Viagra for diabetes? Not as bizzare as it sounds…

A new study has shown that wonder erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may help to stave off the onset of type 2 diabetes.

The Researchers involved in the study discovered that the medication sildenafil – commonly sold under the brand name Viagra – boosts insulin sensitivity in those people with pre-diabetes, in addition to decreasing a biological marker that signals an increased risk of kidney and heart disease.

People who are in the pre-diabetes range are sometimes referred to as being ‘borderline diabetes’, which occurs when glucose levels are in the higher end of what is deemed ‘normal’, but not quite high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes – a condition that can lead to other complications such as heart disease or stroke, organ damage, blindness, limb amputation and is particularly common in men with suffering with erectile dysfunction.

Pre-diabetic people are typically found to be insulin resistant, meaning their bodies are unable to generate sufficient levels of the hormone insulin, or the hormone doesn’t function as it should in order to get rid of sugar from the blood.

Previous research has shown that if necessary intervention isn’t undertook, as many as 30% of people with pre-diabetes are probably going to go on and develop type 2 diabetes within a mere 5 years, with over 3 million Brits already having this kind of diabetes.

However, studies conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in the US have discovered that sildenafil also can improve the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream by muscle. This can then can then bring down the level of circulating glucose, possibly reducing diabetes risk.
Dr Nancy Brown, of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said: “We need additional strategies to help slow the progression from pre-diabetes to diabetes.

“Weight loss and exercise regimens can be difficult to maintain, and some current medications have been limited by concerns about adverse effects.

“Sildenafil and related drugs could offer a potential avenue for addressing the rising number of diabetes diagnoses.”

Erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil) works by inhibiting an enzyme responsible for breaking down a chemical known as cGMP, which relaxes blood vessels. Therefore, if the chemical stays in the body, the vessels will continue relaxing.

For the study – published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism – 51 overweight participants were involved. All had pre-diabetes and were given either Viagra or a similar-looking placebo for 3 months.

All people were tested to measure how much insulin was being produced by the body in response to sugar in the blood, and how sensitive they were to the hormone. Also, they were given the ‘hyperglycemic clamp’ test prior to, and after, the treatment with the Viagra or equivalent placebo.

Moreover, the participant’s had their urine tested for levels of albumin and creatinine – indicators of heart and kidney health. Overall, 42 of the participants managed to finish the study. Those taking the Viagra were found to be more sensitive to the effects of insulin and had lower levels of albumin in the urine compared to the people taking a placebo.

High amounts of albumin in the urine are a marker of risk for kidney and heart disease.

Dr Brown said: “Because existing drug therapies to prevent type 2 diabetes can have negative effects on the heart or be of limited use in patients with kidney disease, strategies to prevent diabetes without adversely affecting the risk of kidney and heart disease could have a large impact on public health.
“Further studies will be needed to determine whether long-term treatment with drugs like sildenafil can prevent the onset of diabetes in high-risk patients.”

Could Erectile Dysfunction treatment Viagra also help for slimming?

At Medical Specialists® Pharmacy we know that losing weight can sometimes be a hard task. We know this due to the thousands of patients that come to us for weight loss treatments such as Xenical or Alli, after previously struggling to shed the pounds.

However, according to researchers in China, erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may actually be a radical method of losing weight.

Laboratory and animal studies have discovered that ‘the little blue pill’ – as Viagra is often labelled – produces alterations in body fat, causing calories to be burned for energy as opposed to being stored.
As animals have only been assessed, a trial has now begun to see if the same premise holds true for humans. A group of men will be administered either a Viagra tablet or an ineffective placebo, to be taken three times daily for a duration of seven days, with any possible fluctuations in body-fat analysed.

Public Health England say that two-thirds of British adults and a quarter of children between the ages of two and ten can be classified as overweight or obese. The risks from being obese are well-known and include serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and pressure placed onto the joints, leading to osteoarthritis.

Fat accumulates within the body when we consume more calories than we burn, however not all fats are generated in the same way. Most of the typical adult’s bodily fatty tissue is white fat, linked to the storage of excess calories. The body also has a smaller amount of brown fat, which actually work to burn calories to generate heat, so the body is kept warm.

Brown fat is most prominent in new-borns, as they need to be kept warm but are less capable of regulating body temperature. Unfortunately, we lose most of this brown fat as we get older, except for small amounts (particularly around the neck and shoulders) which are used to keep a constant core body temperature.

As we grow into adults, we lose most of our brown fat. But small amounts – teaspoonfuls – remain, particularly around the neck and shoulders, where it is needed to help maintain a constant core body temperature.

