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They found women on antidepressants who took Viagra had fewer sexual side effects than those who took a placebo. Sexual dysfunction can prompt many people to stop taking drugs to treat depression.

While other studies have hinted that Viagra might help these women, the latest research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is one of the first scientifically rigorous studies to show this benefit.

"By treating this bothersome treatment-associated adverse effect ... patients can remain antidepressant-adherent, reduce the current high rates of premature medication discontinuation, and improve depression disease management outcomes," Dr. H. George Nurnberg of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and colleagues wrote.

The research was funded by Pfizer Inc, maker of Viagra, which is known generically as sildenafil. Nurnberg has been a paid consultant for the company.

Sexual dysfunction is linked with most commonly used antidepressants, including selective and nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These drugs represent 90 percent of the 180 million antidepressant prescriptions filled in the United States each year, according to the researchers.

The researchers studied 98 women with an average age of 37 who had symptoms of sexual dysfunction, including delay of orgasm or lack of arousal, and whose depression was in remission after treatment with antidepressants.

Women took a dose of Viagra or the placebo one to two hours before anticipated sexual activity for eight weeks.

While 73 percent of women taking the placebo reported no sexual improvement, only 28 percent of women taking sildenafil failed to benefit.

Related drugs such as Eli Lilly and Co.'s Cialis , known generically as tadalafil, and Levitra or vardenafil, sold by GlaxoSmithKline , Bayer AG and Schering-Plough , work in a similar way to Viagra.

"These findings are important not only because women experience major depressive disorder at nearly double the rate of men and because they experience greater resulting sexual dysfunction than men, but also because it establishes that (drugs such as sildenafil) are effective in both sexes for this purpose," they wrote.