Dapoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) was specifically developed to treat premature ejaculation.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota have shown from a multi-center trial across 121 U.S. sites that dapoxetine is a safe and effective drug for the treatment of premature ejaculation.

Perceived as the most common male sexual dysfunction, premature ejaculation affects 21-33% of men, the underlying physical reason of which is less understood.

According to Jon Pryor, M.D., professor and chair of urological surgery and the primary investigator of said clinical trial funded by ALZA Corporation, the developer of dapoxetine:

"Dapoxetine also improved patients' perceptions of control over ejaculation, satisfaction with sexual intercourse, and overall impression of the change in their condition.

The patients' partners also benefited through improved satisfaction with sexual intercourse."

The men in this particular study started as ejaculating less than one minute after the start of intercourse but after the 12-week study, the time to ejaculation increased to 1.75 minutes, 2.78 minutes and 3.32 minutes for the placebo, lower dose and higher dose group, respectively.

(The men's partners were the ones who measured the time to ejaculation with a stopwatch.)

Now I am wondering how accurate the time measurement was and what should be the normal time to ejaculation in 'clinically functional" men?

This study appeared in the September 9 issue of The Lancet.

Read more at University of Minnesota Academic Health Center.