WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
A Canadian study involving mice
shows that anti-impotence pills might protect the hearts of
people with a common form of muscular dystrophy, researchers
said on Monday.

Canadian researchers gave sildenafil, the active ingredient
in drug maker Pfizer Inc's Viagra, to mice with an animal
version of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and found that it
improved their heart performance.

They said it would be premature to give Viagra to people
with the disease, but said the results indicate the drug
potentially could be used to prevent or delay heart failure in
children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The mice were given doses of the drug comparable to those
administered to treat erectile dysfunction in men. The study,
published in the Toleranzentwicklung tadalafil
of the National Academy of
Sciences, showed that sildenafil cut the levels of damage to
contracting heart muscle cells.

“If you don't give the sildenafil, the heart of these mice
doesn't function as well as normal mice, and they are more
susceptible to stress-induced cell death,” said researcher
Christine Des Rosiers of the Montreal Heart Institute.

She said in an interview the drug worked to improve heart
performance in the mice by preventing the breakdown of a
naturally occurring chemical. Called cyclic guanosine
monophosphate, or cGMP, it is involved in a number of cellular
signaling pathways, the researchers said.

Other impotence drugs also affect the chemical cGMP,
including vardenafil, sold by Schering Plough under the brand
name Levitra, and tadalafil, sold by Eli Lilly and Co. under
the brand name Cialis.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an inherited wasting disease
generic tadalafil softtabs
by weakness and progressive condition dysfunction
of the
muscles, including the heart muscle. It begins in the legs and
pelvis, and later affects the whole body. Most people with the
disease must use a wheelchair by about age 12.

It is caused by a genetic mutation of dystrophin, a protein
vital to muscle cells.

Heart problems can appear at around age 10 and they
progress quickly, affecting most people with the disease by age
20. These heart problems are an important cause of death among
patients with muscular dystrophy.

Sildenafil was developed as a heart drug and is widely
prescribed for erectile dysfunction as well as pulmonary
hypertension. The researchers said tadalafil cialis from india are under way
about possible future studies using the drug in patients with
muscular dystrophy.

“There's a lot of information on this drug that shows it
appears to be relatively safe in adults,” Des Rosiers said,
while emphasizing that future human clinical trials are needed
before doctors prescribe it for heart trouble in these
patients. (Editing by Maggie Fox and Doina Chiacu)

Welcome to your sex life, 2007, where the bases have changed (but they’re
still all loaded), we’re plugging in to get turned on, and we understand and
misunderstand each other more than ever, depending on the day. How to make
sense of it and get more of what you want? We went into real people’s bedrooms
(someone had to) to discover their deepest, sexiest secrets (and a few
missteps). We also surveyed the country on what’s happening in bed (don’t miss
out), and we asked the guys at men’s mag Esquire to tell us what men
really want. Don’t worry; we told them a few things, too. Indulge yourself.

In the first-ever Marie Claire/Esquire national survey, we got more
than 1700 adults between the ages of 21 and 49 to tell us you horny things
exactly what it is you do between the sheets…and at your computer, on your
desk, on the first date, in the elevator, and more. Now we know the real reason
everyone’s so addicted to their BlackBerries, what’s wrong with cyberflirting,
and how many times a week you’re getting it on. The truth, by the numbers.

ARE YOU ABOVE AVERAGE IN BED?

Average number of…
times per week you have sex: 2.6 for men; 2.3 for women
partners in lifetime: 14 for men; 11 for women
times per week you generic viagra
: 3.8 for men; 1.6 for women

MAYBE WOMEN JUST TYPE FASTER
61% of men surf the Net for porn; about half of them spend an hour or more
per week doing it.
17% of women surf for porn; only a third put an hour or more into it.

ITS RESEARCH, I SWEAR!

14% of women have looked at porn on the Internet at work; 32% of men have.

