Discovery of a reproductive gene offers hope for male contraceptive pill

Scientists in Scotland believe the discovery of a male reproductive gene, ‘Katnal1’, could enable the development of a male contraceptive pill that would halt the generating of fertile sperm and not leave any lasting damage. Researchers at Edinburgh University discovered that Katnal1 is responsible for allowing sperm to mature within the testes.  By blocking this key gene, it would result in the male becoming temporarily infertile and scientists believe a male contraceptive pill can now be created that would not result in tiredness, effects on hormones, loss of sex drive, etc. like so many efforts have done previously.

The discovery of the gene came about after scientists were investigating the DNA patterns of male infertile mice after they had experience mutations to their genetic material. After the discovery, scientists probed a little deeper and then found that Katnal1 has control of the network of microscopic tubes that are responsible for providing nutrients in the final stage of sperm development, prior to being released.

Dr Lee Smith, from the Medical Research Council Centre for Reproductive Health at the university, commented on the new findings, “The identification of a gene that controls sperm production in the way Katnal1 does is unique and a significant step forward in our understanding. If we can find a way to target this gene in men, we could potentially develop a male non-hormonal contraceptive. The important thing is that the effects of such a drug would be reversible because Katnal1 only affects sperm cells in the later stages of development, so it would not hinder his overall ability to reproduce.”

Of course there are other excellent forms of birth control that are available right now, and it could be a long period of time before this male contraceptive pill is actually ready and fit for use. At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we offer a wide range of condoms such as the highly popular Durex Performax Intense. This particular condom benefits both partners. It contains a lubricant – benzocaine 5%, which will prolong his climax, whilst the outside of the condom is ribbed and dotted to heighten her orgasm. On top of this we have a huge range of different condoms in our ever-growing chemist shop such as Durex Play Vibrations, Skins Ultra-Thin and many more, all at fantastic prices. For women, we offer the contraceptive pill Dianette from as little as £9.99 per month, which is capable of preventing you from falling pregnant by working in three ways: by preventing an egg being released from your ovaries; by making the fluid (mucus) in your cervix thicker, which makes it more difficult for sperm to enter the womb; and by preventing the lining of your womb thickening enough for an egg to grow in it. Not only is Dianette a contraceptive, it can also be taken by women for combating acne, hirsutism and for the treatment of female hair loss.

During their life the average Briton will suffer over 9,000 ailments

The Benenden Healthcare Society have published the results of a survey that shows the average Brit suffers with accident or illness approximately 9,672 times during their life. This includes various conditions such as an upset stomach, headache, shaving cuts and backache. The survey quizzed 2,000 Brits and one in four of those described themselves as ‘accident prone’. Half admitted to having hit their head at some point in their life whilst getting out of the car. Furthermore, a quarter also said they had suffered a bite from their pet or had stood onto a plug.

From the survey, it seems we can expect to experience a sore throat on 3 occasions each year along with 4 cricked necks and 4 episodes of heartburn.  If this isn’t bad enough, we will roughly have 6 cases of upset stomach, 5 cramps and cut ourselves 5 times. This equates to some form of injury or pain once every 3 days. In addition, during our lifetime, we can look forward to a tripping or falling over a whopping 234 times, have 156 blisters and have a nosebleed 78 times.

A member of the Benenden Healthcare Society, Lawrence Christensen, commented on the survey, “Even without the threat of serious health conditions, the average human body takes an awful battering day to day, which demonstrates why life just isn’t designed to be easy. Whilst it’s unnecessary to suddenly develop a hypochondriac attitude to life, be sure to visit your GP if you do feel you are experiencing higher than average occurrences of ailments such as sore throats, stomach upsets and back pain.” Mr Christensen further added he would advise everybody to maintain good posture, wash hands regularly, eat healthily and engage in plenty of exercise.

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy, we strive to make life that little bit easier for you.  We have a massive range of products that can help you with many things such as erectile dysfunction, asthma, acne, premature ejaculation, sexual health and many more.  As we mentioned last week, we understand that the hot weather the UK is currently experiencing can be detrimental to asthma and allergy sufferers in particularly, so don’t delay in obtaining your inhalers, such as Ventolin Evohaler, which we sell cheaper than the NHS. If you have already been prescribed an inhaler, have lost your inhaler, or run out and cannot get a prescription immediately, we are able to supply you an inhaler to help your asthma symptoms. We offer both blue (relievers) inhalers such as Ventolin and Salbutamol, and brown (preventers) inhalers such as Qvar Beclomethasone, Qvar Easi-Breathe and Pulvinal Beclomethasone. Our constantly expanding product range now also includes Prevalin allergy nasal spray, Prevalin allergy kids nasal spray and Alomide allergy eye drops, which can all help to combat hay fever.

