Archive for September, 2008

The FDA expands the availability of generic Doxycycline

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Doxycycline is one of the tetracycline antibiotics that was developed during the 1960s by Pfizer Inc. No matter what the status of a drug as patented or not, it’s for the FDA to regulate all manufacturing for distribution within the U.S. The good news for consumers is that this August has seen the FDA license the Lannett Company Inc. to produce the whole range of Doxycycline tablets from 50mg through 150mg. That means if you are unlucky and contract one of the infections caused by a susceptible bacterium, you have a cheap cure available. So if you’re down with pneumonia, a respiratory or urinary tract infection, one of the sexually transmitted diseases or something less common, reach for cheap Doxycycline. It received its FDA approval in 1967. Being a little long in the tooth, it has passed out of patent protection so there are now generic versions on the market. This is great for patients as consumers because the competition between Pfizer and the new manufacturers has brought the price tumbling down. This newly licensed company is a specialist generic manufacturer and its appointment really improves the supply of this important antibiotic across all U.S. states. If you can’t find it in your local pharmacy, you guarantee to buy Doxycycline online.

Is it a social conscience or self-interest that should motivate us?

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

It is charming to browse around the internet. There is always somebody thinking something interesting somewhere in the world. All you have to do is to find him or her. E.g. take one history in California. It raises the difficult question of how you should dispose of “pills” you no longer need or which have expired. You could, of course, get in your car and drive down to your local pharmacy. But, the majority of us probably find the effort involved a deterrent. Why go to so much effort when you have a dumpster just outside your door? Or, if even that is too much effort, there is always the option to flush the problem away. Who would know? Who cares anyway?
In fact, Ambien works in exactly the same way as a conventional benzodiazepine and is probably just as addictive. For this reason, Ambien is listed by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a controlled substance in Schedule IV. You will be pleased and delighted to know that the US Government has your interests at heart. It always wants to protect you and the environment (”always” is probably a slight exaggeration). State and Federal regulations limit the handling and disposal of controlled substances to DEA-authorised individuals and organisations. The DEA’s Office of Diversion Control aims to prevent the diversion of legitimately manufactured (or used) controlled substances into the illegal drug traffic. If there is no-one else immediately available to handle the disposal, the controlled substances should be collected by a law enforcement officer. So, if your local pharmacy has not registered with the DEA, their only way of disposing of your unwanted drugs is to call the cops. No wonder they looked so pleased when you asked. But San Mateo County, California has placed collection boxes inside the entrance halls of eleven police departments. Anyone can walk in and leave their unwanted medications (including Ambien but excluding all illegal substances) and walk out - no questions asked. And is this a welcome service? Over the first fifteen months of the program, local citizens have deposited 1,800 pounds of medications (not all Ambien, of course). So there is clearly a demand for this kind of service. It is pure self-interest, of course. Who wants to get high from drinking tap water? Hmmm. Wait, that is not quite the right question. I don’t know many men who would argee to take female hormones. And do we really want all those bacteria out there to get used to all those antibiotics in the water? If you don’t know the answers to these and other questions of social conscience, take an Ambien and sleep on it.
Do you ever wonder what happens after casual disposal? Your local waste management authority comes round to collect the refuse which is then dumped. There is little or no effort to sort the waste. Most authorities simply drive to the nearest landfill site and tip each load on to the growing mound of other rubbish. This pile then rots down as rain washes through it so, sooner or later, dissolved drugs end up in the watertable and potentially get recycled into your drinking water. The medications flushed go more directly into the water supply. So here is the worry. The rivers downstream from you supply water to the local towns and cities. That water supply contains what the experts call a “sub-lethal” cocktail of antibiotics, sedatives, painkillers, hormones and whatever else you so casually threw away. Perhaps you have no interest in the people downstream of you. I wonder what the people upstream think of you. But, back to Ambien. Ambien is, of course, a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic. I am never reassured by the prefix “non”.

