Whilst it is well known that medicinal research focuses on considering the same treatment for multiple conditions, the other side of the coin is that some research also considers whether certain medications can cause or trigger other illnesses.

An example of the latter comes from a recent study considering the relationship between melanoma and the use of Viagra. The somewhat surprising relationship has gained attention from the research community.

The study, which was published in JAMA Internal Medicine, was a prospective cohort study. It included a total of 25,848 participants with an average age of 65. The participants completed a questionnaire every two years. The results from the questionnaire were then compared with the diagnosis of melanoma within this group. The main findings indicated that men who were using or had used Viagra had a higher risk of developing melanoma. Specifically, a history of using Viagra was linked to a man being twice as likely to develop melanoma, whereas using Viagra increased the risk by 84%. The researchers concluded that more research is needed to establish the reason for this relationship before any clinical recommendations are enforced.

We agree with the researchers that more studies are needed to fully grasp any implications of the findings. Whilst the study demonstrates interesting findings, they are still yet to be replicated and understood. Many studies find links between certain variables however it may be spurious or altogether irrelevant for the aetiology of an illness. In addition to that, it is worth highlighting that much of the data came from self-reported questionnaires, which may not be the most reliable measurement.

Despite this, some physicians have suggested that medical practitioners enquire whether patients who use Viagra have experienced a change in their skin. Although it never hurts to be too cautious when treating patients, perhaps it is premature to suggest additional checks as a result of one observational study.

Given that melanoma has been on the decrease over the period that Viagra has been around, we cannot see an argument for correlation, far less causality. You can read more information on this study at this website.

The importance of being informed about potential side effects of any medication cannot be understated. However, when new medications come out there is always a possibility that reports of side effects unknown to the pharmaceutical companies and researchers emerge in the post marketing environment. But sometimes there are reports of potential side effects that only affect a few people and these should not necessarily be construed as a having widespread applicability. A few incidents of blindness following Viagra use have been reported in the United States but what is the validity of the claim?

It is commonly known that transient visual disturbances can occur as a result of taking Viagra. However, these side effects are noted on the rarer end of the scale and appear to occur in 4% of the study participants. It has been argued that this is due to that fact that sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, partially blocks an enzyme called PDE6, which is known to mediate the process of transduction. Reviews and meta-analyses of clinical studies suggest that these side effects can be lessened with appropriate dosage adjustment and animal studies indicate that sildenafil does not have any major effect upon a normal retina. Moreover, long-term toxicology studies to date do not demonstrate any adverse visual side effects upon normal retinae. There is little possibility that such a large number of studies that have systematically investigated the drug would have such low quality or be unreliable.

Having said that, we understand that there have been 50 lawsuits against Pfizer (the manufacturer of Viagra) where individuals have claimed to have lost their sight as a result of using Viagra. However, on examination most of these men had type 2 diabetes, which is widely known to cause blindness. We need to also consider these 50 cases within the context of over 23 million men having been prescribed Viagra globally without similar side effects.

There are certain medical conditions related to vision which definitely contraindicate patients for Viagra. For example, we would never prescribe for any patient who had retinitis pigmentosa or macular degeneration. However, we are confident that sildenafil does not cause blindness. The men in the US who have experienced blindness probably have their type 2 diabetes to blame and that in turn can be blamed on their bad lifestyle choices over the years. It is important not to have a closed mind, but Viagra really is one of the safest medications around.

More information can be read about Viagra and visual disturbances here.

Treating obesity is one of the largest challenges to modern society, and both scientific and unscientific methods for losing weight are often mentioned in mainstream media. One unconventional scientific finding that has gained attention recently is the suggestion that sildenafil (the key ingredient in Viagra) could be useful to treat obesity in humans. In this article we take a critical approach to the study behind these findings.

The study, which was published in Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, was an animal study that used both mice and mice cells to investigate what effect a signalling messenger called cGMP would have on fat tissue. It is important to note that the study was not exclusively related to the effect of sildenafil on fat tissue, and other experiments within this publication considered alternative aspects of cGMP on the fat cells. With regards to the sildenafil experiments it was hypothesised that if sildenafil could effectively block an enzyme known to break down cGMP, then the increased levels of cGMP could be considered to contribute to potential changes in the fat cells.

Overall, the sildenafil experiment lasted seven days. During this period the mice were split into two groups, with one group being given 12mg/kg sildenafil and the other group being given a placebo containing 0.9% salt. These treatments were administered on a daily basis. Once the treatments were finished, the researchers compared changes in weight and body composition before and after the treatment between the groups. In addition to that the researchers also looked at tissue samples taken from the mice’s abdominal region. The key findings indicated that the weight and body composition was not affected in either group. However, the observation of the samples of abdominal cells suggested that, for the mice in the sildenafil group, the white fat cells had changed to have some features of brown adipose tissue (known for their ability to generate heat from fat). Based on this, the researchers argued that sildenafil could contribute to “browning” of white fat cells, which could be useful for considering obesity treatments.

Although this study outlined an intriguing hypothesis for the underlying mechanism of browning, it is clear that the many limitations of the study demonstrated that the findings are too small and too recent to warrant the conclusions. The fact that the findings cannot be extrapolated to humans at this stage is obvious given that this was an animal study that had a very short duration. Similarly, several factors such as whether all the mice were obese, ages of the mice and levels of stress tolerance that could have contributed to different reactions between the groups were not specified, thus making it challenging to rule out alternative explanations.

What stood out the most for us when reading the article was the absence of two distinctions in particular. The first one was the researchers’ failure to make a distinction between browning cells and brown cells when discussing their results, thus making it difficult to know whether their ability to create heat from fat comes from an identical process and is comparable to other studies of brown cells. Consequently, this omission led to the study’s main strength of explaining an underlying relationship between sildenafil and fat cells becoming subject to more questions than answers. The second distinction was the fact that the researchers gave the mice very high doses of sildenafil, which were much higher than the current doses prescribed for erectile dysfunction treatment in humans. This, of course, made us wonder for whom they were designing this treatment and where the value of the finding lies.

If high doses are likely to be considered unsuitable for humans, then they are even more unlikely to be a prescribed by most clinicians. While the findings in this study can raise hope, it is important to know that they are far from being established facts in the scientific community and even further from being considered safe and reliable treatments in the clinical community.

Many were surprised to hear about the baby girl who was born with a heart defect was kept alive on daily doses of Viagra, however, the active ingredient, sildenafil, is often used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) under the brand name Revatio and has been used for this condition for many years. Sildenafil has even been proven to prevent and treat altitude sickness.