Whilst white fat can comprise of around 20 to 25% of a person’s bodyweight, brown fat only takes up between 3 and 7.5% of bodyweight, however, some scientists are looking at methods of boosting the prowess of brown fat – or even ways of producing more of it.

They discovered that exposure to cold temperatures can help to induce a process called ‘browning’ – the conversion of the unhealthy white fat into energy-burning, heat-generating brown fat, and research would suggest erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra can actually kick-start browning.

Viagra (generic name sildenafil) works in erectile dysfunction patients by helping to relax the smooth muscles of the penis and boosting blood flow. However, trials have shown that mice administered the drug over lengthy periods of time were less prone to obesity, despite having a high-fat diet.
With that in mind, researchers based at the University of Bonn in Germany decided to give mice Viagra for a week to see any potential effects on their fat cells.

Remarkably, the researchers discovered that Viagra manage to change white fat cells into ‘beige’ fat – which, similar to brown fat, burns the energy from food and converts it to heat. Writing in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the researchers say that Viagra basically is able to ‘melt’ away the unhealthy fat, but precisely how it does that is unclear at this moment in time, but it is generally thought that sildenafil increases levels of compound cGMP.  This compound passes signals between cells and is thought to be linked to fat browning and speeding up metabolism.

Viagra found to offer boost for heart disease patients

More commonly known for its prowess in the bedroom, male impotence drug Viagra should also be routinely prescribed as a safe treatment for heart disease according to the researchers involved in a new study.

A team of scientists from Sapienza University in Rome, Italy, analysed 24 studies comprising of 1,622 men, and published the findings in the journal BMC Medicine.

The found that sildenafil – the active ingredient in Viagra – boosted the performance of the heart in patients with various heart conditions, whilst having no detrimental impact on blood pressure.

Sildenafil is known as a Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor (PDE5i), which works to block the enzyme PDE5, was found to prevent the heart enlarging and changing shape in those patients with ventricular hypertrophy. This condition causes thickening of muscles in the left ventricle and can lead to heart failure.
Lead researcher of the study, Andrea Isidori, now wants the drug to be used in clinical trials consisting of women that have heart disease, arguing that Viagra should be prescribed for heart conditions if more trials correlate with his findings.

He said: “We found that the main ingredient in Viagra can be used as an effective, safe treatment for several patients with heart disease. Large clinical trials are now urgently needed to build on these encouraging findings.”

Maureen Talbot, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Often in medicine, drugs which are used to treat one ailment can have side effects that make it an effective treatment for other conditions.

“Viagra is already a prime example of this. But this study suggests it has the potential to be put to another use – treating early stage heart failure and cardiac hypertrophy.

“But we shouldn’t get too excited too quickly. Large randomised controlled trials are needed on both men and women to support this study’s findings before it could be recommended to heart patients.”
Sildenafil is already marketed under the name Revatio for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension, and the benefits of Viagra for heart disease patients should perhaps not come as a huge surprise.

Sildenafil was originally developed as an option for the treatment hypertension and angina pectoris, and the ability to induce erections was noted later. Because of the latter finding, Viagra’s manufacturer Pfizer subsequently decided to market Viagra for treating erectile dysfunction instead of angina. The rest as they say, is history!

Impotence drug Sildenafil still being rationed on the NHS

Nearly all of us undoubtedly love sex. Besides the obvious fact that sex is quite clearly fun, it can even have health benefits in the form of being a stress and tension buster, and regular sex can even help people to lose weight as it is a great form of exercise.

However, how would you like to be told how much sex you can actually engage in on a weekly or monthly basis? Instantly negating the exciting and spontaneous nature of sex, it could force couples to plan when to have sex if they are rationed to a specific number of times.

It sounds absurd, but this is what NHS bosses have been accused of doing – ‘rationing’ the amount of times men suffering with erectile dysfunction (ED) can have sex. It is no wonder then that Medical Specialists® Pharmacy continue to have many thousands of men with ED coming to us seeking treatment for the condition.

Apparently, doctors have been informed they should not be prescribing more than one single pill of ‘generic’ Viagra per week to each patient that comes to them regarding their impotence problems.
The ridiculously strict limit was passed on despite the fact a pack of four pills costs the NHS as little as £1.45, or 36p a tablet.

With Pfizer (Viagra’s manufacturer) losing its UK patent in 2013, it is now legal for certain drug companies to produce their own impotence treatments that also contain sildenafil – Viagra’s active ingredient.

As what happens with increased competition in any market, the price has drastically decreased with regards to sildenafil, prompting the Department of Health to scrap regulations on the prescribing of sildenafil, ergo allowing most men with ED to be eligible for sildenafil on the NHS.

