Bayer levitra top news.

First there was the little blue pill. This year it has two
companions: The little orange pill, and the almond-shaped, yellow pill.

Men with erectile dysfunction now have three drugs to choose
from — Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis. If that’s news to you, you must not have
turned on a television set or opened a magazine in the last few months.
Everywhere you look, it seems, there are famous athletes singing the praises of
their drug-restored virility. It’s hard to remember the no-so-long-ago time
when “erectile dysfunction” were words no man dared speak.

Does one drug work better than another? That depends on the
man.

All three drugs work the same way, says urologist Gerald Brock,
MD, associate professor at St. Joseph’s Health Center in London, Ontario,
Canada. Brock is past chair of the Canadian Male Sexual Health Council. He’s
treated many patients with Viagra and, in clinical trials, with Cialis and
Levitra.

“The big difference is length of action,” Brock tells
WebMD. “All are very safe and have proven in tens of thousands of men to be
a valuable treatment for erectile dysfunction.”

Viagra starts working in about half an hour — although an
effect has been seen in as little as 12 minutes — and its effect lasts for
about four hours. Levitra has about the same window of effect at lower doses.
Cialis gets to work a bit faster — one-third of men respond in 15 minutes –
but lasts for 36 to 48 hours in some men.

All of the drugs block an enzyme called PDE-5. PDE-5 is a key
link in the chain of chemical messages that tell a man’s erection to go away.
Brock says that there’s more PDE-5 in the penis than in other muscles, so the
drugs have a pretty specific effect.

Chad Ritenour, MD, teaches urology at Atlanta’s Emory
University. He says lots of patients are trying the newer drugs.

“I tell patients it is going to be like Pepsi versus Coke
– get ready for the advertising blitz,” Ritenour tells WebMD. “But I
don’t think anybody can say one works better than the other. Each drug probably
will work better for some patients than for others.”

More to Sex Than Erections

It’s good to get men talking about their sexuality. But being
sexual is different than having an erection, says Jeanne Shaw, PhD, an
clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist.

“What I see as a problem is the public has been educated to
believe that good sex requires an erect penis that stays hard through the
entire sexual encounter,” Shaw tells WebMD. “This definition of good
sex changes the basic nature of an encounter from intimacy and pleasure to
achievement and performance.”

This focus on performance, Shaw says, robs men and their
partners of the opportunity to deepen their relationships — and their
sexuality. The sexual needs of , she says, are different that those
of adults. Yet by making erections the be-all and end-all of sex, grown men are
retreating to adolescent sexual values.

“Having an erection does not mean you are being sexual.
Being sexual comes from inside your sense of yourself,” Shaw says. “You
can be sexual, you can feel sexual, you can behave sexually without an
erection. A penis is not the only part of a man’s body that can be used
sexually.”

Shaw makes a between genital behavior and sexual behavior.
Mistaking one for the other, she says, leads to dishonesty and
dissatisfaction.

“You can behave genitally whether you feel sexual or
not,” Shaw notes. “Women and men can fake it. Lots of men get an
erection, penetrate, and lose the erection and pretend they have had an orgasm
because they want to be perfect. They don’t say, ‘Hey, I didn’t have an orgasm
but maybe next time. Being near you is enough.’”

In her practice, Shaw finds that physical problems don’t lie at
the heart of most men’s sexual problems.

“Actually, it is psychological distress associated with not
measuring up rather than physiological problems that causes most sexual
dissatisfaction,” Shaw says. “For many, many men — maybe most –
problems with sex are due to ignorance, anxiety, and inability to communicate
with their partners. I think sexual dysfunction is the inevitable result of the
effort to attain perfection.”

June 30, 2000 (Washington) — Of the 30 million American men suffering from erectile dysfunction, those expecting to have an alternative to Viagra soon will now have to wait. The approval for the erectile dysfunction drug Uprima (apomorphine) was withdrawn by its maker Friday — just days before the FDA was to render a final decision and despite data demonstrating it might prove to be a safer alternative for patients with heart disease.