The baby girl, now 18 months old, and who is now well enough to have spoken her first words, will be slowly weaned off the sildenafil which for now helps to keep the blood flowing around her body. While Viagra is not generally prescribed for women or children, Revatio is licensed for these patient groups. It is not recommended that anyone take Sildenafil unless it is prescribed by a doctor.

According to a team of Argentinian scientists, Viagra is beneficial for more than just erectile dysfunction: if you are the type who suffers terribly from jet lag and if you are east-bound then the drug could be beneficial. Viagra only seems to alleviate jet lag if you are heading in this particular direction and have access to light therapy. This is because the light to dark cycle helps us be active in the day time and ready for sleep at night.

This research is based on a study carried out on mice and has not been tested on human beings as yet. It is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists. Turning on lights six hours earlier brought the light-dark cycle forward by 6 hours. Injecting Viagra into the mice just before their body clocks would normally shift made the mice adapt more quickly to their new cycle. Only a low dose of the drug was administered and so the mice did not experience penile erections.

The drug did not seem to work without the light change and so both needed to be used simultaneously. For the meantime, Viagra should only be used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The use of Viagra for jet lag seems limited. We actually recommend Circadin (melatonin), which we are happy to prescribe off label for jet lag.

Young men who started out taking Viagra for kicks have left themselves completely psychologically dependent on the erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment according to a recent study. The study, carried out at the VA Boston Healthcare System, showed that among a group of young, healthy guys, all of whom were healthy, those who consumed more Viagra also displayed lower levels of confidence with their erections. This study is published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

1,200 men of an average age of 22 participated in the study. 72 men used the ED treatment recreationally when they did not really need it or were not prescribed it by their doctor and 1,111 of them did not take Viagra at all. Only 24 of the men had been diagnosed with ED by a doctor and were treated with Viagra for a medical condition. All of the men were surveyed about their sexual function over the previous 4 weeks.

Those who took Viagra recreationally were generally less satisfied with their ability to achieve and maintain an erection and this lack of confidence was linked to their erectile dysfunction. This is referred to as psychogenic ED and explains the type of ED that starts in the mind however the study does not provide us with any hard evidence of cause and effect.

Furthermore, who’s to say that the men who took the treatment recreationally didn’t suffer from ED but were perhaps too shy to discuss the issue with their doctor? Either way, it is not advisable to mess with drugs like Viagra without a prescription and without need. If not taken in the right dosage and if they’ve not come from a legitimate source, you cannot have complete confidence in its appropriateness.

Seemingly, men from the North are buying more Viagra than any other part of the population of England. Southern men need significantly less apparently. Also, the amount of money spent on the drug has trebled within 10 years.

The disparity between the amount of money spent in the North compared with the South, East and South West is quite significant with £5 million spent on prescriptions in the North East and £12.6 million on the drug in the North West versus £8.3 million in the East and £7.7 million in the South West. Furthermore, an overall increase has been observed in the last 10 years all over the country in both the amount of Viagra available and the amount of money spent on prescriptions. It is thought that this might partly be down to an increase in the number of GPs prescribing the drug in order to prevent their patients from purchasing dodgy Viagra from unregulated sites, from small town pubs and believe it or not, from the back of certain cabs. The Online Clinic has personal evidence of the availability of the drug in such unsuspecting places and from such unsuspecting dealers! I was personally offered Viagra by a cab driver before I politely declined and told him that he was acting illegally – he had no idea that he was doing anything wrong!

So, why such a disparity between the North and South in terms of spend? Perhaps it’s down to social acceptance of erectile dysfunction (ED) in particular areas or maybe certain NHS trusts and authorities are pushing their GPs to discuss ED more openly, leading to an increase in the number of prescriptions filled out. Either way, this increase should not be seen as a bad thing. The very fact that we know about this increase tells us that the Viagra purchased is not obtained from unregulated sources.

Sensationalised reports in the tabloids are expressing disbelief regarding the rise in prescriptions, citing potential side effects as a reason why doctors should not prescribe medications for erectile dysfunction. The fact is that all medications carry potential side effects but most patients have no side effects whatsoever. The sensationalised side effects reported in the tabloids are extremely rare and there is actually no demonstrable causality in most cases. Anyone who has had a heart attack on Viagra is more likely to have had the heart attack because of being physically unfit for sex rather than the medication that permitted intercourse to take place. The vast majority of patients don’t even have minor side effects far less the outlandish ones listed in the press.

The positive element here is how much less of a taboo the issue of erectile dysfunction is today and how much more accessible treatment has become. This can only be a good thing.

The agency, Europol, has seized 300,000 tablets of fake Viagra between the UK, Spain and Cyprus after they had been imported from Asia for sale in Europe. Two British people have been arrested in the UK and 4 other arrests took place in Spain. It has since been discovered that the medications were being distributed online all over the continent.

These fakes were far from the real deal since they had not been tested and were probably laced with other substances putting the consumer’s health and even life at great risk.

You don’t have to go far for fake drugs these days though, with some less sophisticated operations underway right under your nose. Taking a cab back from town last week, I was only too quick to say no to the little blue pills I had been offered by none other than the cab driver who had reached beneath his seat, mid-way through what I thought was a reasonably everyday conversation about something like the weather or the pros and cons attached to hosting the Olympics in London, only for the driver to pull out a freezer bag full of Viagra fakes and nod at me temptingly through the rear view mirror.

The most worrying piece for me was that until I advised him, he had no idea that what he was doing was totally illegal. There’s no avoiding the fakes and if you’re not looking for them, you will be offered them and be tempted perhaps by how inexpensive they are but beware; they are not the real deal and you have no guarantee of quality or safety.

If you feel that you require Viagra or any other medication to help with erectile issues then you should visit your doctor or go to a clinic based online that is accredited and licensed by the Care Quality Commission. If a website is prescribing medication and they are not able to show you a Care Quality Commission license number then they are operating illegally and you would be well advised to avoid them. The Online Clinic is one of only a small handful of UK based clinics that operates within the law and is inspected regularly by the Care Quality Commission to ensure patient safety is maintained.

Further to our blog regarding Sildenafil’s potential use as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, this active ingredient, which is the main ingredient found in Viagra, has been found to treat a form of melanoma in mice.

Researchers at the University Medical Centre, Mannheim, studied malignant melanoma and the chronic inflammation that accompanies it.

Mice that were genetically modified to develop a certain type of skin cancer, similar to human forms of melanoma, were treated with sildenafil, as sildenafil has previously been shown in studies to improve an animal’s defence against developing tumours.

Some of the mice were fed sildenafil in their drinking water and twice the amount of mice survived when taking this treatment as opposed to those not taking the treatment.

