Feb. 23, 2006 — Researchers in the U.K. have a new theory to explain the cause of Crohn’s disease, and they say ed pills
like the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may prove useful for treating the bowel disorder if they are right.

In Crohn’s disease, chronic inflammation causes ulcers within the digestive tract that can lead to severe gastrointestinal symptoms, including abdominal pain, persistent diarrhea, and rectal bleeding.

The most widely accepted theory is that an overactive immune system causes the damaging inflammation. But researchers from the University College London say the opposite appears to be true.

They believe a cialis vs viagra
immune response triggers the bowel inflammation that leads to Crohn’s disease. Their research appears in the Feb. 25 issue of The Lancet.

1 Disease, 2 Theories

The prevailing theory of Crohn’s disease is that the body’s immune system reacts abnormally in people with the disorder, producing chronic inflammation that leads to bowel injury.

Tony Segal, professor of medicine at University College London, explains the weak immune system theory like this: “The wall of the bowel is normally an effective barrier against the bowel contents, but sometimes the barrier is broken by an infection or injury and the bowel contents, which include large numbers of bacteria, penetrate into the bowel wall.

“Normally, an acute inflammatory response would kick in to remove the bacteria and return the condition of the bowel to normal. But in Crohn’s disease, we think that the acute inflammation fails to kick-start, leaving bacteria to fester in the bowel wall which, in turn, triggers chronic, secondary erectile pill
.”

Segal and colleagues conducted a series of small experiments that measured white blood cell production in response to intestinal and skin trauma in both Crohn’s patients and healthy patients. With inflammation, white blood cell numbers are expected to rise. In one experiment, researchers injected a killed gut bacteria into the forearms of patients and healthy participants to study blood flow and immune response.

They found that the Crohn’s patients produced unexpectedly lower levels of white blood cells and proteins involved in inflammation, compared with people without the disorder.

Segal tells WebMD that people who carry a gene that has been linked to Crohn’s disease may be especially vulnerable to getting the disease if they have weak immune systems.

He added that drugs like Viagra, which open the blood vessels and increase blood flow, may help.

The Viagra Response

The researchers tested this theory by treating 10 Crohn’s patients with 50 milligrams of Viagra after injecting them with the killed gut bacteria. They found that blood flow to the infected area improved.

“Increasing blood flow is an important part of the inflammatory response, and that is why this drug may work,” Segal says. “But we don’t yet know if this will give rise to successful treatment. We need to study this further to find out.”

Segal and colleagues are among a growing number of researchers suggesting that a weak immune system, rather than an overactive one, is largely responsible for Crohn’s disease, says University of Chicago associate professor of medicine Sunanda Kane, MD.

She adds that the new research adds credibility to the theory but does not prove it.

“This is a little more evidence that maybe we have been barking up the wrong tree,” she tells WebMD. “The idea that we should be strengthening the immune system — rather than suppressing it — sounded a little crazy at first, but the evidence continues to come in. But we still have a long way to go to really understand what causes Crohn’s.”

Biologic agents that stimulate a specific part of the immune system are now being tested in Crohn’s patients. If such treatments prove effective, Kane says doctors would have an effective alternative to steroids, which work well for many patients but have many side effects.

“For decades now suppressing the immune system with steroids has worked, and we will continue to do so until we find erectile dysfunction medication
that work for everybody and are risk-free,” she says.

WASHINGTON - For the first time, erectile dysfunction tabs
s of vitamins, herbal pills and other dietary supplements will have to test all of their products' ingredients. The Food and Drug Buy online prescription viagra without
said Friday it is phasing in a new rule that is designed to address concerns that existing regulations allowed supplements onto the market that were contaminated or didn't contain ingredients claimed on the label.

Last year, the agency found that some supplements contained undeclared active ingredients used in prescription drugs for erectile cialis vs viagra
. In the past, regulators found supplements that didn't contain the levels of Vitamin C or Vitamin A that were claimed.

If, upon inspection, the FDA finds that supplements do not contain the ingredients they claim, the agency would consider the products adulterated or misbranded. In minor cases, the agency could ask the manufacturer to remove an ingredient or revise its label. In more serious cases, it could seize the product, file a lawsuit or even seek criminal charges.

Dietary supplements — pills, liquids or other products — are a $22 billion industry.

Most companies already test their raw ingredients, said Steve Mister, president and CEO for the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association representing about 65 manufacturers.

“This raises the bar so that all have to comply,” Mister said.

The new rule goes into effect Aug. 24 and will have a three-year phase-in that gives smaller manufacturers more time to comply. Even the largest of the alternative blog viagra
won't have to comply until June 2008.

The rule applies to all domestic and foreign companies that manufacture, package and label supplements for sale in the U.S. It requires them to analyze the identity, purity and strength of all the ingredients that go into their products before they are drug for treatment of erectile dysfunction
.

It also includes requirements for record keeping and handling consumer complaints.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who has testified before Congress on problems with dietary supplements, said the new rule does not ease his concern that unsafe supplements are too easy to bring to market.

“You still don't have to show the product is safe. You don't have to prove it works,” said Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, called the rule a good step toward improving consistency in the ingredients that go into supplements.

“However, consumers still have no idea if a given product works, or whether it is dangerous,” said Janell Mayo Duncan, senior counsel for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.

Congress limited the Food and Drug Administration's oversight of vitamins and other dietary supplements in 1994. The new rule is a product of that law, meaning that the rule took nearly 13 years to develop.