Health bosses seem to have become worried by this though, in particularly the financial impact it could have.

One letter was recently sent to doctors in the West Midlands by managers at NHS Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) calling for GPs to restrict their prescribing of sildenafil.

The letter stated: “In light of the pressure on NHS budgets, patients who are eligible for NHS treatment should be prescribed the lowest effective dose, with a maximum frequency of ONE tablet per week (i.e. FOUR per MONTH).”

Dr Martin Duerden, a GP based in North Wales who advises the Royal College of General Practitioners on prescribing, replied back: “Can we ration sex in this way? Prescriptions for sildenafil have no restrictions and each person should be assessed as individuals – some will need more, some less.”

Man jailed for 16 weeks for selling dangerous ‘herbal’ male impotence drug

On Friday a 58-year-old man was slapped with a 16 week prison sentence at Wood Green Crown Court for selling an unlicensed and dangerously potent erectile dysfunction (ED) drug which contained more than four times the recommended dose.

The man, from Barnet, became of interest to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as far back as 2009 following a caution for possession with intent to supply ‘Jia Yi Jian’.

Jia Yi Jian is a so-called ‘herbal’ male impotence medicine that was actually discovered to contain a shockingly high dose of tadalafil – the active ingredient in prescription-only ED drug Cialis – in addition to over four times the common dose of sibutramine, a slimming treatment that is no longer available.

Sibutramine was pulled from circulation back in 2010 due to widespread fears about health risks associated with the drug. However, mixed with tadalafil, there is the risk of serious health problems such as increased heart rate, heart attack and stroke.

Following that 2009 caution, the man was stopped in his tracks at Heathrow Airport in 2010 after inspectors discovered an incredible 51,600 tablets of ‘Herbal Viagra’ which he had been bringing into the country from China.

The herbal tablets were anything but that, and again comprised of prescription-only medicine tadalafil. A private prescription or a doctor’s consultation with a registered pharmacy such as Medical Specialists® Pharmacy is absolutely essential to ascertain a patient’s health and suitable for that, or indeed any medicine. Counterfeiters or those selling unlicensed drugs do not follow any procedure like this and are breaking the law and putting lives at risk.

Following an MHRA investigation, the man was given a 32-week suspended prison sentence. Then, after MHRA officers searched the man’s home, in excess of 5,000 tablets were unearthed disguised in boxes labelled as ‘Diet tea’. The haul included the aforementioned Jia Yi Jian.

The recent 16 week sentence was imposed after the man was found to have breached his suspended sentence, for which resulted in an 8 week sentence, which was added to another 8 weeks for selling unlicensed drugs without any authorisation. He was also hit in the pocket, incurring a £600 court change to be paid within 12 months.

MHRA Head of Enforcement, Alastair Jeffrey commented: “We will continue to seek out and prosecute the kind of criminals who recklessly endanger public health by selling illegal unlicensed medicines. Products such as these which are adulterated with high levels of pharmaceutical ingredients present a real health risk. It is vital that people who are suffering a medical condition don’t take shortcuts buying online, speak to your doctor to get the appropriate treatment.”

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the majority of counterfeit or unlicensed drugs would contain very little – if any – of the primary active ingredient, in this case tadalafil from ED medication cialis. However, this case goes to show that not only are some dubiously sold medicines containing the active ingredient, they may even contain potentially fatal high doses, and why patients should only go to a legitimate and fully-registered pharmacy.

If taken in excess, tadalafil overdose symptoms can include chest pain, irregular heartbeat, feeling lightheaded, fainting or nausea. In addition, patients suffering with male impotence should never combine Cialis with other ED medication like sildenafil (Viagra) or vardenafil (Levitra).

Viagra patent expires in China – Drug makers scramble to release cheap generics

The quality of these new products may be open to question, but the recent expiry of the Chinese patent for erectile dysfunction (ED) drug Viagra has led to a rush of pharmaceutical companies applying to make their own cheaper generic version of Pfizer’s hugely popular anti-impotence treatment for release in China.

It was recently disclosed that the Viagra patent had expired in China on May 12, almost a year after the UK patent had similarly ended for the ‘little blue pill’, and something which led to Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy offering fantastic bargains on UK-produced inexpensive generic versions of Viagra.

For example, Sildenafil Teva and Sildenafil Actavis were initially introduced into Medical Specialists’™ extensive ED medication range, before even cheaper generic sildenafil was then joined with these last month and resulting in a surge in demand.

It is believed that over a dozen drug makers in China have applied to the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) to try and have their own generic versions of Viagra approved for release, with sources claiming many of these actually first began the process around two years ago.