Careless behaviour leads to rise in STIs

Fears are growing regarding the increasing number of adults engaging in unprotected sex and contracting a sexually transmitted disease. The concerns come after the ‘DrFox’ website conducted a survey involving roughly 2,000 women between the ages of 18 to 40. The survey asked them detailed questions regarding their sex lives and their attitudes to sex. The results were alarming to say the least. Seven out of ten single women claimed that they regularly engaged in unsafe sex, with one third admitting that they simple ‘get swept away in the moment’ and forget to use a condom.

In addition, 18% of single women said they are sometimes too drunk to use contraception and 8% simply said they do not like using them. One in five said that they had trust in their partner not to give them an STI. Dr Tony Steele is co-founder of the website that carried out the poll and commented on the findings, “Unsafe sex on holiday is a major concern, particularly where women plan ahead to have sex with new partners without using condoms. Women meet men on holiday who are complete strangers. They may know almost nothing about the men they meet, and having sex without contraception is a sure-fire way to increase the chances of contracting a sexually transmitted infection.”

Even in the slightly older age group, women over 30 said they were still embarrassed to discuss the topic of contraception with prospective new sexual partners. Interestingly, the women aged between 30 to 40 were found to be the age group most likely to have contracted an STI. In the same age group, one in five said they had unprotected sex in the previous three months and they were more likely to have had the morning-after pill.

This study comes at the same time that new statistics have been published, showing the high numbers of STIs in males under 25 years of age, due to unsafe sex amongst both heterosexual and gay men. The Health Protection Agency said there has been a significant rise in the number of infections, with genital herpes rising to 31,154 cases compared to 29,794 last year. Moreover, syphilis now stands at 2,915 cases in comparison to 2,650 last year and gonorrhoea saw the largest increase in new cases, with the figure rising from 16,835 to a staggering 20,965. Although chlamydia cases appeared to decrease by 4%, this was attributed to fewer young adults actually being screened for it. The HPA have also stressed just how important it is that men always use a condom, either with casual or new sexual partners.

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we offer a wide range of condoms such as the highly popular Durex Performax Intense. This particular condom benefits both partners. It contains a lubricant – benzocaine 5%, which will prolong his climax, whilst the outside of the condom is ribbed and dotted to heighten her orgasm. On top of this we have a huge range of different condoms in our ever-growing chemist shop such as Durex Play Vibrations, Skins Ultra-Thin and many more, all at fantastic prices. For women, we offer the contraceptive pill Dianette from as little as £9.99 per month, which is capable of preventing you from falling pregnant by working in three ways: by preventing an egg being released from your ovaries; by making the fluid (mucus) in your cervix thicker, which makes it more difficult for sperm to enter the womb; and by preventing the lining of your womb thickening enough for an egg to grow in it. Not only is Dianette a contraceptive, it can also be taken by women for combating acne, hirsutism and for the treatment of female hair loss.

Washing detergent pods are being mistook for sweets and eaten by children

A series of poisonings have been reported in the U.S. after children seem to mistaking the small and colourful washing detergent ‘pods’ for sweets and eating them. According to doctors in America, almost 250 episodes of such occurrences have been reported to poison control centres in the U.S. this year alone. This is still a very small proportion of the overall amount of calls received by the poison control centres. For instance, in 2009 U.S. poison centres received over 4.2 million phone calls. This equates to one every eight seconds. Despite this, doctors are still alarmed by the growing number of instances of it happening.

There has yet to be any death reported, however the resulting symptoms appear to be more serious than a usual poisoning from a typical detergent and they include nausea and breathing difficulties. The American corporation ‘Proctor & Gamble’ released a statement last Friday stating that they would be altering the tub that its ‘Tide’ pods are sold inside, with a new double latched lid being put in place to make it very difficult to be opened by a child. A spokesman for Procter & Gamble defended his company and seemed to suggest that blame lay with the parents. He commented, “The packs themselves are safe, regardless of who manufactures them, provided that they are used for their intended purpose. The risk becomes when they’re left like any other household product within reach of small, inquisitive hands.”

