So as not to hijack the Preemie thread...

[FallingToFly]

Something that my husband and I were discussing recently.

Why do we need sexual performance drugs? WHY?

80 year olds with hard ons, grandmothers in garter belts and negligees, endless erections, orgasm enhancers.

If the damn drug companies would take all that money and research time and apply it to cancer, or AIDS, or lupus, or leukemia- wait, nevermind. That would be USEFUL.

Did you know there is a proven herbal cure for drug addiction? It's illegal in the States, and last I checked, Canada and the EU as well. You have to go to AFRICA to get it, and take it. It's a one-shot treatment. Amazingly enough- they've been using it for... ever? Gee, who knew.

Science has finally managed, with aggressive drug and gene therapy, to give CANCER to the only creature on earth (beside insects) that doesn't get cancer. But who cares, sharks aren't cute, ad no one wants to save them. When the endangered ones die out (last I checked, they aren't even on the ES list) and the rest are killed off for fin soup and sport fishing, I'm sure we won't miss them....

But I'll be damned if they can come up wih an effective treatment for cancer, heart disease, lupus, leukemia, HIV, AIDS, venereal diseases, or at least a practical and useful approach to mental illness...

But hey! At least we can fuck while they kill us off by inches!

[/rant]

 

[rgraham666]

Treating 'sexual dysfunctions' is highly profitable.

It's not a real problem for society but thanks to advertising and our fetish about physical perfection and youth it can be made into a crisis for the individual.

Creating and manufacturing these drugs is rather cheap. The sales are tremendous. So these sorts of drugs are very profitable. Which means in our society they are more likely to be pursued than others since many of us regard profit as the only allowable impulse for action.

As to the addiction cure you mention, the corporation of scientists can't allow themselves to look at such a thing. To admit that some 'primitive culture' had discovered something without the scientists intervention would call into question the power and importance of scientists. Something few humans with power are willing to do.

We believe we are, for the most part, not part of the world, just a step below God. And He won't keep his job if He fucks up one more time. So we believe we have the power to change anything, and the power to fix it if there's a problem.

It isn't true, but that belief is good for our egos.

 

[FallingToFly]

Treating 'sexual dysfunctions' is highly profitable.

It's not a real problem for society but thanks to advertising and our fetish about physical perfection and youth it can be made into a crisis for the individual.

Creating and manufacturing these drugs is rather cheap. The sales are tremendous. So these sorts of drugs are very profitable. Which means in our society they are more likely to be pursued than others since many of us regard profit as the only allowable impulse for action.

As to the addiction cure you mention, the corporation of scientists can't allow themselves to look at such a thing. To admit that some 'primitive culture' had discovered something without the scientists intervention would call into question the power and importance of scientists. Something few humans with power are willing to do.

We believe we are, for the most part, not part of the world, just a step below God. And He won't keep his job if He fucks up one more time. So we believe we have the power to change anything, and the power to fix it if there's a problem.

It isn't true, but that belief is good for our egos.

Oh, I know all that- it just makes me very, very angry. (REALLY, REALLY angry)

And if there are in Litsters in Africa, period, hit me up with a PM, would you?

 

[Retrieval]

The truth is that the major drug companies don't want to find a cure for these diseases because they make millions every year selling medicines to treat them, if they sold a cure they would lose millions.

 

[FallingToFly]

The truth is that the major drug companies don't want to find a cure for these diseases because they make millions every year selling medicines to treat them, if they sold a cure they would lose millions.

And save hundreds of thousands of people who buy their everyday drug needs (aspirin, tylenol, topical creams for ant bite, benadryl, etc) from those same drug companies. More customers buying everyday items- they wouldn't lose enough to put them out of business.

I'd rather save a life than make a million off a death.

 

[Recidiva]

Oh, I know all that- it just makes me very, very angry. (REALLY, REALLY angry)

Drug companies are a business. They make a lot of money from Viagra. And some of that money can be put back into research for other drugs.

If you have a few billion to spare to sink into research on the off chance, then try to get through the FDA, and then have people ask for the drugs for free because they're sick and it's your moral duty, knock yourself out.

Not providing care for free, and asking all the market can bear, that's capitalism. Like it or not, it's the only system that's even come close to providing cures to deadly diseases that we need in the form of little pills, blue or otherwise.

 

[Guest]

If it makes you feel any better, we use Viagra to treat pulmonary hypertension in children. (And, it works!)

There's no good answer. So, I will just babble...

