A new study presented at the World Meeting on Sexual Medicine 2012 finds that most "Viagra" sold over the internet is counterfeit and much of it contains little of the actual active ingredient. Dr. Irwin Goldstein works at Alvarado Hospital in San Diego and spoke last Wednesday about his paper "Viagra (Sildenafil Citrate) Ordered via the Internet is Rarely Genuine (#187)". Dr. Goldstein's paper hasn't actually been published yet so all I have to go on is the abstract published at the WMSM website but here's the gist of it: Dr. Goldstein punched "buy Viagra" into the top 2 internet... Continue reading

Ginkgo biloba has long been touted as an herbal remedy for better memory, improved cognition and even as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. But a new study published this morning at the website for the journal The Lancet Neurology says that people who take ginkgo while hoping to slow or... Continue reading

A new study published yesterday at the website for the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood says that poisonings from those new "liquitab" liquid detergent packs are rising. In this study, which was done in Scotland, only 5 kids were taken to emergency rooms over an 18 month period of... Continue reading

A new study published this month at the website for Nutritional Journal questions recent research on high fructose corn syrup and says that its data shows no special link between high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, and obesity. There's just one itty bitty thing you might want to know before... Continue reading

Guys, I hope you like chocolate because a new study says that men who eat moderate amounts of the stuff seem to have lower risks for stroke than men who eat little to none. The study was published yesterday at the website for the journal Neurology and will be published in a print edition of the journal in the future. It looked at data on more than 37,000 men as part of the Cohort of Swedish Men, which is a massive database of medical info on the men living in 2 counties in Sweden. Of the men, 1995 of them... Continue reading

In a presentation this week at the World Meeting on Sexual Medicine a researcher from Emory University School of Medicine said that most doctors still aren't talking to their male patients about erectile dysfunction, despite the fact that safe and effective treatments now exist to easily treat the condition. In his study,which is titled Sexual health discussion in current day U.S primary care clinics, Dr. R. S. Gerhard explained that he took surveys from 75 men seeking medical care at either a private medical facility or a county-run medical clinic. He asked the men to fill out questionnaires about their... Continue reading

For 3 months I've wanted to write about something that I noticed during my recent medical check-ups but hesitated to, because it seemed a little . . . mean-spirited . . . to the men and women who were so caring during a couple of recent health scares. And let's... Continue reading

On the heels of the recent study on the longterm health savings of circumcision comes a new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics. In essence the group said that the health benefits of circumcision outweigh the risk. The AAP did not go so far as to recommend that newborn boys be routinely circumcised, however. In the group's opinion, "The benefits are not great enough to recommend universal newborn circumcision." Just what are these "benefits"? The AAP says that circumcised men have fewer urinary tract infections, a lower rate of penile cancer and are less vulnerable to some sexually transmitted... Continue reading

Doctors can't really explain why but exercise seems to help smokers curb the urge to light up. This was the conclusion of a new review-study set to be published in the medical journal Addiction. The study, which was published as an ahead-of-print piece and is only at the journal's website right now, looked at 19 previous studies which, themselves, looked at the effect of short bursts of exercise on the urge to smoke. In these studies the smokers were generally divided into 2 groups. One group was typically told to do a "passive" activity when the urge to smoke hit;... Continue reading

Ron Teeguarden and his company, Dragon Herbs, are taking another trip around the FDA's dance floor. This morning the US Food and Drug Administration published its August 15, 2012, warning letter to Teeguarden, informing him that more than a dozen of his herbal concoctions are in violation of the Federal... Continue reading

Since 1999 colloidal silver products have been officially deemed by the US Food and Drug Administration to be "not generally recognized as safe" and any product made with them is treated as "misbranded". But that has not stopped dozens and dozens of people from schlepping the stuff around the internet,... Continue reading

Screen shot of cached ReumofanShop.com website. On the heel's of the Food and Drug Administration's latest warning about the "natural" supplements Reumofan a company called Samantha Lynn Inc., has announced its own recall of 500 lots of Reumofan Plus. In its official press release the business, for which I can... Continue reading

Image of recalled Cucina Fresca Smoked Tomato Sauce provided by FDA. Cucina Fresca Gourmet Foods says that it is recalling its Cucina Fresca Smoked Tomato Sauce after a manufacturing mix-up put the wrong product in the jars. In its official press release about the recall Cucina Fresca says it found... Continue reading

Image of recalled True Nutrition protein product from FDA. True Nutrition is recalling 5 of its protein products because the whey ingredient used in them is not specifically described as being from milk. Whey is, of course, a milk by-product. In fact it's the liquid stuff that's left over during... Continue reading

Image of Fresh Express Hearts of Romaine provided by FDA. Fresh Express announced Monday that it had issued a recall for its Hearts of Romaine bagged salad product over fears that the lettuce could be contaminated with Listeria bacteria. All the recalled Romaine had a use-by date of August 23,... Continue reading

Images of recalled CareBears pacifiers provided by CPSC. Pacifiers licensed with the CareBears motif are recalled due to fears that the items could pose a safety risk to the children who use them. In a press release issued last week the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, said that the... Continue reading

Protein supplement maker Protica has announced a recall of 4 of its products due to the potential for the supplements to be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. Clostridium botulinum is, of course, the bacterium that causes most cases of botulism in people. Protica did not supply photos of the recalled product... Continue reading

Image of recalled Dole brand Italian Blend salad provided by FDA. Dole has announced a recall of 1039 cases of its Italian Blend salad product after a routine test turned up Listeria bacteria in a bag of the finished product. In its press release the company characterizes the test as... Continue reading

Images of recalled Wellsley Farms smoked salmon products provided by FDA. Massachusetts-based Spence & Co has announced a recall of 1 lot of its Wellsley Farms Nova product and 1 lot of its Spence & Co Smoked Trim product. The problem, says the company in its official press release about... Continue reading

Research presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2012 says that sleep disorders in older women increase their risk of dementia. The lead author of one of those studies urges physicians who treat elderly patients to take the risk seriously and talk to their patients about it. Sleep disorders in... Continue reading

A new study set to be published in the Journal of Religion and Health says that the ability to forgive is directly tied to better mental health, especially when it comes to coping with things like traumatic injuries, cancer and stroke. The study looked at a small number of Buddhists,... Continue reading

Image of recalled Seto Fumi Furikake rice seasoning provided by FDA. Los Angeles-based JFC International has announced a recall of its JFC brand Furikake-Seto Fumi rice seasoning. The problem, says JFC in its official press release about the recall, is that the seasoning is made with 3--yes, 3--different potential food... Continue reading

We already knew from this morning's FDA statement on the cantaloupe-implicated Salmonella outbreak that the farm suspected of putting those melons onto the market had issued a formal recall. Now, Chamberlain's recall notice has finally been pushed through the FDA's food recall system and is up on the web. In... Continue reading