Does Wellbutrin Make Women Horney?

Wednesday April 18, 2001 4:30 PM ET

Does Wellbutrin Make Women=20 Horney?
Anti-Depression Drug "Wellbutrin" May Cure Low Sex=20 Drive=20

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An anti-depression drug sparked = increased sexual=20 interest, arousal and fantasies in women diagnosed with a low sex = drive,=20 researchers said on Wednesday.

The small study involved the drug bupropion hydrochloride, = which is=20 marketed under the name Wellbutrin by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and is = approved=20 for the treatment of depression. GlaxoSmithKline funded the = research.

The researchers, led by Dr. R. Taylor Segraves, a professor of=20 psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine = in=20 Cleveland, studied women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire = disorder,=20 which is characterized by persistently diminished or absent sexual = fantasies or desire for sexual activity. A person with the = disorder can=20 function sexually.

Of the 51 women given eight weeks of treatment with the drug in = Cleveland, San Antonio and Philadelphia, almost a third = experienced=20 increases in the number of episodes of sexual arousal, sexual = fantasy and=20 interest in engaging in sexual activity, the researchers said. The = study=20 was published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.

``We tried to screen so that we got women who had previously = had normal=20 libido and for unknown reasons had lost it -- they had to be in = good=20 relationships, not depressed, not anxious, no drug abuse, no major = medical=20 problems, no drug side effects,'' Segraves said in an interview. =

Segraves said he was planning another study involving more = subjects and=20 a longer period of treatment with the drug, which enhanced two = chemicals,=20 norepinephrine and dopamine, that affect sexual desire.

Segraves said a rough estimate is that 20 percent of women in = the=20 United States are affected by the disorder, for which there is no = approved=20 drug treatment. He said psychotherapy has proven to be minimally = effective=20 in treating it.

``If there are relationship problems or if somebody comes from = a=20 background that had fairly restrictive family values about sex,=20 psychotherapy can help those people a lot,'' Segraves added. ``But = the=20 group that presents a mysterious onset of problems in a good = relationship,=20 those are the ones that are murder to figure out. And that's who = we're=20 trying to target.''

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