How one man sought an impotence cure–and found one

This is a report from Viagra’s front lines. It is from a married man in his early 50s–a friend of this writer who has tried out Pfizer’s new impotence drug. Call him X; he does not want his name used. And call him grateful; Viagra worked for him. Is it a wonder drug? The 75,000 prescriptions written for Viagra in the first two weeks after it came to market in late March suggest that many hope it could be–and the potential market numbers as many as 30 million American men, a significant share in their 40s or even younger. (more…)

Viagra facts. U.S. News health writer Mary Brophy Marcus looked into these common questions about Viagra (more…)

Baby boomers who want to stay young forever–and who desires anything less these days?–are giving the pharmaceutical industry something that very few consumer-products makers have: a growing, demand-driven market. American companies will spend more than $20 billion this year to develop pills and potions for everything from wrinkles and baldness to the prevention of strokes and heart attacks. More boomer selfishness? Maybe not. If science insists on getting more mileage out of the engine and prolonging our lives–thus allowing us to work into our 70s–what’s wrong with maintaining the chrome and fenders? “We expect medicine to deliver that,” says Susan Coleman, president of NCI Consulting, a New Jersey adviser to drug companies. (more…)

Around the world, approved or not, the little blue pin is a social phenomenon: the hottest new drug in history. Is this a good thing? RASHID GABDULLIN IS ONLY 32 years old, and he claims he’s never had any complaints about his sexual performance. So when Gabdullin, a reporter for a Russian newspaper, tried the new anti-impotence drug Viagra, it was as a service to his readers. One dose did nothing for him, apart from inspiring “warm romantic feelings and a desire to meet a nice girl and take her to dinner,” he wrote in the daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, which employs him as a correspondent in Central America. (more…)

Viagra is being used by young people in British nightclubs in potentially lethal combination with cocaine, Ecstasy, and other illegal drugs, researchers said.

“The recreational use of Viagra by apparently healthy women and men is now occurring in Britain,” Judith Aldridge and Fiona Measham, senior researchers at the University of Manchester, said in a letter posted on The British Medical Journal Internet site.

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They’re 4 times more likely than nonsmokers to report lack of restful slumber, study says.

Smokers are four times more likely to feel tired when they wake up and they spend less time in deep sleep than nonsmokers do, a new study finds.

This may be because smokers experience nicotine withdrawal each night, which may contribute to sleep disturbances, suggest the study authors, whose report appears in the February issue of Chest. (more…)