Under the old regulations, supplements were governed by the same rules that applied to producing foods, such as cans of soup.

“The final rule will help ensure that dietary supplements are manufactured with controls that result in a consistent product free of contamination, with accurate labeling,” said Dr. Robert E. Brackett, director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

___

On the Net:

FDA: http://www.fda.gov/

By Sheryl Ubelacker Health Reporter, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - They’re embedded in everything from mattresses to insoles for shoes to wrist bands - but there is no definitive scientific evidence that static magnets actually relieve chronic pain, researchers say.

Products that incorporate static magnets are a cialis medication sample viagra
business worldwide and many chronic pain sufferers are drawn to the promise they hold for alleviating such nagging conditions as arthritis, fibromyalgia and low back discomfort.

The theory from proponents is that the device’s magnetic field increases blood flow, causing increased oxygen, nutrients, hormones and painkilling endorphins to be distributed to tissues in the affected area.

So researchers at the Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth decided to search the medical literature to determine whether there is any proof magnets can actually reduce pain.

In their analysis of nine randomized trials comparing products containing magnets with those containing either no magnet or very weak ones, the researchers found that the data did not support the use of the alternative therapy for pain control.

“There is no definite grounds of being absolutely sure that a magnet works or not,” lead author Dr. Max Pittler, a complementary medicine specialist, said Monday from Exeter, England.

“The evidence does not support the use of static magnets for pain relief and therefore magnets cannot be recommended as an effective treatment,” he said. The analysis is published in Tuesday’s Canadian Medical Association Journal.

However, Pittler acknowledged that the findings also mean that magnets could work - but the clinical trials weren’t able to prove that either. In part, that’s because pain erectile dysfunction new drugs
are subjective - subjects self-report pain levels - and individual studies in the analysis may have been too small to provide statistically relevant results.

Still, Pittler said the biggest concern is that people seeking to ease their pain may be buying into - and paying big bucks - for a therapy that may not be effective.

“It is important to realize that this is a situation where there is a huge market out there,” he said. “In a situation where you don’t have rigorous data . . . patients are putting their hopes into a magnet and spending a lot of money on it.”

He suggests many pain sufferers would be better off taking an levitra vs cialis
painkiller such as ASA or erectile dysfunction medicine
.

“Or if patients are keen on trying complementary medicine for certain pain conditions, there is some data available that acupuncture might alleviate some of the pain they feel,” Pittler said. “Acupuncture might be one complementary therapy in certain pain conditions,” such as osteoarthritis.

Health Canada considers claims for specific therapeutic benefits of static magnets to be unfounded, a spokeswoman for the federal department said by e-mail Monday. “These claims include, but are not limited to: pain relief, increased blood circulation, increased oxygenation, reduction of high blood pressure, stimulation of the immune system and the treatment of sleep disorders, infections, depression, erectile dysfunction, rheumatoid disease and cancer.”

A static magnet promoted for any of these purposes is considered a violation of the Food and Drugs Act or Medical Devices Regulations.

Commenting on the analysis, naturopath Kieran Cooley agreed that magnets wouldn’t be high on the list of possible therapies to treat chronic pain.

“I don’t think naturopaths overall would be strong advocates of magnetic therapy if (patients) hadn’t already tried other modalities like acupuncture or other pain-specific treatments for what they’re going through, whether it’s fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome or even acute back pain,” said Cooley, a researcher and assistant professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto.

“Acupuncture is probably the biggest one. Mild to moderate exercise has actually been shown to have the best effect on pain overall of any sort of therapy you can use, even conventional drugs or over-the-counter pain medications like Advil or Aspirin.”

Yet magnets can’t be written off completely until more definitive evidence on their effectiveness or lack of effectiveness is obtained, Cooley conceded. “There are clearly some people (in the British analysis) who are benefiting from the therapy. There are other people who are not benefiting very much and a few people who seem to be getting worse.”

“So in that respect, magnet therapy is definitely a buyer-beware or consumer-beware kind of industry.”

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - An Alaska man has pleaded guilty to selling more than 100 fur seal “oosiks” — or penises — to a local gift shop that intended to sell the items as an aphrodisiac.

Michael Richard Zacharof, an Aleut and former tribal president from the Bering Sea village of St. Paul, pleaded guilty this week to one count of woman take viagra the Marine Mammal Buy cheap viagra in uk
Act.

Federal law forbids the sale of any raw marine mammal parts unless they have been crafted into pieces of Alaska Native artwork.

In Zacharof's case, the former tribal leader sold the raw seal penises to a gift shop catering to customers from Asia. The shop then sold the items for about $100 each, according to the Justice Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Steward said seal penis bones, also known as seal sticks, are believed to have ed tablets
similar to erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra.

Zacharof faces a possible one-year prison term and a $20,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Confidence Inc. is recalling about 1,500 boxes of Long Weekend dietary generic line viagra
because representatives from the

Food and Drug Can woman take viagra

Food and Drug Administration found the product contains undeclared tadalafil, which makes the product an unapproved drug. Tadalafil for sale
is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. Tadalafil can interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs and could lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, high soft tablet tadalafil
or heart disease often take nitrates, according to the FDA. No illnesses have been reported.

The product comes in three-capsule boxes. It was sold nationwide and in Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. Details: by phone at 516-767-1870.