T-cell counts and the number of activating molecules normalized while the mice were on sildenafil which was a promising find considering that the disease takes a similar form in human beings. It is hoped that sildenafil will affect the immune systems response in humans just as effectively.

With news of Hugh Hefner losing his hearing due to his taking of Viagra, we wanted to put any worrisome associations between hearing loss and the PDE5 inhibitor to bed. Hefner’s appearance might be deceiving but he is in fact an 85 year old man behind that cheeky glint in his eye and beneath his army of svelte girlfriends, all who are probably on average 60 years his junior. We suggest that this hearing loss has come with age and nothing more.

In a study carried out last year, data on 11,525 men over the age of 40 years was gathered and men who reported using the PDE5 inhibitors were x2 as likely to experience hearing loss as those who did not take the drugs. The findings were published in Archives of Otolaryngology.

What they do not know is how such treatments can affect the ear. ED treatments like Viagra increase blood flow to tissues of the body and some guess that it may have a similar effect on the ear but nothing is certain. Furthermore, the study had its limitations including the fact that the sample size was much too small for those taking the active ingredients found in Cialis and Levitra. More of the men were taking Viagra. The authors were quite concerned about men who possibly did not report their use of PDE5 inhibitors and lastly, pre-existing conditions that might cause deafness or hearing loss were not even considered.

More research will be carried out on this topic but there is no strong evidence to suggest that Viagra or any other PDE5 inhibitor is associated with deafness.

Watson Pharmaceutical’s associated company; Watson Laboratories have applied for an ANDA (Abbreviated New Drug Application) from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the marketing of Viagra’s active ingredient, sildenafil citrate. With this key ingredient they hope to market a generic form of Viagra, presumably one of many pharmaceutical companies hoping to do the same thing considering Pfizer’s patent for the erectile dysfunction treatment is expiring this year.

Last week Pfizer took action against Watson over the premature commercialization of their generic version of the product which resulted in a delay in the application process and which will now see Watson wait until 2013 before the approval of their ANDA is decided unless another decision is made before the courts.

We should expect a wave of new generic Viagra products to apply for regulatory approval soon but in the meantime, last year’s sales came to a whopping 1 billion dollars for Pfizer. It will be a long time yet before we see this erectile dysfunction treatment lose its popularity.

A recent study reveals that sildenafil, the main ingredient of Viagra, decreases the symptoms of MS (multiple sclerosis). So far the studies have been carried out on animal models.

A team of researchers at the UAB Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Barcelona, studies the effect of sildenafil on the debilitating symptoms of MS in animal models and found that clinical signs were reduced significantly with daily treatment at the onset of the MS. In 50% of the cases, a full recovery was observed after a short period of eight days. Sildenafil decreased the presence of inflammatory cells in the spinal cord and as a result there was less damage done to the nerve cells

This is exciting news for research as there is yet no known cure for this degenerative disease. This new research is published in Avta Neuropathologica and will hopefully lead to successful human trials.

Viagra and other impotence treatments have recently been associated with a sudden loss of hearing. Cases have been reported in the US and the UK.  Scientists and health experts called for an intercontinental investigation in order to find out how soon after taking the pills that the hearing loss was experienced and the results are published in The Laryngoscope.

Of those who participated across the US, East Asia and Australia only 47 cases (suspected to be related to Viagra and other PDE5 inhibitors) of sudden deafness in one ear or both ears were reported. 8 of these cases were reported in the UK.

223 reports that were filed in the US had to be discarded due to a lack of detail. So far no one can fathom a link between the taking of Viagra and the loss of hearing but researchers are suggesting that it may occur due to a series of chemical reactions that affect the inner ear.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has said that cases like this are very rare and it is impossible to prove from such a small number of people affected that the deafness had anything to do with the Viagra or other impotence treatments.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study suggesting that sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra), as well as being a successful treatment for erectile dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension, may also be appropriate for the alleviation of heart symptoms which come with muscular dystrophy.

The group behind the study tested the drug on mice that were genetically engineered to suffer a condition similar to that of muscular dystrophy. The drug was found to improve the functioning of the heart in these cases. They said that the drug would not treat this muscular dystrophy sufficiently on its own but would provide a benefit if taken in conjunction with other treatments.

They did not uncover how in fact the Viagra improved the heart health in the mice but that their discoveries could be tried as a therapy for muscular dystrophy. Sildenafil is marketed as Revatio when sold as a treatment for pulmonary hypertension and aids the flow of blood. It seems likely that more uses for sildenafil will be discovered in time.

Men who take Viagra are being warned that the treatment will not work if the reason for their erectile dysfunction lies with low testosterone levels according to Dr Geoffrey Hackett, a sexual health specialist at the Good Hope Hospital, Birmingham.

Although around 40% of men over 40 experience erectile dysfunction, more than 1 in 5 men experience erectile dysfunction resulting from a low level of testosterone. It is normal for the levels of this hormone to deplete over time however abnormally low levels of testosterone can be an indicator for future issues such as cardiovascular events, diabetes and osteoporosis.

Quite often we have men for whom Viagra and other medications such as Cialis and Levitra do not work and we always recommend a check up with a doctor face to face. Even if Viagra is working for a patient it is always advisable to rule out underlying health problems as the root cause.

The Federal Food and Drug Administration has warned that a coffee that was branding itself as a natural aphrodisiac, under the marketing slogan ‘serving passion one cup at a time’, may be boosting libido but is putting consumer’s health at risk.

They have warned that the ingredients of the ‘Magic Power’ coffee include a chemical similar to the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra, which could be exposing coffee lovers to ‘unpredictable risks’.

They say that hydroxythiohomosildenafil, the offending chemical, could interact with prescription medications and cause lowered blood pressure, dizziness or light-headedness. The FDA has expressed particular concern that patients taking nitrates, which are commonly prescribed to heart patients, could be at risk.

The company that manufactures Magic Power say that the active ingredients in the mix are horny goat weed, often described as a ‘herbal Viagra’, goji berry and ginseng.

The FDA has criticised the company for promoting the product as an ‘all natural dietary supplement’. The director of the FDA’s centre for Drug Evaluation and Research, Deborah M Autor said that was likely to lead consumers to assume that this meant the product was harmless and posed no health risks, when in fact it could cause ‘serious harm’.

Customs officials in Dubai have seized one of the largest hauls of Viagra ever for the region.

The team discovered 7 million Viagra and Cialis pills being stored in the warehouse of a registered local company in the Dry Port area of Dubai. Later tests showed that the pills were not genuine versions of Viagra or Cialis, but were counterfeits designed to look like the branded medication.