The stigma around erectile dysfunction has been slowly eroded in the 16 years since Pfizer’s Viagra burst onto the scene and more men are now willing to come forward to trusted sources like Medical Specialists™ and seek help. Finally, ED is widely accepted as a genuine health problem that can lead to catastrophic consequences, such as loss of self-esteem, anxiety and even relationship difficulties.
In China alone, the market for ED drugs is now worth an estimated 60 billion Yuan (roughly £5.65 billion) each year.

Also available in China are two of the other most commonly prescribed ED medications – Eli Lilly’s Cialis and Bayer’s Levitra, but Viagra has proved to be the most popular, comprising of over half (58%) of the total sales for ED drugs across 27 major cities in the country last year.

Pfizer China have confirmed they have no immediate plans to release a low-cost version of Viagra regardless of the increase in competition they face.

“For any research-based drug makers, the expiration of a drug patent is a common happening and does not means the end of the world for a product,” Xi Qing, communications director at Pfizer China, said, clearly confident about Viagra keeping a good share of the market in the country.

However, In China about 90% of drugs are generic and it is a market expected to reach 500 billion Yuan by next year. Back in 2011 Pfizer also lost the patent for its money making blockbuster drug Lipitor, which is a commonly prescribed medication for the treatment of high cholesterol.

Lipitor (atorvastatin) brought in staggering revenues for Pfizer that totalled billions of dollars, but that all changed when the patent expired and sales of the branded drug took a serious plunge, and a similar scenario could now happen for Viagra in China.

Viagra or Cialis could treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Erectile dysfunction (ED) medications for adult males such as Viagra and Cialis could be beneficial for boys suffering with the muscle disease Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), according to the findings of a new study.

The small study – published online May 7 in the journal Neurology – included 10 boys between the age of eight and 13 with the disease, and the researchers discovered that popular male impotence drugs Viagra and Cialis worked at boosting blood flow to the impaired and weakened muscles in the boys.

“Boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a blood flow abnormality – delivery of blood and oxygen to their muscles – that does not increase the way it should during mild exercise,” commented lead researcher Dr Ronald Victor, the associate director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles.

Not a commonly known ailment, DMD is a genetic condition that may be inherited which causes muscle weakness and begins during childhood. Signs of DMD are when the child has difficulty standing up, climbing or running. It primarily effects boys in their early childhood and unfortunately they can only expect to live into their 20s or 30s. Some girls may also carry the Duchenne gene.

Treatment with medication such as corticosteroids can slow down muscle degeneration and provide protection for heart and lung function, but they have no impact on the abnormal blood flow. In addition, there are more than a quarter of patients unable to tolerate steroids or their side effects.

For the study, scientists based at the Cedars-Sinai Institute looked at the impact ED medications had for the 10 boys with DMD and experiencing blood flow problems. All the boys were initially using steroids and they were subsequently compared against 10 healthy boys in the same age group.

Those with DMD were still able to walk, but some used a wheelchair or scooter too. Their blood pressure was taken during rest and whilst performing a handgrip exercise. Despite taking steroids, the boys with Duchenne were found to have abnormal blood flow.

Tests were conducted again after the boys were given a single dose of either sildenafil (commonly known as Viagra) or tadalafil (commonly known as Cialis). After a fortnight, those given sildenafil were switched to tadalafil, and vice versa, with tests carried out yet again.

Treatment with both drugs resulted in improved blood flow in the boys with Duchenne, even equalling that of the healthier boys.

In regards to side effects from taking what are obviously adult-only medications, Dr Victor says: “A few boys in our study had erections after taking these drugs. The erections were not painful and not dangerous and resolved spontaneously without treatment.”

It is not known if the anti-impotence drugs will slow progression of the disease and Dr Victor believes a much larger trial could help solve this mystery.

“The findings in this small study led to a large clinical trial, which is enrolling now in the U.S. and abroad, to see if 48 weeks of treatment with once-daily Cialis will slow the decline in walking ability in 7- to 14-year-old boys with Duchenne. The findings offer some hope, but we need to wait for the results of the large treatment trial to see if daily treatment with Cialis has a clinically meaningful benefit for boys with this form of muscular dystrophy.”

Illegal websites posing as pharmacies still swarm the search engines

Buying from the internet can be risky, especially when it comes to your health. Those with health problems such as erectile dysfunction should only ever receive their medication from a registered pharmacy, clearly displaying the green cross logo and pharmacy number – which can be verified – on the front page of their website, as follows:



So for example, you have erectile dysfunction, you should have already have had, or about to initiate check-ups with your own doctor for any other underlying reasons for erectile dysfunction, and are about to search for a genuine, registered pharmacy on the internet. This is where you need to beware; there are thousands of illegal websites posing as pharmacies, who do not care about your health, who are plaguing search engine results and easily accessible, high up the rankings.