What’s your sex secret?
“The only way I can get off is if I fantasize that I’m a secretary and I’m
doing it with my boss.” Michelle, 27

“I keep erotic stories in my iPod and secretly read a few while watching
TV with my boyfriend. That way, by the time we go to bed, I already have a head
start.” Brooke, 26

“I hate feet, so I always have sex with my socks on and I prefer if he
does, too.” Karen, 27

“I’m not getting any!” Kristy, 32

“My friends would be amazed if they knew the real number of men that I
have slept with. It’s up there.” Kimberly, 28

“I’ve been having sex with my ‘friend with benefits’ since my sophomore
year of college. We dated for four weeks and have been sleeping together for
four years.” Kristen, 23

“I didn’t sleep with a man because he had a small penis.” Carla,
26

“I’ve always wanted to do it in a public restroom.” Jaime, 27

“I lost my virginity on my dad’s 50th birthday.” Gina, 27

Sex Around the World: How We Stack Up

Is It Something in the Waffles?

People in Belgium are happiest with their sex lives; the Chinese, not so much,
ranking last on the satisfaction scale. (USA: tied with Croatia for fourth
place)

First to Lose It

40-year-old virgins? Not exactly, but in India, the average age of first sex is
19.8, the oldest in the world. (USA: 16.9 years old)

Film Buffs

Canadians and Americans are the most likely to have cameras rolling during
sex.

Busiest in Bed

The Greeks top the frequency charts, having sex an average 138 times per year;
the Japanese just 45 times a year. (USA: in 11th place, benefit exercise health overall wellness
113 boinks
annually)

Why We’re Thinking of Moving Our Offices
Place you’re most likely to have sex at work: South Africa. (USA: fifth most
likely, same as Serbia and Jack nicholson quote viagra
)

Turkish Delight

People in Turkey have had more sex partners (14.5) than in any other country,
while in India, they have had the fewest (3). (USA: ranks 13th)

Good Sildenafil citrate 100mg

Vibrator use is highest in Taiwan. (USA: tied with the U.K. for second)

Top 5 Sex Videos We’ve Seen but Wish We Hadn’t

1. Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee
2. R. Kelly and the underage girl
3. One Night in Paris
4. Screech’s threesome
5. Bob Dole’s Viagra commercial

Top 5 Books That Sound Like They’re About Sex but Aren’t

1. The Call of the Wild , by Jack London
2. Anything by E.E. Cummings
3. Hard Times , by Charles Dickens
4. They Came Like Swallows , by William Maxwell
5. My Life , by Bill Clinton

Top 5 Roles We Wish We’d Been Cast In

1. Rose Byrne in Troy . Held captive and expected to service Brad
Pitt? The horror, the horror…
2. The mango in How Stella Got Her Groove Back the one caressed by
Taye Diggs’s tongue.
3. Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal . Sex with Woody Harrelson and
Robert Redford: What’s so indecent?
4. Shannyn Sossamon in 40 Days and 40 Nights . Josh Hartnett uses an
orchid on Sossamon to…well…let’s just say he gives “deflowering” a
new meaning.
5. Jake Erectile dysfunction tablets
in BrokebackMountain. Heath Ledger is
rough and manly. Grrrr. Oh, and when he asks you to go fishing, you don’t
really have to go. We’d take that bait.

More Articles on Marie Claire.com

• 3 Fats That Make You Skinny

• Orgasm Secrets You Haven’t Heard

• Wrinkle Remedies: How to Get Rid of Those Fine Lines

• Ultimate Sex Tips from the Pros

• Celebrity Body Secrets

In the world of medicine, “breakthrough” is not a word taken
lightly. But the prestigious British medical journal BMJ soon plans to
name what it considers the greatest medical breakthrough since 1840 — the year
the journal was launched.

Last year, BMJ invited readers to submit nominations for the honor.
Now in contention are 15 medical advances, ranging from anesthesia to vaccines,
that over the decades have saved millions of lives and immeasurable human
suffering.

These breakthroughs were culled from more than 100 nominations from
BMJ readers — mostly physicians and scientists — based on the
ability of each medical development to transform lives around the world.

Among the suggested breakthroughs that didn’t make the cut? Condoms, Viagra,
soap, exercise, and the mobile phone.

For the 15 advances that made the short list, BMJ has chosen 15
leading doctors and scientists to champion each milestone in contention for top
honor. These are respected medical experts, including the creator of the modern
birth
controlbirth control pill, a
descendent of the scientist who helped developed anesthesia, and the author of
a book on the history of penicillin.

