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Adverse sexual effects are common in women taking antidepressants. Exercise can increase sexual arousal in healthy women, improve sexual function in depressed women not taking medication, and increase genital arousal in women taking antidepressants in a laboratory setting.
Now, investigators have conducted a randomized, crossover trial to assess whether exercise could alleviate sexual side effects from selective serotonin or norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors in 52 affected women (mean age, 32; 73% meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for sexual dysfunction). After a 3-week interval for measuring baseline sexual activity (alone or with a partner), participants exercised vigorously for 30 minutes 3 times per week for 3 weeks and were assigned to engage…