(HealthSCOUT) -- You're as likely to get aroused taking a sugar pill as you are taking Viagra -- at least if you're a woman with sexual problems, says a new study paid for by the very company that makes the anti-impotence drug.
Since the pill was introduced in 1998, its sales have been staggering, reaping more than $1 billion last year alone -- but only for men. If the market were to open up to include women, Pfizer Inc. could theoretically double its customer base and massively increase profits.
This study splashes some cold water on that idea, but Pfizer says it will keep studying it in women. "It's really a step to learn more about female sexual disorder," says Heather Van Ness, a spokesperson for Pfizer in New York City.
Rosemary Basson, an associate professor of gynecology and psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver prescribed either Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra or a sugar pill to 583 women who had been diagnosed with various sexual disorders. Neither the women nor the doctors knew who was getting Viagra during the 12 weeks of the study.
Depending on the dosage, anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent of the women said Viagra helped them. But 43 percent of the women who took the sugar pill said their sexual response improved. While Viagra seems to be safe in women, Basson could find no meaningful difference in taking the drug over a placebo in improving sexual response, she says.
The results were presented today at the annual clinical meeting of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in San Francisco.
Female sexual dysfunction may be more widespread than any one knows. Up to 30 percent of American women may suffer may from the disorder, according to the Kinsey Institute. But accurate numbers are not available; shame and embarrassment keep most women from going for treatment.
And it has more than one cause. Female sexual dysfunction can be caused by a complex of symptoms including impaired libido, decreased vaginal lubrication, decreased vaginal and clitoral sensation, painful intercourse and difficulty achieving orgasm.
Female sexual dysfunction increases with age. It's a bigger problem after menopause when a woman's body loses natural moisture and lubrication.
Viagra has become the most widely used treatment in history for male sexual dysfunction. The pill has been used by more than 5 million men in the United States and is now available in more than 90 countries worldwide, according to Pfizer.
Pfizer says the drug works in about 82 percent of male patients. It increases blood flow to the penis, so that when a man is aroused he can both get and keep an erection.
Van Ness says the British Columbia study "was conducted on a broad category of women diagnosed with an assorted variety of sexual dysfunctions. We have all kind of issues; it could be low sexual disorder, it could be orgasmic disorder, it could be arousal disorder or it could be cause by an emotional or physical impetus. It's a very hard area to explore."
What To Do
If you're a woman with sexual problems, chances are that Viagra is not the solution. Talk to your doctor about possible treatments.
For more information on female sexual dysfunction, see The New York Center for Human Sexuality at Columbia University. And to learn more about Viagra, see Pfizer, Inc.