In a statement, the Dubai Customs Director General Ahmed Butti Ahmed said that the haul contained other sexual supplements that are banned in the United Arab Emirates. As in other countries around the world, it is illegal to supply Viagra in Dubai without a doctor’s prescription.

He added that it was thought that the fake pills were shipped over from another Arab country but refused to specify which one, saying that it could harm the investigation.

Customs suspect that those smuggling the medications were planning to re-export them to another country.

So far, three people have been arrested. Ahmed said that after investigation, it was revealed that an employee of the company that owns the warehouse agreed with an Arab trader to store the medication there. He was paid AED 3000 a month in return.

Ahmed also said that Dubai customs were determined to crack down on smuggling, describing their vision as being that in the near future they will be the leading customs body in the world.

New research has shown that the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra can improve how well patients respond to treatment for brain tumours.

Scientists from the Neurological Institute at Ceders-Sinai Hospital in the US have conducted a study to see whether the drug can break down the body’s natural barriers to the cancer drug Herceptin. Herceptin is used to fight lung and breast cancers that have metastasised to the brain.

The problem is that even if the cancer is of a type that will respond to the drug, the Herceptin must first penetrate the ‘blood-brain’ barrier for the treatment to be effective. Dr. Julia Y Ljumbimova described the barrier as existing to protect the brain from dangerous substances, meaning that it identifies the Herceptin as dangerous.

However, when patients were given either sildanafil or vardenafil (Viagra or Levitra) they inhibited the enzyme PDE5, which made the blood-brain barrier more permeable and boosted how effective chemotherapy treatment was.They also found that it made the brain more receptive to Herceptin, which usually is partly prevented by its large molecules from crossing the barrier, seriously reducing its effectiveness.

The results of the study showed that when patients were given vardenafil and Herceptin together, mean survival rates increased by 20%, compared to those only taking Herceptin.

Viagra is already used as a treatment for a variety of conditions, including heart problems, pulmonary embolisms and on newborns with blood flow problems.

After dropping their patent infringement case against Cialis manufacturers Eli Lilly, as we predicted, Pfizer is turning its full force of its legal team against the makers and sellers of generic versions of Viagra.

They have announced that they are suing Israeli company Teva Pharmaceuticals to prevent the firm from selling a generic version of the best-selling erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

Teva has already received a tentative agreement from the U.S Food and Drug Administration allowing them to sell a generic version when the primary patent on Viagra expires in 2012, which covers the composition of the medication.

Viagra is also covered by a second patent, expiring in 2019, which relates to its use as an erectile dysfunction medication. It is also used as a treatment for a variety of other conditions, including pulmonary embolisms, but Pfizer makes most profit from its sales to treat ED, estimated at $1.9 billion annually.

Under patent law, firms are allowed to issue patents on already-protected compounds to cover them for new uses, but these patents are less strong than the original composition-of-matter patent.

In 2004, Teva notified Pfizer of their intention to manufacture a generic version of the medication when the first patent expires, arguing that the 2019 patent will not be infringed by the production of a generic.

If Pfizer cannot stop the generic version being given the go-ahead, then it could change the face of erectile dysfunction sales quite drastically. At the moment there are no generic medications, though many illegal companies claim to be offering them online.

A legal generic could bring down the cost of medication very significantly, in all likelihood forcing Eli Lilly, Pfizer and other players in the market to adjust prices accordingly.

But for the moment, it’s very much a case of watch this space...

While Viagra has been very helpful to many men around the world , its been slightly unexpected to see it being used over the past few days as a political tool.

While President Obama is joyful that he managed to get his healthcare bill through, which will mean the majority of Americans will have access to affordable healthcare, Republican politicians are desperately trying to either stall or stop it.

They hope that by presenting Democrats with amendments to the legislation they can’t say no to, they will get the bill back to the House, a severe blow for the rival party. Viagra may seem an innocuous medicine, but Senator Tom Coburn is hoping it will prove the key to sabotaging the bill.

In a series of 9 amendments he has proposed to the House, the amendment entitled ‘No Erectile Dysfunction Drugs to Sex Offenders’ is top of the list.

He demands that convicted child molesters, rapists and sex offenders are not covered for the prescription of Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs and that abortion medications also be prohibited.

By making that the first point of the amendment, Democrats voting against it are opening themselves up to claims that they support sex offenders being given Viagra, which would go down like a lead balloon amongst voters in their home states.

Democrats, who voted unanimously for the bill, are being urged to close ranks and vote against any amendments, in order to get the bill passed into law as soon as possible. The President’s credibility is resting on its success, after he made it a key point in his aims for the presidency.

A revolutionary method to treat infertility using the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra has resulting in a 34 year old women finally giving birth to a healthy baby girl.

34-year-old Kerry Holmes and her husband David, 33, had gone through three rounds of IVF and had suffered a miscarriage after Mrs. Holmes fell pregnant in 2005 but lost the baby at 12 weeks.

After the numerous disappointments, Mrs. Holmes had a scan at a private fertility clinic in Nottingham. The images revealed that she had a poor flow of blood to the womb, which had made the lining of the womb too thin for the embryo to successfully implant.

The director of the clinic, Dr. George Ndukwe, recommended trying Viagra to boost blood flow. The treatment is generally used to help men achieve sufficient blood flow to the penis to achieve an erection, though we've covered a variety of stories where is has been used in different ways, sometimes even saving lives.

Mrs. Holmes was prescribed the medication for nine days and says that it was not ‘a pleasant experience’. She said that minutes after taking her first dose, she noticed her body go pink and her face flush.

After the course of medication was completed, further scans showed that the lining of the wall of the womb had thickened enough for embroyos to successfully implant and the doctors put in IVF embroyos. Two weeks later, it was confirmed that Mrs. Holmes was pregnant and she carried the baby to term, giving birth to Grace in December.

It is thought that this is the first instance of the treatment being used to help infertile women. Dr. Ndukwe said that though Viagra can improve the lining the procedure can be dangerous and should only be performed under a doctor’s supervision.

Mrs. Holmes, a teacher from Yorkshire, commented, “Thanks to Viagra I’m a mother at last!”

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency have successfully carried out a raid in Bristol, resulting in the seizure of a large load of counterfeit medications.

Police from the Safer Stronger Neighbourhood team supported their collegues at the MHRA and carried out the raids at three properties, in the Newtown, Redfield and Hotwells areas of the city.

In total, the team seized counterfeit medications worth £180,000. They included the erectile dysfunction medications Viagra, Levitra and Cialis, as well as the anti-anxiety medication Diezepam. The officers also discovered a large amount of cannabis plants at one of the properties, thought to have a street value of £40,000.