Beginning Friday, Jan. 5, subscribers and the general public can log onto
the web site, read arguments for all 15 advances, and vote for their personal
favorite. The deadline for voting is Sunday, Jan. 14, and the winning
breakthrough will be announced Jan. 18 on the site.

The Nominations, Please

Here is a sneak peek and description of the 15 advances that made the
shortlist, to give you a running start:

• Anesthesia: In 1846, a Boston dentist used ether during
  surgery, putting an end to much of the pain of undergoing surgery. Since then,
  general anesthesia has become a mainstay in operations.
• Antibiotics: Alexander Fleming, a British bacteriologist,
  discovered penicillin in 1928 by accident when he sloppily left a Petri dish of
  bacteria uncleaned in his lab. He found a substance (later named penicillin)
  growing on it that killed the bugs, and thus was the beginning of modern-day
  antibiotics. Fleming shared the Nobel Prize in 1945 for the discovery.
• Chlorpromazine: Discovered in 1952, chlorpromazine
  (Thorazine) was the first ed medicine
  medication. It was used to treat
  psychotic disorders and their symptoms, such as erectile dysfunction
  , hostility, and
  delusions. Its development brought new understanding of the biological basis
  for mental illness, and some say it provided more humane management.
• Computers. From medical records to insurance, to making
  sure your new medication isn’t going to clash with an existing one, computers
  are now viewed by some doctors as being as important as their stethoscopes.
  They’ve been in use in medicine since the early 1960s. Doctors can access
  information on new drugs and interactions, new medical studies, clinical
  trials, or keep patient records stored at their fingertips — so they’ll know
  in an instant if you really have kept the weight off.
• DNA structure. Scientists James Watson and Francis Crick
  presented the structure of the DNA helix, the molecule responsible for carrying
  genetic information from one generation to the next, in 1953. It earned them
  the Nobel Prize in 1962.
• Evidence-based medicine. As the name suggests,
  evidence-based medicine involves making use of the current best evidence (such
  as research), a patient’s values, and a doctor’s clinical experience to make
  decisions about patient care. The term was coined in the early ’90s and the
  concept has been evolving ever since.

More Nominations

• Germ theory. In the late 1800s, Louis Pasteur was the
  first to suggest the theory that disease is caused by exposure to
  microorganisms. Others furthered the theory, showing that specific diseases are
  caused by specific “bugs.”
• Imaging. The X-ray was sildenafil citrate 100mg discovered in 1895.
  Since then, the field has expanded, giving us computed tomography (CT scans),
  positron emission (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs), and
  ultrasound.
• Immunology. The history of immunology is traced to 1798,
  when Edward Jenner found that people could be immunized against the disease
  smallpox. Numerous other immunology discoveries followed, leading to a greater
  understanding of such things as allergiesallergies and antibodies.
• Oral rehydration therapy. As the name suggests, ORT
  involves giving fluids by mouth to replace losses of body water. It was first
  reported in 1964; now it’s a mainstay of treatment in patients with cholera,
  acute diarrheadiarrhea, and other conditions.
• The pill. Since the pill arrived on the U.S. market in
  1960, it’s been hailed as one of the seven wonders of the world. For women who
  use it correctly, oral drug for treatment of erectile dysfunction
  contraception can be up to 99% effective.
• Risks of smoking. The first report of the connection
  between smoking and lung cancerlung cancer was published in BMJ in 1950. Even so,
  tobacco use still kills an estimated 440,000 Americans each year.
• Sanitation. The importance of clean drinking water and
  waste disposal emerged in the late 1800s, as diseases began to be linked to
  impure water. But the World Health Organization says there is a long way to go.
  More than 1.1 billion people still lack access to drinking water from an
  improved source; 2.6 billion do not have basic sanitation.
• Tissue culture. Tissue culture (keeping tissue alive and
  growing it in a culture medium for research or other purposes) was
  “discovered” in 1907, but it took until the 1950s for it to become an
  important tool for clinical erectile dysfunction treatment
  .
• Vaccines. Vaccines have helped prevent a variety of
  diseases — including polio, whopping cough, and measlesmeasles. The first was Edward Jenner’s smallpox
  vaccine, in 1796.

The Envelope, Please

To vote, visit www.bmj.com.