after commencement of therapy.
"Overall, only 20 percent of women had a significant improvement in sexual function," the investigators report. In a statement issued by Columbia University, Kaplan noted that such a statistic is "equal to the placebo response" seen in similar studies in men.
Self-reported lubrication, orgasm and clitoral stimulation increased by 23.2 percent, 7.4 percent and 31.3 percent, respectively, in the group of women studied, though none of these increases was determined to be of real statistical significance, meaning that they may have occurred by chance.
Clitoral "hypersensitivity" and discomfort were reported by seven of the women; these symptoms led to three women withdrawing from the study.
"Viagra did appear to increase blood flow to the clitoris, but this didn't seem to translate to increased sexual satisfaction," said Kaplan. "Neither increased clitoral sensation or lubrication would be expected to be of benefit to women with diminished desire to either initiate or respond to sexual activity."
But the researchers also report that overall, Viagra was "well tolerated" by most users, causing headache, dizziness and stomach upset in a small number of patients.
Although the findings suggest that Viagra is of little use in treating female sexual dysfunction in older women, the authors note that their study is subject to limitations, and should not be considered the last word on the effects of the drug in women. In fact, Kaplan and others suggest that the study may open new doors to the examination of "various agents in treating this heretofore underaddressed problem."