However, this is a serious matter still, as explained by Dr Michael Buehler of the Carolinas Poison Centre when he gave his verdicts on the matter, “ The children get sicker, more severe, and they do this quicker than what we’ve seen with standard liquid laundry exposure. These pods are quite dangerous if ingested, mainly due to the risk of vomiting which can ultimately lead to aspiration of the product into the lungs with resulting difficulty breathing.” Dr Fred Henretig of the Poison Control Centre at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, came into contact with a case whereby a 17 month old boy’s mother had ‘turned her back for the proverbial second’, when her son climbed onto a dresser and put a detergent package inside his mouth. He then vomited, becoming drowsy and then started to cough. After being rushed to hospital, the boy had to be put on a ventilator and was kept in hospital for the next week.

US teenager with acne problems has become a massive hit on YouTube

A 19 year old girl with severe acne from California, US, has become a huge YouTube sensation after she uploaded a video of herself discussing her ordeal and then showed viewers how to expertly cover up the spots with the aid of make-up. Cassandra Bankson, who is clearly quite intelligent and far beyond her years, initially talks to viewers with her face apparently picture perfect and flawless. It is only when she begins to wipe away all the foundation and other bits of make-up that her acne problems are revealed.

She then gives viewers close-ups of the brightly red coloured blemished skin on her face, which she then shows is evident on her shoulders, neck and back areas. After the video received an incredible 7.6 million hits around the globe, Cassandra was invited onto the American breakfast television show, ‘Good Morning America’, to discuss the history of her problems and how she deals with them. She painfully discussed the bullying she received at school and how she meticulously tried various methods of covering her acne with different make-up and techniques. She explained how she has found modelling work after her portfolio snaps showed her with perfect skin, thanks to her talents at spot-concealing.

Cassandra commented on her acne struggles, saying, “I filmed the video last November but it took me a month to post it, I thought I was going to get the same hate I got at school over my skin. But I thought if it could help one person, one girl or guy with the same condition, it would be worth it.” She was surprised by the massive positive response to the initial video, with people all around the world posting comments thanking her for her tips and requesting her to share anymore useful bits of advice. When speaking on Good Morning America, she said, “It was a real eye opener. It (acne) is such an epidemic for adults as well as teens."

She is currently training to become a nurse and one day hopes to produce her own skin care range of products. In addition, since her first video, she has subsequently posted many other videos of beauty tips that she herself has come across and found useful.

If you suffer from Acne, you do not have to suffer like Cassandra. We are fully aware of the damage that acne can do to a person’s confidence and how it effects their daily life. At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we have several prescription products that have been proved to effectively treat acne.  For women we offer the oral contraceptive pill, Dianette, for as little as £9.99 per month. As well as working effectively as a contraception and combating acne in women, Dianette can also be taken for excessive hair growth on the face and body (hirsutism) in women and female hair loss.

Spironolactone is another prescription only medication for women, and unlike Dianette, it is non-hormonal and does not work as a method of contraception. It also helps water retention. Spironolactone has been used for over 20 years as an anti-androgen in the treatment of acne and hirsutism and is the most widely prescribed medication for these problems in the USA. At Medical Specialists Pharmacy, prices start from as little as £17.63 per month.

For both men and women, we also have Retin-A Gel(tretinoin 0.025%), which is a prescription only medication and is used in the treatment of acne, fine lines and wrinkles but is more suited to people with oily skin. The Vitamin A contained in the gel, is thought to loosen the cells in the surface of the skin. This helps to unblock pores, so that the skin’s natural oil producing glands can function normally. In addition, tretinoin increases the turnover of the skin cells, which aids the natural exfoliation of the outer layers of skin. This also helps to unblock pores and decrease the formation of blackheads (comedones) and spots. Prices of this product start from as little as £15.88 per tube.

Future problems for childhood cancer survivors

If you develop cancer during your childhood and survive it, you are more likely to suffer from hair loss and/or disfigurement during your adult years, resulting in possible long-term emotional problems. This is the claims of a new American study published last week in the ‘Journal of Clinical Oncology’.

Karen Kinahan, coordinator of the ‘STAR Survivorship Program at the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago’ and her team studied data from 14,358 childhood cancer survivors and compared this information against 4,023 of their siblings who were already involved in a separate scientific study.  All 14,358 were survivors who had received their treatment between the years 1970 and 1986 and were given two questionnaires, one in 1992 and another one in 2003.

