Viagra 'could make you deaf'

 Viagra and similar impotence drugs have been linked to hundreds of cases of sudden hearing loss around the world, including some in the UK.

Doctors have begun to warn that the drugs could damage users' hearing after a spate of people in the US with auditory problems.

Experts, including some from Charing Cross, Stoke Mandeville and Royal Marsden hospitals, were so concerned by the claims that they demanded an investigation from official watchdogs across three continents.

Users in America, East Asia and Australia were questioned as to whether they suffered hearing loss shortly after taking the pills.

Forty-seven suspected cases of sensorineural hearing loss – a rapid loss of hearing in one or both ears – were linked to Viagra and related drugs Cialis and Levitra. Eight were from the UK.

 However, another 223 reports made in the US had to be excluded due to a lack of detail.
The researchers are not sure how Viagra might affect hearing, but it may be that the chain of chemical reactions it triggers have knock-on effects in the inner ear.
The average age of those affected was 57, although two of the men involved were only 37, the study found.
Dr Afroze Shah Khan, of Charing Cross Hospital, said: "Medical practitioners involved in the prescription of these drugs need to be vigilant about this potential side-effect."
However, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, Britain’s drugs watchdog, said complaints of hearing loss linked to Viagra were "extremely rare".
A spokesman added that reports of an adverse reaction to a drug do not prove the medicine caused it.
The research was published in the journal The Laryngoscope.
source: telegraph.co.uk

Mobile phone increase the risk or cancer : WHO

The microwave radiations emitted through mobiles phones might cause cancer, a warning issued for the first time by the World Health Organization (WHO). The UN health body has listed risks that were quite alarming since it affects the youngsters and children, the most.

The report, based on the study of 21 scientific from 14 countries worldwide, revealed that the microwave radiation emitted by mobiles disrupts the glucose levels in brain, which may stimulate formation of brain tumors.

According to a last year's study, just 30 minutes of mobile use a day for ten years will increase chances of glioma, a type of brain cancer that is fatal. In 1997, a study by Michael Repacholi at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia showed an increase in lymphoma in mice exposed to mobile phone radiation over a long term.

There are more than 5 billion people with mobile subscriptions around the globe and it is difficult to expect them to discard their mobiles overnight. The only other option is to minimize their usage and opt for alternative means.

Here are some:

One suggestion was that a hands-free system will considerably reduce direct radiation effects on the brain as the phone needs not to be kept near your head.

Secondly, SMS messages should be resorted to more often than making calls.

Thirdly, opt for 3G phones as they are said to be emitting less radiation than 2G phones.

Professor Bruce Armstrong, of the University of Sydney, who contributed to the WHO report, suggests that new 3G technology phones are better than the 2G phones, as "the 3G phones give a much lower dose to the brain than the previous generations."

European cult that mixes yoga with sex sets up base in Tamil Nadu

A European cult that mixes yoga with sex and pornography has been found to be operating out of Chennai.

Training nearly 100 youngsters in yoga and 'tantric love' at a rented house in Chokalingam Nagar, Teynampet, for more than two years now, the Movement for Spiritual Integration in Absolute (Misa) is trying to spread across the country, investigations by TOI have revealed.

A team of seven Misa teachers, nationals of Denmark and Romania, is now in the city for a special camp, titled 'Tantra — The Path of Love'. A majority of them, including the lead couple Mihai Stoian and Adina Stoian, have starred in porn movies produced by Copenhagen-based production house Sublime Erotica, which the Misa group has close ties with. Misa operates under different names in different countries. It is Natha in Denmark, Tara in the US and Satya in India.
source:timesofindia

34 mn HIV patients in world, infection rate down: UNAIDS(United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS)

An estimated 34 million HIV-positive people live around the world but the good news is that the rate of new infections, especially in India, has seen a drastic drop, a UNAIDS report released Friday said.

India and South Africa have the maximum number of HIV/AIDS cases, the report said.

'In India, the rate of new HIV infections fell by more than 50 percent and in South Africa by more than 35 percent. Both countries have the largest number of people living with HIV,' the statement said.

Globally, the rate of new HIV infections declined by nearly 25 percent between 2001 and 2009, it said.

About 2.5 million people are affected with HIV/AIDS in India, as compared to South Africa where there are an estimated 5.6 million HIV-positive patients.

The report 'Nation at Crossroads' was released to mark 30 years of the first case that was reported June 5, 1981 in the US. The deadly disease has claimed 30 million lives in the past three decades.

According to the report: 'About 6.6 million people were receiving anti-retroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries at the end of 2010, a nearly 22-fold increase since 2001.

'A record 1.4 million people started lifesaving treatment in 2010 - more than any year before,' the statement said.

But, the report noted that despite expanded access to anti-retroviral therapy, a major treatment gap remains. At the end of 2010, nine million people who were eligible for treatment did not have access to it.

It also said that while the rate of new HIV infections has declined globally, the total number of HIV infections remains high, at about 7,000 per day.

According to the report, at least 420,000 children were receiving anti-retroviral therapy at the end of 2010, a more than 50 percent increase since 2008, when 275,000 children were on treatment.

'Access to treatment will transform the AIDS response in the next decade. We must invest in accelerating access and finding new treatment options,' said Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director.

'Anti-retroviral therapy is a bigger game-changer than ever before - it not only stops people from dying, but also prevents transmission of HIV to women, men and children,' the report said.

'We are at a turning point in the AIDS response. The goal towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support must become a reality by 2015,' the report said.

The report found that in the third decade of the epidemic, people were starting to adopt safer sexual behaviours, reflecting the impact of HIV prevention and awareness efforts.

According to the report, above-average decline in new HIV infections were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa and in South East Asia, while Latin America and the Caribbean experienced more modest reductions of less than 25 percent.

'There has been an increase in the rate of new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa,' it added.

Click here to read more about UNAIDS