Xanax is the most popular benzodiazepine in the US

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Every year, Xanax has been winning the prize in the “bestseller” category. Naturally, Pfizer, the manufacturer, loves these annual headlines. If you take xanax for the right reasons and under proper medical supervision, it does reduce levels of panic and anxiety. The US Government now accepts that prescription medications are routinely abused. You only have to go into the emergency departments of hospitals to see the truth of this. But you can’t change the fact that it’s one of the benzodiazepines. That means it’s habit-forming. Take it for too long or at too high a dose and you’re likely to get hooked. So before you go down this path, think carefully. In 2005, there were more than 2 million admissions caused by the non-medical use of drugs. One of the reasons for this is the easy availability of drugs that can give you a “high” both over-the-counter and through the internet. Add in the continuous barrage of advertisements for drugs, and people are persuaded to take FDA-approved medications without worrying about the consequences. The way the world works today, people do need help. Xanax-like drugs really help them to cope with the stress. But it’s not helpful to see drugs as the only solution. Yes, xanax relieves anxiety, but you don’t want to become an addict. You need to change yourself. This drug gives you a breathing space. In the medium to long term, psychological support is the way to learn how to control your fear and worry. Live life the natural way, don’t pay endlessly for “help” through a bottle of tablets.

Olympics. Win gold with Cialis!

Friday, September 5th, 2008

One of the world’s leading scientists specialising in sports drugs, has gone on the record. It’s official. He’s discovered several interesting side-effects of some existing and well-known drugs. Perhaps some of the better informed athletes have been using these techniques at the Olympics at Beijing. If so, we’ll never know. Well, let’s start with the go-faster tattoos. I love these ideas. Researchers at the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum - the cancer research center in Germany - have shown that tattooing is sixteen times more effective than injections in delivering a drug into the body. So, you get the same effect with one-sixteenth of the dose and that makes the dose so much harder to detect. But the most interesting ideas are the use of Cialis and nitrous oxide gas. Yes, friends, inhaling laughing gas makes you go faster, jump higher, and so on. The point is that both operate as vascular dilators - they open up your blood vessels. Blood flows increase and bring more oxygen to those working muscles faster. The advantage of Cialis or Levitra is that it stays in the body for longer - it’s not called the “weekend” pill. So the next time you see a runner coming down the street towards you covered in tattoos, popping pills and breathing from a gas canister, you see next Olympian in training.

Women, wine and smoke

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

We all have to learn where our limits are. Of course, this includes sex and most will experiment both with conventional sex and sex in conjunction with recreational drugs. Taking cialis to maintain stamina over a long weekend of activity is safe. Other substances may be less helpful. Then, as we grow older, the body can start presenting us with the bills for our past excesses. Clinical studies have now established that about a quarter of all cases of erectile dysfunction are caused by smoking and/or substance abuse. Put another way, male smokers who have high blood pressure are 26 times more likely to suffer ED. Former smokers with high blood pressure are 11 times more likely to suffer ED than those who have never smoked. Smoking also accelerates arteriosclerosis and this can reduce the flow of blood into the penis. The combination of diabetes and smoking not only encourages ED but also increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Why does this happen? The problem is the inhaled carbon monoxide. It combines with the haemoglobin in the red blood cells and limits the capacity of the cells to carry oxygen around the circulatory system. The lack of oxygen leads to a hardening of the artery walls and a reduction in the amount of blood that reaches the peripheral extremities of the body (including the penis and testicles). Worse, it also contributes to a general loss of libido and a reduction in the sperm count. We all probably enjoy a little drink of alcohol from time to time. It tends to make social events go more smoothly. Unfortunately, the more we drink the greater the potential damage to the blood vessels. Alcohol increases blood pressure. In the short term, sexual performance may improve because we are less inhibited (no performance anxiety) but, if this should tip into excess and alcoholism, ED usually results. The best answer is always prevention. Never smoking, whether actively or passively, preserves our health. Similarly, never drinking excessively and then only drinking a little red wine every day, reduces the risks of heart disease. If we started to smoke, stopping immediately is the ideal. If there are signs of ED, taking cialis pills will probably be sufficient to restore full function. But if the damage is too great, then further medications may be required. Should you have reached the tipping point into alcoholism and a loss of libido, there are programs that help you to quit the alcohol, and there is always cialis to try to restore you interest in sex.