Feel free to buy Viagra

The erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may have found a new, potentially life-saving use in hospital pediatric intensive care units, researchers report.Australian researchers gave the drug to 15 babies with congenital heart disease who were being weaned from inhaled nitric-oxide therapy, a treatment that ICUs use to help these infants survive.

The researchers found that a dose of Viagra prevented a common life-threatening complication called rebound pulmonary hypertension. They also found that it significantly reduced the amount of time the babies spent on mechanical ventilation and in the ICU.

“Rebound pulmonary hypertension is a very common problem,” said Dr. Steven Abman of The Children’s Hospital in Denver, who was not part of the study. “This is the most rigorous study that’s ever been done to demonstrate that Viagra can prevent this complication.”

The study results were published in the November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Viagra is useful for treating both erectile dysfunction and preventing rebound pulmonary hypertension because it affects pathways involved in both conditions.

“Viagra enhances the body’s levels of cyclic-GMP, a naturally occurring substance that relaxes arteries and reduces their pressure, which is why its primary indication is for men with erectile dysfunction,” explained the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Lara Shekerdemian of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.

“However, cyclic-GMP is abundant in the lungs and is the molecule via which nitric oxide acts as a dilator of pulmonary arteries,” Shekerdemian said. “That’s why its use was explored in the setting of pulmonary hypertension in the newborn.”

In the study, Shekerdemian and colleagues gave a single dose of Viagra to 15 infants with congenital heart disease who were undergoing withdrawal from nitric oxide, which is used to relax pulmonary blood vessels in mechanically ventilated lungs. Another 14 infants undergoing withdrawal were given placebo.

None of the Viagra-treated infants developed rebound pulmonary hypertension compared to 10 of the placebo-treated infants. After more than 24 hours, all of the infants who developed rebound hypertension were given Viagra during a subsequent and successful attempt to wean them from nitric oxide.

The Viagra-treated infants also spent less total time on a mechanical ventilator than the placebo-treated infants — a little over 28 hours compared to 98 hours — and had a considerably shorter stay in the intensive care unit (47.8 hours vs. 189 hours).

“Although we expected to see an avoidance of rebound, we were not expecting to see these additional benefits,” Shekerdemian said. “Any intervention that smoothes their course in the intensive-care unit would have at least a short-term positive influence on their recovery from their underlying condition.”

Unless there’s some reason for not using Viagra, Shekerdemian said that it should be routinely used as infants are weaned from nitric oxide. “We certainly do so now in our pediatric intensive-care unit,” she said.

Many hospitals are already doing just that. “I think it already has become standard clinical practice, because the idea of using Viagra for this is not new,” Abman said. “What’s new is that this is the first study to look at it with a nice protocol in which they randomized patients and controlled in a blinded way. So it verifies what we’ve already been doing in clinical practice.”

Shekerdemian and her team are now conducting a similar study in the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive-Care Unit to see if Viagra can prevent rebound pulmonary hypertension in premature infants.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Michigan man who became the nation’s third successful hand transplant recipient expects his new right hand to get a workout holding a fishing rod once he returns home. David Savage, an auto-parts plant supervisor from Bay City, Mich., will go home Saturday to continue his painstaking therapy following his 15-hour surgery Nov. 29 at Jewish Hospital in Louisville. The nation’s first two hand transplant recipients underwent surgery at the same hospital.

Savage said Friday that his new hand is getting stronger and more flexible.

“I’m getting more movement out of the fingers and thumb,” he said in an interview. “Sensation is starting to come back. I’m feeling a lot of things that I didn’t feel at first.”

Savage, 54, said he feels a tingling sensation in his right palm and sometimes gets “little shooting pains into the fingertips.” He said he can feel cold sensation with the hand but still doesn’t feel anything hot.

He lost his right hand in a machine press accident more than 30 years ago. After his accident, Savage used a prosthetic device.

Savage, who wears a brace on the new hand, said he expects to return to work in about a month, and looks forward to using it for “basic, everyday life stuff.”

“I can’t wait to get out fishing and use two hands,” he said.

But he won’t push it. He’ll cast with his left hand until he gets a stronger grip with his new hand.

“But I will be able to hold the pole with the right hand,” he said.

He was right-handed until his accident, then learned how to throw and write with his left hand.

Savage has started writing with his new hand after mastering how to grip a pen. He said he’ll use the new hand to write instructions for the workers he supervises.

“Maybe they’ll be able to read it,” Savage said, laughing.