Often even within the first few pages especially of any given search engine, there are countless examples, and it is catastrophic. It is disastrous for patients, for genuine online pharmacies, and gives the entire e-commerce industry an unfairly bad reputation. But the good news is Medical Specialists Pharmacy are reporting these malicious websites to authorities and to the search engines themselves.
Here are the summarised important factors that can help you spot a rogue online pharmacy/illegal website.

. An unnecessary/suspicious internet browser redirect.
. No requirement of a doctors’ consultation for prescription medication.
. Long delivery times, sometimes up to several weeks. This is due to the drug being imported from a foreign country before it gets to you.
. The price of the medication is a lot cheaper than what would be expected, sometimes by as much as 70%. If a price is too good to be true, it’s probably because it is.
. ‘Bonus’ or ‘free pills’. Seriously, just stop and think what doctor would throw in free pills for you requesting a higher amount of something. Frankly, it is absurd and an obvious sign of an illegal pharmacy.
. The website does not list any contact details, e.g. a telephone and fax number, email address, company address or details of its pharmacists, doctors, etc.
. A registered Pharmacy such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy will have the GPhC green cross logo together with its Pharmacy number. This number can be checked to see if it does actually exist.
. The company registration and VAT number should both be clearly stated on the website. Both of these are a legal requirement.
. A non-UK currency and/or a ‘head office’ that is based overseas.

Now when you think of searching for products of services, the chances are almost all of us will turn to Google. Simply put, amongst search engine users, Google blows all of its competitors out of the water. It is the most popular search engine by a staggering distance, with an estimated 83% of search engine users found to prefer Google in 2012, a remarkable percentage whatever way you look at it.
Those behind the previously mentioned illegal websites are fully aware of what search engines are popular, and will target them with a vengeance. It is a problem for both patients and legitimate fully-registered pharmacies such as Medical Specialists, Chemist Direct, and it is a problem that needs dealing with NOW.

Worryingly, a lot of illegal websites are posing as pharmacies, selling counterfeit drugs. They have no regulation and their drugs may have none of the active ingredient at all.  These websites are still populating user’s search results and more vigilance needs to be shown by internet users all around the globe to spot them and avoid at all costs. The cost could even be your health or worse, your life. Safety is of no concern to these criminals, they instead offer counterfeit drugs, or ‘generic’ versions of medications that should not have generics.

Even the pill quantities should make anyone with common sense alert to authenticity. Erectile dysfunction medications are usually packaged within a box of four tablets and it doesn’t take a lot to realise you are not dealing with a genuine pharmacy when 120 mg x 10 ‘generic Viagra’ pills are being sold for just £17.76. Quantity issue aside, 100 mg is the highest dose of Viagra and this alone should raise serious alarm bells. Those cheap ‘generic’ Viagra tablets could actually contain very little sildenafil (Viagra’s active ingredient), none of it at all, or much more than listed on the website – highly dangerous to those with certain health problems.

Other common traits for the illegal websites is suspiciously low prices, as touched upon with the previous example, as well as absolutely no prescription or online doctors’ consultation required when ordering. All genuine UK online pharmacies should have GMC-registered doctors under their wing to assess if particular patients are medically suitable for certain medications.

However, it does not stop there. Say it is Viagra you want to treat your erectile dysfunction, even before the website has loaded, take notice of your browser address bar. There is a good possibility a seemingly random website address of ‘xyz.com/index.php?12345’ showing on the search results will suddenly change to ‘cheapgenericdrugs4u-order-viagra-online’, or something else that appears suspect. Ask yourself, why would any legitimate online pharmacy go to the trouble of implementing a redirect in your internet browser? Basically, they wouldn’t…Close the website immediately before it has infected your computer with malware; malicious software that can disrupt or damage your computer’s operation and even collect sensitive information for a third party’s benefit.

Lloyds Pharmacy investigated for breaching advertising regulations

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) have begun an investigation into Lloyds Pharmacy over suspicions they have been advertising prescription-only medicines.

The advertising in question that raised the concerns was a newspaper advert for a male impotence service offered by Lloyds Pharmacy. The ad was labelled “lost the perk-in your gherkin”, depicting an image of a drooping skyscraper, which left little to the imagination as to what the picture was meant to be.

Accompanying this was an offer for an erectile dysfunction pill that could be purchased online for £6, suggesting this was a low price to patients.

According to section 12.12 of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing, prescription-only medicines and prescription-only medical treatments are forbidden from being advertised to the public.