Apomorphine has been used to treat various disorders since 1869. For the last half of the 20th century, it has been used as a sedative, and since 1967 as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. In men suffering from erectile dysfunction, the drug stimulates brain centers involved in sexual response and activates spinal nerves to increase blood flow to erectile tissue.

TAP Pharmaceuticals, a joint venture between Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, Ill., and Japan’s Takeda Chemical Industries, said it decided to withdraw the application for Uprima so it can complete several ongoing studies to confirm the drug’s safety and . The FDA nod initially was expected in July based on advice from a FDA expert advisory committee, which in April voted 9-3 to recommend that agency officials proceed with its approval.

The FDA committee supported approval of Uprima despite the potential for serious side effects when it is taken with nitrates, a common drug for heart disease, and its apparent interaction with alcohol, which could lead to dangerously low blood pressure, a slow heart rate, and fainting. Viagra also can cause adverse reactions when taken with nitrates. The committee also voted for approval despite questions regarding the overall effectiveness of Uprima. These questions center on whether the clinical trials of the drug truly included men with severe sexual dysfunction.

In those clinical trials, more than half of the treatment group achieved an erection compared with 35% of those patients on placebo. The relatively high rate of responders in the placebo group suggests that the patients included in the studies may not have suffered from severe sexual dysfunction, a number of committee members noted.

Eugene Dula, MD, a urologist and director of West Coast Clinical Research in Van Nuys, Calif., tells WebMD that erectile dysfunction is associated with a high placebo response, and as a result, concerns regarding whether it was tested in the right patient population are probably unfounded.

When asked why the committee voted to support approval in spite of the potential for serious side effects and questions about effectiveness, FDA Committee Chair Ricardo Azziz, MD, MPH, told WebMD, “Erectile dysfunction is a major quality of life issue.”

Now experts speculate the company withdrew its application because of chances that the FDA might not follow its committee’s recommendations to approve the drug. Whatever the outcome, Uprima’s with nitrates and alcohol are risks that need serious consideration, Marianne Mann, MD, a deputy director for the FDA, told committee members at the April meeting.

But the delay does not necessarily mean Uprima will not eventually be approved. “We are still very confident that Uprima is a safe and effective drug. We hope by taking this extra time we will have a much a stronger product,” Kim Modroy, a spokesperson for TAP Pharmaceuticals, tells WebMD.

The additional trials now underway include a large, study to determine safety and effectiveness in doses ranging from 2 mg to 4 mg, and a smaller placebo-controlled trial to study 3 mg and 4 mg doses. Earlier trials tested a 5 mg dose. The additional trials also include studies to assess how the drug interacts with alcohol and nitrates.

These new studies should answer any of the agency’s concerns, notes Dula, who has participated in a number of studies of Uprima.

Modroy says that the company expects to finish these studies sometime this summer and that over the next few weeks, TAP also plans to discuss with FDA officials a new timetable for Uprima’s review.

Uprima does appear to be safer than Viagra for patients with heart disease, based on studies that show its heart-related side effects are much milder than those seen with Viagra, notes Dula.

“It is important with Uprima, as with any other drug, that the patient be counseled. It’s not candy,” he tells WebMD. However, with appropriate follow-up, “I think both Uprima and Viagra are safe and effective first-line treatments.”

In previous clinical trials submitted for Uprima’s approval, commons side effects included nausea (32%), dizziness (15%), and sweating. About 60% of the participants dropped out due to these side effects, but the majority of these patients were taking a 5 mg dose, which is a dosing regimen that TAP says it has no plans to pursue. If it is eventually approved, Uprima will be sold in doses ranging from 2 mg to 4 mg, the company says.

May 19, 2004 (New Orleans) — New medicines — ranging from a
relative of Viagra to an arthritis drug — target the haywire immune responses
that underlie inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

bowel disease is the umbrella term for a number of
conditions that cause inflammation of the bowel. The two most common ones are
ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Both of these conditions occur when the
immune system goes awry and attacks the lining of the colon. The disorders take
a toll on their victims - affecting more than 1 million in the U.S. alone –
causing belly aches, diarrhea, and other symptoms that are often severe enough
to interfere with daily activities, says James B. Lewis, MD, associate director
of the inflammatory disease program at the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia.