Further investigation also resulted in the seizure of 1000 tablets which officials believe to be counterfeit.

So far, a 23-year old man has been arrested on suspicious of cultivating cannabis. A 28-year old man has also been arrested on suspicious of supplying counterfeit medication.

A spokesperson for the Safer Neighbourhood team, police sergeant Jon Ames, said that the branch was committed to stamping out the trade in counterfeit medication and asked for the public to contact them if they had any further information about illegal activity.

The head of enforcement for the MHRA Mike Deats warned that people who purchased medication from any other sources other than a registered pharmacy were putting their health at risk, possibly taking doses that were too high or low or even imbibing dangerous substances.

He added that those dealing in counterfeit drugs didn’t care about consumer’s health and were only interested in making money.

The U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) panel has partly ruled against a claim by Viagra manufacturers Pfizer that the Chinese herb yin yang huo, also known as horny goat weed, infringed on their patent rights for the medication.

The judges said that an element of the patent for Viagra was invalid as the medication is not sufficiently different from the traditional Chinese herb.

The ruling is a blow for Pfizer as it will affect an ongoing patent dispute they have with Eli Lilly over the rival company’s Cialis, which has been ongoing since 2002. Pfizer claimed that their method for treating erectile dysfunction was a new invention, but the similarity the blue pill has to horny goat weed means that a precedent has been set that this is not the case.

The USPTO found that both horny goat weed and Viagra act through the same mechanism, the inhibition of the enzyme phosphodieterase-5, or PDE-5. They ruled that ‘the patent claim was the logical step up from using the herb’.

A Pfizer spokesperson has said that the other aspects of the patent remain valid and said that it would not have an impact on Pfizer’s other claims over sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra. The firm has not commented on how the decision could impact on the 5-year lawsuit against Eli Lilley.

The company has until the 12^th of April to either seek a rehearing from the UPSPTO or appeal the decision through the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the body specialising in patent law.

We have heard that Pfizer is planning a new version of Viagra that will be available over the counter. According to Campaign magazine, Pfizer is looking at a new formulation and the product will have a completely different name.

Pfizer has previously applied for a license for Viagra to be sold over the counter without seeing a doctor but this was rejected by regulators who insisted that it was essential that patients consult with a doctor prior to a prescription for this medication being written. The reason for this is that erectile dysfunction can indicate more serious underlying conditions that may be missed if the drugs that solve erectile dysfunction or impotence were more freely available.

Our hunch is that this one will not get through the regulators for the same reason as the last attempt. Viagra is available under Patient Group Direction in the UK, where the treatment is prescribed by a pharmacist after a consultation.

The Viagra patent expires in 2012, after which time the price should come down markedly as generic versions become available on a legal basis.

Viagra – the perfect subject for a film. Well, kind of. Yes, there is a new movie out this week, Holy Water, which concerns the shenanigans of a group of Irish men who rather unbelievably steal a massive shipload of Viagra. Which somehow gets into the town’s water system.

The town then becomes a den of wild rumpy-pumpy and sexy times, with stereotyped Irish bodies being overcome by unfamiliar lustfulness.

The drug company Pfizer, who manufactures the drug, are also given a major role as they seek to recapture the multi-million pound shipment the hilarious Irish inadvertently capture. If the Irish characters are ridiculously clichéd, then the mind boggles at what Pfizer employees will make of Linda Hamilton – of Terminator fame – playing the Pfizer person tasked with getting the blue pills back.

Pfizer have been allowed to put disclaimers in at the start and end of the film, probably a well-judged move as the plot centres around the theory that if you dump truckloads of Viagra into a well then the medication will still work as it gets into the water system of the local town (it won’t – don’t try this one at home to spice up the local gossip.) However it appears that they are not entirely displeased by the free publicity the film will generate for them.

Unfortunately the movie has been enthusiastically and energetically panned by film critics, garnering an average of 1 star in most newspapers. The Times described it as ‘staggeringly unfunny and skin-crawlingly unsexy’ while the Guardian said it has ‘flagging comic potency’ (full marks for the double-entendres there).

The UK Medicines regulator has warned that patients taking herbal remedies to treat erectile dysfunction could be taking serious risks with their health.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the MHRA, has said that patients should avoid taking herbal ED products and should stick to the three clinically trialed remedies for the condition, Cialis, Levitra and Viagra.

The regulatory body said that often, herbal products contain unspecified chemical ingredients and are dangerous and misleading. In a statement, they said that frequently products that promised to be 100% natural were making false claims.

The products are sold either on the internet or through traditional herbal outlets. Each month, the MHRA announce that various supposedly herbal products have been discovered to contain illegal ingredients, such as sildenafil (the active drug in Viagra) or tadalafil (the drug in Cialis), though this is not declared on the ingredients list.

Both drugs should only be sold with a doctor’s prescription and can put patients health at risk if they have contra-indications for the medication.

The MHRA warned that taking medicines containing ‘random, uncontrolled quantities’ of the analogue chemical compounds could potentially cause serious reactions in patients, including strokes, heart attacks and severe hypotension.

Since 2005, the MHRA have discovered that 2/3s of the 138 unlicensed herbal products they tested contained prescription-only medications in a range of quantities.

The three pharmaceutical firms who manufacture the best-selling erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra, Cialis and Levitra have received a heavy fine after they were convicted of price fixing their drugs in Switzerland.

The Swiss Competition Commission have ruled that the three firms, Pfzier, Eli Lilley and Bayer AG must pay a total f 5.7million francs (or $5.7 million) for breaching Swiss competition law. It has not been revealed how much each company must individually pay.

All the companies refuted the allegation. A spokeperson from Eli Lilley, manufacturers of Cialis, said that the company believed that the public price recommendation for the drug was in line with Swiss competition law, while Bayer released a statement said that they were exploring how they could challenge the fine. Pfizer’s spokeperson said that the firm did not believe the decision would survive a court examination.

The case first came to the public’s attention when the three companies claimed that the cost of the three drugs had risen drastically, leading the SCC to suspect that the suggested prices were far too high.

The Swiss have been watching the case with great interest and the findings of the SCC are likely to cause huge embarrassment to the pharmaceutical firms. With their reputations under threat, they are likely to fight tooth and nail against the fine.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (the MHRA) have busted a criminal ring selling illegal Viagra and erectile dysfunction products.

The MHRA said that in a house in an expensive part of Bristol, they discovered large quantities of the banned Viagra substitute Kamagra, as well as other fake drugs with name like Erectalis, Silagra, Eriacta and counterfeit versions of the hairloss medication Propecia, rebranded as ‘Finpecia’.