The advert, currently being assessed by ASA’s Compliance team, was featured last month in London’s Evening Standard.

Pharmacist Cathryn Brown, spotted the advertisement and perhaps justifiably deemed it to be “essentially an advert for a prescription-only medicine”.

Speaking about her reasons for bringing the ad to the attention of the ASA, Ms Brown said: “It’s a valuable thing to highlight awareness that there are treatments available for erectile dysfunction and you don’t have to go to your GP. But advertising it on the basis of price per tablet doesn’t imply a professional service.”

What Ms Brown didn’t highlight is the fact the offer in the advertisement is perhaps not as impressive as first seems. When you take into account with Medical Specialists Pharmacy you can obtain Cialis Daily tablets (boxed in 28s) from as little as £2.92 each, or Sildenafil tablets from as little as £4.12 each (both obtainable following a doctor’s consultation and approval), maybe £6 per pill isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The ASA replied to Ms Brown via an email last month, conceding the pharmacist had made a “valid point”, adding there was a “clear issue” with the fact the advert had broken advertising regulations. The ASA said in the email that the case is now in the hands of their advertising practice compliance team.

“The team will work to address the problem and ensure these ads, where they appear to advertise prescription-only medicines rather than the service generally, no longer appear,” the ASA said.

Could Viagra really be used to treat period pain?

Since it burst onto the market in 1998, sildenafil citrate (sold under the brand name Viagra at the time), has injected a boost into the love lives of couples around the world.

In the subsequent 15 years, the treatment has been explored for other purposes besides erectile dysfunction and has been found to be effective for pulmonary hypertension (marketed under the name Revatio for this condition).

Moreover, clinical trials have shown the impotence drug to be beneficial for people with raynaud’s phenomenon, with Viagra helping blood supply to the fingers, toes, or both, which become pale, cold, and painful, and Viagra has also shown to have an impact in high altitudes for mountain sickness, enabling people to exercise in places with a low level of oxygen.

However, a team of researchers have now discovered yet another troublesome health complaint that sildenafil may work wonders for, and shockingly it is not a male-related problem. Yes fellas, soon you may find yourself having to share your little blue pills with the other half!

Penn State College of Medicine researchers joined forces with fellow researchers at Nova Gradiska General Hospital in Croatia, who assessed 25 women, aged between 18 and 35, all experiencing primary dysmenorrhea at moderate to severe levels.

Dysmenorrhea – more often simply known as ‘painful periods’ can be segregated into primary and secondary dysmenorrhea, with primary being the most common. This is where there is no underlying problem of the womb, usually afflicting teenagers and women in their early 20s.

Symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea are commonly felt after around 6 to 12 months of periods that are painless, with many women feeling a cramp in their lower abdomen, back and thighs. Sometimes this is accompanied with a feeling of fatigue, nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting. Many women find their menstrual cramps start about 1 or 2 days after bleeding.

Unless the cause is related to an underlying health condition, the majority of cases of primary dysmenorrhea occur when the blood supply to the womb has been stopped because the muscular wall of the womb has contracted. With no oxygen, the tissues in the womb emit chemicals that are responsible for the pain that follows.

For the study, the participants were randomly selected to either receive a dose of 100mg sildenafil citrate, administered vaginally for the purpose of the study, or a placebo. Over the next 4 hours the women then documented any improvements in respect of their pain subsiding.

Generally, it was found that those who received the sildenafil citrate reported less pain compared to the women taking a placebo, with no side effects.  The researchers involved in the study say that the increase in blood flow is most likely causing the alleviation of pain, but because both the sildenafil and placebo increased, they admit they are not certain of the exact reason for the sildenafil decreasing the pain.

“If future studies confirm these findings, sildenafil may become a treatment option for patients with PD [primary dysmenorrhea],” study researcher Richard Legro, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and public health sciences at the university, said in a statement.

Professor Legro added: “Since PD is a condition that most women suffer from and seek treatment for at some points in their lives, the quest for new medication is justified.” Currently, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are usually the preferred choice to ease the pain associated with severe menstrual cramps.

Raid at Manchester house uncovers 800 ‘Viagra-style’ ED tablets and 20,000 illegal cigarettes

Trading standards officers swooped onto an address in Greater Manchester after receiving a tip-off regarding the illicit dealings of contraband at a pub in the surrounding area – all under the noses of management who were unaware of the rogue dealer at the pub.

Officials first monitored The Harbord Harbord pub in the heart of Middleton, Greater Manchester, and part of the JD Wetherspoon chain, after getting word of the illegal activities that were taking place there.