“We’re seeing many different approaches to treat this
inflammation,” says Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, professor of medicine and
clinical pharmacology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
“For example, already used to treat IBD, are effective
agents but they affect all tissues, causing many side
effects.”

Many of the new drugs, on the other hand, selectively target
the defects associated with IBD — an approach that promises better results
with fewer side effects, he tells WebMD.

There were a number of new approaches discussed here at
Digestive Disease Week, a major medical meeting of gastroenterologists.

Arthritis Medication Combats Crohn’s, too

The rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira helped patients with
moderate Crohn’s disease to go into remission, Hanauer says.

A man-made biological substance called a monoclonal antibody,
Humira works by blocking an protein called tumor necrosis
factor alpha, or TNF-alpha, that has been implicated in both rheumatoid
arthritis and Crohn’s disease.

In a study of nearly 300 patients who did not improve despite
treatment with standard medications, 30% of those given higher doses of Humira
were in remission by four weeks later, compared with only 12% on placebo,
Hanauer reports.

Humira is an injectable drug and was extremely well tolerated,
he says.

New Immune System Drug Antibody Prevents Crohn’s Flare-Ups

In another new study, the drug Antegren helped prevent
flare-ups associated with Crohn’s disease in people who were in remission,
reports Brian G. Feagan, MD, professor of medicine in the department of
epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Western Ontario in
London.

The drug has already been shown to induce remission in Crohn’s
sufferers.

Antegren works by keeping immune system cells from leaving the
bloodstream. In Crohn’s patients, this appears to prevent the immune system
attack on the gut that occurs with the disease, Feagan says. “If we can
prevent that, white blood cells would stay in the where they
belong.”

The researchers studied 339 adults with Crohn’s disease who had
improved or gone into remission after receiving three infusions of Antegren.
The patients were randomly assigned to continue to receive Antegren for up to
12 additional monthly infusions, or to placebo.

Six months later, 44% of patients given Antegren were still in
remission, compared with 26% on placebo, Feagan says. Also, 61% of those taking
the drug continued to show an improvement in symptoms, compared with 29% on
placebo.

People who took Antegren were no more likely to suffer side
effects than those on placebo, he explains.

June 25, 2001 — It probably won’t be coming soon to a bar or
urology clinic near you, but a cocktail of crushed termites, mashed ants, chili
peppers, and fruits packs a Viagra-like wallop and could be a natural
alternative to Pfizer’s little blue pill as a treatment for erectile
dysfunction, says a Cornell University plant biologist who personally vouches
for the natural compound.

On a trip to Venezuela, Eloy Rodriguez, PhD, was given some of
the substance by his hosts to use as a spice for his food. “After I took a
lot of it they looked at me with total surprise and said, ‘You’re going to need
a doctor in the morning, because it’s going to make your penis get very hard,’
and they were absolutely correct. It was very powerful,” says
Rodriguez.

You don’t need a for the “bio-Viagra,” but
you do have to travel to the Amazon region of Venezuela and ask the women of
the Yequana tribe to mix up a batch of it, he says.

“Every tribe in the Amazon has a substance, extract, or
mixture that they will tell you is used to stimulate erection. If
you go to the Caribbean you’ll find the same thing. It’s been there since the
beginning of time. I think that in earlier times, stimulants must have been
very important, because being the king or the ruler in power you had to be
sexually quite potent and be able to maintain it.”

Back in their lab in the Finger Lakes region of New York,
Rodriguez and colleagues performed a chemical analysis on the potion
and found that it contains chemicals similar to those found in Viagra, as well
as a healthy dose of testosterone, both of which might account for the
compound’s impressive action. The researchers are currently exploring plant
derivatives from the Caribbean island of Dominica and from the Dominican
Republic that are said to have similar properties to the Yequana mixture.

“I think as one does more serious chemical research, we’re
going to uncover ‘natural’ Viagras that might even be more potent than the one
that has been made synthetically,” Rodriguez says.