Whereas most raids on illegal companies happen in squalid warehouses in less affluent areas, the enforcement officials were surprised to discover that the suburban bungalow contained such a big haul of medication. 14 items of evidence were seized, including computer hard drives and pills worth thousands of pounds.

The MHRA were first alerted to the activities of the group two months ago, leading to the launch of an investigation. The group were selling the counterfeit drugs on a website which promised customers genuine Viagra.

Each year, the MHRA believe that illegal sales of counterfeit medications net criminal gangs around £45 million each year. Some experts have even estimated that a kilo of counterfeit Viagra is more valuable than the same weight of heroin.

Danny Lee Frost, head of operations at the MHRA, said that the operation went ‘as good as we could have hoped for’. The seized medication has now been sent to the laboratory to be analysed and the suspect arrested during the raid has been charged and is awaiting trial.

Here at The Online Clinic, we love, love, love stories about weird chefs creating dishes that promise to - erm -help diners really celebrate after a great meal. So imagine our joy this morning when we discovered that a Bogotan cookery school has created a dish that goes one step further.

Who needs arousing ingredients like oysters, guarana and chocolate when genius chefs have managed to create a desert that does actually contain Viagra as an ingredient? The concept for the dish is the brainchild of cookery students in the Quindio provice of Colombia, who presented it at the ‘Gastronomy 2009’ show in Bogota.

Served in a parfait glass (like a martini glass), the desert is made with passion fruit and topped with whipped cream and chocolate. Though the students have refused to give the full list of ingredients, they did confirm it contains the prescription-only medication sildenafil.

One of the chefs, Sebastian Gomez, said that in the recipe they have specified exactly how much Viagra to dissolve into the desert.  He added that they were inspired by the desire to ‘reinterpret’ Viagra as an aphrodisiac.

Obviously as Viagra is a prescription-only medication the desert is extremely unlikely to be appearing in a restaurant near you any time soon and just to be clear, we really, really, really don’t recommend trying to recreate this dish at home. That said, we think Pfizer (who manufacture Viagra) should think seriously about the possibilities. Who wouldn’t prefer to see the doctor for pudding rather than pills?

Scientists conducting a clinical trial into a new anti-depression medication have discovered that while the drug does not treat depression very well, it could potentially become the ‘female Viagra’. Scientists have said it could be available in up to 18 months.

Nearly 2,000 pre-menopausal women took part in the trial for flibanserin, who had been diagnosed with the condition hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Those women who took 100mg of the drug daily reported that there had been a significant increase in their sexual desire and the number of satisfactory sexual experiences they had.

In three separate trials involving women in the US, Europe and Canada, the drug proved effective at increasing women’s sexual desire, without affecting their mood. The trials were funded by the manufacturer of the medication, Boehringer Ingelheim.

However a lot of experts have expressed scepticism that low sex drive in women can be solved with medication. Professor Irwin Nazareth of University College London said that reduced sexual interest could be ‘normal’ for some women, while Paula Hall from Relate said that while loss of lidido could be a ‘physical thing’ pills weren’t going to ‘fix a broken relationship or help with looking after the kids.’

The trials are fantastic news for women who suffer from low libibo and are made particularly exciting by the fact that the drug does not seem to increase libido by acting on mood. For too long, women suffering from sexual disorders have had their problems dismissed as being connected to their relationships or state of mind, rather than it being a medical condition.

Clearly, many sexual conditions in women and men can be caused by bad relationships or stress in someone’s personal life. It is well known that ED can be related to stress – but no one suggests that this is true in every case, or that medication could prevent people from examining problems in their home lives.

Hopefully, a medication proven to bring back a woman’s lost libido will significantly act to silence the sceptical voices in the medical community that accept that erectile dysfunction can be medical in origin, while claiming that sexual disorders in women are always rooted in their emotions. The quicker that the medical community abandons such sexist axioms the better!

Customs officials have seized a massive shipment of counterfeit Viagra after a criminal gang tried to smuggle it into the US through Miami International Airport. U.S Customs and Border Protection Officers say that they intercepted 21,600 pills in total, weighing 50 pounds.

Samples of the seized pills were sent to a specialist testing group sent up by customs to be tested. They confirmed that the pills were counterfeit, saying that their chemical ingredients were inconsistent with the authentic pills made by Pfizer, the official manufacturers.

Customs officials first became suspicious of the shipment, which came from India, when they saw what a large number of pills each box contained. The head of Customs and Border Protection, Jose Catellanos, said that the shipment was so large they do not believe it was meant for the United States.

The director of field operations warned that the criminal gangs trafficking counterfeit pills were not only stealing profits from legitimate companies but were also duping customers into buying products that were made by unknown manufacturers and contained unknown ingredients. Harold Woodward added that such products could be dangerous to the health and safety of the consumer.

We’ve had Viagra icecream, Viagra sweets and now a New York restaurant is offering Viagra soup. El Rey, based in Brooklyn, is offering the fish-based soup in the hope that it will give ardent customers a bit more fire in their loins when they return home.

For £20, customers can experience the potent and apparently arousing blend of lobster tail, octopus, crab, clams, flounder and white fish, mixed in with a sprinkle of cilantro and a glug of tequila. Now I think many people will attest to the erotic powers of tequila (4 shots down the weird guy who’s been trying to pinch your bum all night terrifyingly starts to seem a far better prospect) but perhaps the sexual power of fish is slightly less well known.

However the manager of El Rey, Eucilides Genae, said that there is a ‘certain something about seafood that gets you really horny.’ He admitted that the soup couldn’t compare with the proven medicinal properties of Viagra, but claimed that seafood has long been recognised as part of a romantic meal.

He said that the soup gives customers ‘strength’ and gets them ‘going’ when the time is right. The restaurant asks customers to return the next morning and let them know how they got on.

Staff have noticed that while on average they sell about 10 bowls a day, demand is especially high on Friday nights. And now all I can imagine is a couple on a date. The lights are low, he feels encouraged, he orders the Viagra soup, and his presumption results in the fishy broth all over his lap. The ingredients might be arousing, but probably less so when all over your best clothes.

The US and China are locked in a battle over the custody of a Chinese woman accused of importing illegal medication, including the diet pills Reductil and Xenical and erectile dysfunction medications like Viagra and Cialis.

Miao Qun Huang, also known as Cherry Wong, has been investigated by U.S officials for illegal trade of counterfeit medications, and the National Bureau of Investigation has placed her on ‘provisional arrest’ to be extradited to from the Philippines to Texas. The provisional warrant was issued by a Manila court.