After watching the pub, they trailed the suspected rogue dealer to an address in nearby Langley. Then, they made their move and the officials raided the property.

There, they found a Samurai sword, a dagger and an air rifle. Further checks of the property uncovered a staggering 20,000 contraband cigarettes which were concealed in the linings of three sofas, hidden behind books, within divan drawers, and even stashed inside a bread bin.

In the midst of hidden packs of Ronson cigarettes that were being sold on for about £3, officials found 40 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco and 800 ‘sildigra-100’ tablets.

Sildigra-100 are Indian-produced erectile dysfunction tablets that contain sildenafil (Viagra’s active ingredient) but are not approved in the UK and as such, sale of them is illegal.

It was later discovered that no duty had been paid on any of the cigarettes or hand-rolling tobacco found at the address, which were also said to be fake.

Following the raid, a 58-year-old male was immediately arrested on suspicion of counterfeiting. The man has been released on bail before further enquiries are carried out, but is due back at prison in December.

A massive £1.9b is lost every year by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs due to the huge trade in tobacco smuggling, partly fuelled by regular increases in tobacco price when each budget comes around. However, the illicit dealings are believed to be the cause of more serious illegal activity around the Greater Manchester area.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, cabinet member for regulation at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Activities like this pose a clear risk to our communities. Drugs to treat medical problems should only be prescribed by a doctor and cigarettes should display all the appropriate health warnings.”
She added: “The profits derived from selling counterfeit goods are also often used to fund more serious criminal activity so we will continue to work with the police to stamp it out. I would urge members of the public to report anything suspicious by phoning the citizens advice consumer service on 08454 04 05 06. Alternatively they can contact the police on 101.”

$3.6 million of counterfeit drugs seized in the U.S.

Earlier this year Medical Specialists Pharmacy gave you an insight into just some of the work that the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have been undertaking in their bid to stamp-out the manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit drugs, or at least keep it to an absolute minimum if possible.

Pfizer are of course most notorious for the massively popular erectile dysfunction medication Viagra (sildenafil), and indeed erectile dysfunction (ED) treatments are the most counterfeited medicines in the world. Counterfeiters are becoming more adept at developing more realistic appearing medicines. However, for the patients who are unfortunately getting duped, the low-price comes with a life-threatening risk as the drugs are often processed in unsanitary conditions and usually contain toxic ingredients that can prove deadly.

There is some positive news though which shows that these illegal counterfeiters will eventually receive their comeuppance – Partnering with governments and law enforcement agencies around the globe, Pfizer’s Global Security has successfully managed to halt an incredible 160 million counterfeit tablets from reaching unsuspecting patients around the world in the last decade.

This brings us to the fantastic news this week that US enforcement agents joined forces with Pfizer, seized a haul of counterfeit medicines from a warehouse in South Carolina, U.S., in March. The fake drugs were estimated to be worth a staggering $3.6 million (£2.3 million).

Unsurprisingly, it was fake ED drugs that were uncovered during the raid and agents discovered counterfeited versions of Viagra in addition to Eli Lilly’s Cialis (tadalafil) – another popular male impotence medication that has rivalled Viagra in recent years. The agents also found Merck & Co’s Proscar (finasteride), a drug that eases the symptoms associated with an enlarged prostate.

It is believed the counterfeit drugs had been imported from India, arriving at reshipping warehouse located in Columbia, whilst other counterfeits came from a country rife in such illegal activities – China.

The huge operation that led to the South Carolina raid involved agents with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and South Carolina’s Secretary of State Office, using their expertise with work with Pfizer and Blazer Investigations staff.
In total, $4 million-worth (£2.6 million) of counterfeit goods was seized, and not only medicines. ICE has confirmed that fake versions of products from Coach, Prada, Ray Ban, Golf Pride and TaylorMade, were also found.

South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond said: “Counterfeit merchandise is a lose-lose situation, harming those retailers who play by the rules and cheating consumers out of the quality products they need or deserve. Fake medicine takes this harm to another level because it can literally kill you.”

18,000 websites selling ‘counterfeit’ drugs shut down

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), have reported that more than 18,000 websites selling illegal medicines, have been shut down during a global crackdown on illegal internet trade in pharmaceuticals. Domain names for the websites have been taken down or the payment facilities have been removed.

In the UK, 384 domain names have been suspended and a further 120 are being shut down. During the worldwide crackdown, conducted by Interpol across 100 countries, more than £6.5 million worth of counterfeit and unlicensed medicines were seized. The operation, which ran from September 25 to October 2, resulted in 79 people being arrested including two in the UK. More than £3.8 million of unlicensed medicines have been seized by the MHRA and the Border Force.