Savage said he’s been throwing a small football with the right hand, keeping his relatives on their toes. He tried to surprise one family member recently by tossing the ball.

“I just picked it up and whipped it at him,” Scott said.

Dr. Warren Breidenbach, the lead transplant surgeon, said Savage has made good progress.

Savage received the new hand from a donor who died the day he underwent the surgery.

One difference between Savage and the other two patients at Jewish Hospital is that Savage’s drug regimen to try to keep his body from rejecting his new hand doesn’t include steroids, which carry such potential harmful side effects as diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure.

Keeping transplant patients off steroids, Breidenbach said, would be a “huge step forward.”

The doctor said it will take another three months or so for Savage to get feeling in his fingertips, and the progress will continue for several years. “It’s steady and slow.”

Matt Scott of Mays Landing, N.J., who lost his left hand in a fireworks accident in 1985, received the first successful hand transplant at Jewish Hospital in 1999. The medical team at Jewish performed a second hand transplant in February 2001 on Jerry Fisher, a Michigan contractor.

Savage was released from Jewish Hospital on Dec. 8 and had been staying at a local hotel while undergoing therapy. He’ll return to Louisville in June for a checkup.

Savage said he finds himself flexing the fingers on his new hand.

“It’s like a new toy,” he said. “You’re just going to play with it for awhile.”

People at average risk for colon cancer shouldn’t take aspirin or painkillers like ibuprofen to try to prevent the disease, a federal task force advises, because of the risk of bleeding and other potential health problems.

The recommendation for the first time by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force includes those with a family history of colorectal cancer.

The panel said that potential risks of taking more than 300 milligrams a day of aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen — brand names include Motrin, Advil and Aleve — include a higher risk for stroke, intestinal bleeding or kidney failure.

Risks outweigh benefits
Those risks outweigh the potential benefits of preventing cancer, the task force said in Tuesday’s issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The task force said that while there is good evidence that low doses of aspirin, usually less than 100 milligrams, can reduce the risk of heart disease, it does not lower the rate of colon cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer in men and women and is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, killing about 56,000 people each year. About 150,000 new cases are diagnosed annually.

Most of those diagnosed are over the age of 50, and 20 percent have a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle with the disease. Blacks have the highest rate of colorectal cancer of any group.

In 2002, the Preventive Services Task Force recommended that people age 50 and older be screened for colon cancer.

Previous studies had suggested that a daily baby aspirin could prevent precancerous polyps that sometimes become colorectal cancer. But later research showed low-dose aspirin did little good at actually preventing cancer.

Dr. Raymond DuBois, director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Tennessee, said he believes the task force’s latest advice is reasonable.

“I think for the general population, the risk of either having some gastrointestinal bleeding from aspirin or cardiovascular side effect from some of these other medications … probably outweighs their use for colon cancer,” he said.

Why is this medication prescribed?

Simvastatin is used together with lifestyle changes (diet, weight-loss, exercise) to reduce the amount of cholesterol (a fat-like substance) and certain other fatty substances in your blood. Simvastatin is in a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). It works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body.

Buildup of cholesterol and fats along the walls of your arteries (a process known as atherosclerosis) decreases blood flow and, therefore, the oxygen supply to your heart, brain, and other parts of your body. Lowering your blood level of cholesterol and fats may help to decrease your chances of getting heart disease, angina (chest pain), strokes, and heart attacks. In addition to taking a cholesterol-lowering medication, making certain changes in your daily habits can also lower your cholesterol blood levels. You should eat a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol (see SPECIAL DIETARY), exercise 30 minutes on most, if not all days, and lose weight if you are overweight.

How should this medicine be used?

Simvastatin comes as a tablet to take by mouth. It usually is taken one to three times a day . Take simvastatin at around the same time(s) every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take simvastatin exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

Your doctor may start you on a low dose of simvastatin and gradually increase your dose, not more than once every 4 weeks.

Continue to take simvastatin even if you feel well. Do not stop taking simvastatin without talking to your doctor.

Other uses for this medicine

This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

What special precautions should I follow?

