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Post by sadie1263 on Sept 8, 2012 14:19:15 GMT
By Stephanie Pappas updated 9/7/2012 3:46:32 PM ET A toxin synthesized from the venom of a spider may offer an alternative to today's erectile dysfunction drugs, a new study suggests. The toxin, unpoetically named PnTx2-6, comes from the bite of the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria nigriventer). In humans, a bite from a wandering spider is very painful. What's more, male victims may find themselves with priapism, or unrelenting and painful erection. It was this symptom, turning up in emergency rooms after spider bites in Brazil, that first alerted researchers to the potential of PnTx2-6 as an erectile dysfunction (ED) drug. The toxin has been shown to improve erections in rats with hypertension and diabetes; now, researchers have tested it in aging mice and found that the toxin is effective in reversing age-related ED as well. "It's working in aging, which is a natural process," study researcher Kenia Nunes, a physiologist at Georgia Health Sciences University, told LiveScience. "It's not just in disease." Viagra, Levitra and other ED drugs on the market work by inhibiting an enzyme called PDE5. To get an erection, a man's body must release nitric oxide, which relaxes the smooth muscle around the arteries of the penis, allowing for his blood vessels to dilate. The nitric oxide is a first step in a series of chemical reactions that allow this muscle relaxation to take place. One step in the series is cGMP, a signaling molecule that acts to keep the muscles relaxed. PDE5 degrades cGMP. That's a good thing for ensuring that erections don't last forever, but too much PDE5 can mean an erection doesn't happen at all. By blocking the enzyme, PDE5 inhibitors solve the problem. The spider toxin works differently. Instead of affecting PDE5, the compound seems to trigger nitric oxide release, acting directly to relax the smooth muscles. Because about 30 percent of patients don't respond to PDE5 inhibitors, the toxin could provide an alternative to ED treatments currently on the market, Nunes said. In the new study, published online Aug. 23 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Nunes and her colleagues injected aging and young rats with the toxin extracted from the spider venom. They found that the toxin reversed age-related erectile dysfunction, offering hope that the toxin could eventually move out of animal testing and into human use. The toxin has not yet been tested in humans. The researchers have since developed a synthetic version of the toxin. The next step, Nunes said, is to make sure that the compound doesn't have any nasty effects beyond its intended purpose. "Side effects are the next big hurdle," she said. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48943935/ns/health-mens_health/#.UEtTbULoCTM
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Post by Hunny on Sept 8, 2012 15:24:10 GMT
Ya know what, nature designed men so that at some point we'd get a break already! Now -with ED drugs- well it's like when Edison invented the light, and suddenly the evening was no longer ours because we could keep working then. Not that I'm complaining
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Post by sadie1263 on Sept 8, 2012 15:36:58 GMT
What annoys me....is that insurance will pay for ED drugs....but most won't pay for birth control........now explain that one!!!!
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Post by toby on Sept 11, 2012 15:40:59 GMT
What annoys me....is that insurance will pay for ED drugs
Toby comments.:- Mine doesn't, I have to fund the pills myself. One interesting side effect I noticed after taking viagra is that when you blink you get a blue flash behind the eyelids, my Doc said that Airline Pilots are forbidden to use ED drugs.
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Post by sadie1263 on Sept 12, 2012 2:42:28 GMT
Is it forever or is it just while the drug is in effect?
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Post by toby on Sept 12, 2012 15:44:57 GMT
sadie asks.:-Is it forever or is it just while the drug is in effect?
Toby comments.:- It only happens for about 6/7 hours after taking the drug. My Doctor told me that mad Youth is willing to pay hard cash for Viagra tablets so they can get the blue flash when dancing in the Disco. If you see a tall guy in a long Mac hanging outside Disco's then it could be me, the markup is around 800% !
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Post by sadie1263 on Sept 12, 2012 18:33:42 GMT
Aren't there enough flashy things in a disco without the viagra? But heck...if the markup is that high I'm willing to work outside the places with you Toby!!!
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Post by Synonym on Sept 12, 2012 22:12:30 GMT
What annoys me....is that insurance will pay for ED drugs....but most won't pay for birth control........now explain that one!!!! Perhaps it is because one helps with a medical disorder whereas the other doesn't. Or it could be due to religious morality of the owners.
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Post by sadie1263 on Sept 12, 2012 22:31:56 GMT
That is the reason they give.....medical disorder.......just seems they should consider the possible "extras" that might occur with treatment.
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Post by toby on Sept 13, 2012 16:38:21 GMT
Syn posted.;-Perhaps it is because one helps with a medical disorder whereas the other doesn't. Or it could be due to religious morality of the owners.
Toby comments.:- Most people using ED drugs do it cos they are getting older but I am not sure if age-related problems can be termed as a medical disorder.
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Post by toby on Sept 13, 2012 16:40:13 GMT
Sadie posted.:-But heck...if the markup is that high I'm willing to work outside the places with you Toby!!!
Toby comments.:- I heard the price for one Viagra tablet runs at around $30 outside the Disco door. An XTC runs about the same, the difference is the Viagra won't kill you !
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Post by sadie1263 on Sept 13, 2012 19:24:12 GMT
Toby comments.:- I heard the price for one Viagra tablet runs at around $30 outside the Disco door. An XTC runs about the same, the difference is the Viagra won't kill you ! Unless you "bump" into the wrong person!!
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Post by toby on Sept 15, 2012 15:15:24 GMT
Toby comments.:- When selling drugs at a big mark-up the competion is sometimes murderous. I know that in my home town of around 750,000 souls we never used to have murders but when drugs came on the market the pushers resorted to shooting each other.
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