MHRA acting head of enforcement Nimo Ahmed said, “This week we have recovered a range of medicines being supplied without prescriptions and stored in unacceptable conditions, by people who are not qualified to dispense medicines. When you buy medicines from an unregulated source, you don’t know what you’re getting, where it came from or if it’s safe to take. The dose could be too high or too low, or the ingredients could break down incorrectly in the body which makes the medicine ineffective. Illegal suppliers do not adhere to quality control or standards that are required in the licensed trade. If people could see the filthy conditions some of these medicines are being made, stored and transported in, they certainly wouldn’t touch them.”

Neal Patel, spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said, “It is hugely worrying that prescription medicines are available from illicit websites. This is a serious patient safety issue. Not only is supplying prescription only medicines without a prescription illegal, it means that the user has no information about the ingredients, dosage instructions, or potential side effects, so patients would not be receiving proper healthcare advice.”

This is the fifth year of a coordinated action against websites selling illegal and sometimes fake medicines. Most of the haul is Viagra and assorted versions of it; one raid had turned up 13,000 packets, labelled as a Chinese herbal remedy for erectile dysfunction. It claims to have none of the side effects of synthetic western medicines.

But when they test it on the spot, they find it contains the same active ingredient as Viagra (sildenafil). If you have a heart condition that might be extremely dangerous, and you might have turned to a herbal remedy precisely because you have a heart condition, that means your GP wouldn’t prescribe Viagra.

To conclude Neal Patel said, “We would urge the public if they wish to buy medicines online, to always check that they are dealing with a genuine pharmacy.” This is a problem we at Medical Specialists have repeatedly reported on and campaigned against. Unfortunately these illegal online pharmacies, who have no regard for the public’s safety, have given online pharmacies somewhat of a bad name.

However here at Medical Specialists we are based in the UK, we only supply genuine branded medication such as (Pfizer) Viagra, we only dispense medication after a patient has undergone a consultation with one of our fully registered GP’s, who will make sure the medication is both right and safe for you. In addition to that we are fully registered with the National Pharmacy Association and the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Condom sales in Georgia on the Rise

Data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia has highlighted a 29% increase in the total amount of investment in the import of condoms from $350,000 to $450,000 in 2010 from the same period in 2009.

Viagra, the erectile dysfunction treatment drug, has also seen an increase in sales. GPC, a pharmaceutical company in Georgia, says that it sells on average 200 packets of Viagra a month. However, the company that produces Viagra, Pfizer, will be facing competition from the Georgian company GM Pharmaceuticals who have recently started to produce a generic version of Viagra, simply called ‘Sildenafil’. Sildenafil Citrate is the active ingredient in Viagra.

The Sexologist Gia Beorishvili says that the number of his male patients is permanently increasing although, he still believes that the prevailaing Georgian mentality is to avoid trips to the sexologist in order to seek help with their sex life. However, compared to 10-15 ago the use of Sildenafil Citrate is much greater, presumably as more people become better educated about the treatments available for erectile dysfunction.

Beorishvili adds, “The experience showed that Viagra is a very efficient medicine. That’s why I regularly prescribe Viagra or other substitute medicines for treatment of my patients who have the need for it.”

Held over homemade 'remedies'

An elderly man was detained by Health Ministry officers recently for making and selling unregistered medicine and pills made from a homemade recipe which included steroids. The man, in his 60s, is believed to have made a good living from the illegal business.

Last week, enforcement officers raided the man's house in Sungai Petani, Kedah, after tests carried out on the medicine and pills sold by him were found to contain steroids and sildenafil, which is popularly known as Viagra.
"The traditional medicines sold by the suspect were produced with a homemade recipe using a cocktail of chemicals which also included steroids and sildenafil," a source said.

"The medicines were purported to help relieve joint pain and erectile dysfunction but they were actually dangerous for consumption."
The source said the house was the location where the man manufactured various types of traditional medicines. "Checks had been carried out a month earlier to detect the illegal factory where unregistered medicines were being manufactured," the source said.
It is understood that during the raid, the man was busy bottling the medicine. When questioned, he initially refused to admit he was producing the medicines.
"He claimed that it had been imported from China based on the labels on the bottles. But the officers later found raw materials which proved he was indeed manufacturing the medicines illegally."
Also found were fake Health Ministry hologram stickers which were pasted on boxes. It is learnt that the medicines were distributed nationwide. The source said the man admitted he had no medical background or expertise in producing traditional medicines.
"He had apparently used information from friends and the Internet before coming up with his homemade formula. Medicines and equipment with a face value of RM200,000 (S$84,423) were seized from the house."