Before taking simvastatin,

• tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to simvastatin or any other medications.
• tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Be sure to mention any of the following: amiodarone (Cordarone, Pacerone); antifungal medications such as itraconazole (Sporanox) and ketoconazole (Nizoral); anticoagulants (’blood thinners’) such as warfarin (Coumadin); cholestyramine (Questran), clarithromycin (Biaxin), clofibrate (Atromid-S), cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral), danazol; digoxin (Lanoxin), erythromycin (E.E.S., E-Mycin, Erythrocin); HIV protease inhibitors such as indinavir (Crixivan), ritonavir (Norvir) and saquinavir (Invirase, Fortovase); nefazodone (Serzone); other cholesterol-lowering medications such as fenofibrate (Tricor), gemfibrozil (Lopid), and niacin (nicotinic acid, Niacor, Niaspan); nefazodone (Serzone), and telithromycin (Ketek); and verapamil (Calan, Covera, Isoptin, Verelan). Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects.
• tell your doctor if you have liver disease. Your doctor will probably tell you not to take simvastatin.
• tell your doctor if you drink large amounts of alcohol, if you have ever had liver disease or if you have or have ever had kidney disease.
• tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you become pregnant while taking simvastatin, stop taking simvastatin and call your doctor immediately. Simvastatin can harm the fetus.Do not breast-feed while you are taking this medication.
• if you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking simvastatin.
• ask your doctor about the safe use of alcoholic beverages while you are taking simvastatin. Alcohol can increase the risk of serious side effects.

What special dietary instructions should I follow?

Avoid drinking large quantities (more than 1 quart a day) of grapefruit juice while taking simvastatin.

Eat a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet. This kind of diet includes cottage cheese, fat-free milk, fish (not canned in oil), vegetables, poultry, egg whites, and polyunsaturated oils and margarines (corn, safflower, canola, and soybean oils). Avoid foods with excess fat in them such as meat (especially liver and fatty meat), egg yolks, whole milk, cream, butter, shortening, lard, pastries, cakes, cookies, gravy, peanut butter, chocolate, olives, potato chips, coconut, cheese (other than cottage cheese), coconut oil, palm oil, and fried foods.

What should I do if I forget a dose?

Take the missed dose as soon as you remember it. However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue the regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one.

What side effects can this medication cause?

Simvastatin may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

• constipation

If you experience the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

• muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness
• lack of energy
• fever
• yellowing of the skin or eyes
• pain in the upper right part of the stomach
• nausea
• extreme tiredness
• unusual bleeding or bruising
• loss of appetite
• flu-like symptoms
• rash
• hives
• itching
• difficulty breathing or swallowing
• swelling of the face, throat, tongue, lips, eyes, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs
• hoarseness

If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online [at http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm] or by phone [1-800-332-1088].

What storage conditions are needed for this medicine?

Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed, and out of reach of children. Store it at room temperature and away from excess heat and moisture (not in the bathroom). Throw away any medication that is outdated or no longer needed. Talk to your pharmacist about the proper disposal of your medication.

In case of emergency/overdose

In case of overdose, call your local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. If the victim has collapsed or is not breathing, call local emergency services at 911.

What other information should I know?

Keep all appointments with your doctor and the laboratory. Your doctor will order certain lab tests before and during treatment to check your response to simvastatin.

Before having any laboratory test, tell your doctor and the laboratory personnel that you are taking simvastatin.

Do not let anyone else take your medication. Ask your pharmacist any questions you have about refilling your prescription.

Propecia is in use by millions of patients with male pattern baldness. However, due to spurt in many online drug agencies selling spurious Propecia the sales of the original version has been hit. The original drug is used in treating male pattern baldness and so far has helped millions of individuals to get out of the problem.
On the occasion of annual general meeting Spokesperson of Hair Care Tips, Mr. Agnes Coates said “Our job is to deliver the right medicine to the patients. We do not deal in pharmaceutical products that are spurious or which FDA does not approve. We have a team of experts who look in to the various side effects a particular drug might cause. Their job is to recommend us the drug manufacturer who only produces original drugs.”
This comment from Mr. Coates is particularly important as the sale of Propecia
is going through a bad patch as for spurt in some online drug agencies who are selling counterfeit Propecia. The announcement gives a blow to these spurious drug agencies by letting the public know that Hair Care Tips only sell original FDA approved drugs. Announcement from Mr. Coates also tells that Hair Care Tips do not sell any counterfeit drugs. If this is truth behind the story, it would be long before Propecia sales picks up.
Hair Care Tips is an online drug store selling a number of drugs to treat hair fall and other skin diseases. This online drug store showcases a number of hair and skin care products viz. Propecia, Tricomin, Shen Min, Revivogen, Rogaine, Procerin, Provillus, Vaniqa, Retin-A, Renova, Oracea, Benzaclin and Soriatene. For further information on any of the above mentioned medications you can contact them through