When compared, it was noted than those who had survived cancer during childhood actually had notably more scarring and disfigurement on their legs, arms and head areas during later years in their life and that adults with these attributes, usually will suffer from more depression and lead a worse quality of life.

Kinahan commented on the results, “I think it showed us these aren’t necessarily life-threatening late effects of cancer, but certainly we need to be more aware of the outcomes these patients are dealing with”.  The study explained that survivors with persistent hair loss had more of a chance of having anxiety, female survivors with persistent hair loss were more likely to display signs of a depressive nature, and survivors who had been left with disfigurements on their body had an increased chance of depression.

Indeed if we further look at the statistics, 14% of survivors had reported that they were going bald, compared to 6% of their siblings. Hair loss was especially associated with depression in the female survivors. In addition, those who reported scars or disfigurements had a 20% higher chance of having depression in comparison to those without such issues. It was shown that overall, ¼ of survivors had a scar or disfigurement later in life, whilst it was just one in twelve for their siblings. Quality of life was shown to be effected in negative ways for those who had survived cancer in such circumstances as mental health, general pain, physical ability and their social interaction skills.

63 stone Georgia Davis is in a stable condition

Georgia Davis, dubbed ‘Britain’s fattest teen’ was last night appearing to be in a much better and stable condition at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The 19 year old who is believed to weigh 63 stone, was admitted to hospital on Thursday on the urgent advice of a GP, due to breathing problems and chest pains arising from her obesity. Georgia is currently on a specialist ward where doctors have put her on a strict diet of 2,000 calories per day in an attempt to help the teen lose weight. Her mother and stepfather are also providing her with plenty of fresh fruit in an attempt to further encourage the weight loss. This is a stark contrast to her recent previous diet which consisted of a frightening 13,000 calories each day. She currently has a Body Mass Index of 142.3. People with a BMI over 30 are classed as obese.

Georgia had initially dropped from 33 stone down to a healthier 18 stone back in 2009 during a period of just 9 months, thanks mainly to the efforts of a US boot camp who fed her with plenty of lean buffalo meat and salads. After returning home from boot camp and discovering that her stepfather Arthur had been diagnosed with lung cancer, Georgia returned to her old eating habits and by August 2011 had soared up in weight to an incredible 45 stone. She blamed this on the stress brought on by the lung cancer of Arthur and also poor health of her mum Lesley.

Last year she commented, “I was looking after them all the time. I was feeling so sad that they were both going downhill so fast and I stopped taking care of myself. I’m only managing to get out the house about once a week when I try to go to town on the bus. Of course people stare, but I don’t care what they think any more, I’m used to it. We have fish and chips for lunch quite often and usually I eat two portions. Otherwise, it’s sandwiches with six slices of bread and crisps. I find snacks harder to resist as the day goes on and I often eat two Snickers bars at a time. At night I eat a main meal, then more biscuits, crisps and chocolates as I get bored. Afterwards, I feel terrible as I know I’m letting myself down. But I don’t even care what I look like. I’ll just put on any clothes that fit me.”

Arthur and Lesley are currently staying in a hotel after a team of 50 police officers, firemen engineers and medics were involved in the 8-hour long process of removing the front of the family’s house and the transportation of Georgia to hospital. Arthur, who has blamed himself for Georgia’s huge weight gain, commented on the events that led up to her being hospitalised, “She has been gaining weight steadily ever since she returned from fat camp in America. But over the last two or three weeks she was finding it harder and harder to stay mobile. Most days she would stay in her bedroom watching American Idol on telly or messaging friends on the computer. However, she would manage to come downstairs to eat or chat to us by sliding on her bum. But on Monday she called for her mum and confessed that she could no longer stand up. Georgia had been in terrible pain for a long time but as usual she was trying to protect me and her mum so she kept it from us. But when she couldn’t get downstairs she had to finally confess. She tried so hard to come down on her bum as usual but couldn’t make it because of the pain of the sores and the swelling in her feet.”

He went on to praise the efforts of everybody involved in getting Georgia the medical attention she required, saying, “The emergency services were wonderful and treated her with great respect and dignity but she still needed morphine and an oxygen mask to calm her down. But she was not suffering from a seizure or heart failure as some people have suggested.”