TOP 100 SCIENCE SITES
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| Viagra: The profitable pill When Pfizer launched Viagra in 1998 its share price doubled within days. Since then, the little blue pills have become a pillar of profit, earning the company more than ÂŁ1bn a year.Thanks to promotional campaigns, which included appearances by the footballing legend Pele, male impotence lost some of its stigma and 25 million men requested the pills. In England alone, GPs write about 6m Viagra prescriptions a year.The drug started life in a lab in Sandwich, Kent, where it was developed to treat high blood pressure. Its transformation into a blockbuster treatment for impotence began when volunteers in a clinical trial reported a suspicious number of erections. The overnight success of Viagra prompted Pfizer to wonder if the drug had any effect in women. They raised awareness of a condition called "female sexual arousal disorder", an all-encompassing phrase for sexual dysfunction, and began clinical trials. The trials were a failure and the attempt to have Viagra licensed for the condition was abandoned.Pfizer has been criticised for overstating the benefits of Viagra. It claims "more than half of all men over 40 have some difficulty getting and maintaining an erection". In 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration forced Pfizer to pull a series of advertisements because it made unsubstantiated claims about the drug's effectiveness.Some psychologists warn Viagra has become a lifestyle drug that encourages people to neglect underlying mental or physiological problems that can cause impotence. The anti-obestity drug, orlistat, came under fire for similar reasons. Critics said it fostered the misconception that modern ills can be dealt with by a pill instead of living a healthier life.Pharmaceuticals industryDrugsReproductionMedical researchSexual healthIan Sampleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Hope for Copenhagen The panel begins by looking at how COP 15, the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, will work and whether the summit has been killed off before it has even begun. (2:00) Alun Anderson, a former editor of New Scientist magazine, looks at how changes in the Arctic suggest we have already left things too late. He has just finished a book about the crisis called After the Ice. (8:10)Environment editor John Vidal recently returned from a journey to witness climate change first-hand. He started by looking at glaciers in the Himalayas and headed down rivers to Bangladesh. (11:39) John met some of those whose lives are already affected by climate change.Saleemul Huq, head of climate change at the International Institute for Environment and Development, suggests ways to help mitigate the problems. From our Washington DC studio, US environment correspondent Suzanne Goldenberg tells us how far she thinks President Obama is willing to go to help save the global ecosystem. (19:04)Suzanne also speaks to James Hansen from the Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies who, surprisingly, wants the Copenhagen summit to fail. He explains why. Jonathan Watts in Beijing tells us about China's green ambitions and what other developing countries are looking to get out of the talks. (29:12)The programme ends by sketching what a successful summit might look like. (38:08)Post your comments below.Join our Facebook group. Listen back through our archive.Follow the podcast on our Science Weekly Twitter feed and receive updates on all breaking science news stories from Guardian Science.Subscribe free via iTunes to ensure every episode gets delivered. (Here is the non-iTunes URL feed).Alok JhaAndy DuckworthSuzanne GoldenbergJonathan Watts guardian.co.uk |
Essay: The Joy of Physics Isn’t in the Results, but in the Search Itself The search for the meaning of the universe may lead to inventions whose purpose is often ambiguous. feeds.nytimes.com |
Teen accused of $2m bank fraud Queensland's biggest bank, Suncorp Metway, says it will review its security procedures after a teenager allegedly attempted to defraud it of $2 million. abc.net.au |
Astronauts finally get Internet access in space CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- In a high tech first - really, really high - astronauts in space finally have Internet access.... hosted.ap.org |