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Depression Drugs Can Delay Male Orgasm
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NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) -- Some of the latest drugs for combating
depression may "seriously" delay orgasm in men, a new study shows.
The drugs include fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), and paroxetine
(Paxil) -- and according to new findings, the orgasm delays may be long
enough to disrupt intercourse. Among the four drugs tested, only
fluvoxamine (Luvox) did not disrupt orgasm.
The findings come from the first closely controlled comparison study of the
four compounds, collectively known as selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors (SSRIs). Details of the study were reported at the 6th World
Congress of Biological Psychiatry held last month in Nice, France.
Researchers led by Dr. Marcel Waldinger, head of the department of
psychiatry and neurosexology at Leyenburg Hospital in The Hague,
Netherlands, reported that the gap between fluvoxamine and the other
compounds may indicate that it operates by different mechanisms in the=
brain.
The six-week study involved 60 men ranging in age from 22 to 60 years of
age. All were in good physical and mental health, and were randomized to
receive either placebo (inactive pills), or one of the four SSRIs at
standard dosages. Meanwhile, the men continued normal sexual relations with
their wives, who were responsible for timing ejaculations with a stopwatch.
The results were "dramatic," Waldinger said. Delay in ejaculation with
fluvoxamine was about equivalent to placebo (time to orgasm increased
1.9-fold compared with 1.5-fold for placebo). But for those taking the
other three compounds, time to orgasm increased by about 4-fold for
sertraline, 6-fold for fluoxetine, and almost 8-fold for paroxetine.
The researchers noted that the normal (baseline) ejaculation times for
study participants were quite short -- less than one minute. They said that
may explain why the delays associated with the drugs were easily tolerated.
But Waldinger pointed out that for men with higher regular ejaculation
times, the delay in orgasm would have escalated seriously.
"For many men, the baseline time to ejaculation is in fact about 10 to 15
minutes," he said. "Applying these ratios would have delayed the male
orgasm so long that most couples would have probably ceased intercourse."
The importance of the new findings were also highlighted by the results of
another study reported at the meeting in Nice. According to a survey in
France, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, it seems that doctors are
reluctant to ask depressed patients about sexual dysfunction, which often
accompanies depression.
Psychiatrist Dr. Stuart Montgomery of St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in
London, England, noted that such problems may include reduced sex drive,
delayed orgasm or orgasm failure, and erectile dysfunction -- the
difficulty to achieve and sustain an erection.
Montgomery said people may stop taking medications associated with these
sexual difficulties and may then relapse or even require hospitalization.
He said the appropriate selection of antidepressants is, therefore, very
important.
Depression is widespread throughout the world and is one of a wide range of
mental disorders associated with falling levels of the brain chemical
serotonin.
Copyright =A9 1997 Reuters Limited.
http://www.reutershealth.com/news/rhdn/199707/1997072108.html
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