Is this Rotorua’s answer to Viagra?

mudForget Viagra – all a man needs to perform in the bedroom is a good whiff of Rotorua’s famous rotten-egg air.

Sound far-fetched? Maybe not.

A new study suggests the gas responsible for Rotorua’s famous rotten-egg smell also has major benefits for men’s sexual performance.

Scientists at the University of Naples in Italy have discovered a link between hydrogen sulphide and male sexual arousal, sparking claims it could lead to a new class of drugs to combat erectile dysfunction.

Review Nixes ‘Female Viagra’ Patch After Surgical Menopause

Testosterone skin patches for women may have little impact on waning libido after hysterectomy, researchers said.

Relatively low effectiveness, large placebo responses, and lack of long-term safety data led to a recommendation against transdermal testosterone for female sexual dysfunction in a review edited by Ike Iheanacho, M.B.B.S., in the March issue of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.

The testosterone patch, marketed as Intrinsa in Europe for women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder after surgically-induced menopause, was rejected by the FDA in 2004. The agency cited concerns about unknown cardiovascular and breast cancer risks with chronic use, particularly since concomitant estrogen therapy would be required.

Younger Men With Erectile Dysfunction At Double Risk Of Heart Disease

Men who experience erectile dysfunction between the ages of 40 and 49 are twice as likely to develop heart disease than men without dysfunction, according to a new Mayo Clinic study. Researchers also found that men with erectile dysfunction have an 80 percent higher risk of heart disease.

“The highest risk for coronary heart disease was in younger men,” says researcher Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D. The study was published in the February 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The results suggest that younger men and their doctors may need to consider erectile dysfunction a harbinger of future risk of coronary heart disease — and take appropriate steps to prevent it, says Dr. St. Sauver.

Levitra Improves Erectile Function

Levitra Improves Erectile Function in Patients Taking High Blood Pressure Medications.

Levitra is one of three FDA approved oral phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors which are used to treat erectile dysfunction. The other two are Cialis and Viagra. PDE5 inhibitors relax narrowed or hardened penile arteries to the point where they will allow blood to enter the penis and create an erection in patients with ED.

Fake Cialis linked to dangerously low blood sugar

An unusual outbreak of dangerously low blood sugar has been traced to illegal anti-impotence drugs and herbal remedies contaminated with a drug for diabetics, doctors warn.

Between Jan. 1 and May 26, 2008, 150 non-diabetic patients with severe hypoglycemia were admitted to public hospital in Singapore. There were four deaths, and seven patients remained comatose, Dr. Kok Onn Lee of National University Hospital in Singapore report in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

All of the patients except one were men, and they ranged in age from 19 to 97, with an average age of 51.