However the Chinese embassy in a diplomatic note sent to the Department of Justice said that as she was a Chinese national holding a Chinese passport, and her crimes were committed in the Chinese mainland, they believed that China had jurisdiction over her. They added that China was strongly opposed to her extradition to any third country without their prior consent.

If she is successfully extradited to Texas, Huang will face 7 charges of trafficking counterfeit Viagra, Cialis, Xenical and Reductil. Her lawyer is arguing that as the Philippines and China signed their own extradition treaty preventing the extradition of a country’s citizen without the consent of their country of nationality, she cannot be sent to Texas to face trial.

Her lawyer Jose Bernas has said that her extradition would set a dangerous precedent in international law, warning that it could leave the Philippines open to the extradition of their own nationals, either from the Philippines or a third country, for crimes committed outside of the requesting state’s territory.

After reviewing 49 published studies, a team of scientists have concluded that while Viagra is associated with some side effects, there is still a lack of data about the possibility of the medication causing long-term harm.

Dr. Alexander Tsertsvadze of the Ottawa Health Institute in Canada and his colleagues said that they were concerned that the studies reviewed did not follow patients up for longer than 12 weeks and said that there needed to be a better balance between ascertaining the effectiveness of the drugs and the long-term effects.

They said that from the data there was, it seemed that men taking the medication as opposed to a placebo were 56% more likely to experience side effects. These are generally mild, with the most common including headaches, facial flushing, difficulty breathing and vision problems.

Writing in this month’s edition of the journal Urology, they said that it would be worthwhile to consider different methods to lessen the likelihood of patients experiencing side effects, such as a flexible dosing regimen.

At the moment millions of men take Viagra around the world with few problems. It is one of the best selling drugs on the market for treating erectile dysfunction.

A new study, published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, has shown that men who use Viagra or other erectile dysfunction medications may be more likely to have the condom break during sexual intercourse.

The researchers recruited 440 men who used condoms when having vaginal sex who also used medication to help them achieve an erection. The volunteers were recruited using newspaper and internet advertisements and asked to fill in questionnaires about their most recent sexual experience.

1 in 10 of the men had used an erectile dysfunction treatment on the occasions and for 12% of those men the condom broke, compared to 5% of men who did not use medication. The researchers also discovered that men who reported having intercourse for longer were also more likely to report the condom having broken.

When the results of the questionnaire were analysed to take into account other factors, it was discovered that erectile dysfunction medication remained a significant factor in the condom breaking. Men using treatments like Viagra were up to 4 times more likely to have this happen to them.

The team who lead the study have suggested that the results may be due to Viagra and other similar medications causing increased swelling when a man achieves an erection, possibly causing the condom to be tighter. They have said that men using medications might be advised to use condoms large enough to accommodate the enhanced erection and warned that longer-lasting sex might be associated with condom breakage.

However there is some doubt about the results as the same team did a similar study last year, where 7% of the respondents used an erectile dysfunction drug, but no increased likelihood of condom breakage was noted.

The researchers have called for there to be further investigation of the possible link between prophylactics failing and the usage of impotence drugs.

A study has suggested that compounds found in the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra may work to combat heart disease by shrinking abnormally large hearts.

The drug is already in clinical trials investigating whether it can prevent heart disease, but the research, published online in the journal Circulation Research. Abnormal muscle growth in the heart is known as hypertrophy and is caused by a diseased heart having to work harder to push around blood, causing the overworked heart muscles to grow. This itself can cause the chamber walls of the heart to thicken, slow down heartbeats and cause potentially fatal arthymias.

The scientists on the study said that Viagra interferes with enzymes, known as PDEs, that break down the molecule cyclic guanosine monophosphate, or cGMP, that normally would stop the cells in the heart muscle growing. This means that the drug works to control hypertrophy. They also discovered that a specific PDE, PDE1a, also breaks down cGMP, using a different mechanism to Viagra.

Chen Yan of the Medical Centre at the University of Rochester and one of the study’s authors, said that based on the results of the trials they would be investigating ways to develop new medications to control abnormal heart growth. He added that it was not yet clear whether combining PDE1 inhibitors with Viagra would be effective at combating heart disease but said that further tests on animals were now scheduled.

There’s definitely something in the water (or should that be something in the juice?) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Ministry of Health has discovered Viagra in juices being sold throughout the capital after enforcement officers raided more than thirty retailers and distributors dealing in the fruit juice.

The officers were acting on an anonymous tip-off which resulted in several hundred thousand ringgit worth of the product being seized. When samples were tested it was confirmed that the fruit juice did indeed contain Sildenafil Citrate (otherwise known as Viagra).

Although traces of the substance have been found in other materials before this (such as coffee mixtures and sweets), the Ministry of Health claimed this was the very first time that Sildenafil Citrate had ever been detected in fruit juice.

The Ministry of Health also issued a statement confirming the dangers of this ‘potent mixture’, describing it as potentially ‘deadly’ to those people suffering from low blood pressure and heart disease.

However, the reaction from the public has been generally positive. Despite a small number of people complaining about the suspicious juice, it has met with mostly good reviews from customers.

Sildenafil Citrate is tightly restricted in Malaysia and can only be obtained through a prescription from a doctor. The juice however, which it is claimed was produced from selected natural herbs to improve both men and women’s sexual performance, has been widely available from the local markets for up to six months and has met with rave reviews from the customers.

A customer can obtain a box of fruit juice, containing six sachets of juice in powdered form, for more than RM50. He, or she, then merely has to mix the powder with water before drinking.

More than thirty simultaneous raids were carried out across the country and more than six hundred boxes of the fruit juice were recovered. The seized product is estimated to be worth several hundred thousand ringgit and is believed to have been manufactured at a factory in Kajang. The investigation is ongoing.

Pzifer has won a court case against a man who towed a decommissioned missile around New York bearing the slogan “Viva Viagra”, the tagline Pzifer uses to advertise their best-selling erectile dysfunction drug.

Arye Sachs was sued by the pharmaceutical firm after he attempted to promote his business, which sells advertising space on decommissioned military vehicles, by parking the 20-foot-long missile outside the headquarters of Pzifer.

After the stunt in September 2008, Pfizer said that consumers might mistake the missile for a genuine advert. Their advertising campaign is already extensive, covering print and television, and costs millions. Presumably the powers that be were so distressed at the thought consumers might be duped into thinking they had spent part of the budget on anything as odd as a decommissioned missile to boost sales that they felt it merited a trip to the courts.

Sachs apparently ignored requests to remove the advert and threatened to erect further displays, complete with models ‘riding’ the missile and handing out condoms.

In his ruling for the firm, U.S District Judge William Pauley said that even if the defendant intended the stunt to be funny, “Pfizer did not get the joke.”

Mr. Sachs argued that he should be allowed to use the Viagra name under the rights of free speech. He has now been ordered to pay legal fees for Pfizer but says he plans to appeal, claiming that the “sheer power of the largest pharmaceutical company in the world trying to squash a little guy.”

Hmm.

Counterfeit Viagra has been seized by customs officials at East Midlands Airport. Over 4 months, Customs took over £1.6m worth of fake goods, which as well as the erectile dysfunction medication included imitations hair straighteners and cheap tobacco.

Over the 4 months, between the start of April and the end of July, the same amount of counterfeitgoods was seized as the amount discovered over the whole of the preceeding 12 months. Border officials said that the recession has created a surge in the counterfeit market, as consumers are especially eager for a bargain. However they added that it was dangerous, as people think they are getting a bargain but are sold unsafe goods.

Chris Bagley, operations manager for the area, said that customs were seeing a lot of counterfeit medications coming in, which is potentially very dangerous. Pfizer recently published a survey that showed that counterfeit Viagra could be made of anything, from rat poison to talcum powder.

He added that most of the goods were coming from China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia originally. Often sold online, foreign criminal gangs are setting up website addresses with ‘co.uk’ at the end to trick customers.

Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturers of the erectile dysfunction medication Levitra, have submitted an application to have a new formulation of the drug registered in the European Union.

Bayer are excited about the new formula, which they hope will improve the currently flagging sales of the medicine. They plan to sell the medicine in the form on an orodispersible tablet containing 10mg of vardenafil, the medical name for Levitra. The pill will dissolves on the tongue in seconds. This would give Levitra an edge of the competition, as both Cialis and Viagra need to be taken with water.

They hope that the new type of pill will prove more discreet and convenient, as men will not need to interrupt foreplay to get a glass of water to take their medication with.

A representative from Bayer, Jean-Philippe Milon, said that the new formula marked a ‘strategic milestone’ in the development of ‘innovative and easy-to-use men’s health products’.

The pharmaceutical company have completed two large phase III clinical studies which they say showed the the new formulation is as safe and effective as the current pills on the market.

A drugs company has launched a new medication that uses the ED drug Cialis – known medically as tadalafil – to combat pulmonary hypertension. The medication is called Adcirca and is being sold as a rival to Pzifer’s treatment Revatio, which uses Viagra to similar effect.

Pharmaceutical companies discovered a few years ago that the common erectile dysfunction medications had a secondary use as a pulmonary hypertension medication. Pfizer was the first to get its product on the market, and though it is not a massive money spinner for them, Revatio is one of the few medications they sell that has steadily increasing sales.

It is believed that Cialis may be more effective at treating pulmonary hypertension as it will be offered to patients in a single pill which will have the same effect as three doses of Revatio. There have also been suggestions that United Therapeutics will offer it at a lower price than patients and healthcare providers would pay for Revatio.

Industry pundits are now questioning whether Bayer will push on with a pulmonary hypertension product based on their own erectile dysfunction medication, Levitra, which has suffered from flagging sales in the U.S over the last couple of years. There have already been clinical trials that suggest that it too is effective in treating the condition.

A baby with a life-threatening illness is being kept alive with the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra. Owen Bloomfield was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia, which means that a number of his organs are in the wrong place. He also has a hole in his heart, two spleens and high blood pressure.

Though Owen was only given a week to live, doctors at Glasgow’s Yorkhill Children’s Hospital have been able to prolong his life through regular doses of sildanafil, the medical name for Viagra.

The drug has lowered his blood pressure and his doctors are hopeful that they can turn the machine providing him with nitrogen off. This will mean that his parents Ronnie and Jennifer will be able to pick him up and hug him.

The consultant surgeon at the hospital, Gregor Walker, said that it was becoming increasingly common to use Viagra to treat babies. The new method of treatment was pioneered 8 years ago and has proved an effective treatment option in quite a few cases.

Owen is now aged four weeks and is in a stable condition. He has had surgery to put his organs into the correct position and is starting to breathe on his own.

Scientists have already said that sildanafil could save the lives of thousands of babies born with pulmonary hypertension in the third world. Not only is it an effective treatment, but it is much more affordable than other available options.

Hollywood sex is perfect. Noses don’t clash, the sheets are always clean, the lighting is ideal and the participants nimble, smooth-tongued and unlikely to make terrible faces when carried away.

Now we Brits are so desperate to emulate the sexual prowess of film characters that apparently Viagra prescriptions have risen because of it. A sociologist at Kent University, Frank Furedi,  has said that images being received from Hollywood about what people should expect from sex have lead people to “expect the best”. There is no longer the sense of learning from experience, and sex has fundamentally changed.

He then went on to explain that a lot of research is starting to show Viagra is increasingly being used as a recreational drug to enhance performance. He said men use it to “overcome performance anxiety”.

In an article in The Telegraph, it was implied that the rise in Viagra prescriptions we have seen over the last couple of years is down to men wanting to be perfect for their partners.

Current government guidelines say that Viagra should only be prescribed on the NHS when someone has an underlying health condition which prevents them from achieving an erection or those experiencing severe stress as a result of being impotent.

Every night, it is estimated that 30,000 pills are taken by men needing help to achieve an erection. Over the last year, the cost of medicine to treat erectile dysfunction has risen by £11m, from £59 m to £70 m.

A British ice-cream company is offering a version of the frozen treat that it claims is akin to a dose of Viagra. Named “The Sex Pistol”, the creamy cocktail is due to go on sale in the department store Selfridges, which prides itself on having a food hall selling the most recherché of products.

The Icecreamists say that just one helping of the ice-cream based drink will leave shoppers feeling “energised and confident”. They however asked drinkers to not be so overcome by their new confidence that they would pester the staff, a worry Selfridges seem to take so seriously they have limited each customer to only one.

The cocktail will be served in a frosted glass and contains herbal ingredients such as gingko biloba, arginine and guarana, all believed to rev up the libido. Despite the herbal additions though it is thought the real kicker comes from the shot of Absinthe which arrives with the drink, offered in a phallic pink pistol.

The combination of ingredients is said to enhance blood flow, though it remains to be seen if it will enhance blood flow to the extent that the popular blue pill does.

The Icecreamists say that they want to liberate the world from ordinary ice cream and will be selling a variety of frozen goods called “vice creams.” The company will operate from an installation on the ground floor of Selfridges named “God Save the Icecream”.

While customers try not to get over-excited by what the company has described as natural Viagra, they will be entertained with dancers, catwalk shows and the musical stylings of Jimi Love and the Icecreamists.