If I were a pharmaceutical rep, I'd tell you that all that money they make from "sexual dysfunction" drugs is what pays for the research into all of the conditions you listed. But, I'm not one...although the idea of wearing a tight skirt and high heels while bringing lunch to doctors sounds more and more appealing some nights...(and let's not discuss the money I could make doing that rather than actual patient care, sigh)

Just a FYI: We do have good cure rates with some childhood cancers. The reason has nothing to do with pharmaceutical companies. About a decade ago, pediatric oncologists decided to set strict protocols for the treatment of cancers in children. It's been meticulous research on their part that has made the difference. There is no such standard for adult care.

 

[FallingToFly]

If it makes you feel any better, we use Viagra to treat pulmonary hypertension in children. (And, it works!)

There's no good answer. So, I will just babble...

snip-snap.

I do know that a lot of good gets done... just having a rant. My mom has lupus, friends have cancer, the Alzheimer and such... it's a bit headachy.

I just think there is a lot of good that could be done if they'd get their heads out their asses, do a bit of field research, and check out some traditional cures.

 

[Antfarmer77]

Perhaps they figger that by selling lots of Vigara it will help create a new customer base for future pharmacutical mogels

 

[AchtungNight]

I would just like to add this: While I agree that the amount of money spent on fertility enhancement drugs compared to cancer treatments and such is deplorable, the amount of unwanted advertising for FEDs is even more deplorable. I get so much spam about them- and I have never needed them at any point in my life. Of course I am 27 and healthy, but even were I at a point in life where I did need such products, I would prefer to seek them out myself. Rather than have my email choked with messages about them. Ditto for advertisements about mortgages, stock tips, and all the other spam I get. One last thing- if the people who send me this stuff got my email off one of my stories, please be aware that I do not consider being added to a spam list good feedback. Thank you.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Another point that should be made is that Viagra and like drugs are dangerous, regardless of the slick commercials. These were developed as blood thinners and medications for heart patients. They block certain compounds that naturally restrict blood flow in the arteries.

The side affects are scary: Blindness, heart failure and death on, dizzyness, "uncontrolled reaction" ("It just won't go down, Doc"), kidney and liver failure and so on.

These are not drugs to screw around with. Damn college kids are buying this stuff and eating it like candy for God Sake

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Another point that should be made is that Viagra and like drugs are dangerous, regardless of the slick commercials. These were developed as blood thinners and medications for heart patients. They block certain compounds that naturally restrict blood flow in the arteries.

The side affects are scary: Blindness, heart failure and death on, dizzyness, "uncontrolled reaction" ("It just won't go down, Doc"), kidney and liver failure and so on.

These are not drugs to screw around with. Damn college kids are buying this stuff and eating it like candy for God Sake

Heard about some of these side effects, but that not all. Also heard about herbal alternatives. Hope that there are some. There seem to be herbal alternatives to everything else these days. Sex IS important, but so are some other things. It would be nice to focus more of getting rid of the STDs and AIDS, so that people would have less worry and more fun during sex. I have a hard time believing that it's impossible. But horny teenagers have less clout than elderly couples with plenty of cash. The elderly are more likely to be MARRIED, after all, and we shouldn't invest in college kids who just want to fornicate without consequences.

Sorry, my own little rant. Yeah, the're cool with college and high school kids having sex, as long as they are willing to "pay the price"- death and disease. "Wages of sin" and all, you know.

 

[FallingToFly]

I guess I got extremely lucky- my first introduction to sexual education was my mother's Household Encylopedia of Medicine. Right behind all that fascinating stuff about how sex worked and where babies came from was the section on STDs, complete with graphic descruiption, symptoms, causes, eventualities, and really horrifying medical photos. Just beyond that was the section on non-genetic birth defects and prevention of same. Those photos stuck with me, as did the text.

In seventh grade was the first "real" sex ed class. Our teacher, the marvellous woman that she was, invited in OB/GYNs, Planned Parenthood, AIDS carriers, and most wonderfully, a plan spoken sexual counselor from the local Health department.

This woman asked for a volunteer, put her hands together at the palm, and had the volunteer roll a regular condom down over her hands and wrists. She then held them up in front of us. Her words have stuck with me ever since.

"If your boyfriend tells you that he is too BIG for condoms, I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions. The first one, obviously, is how he manages to walk upright. The second is: do you really want him trying to fit something this big inside your body?"

High school sex ed, after that, was a bit of a letdown. And I developed a very keen understanding of the value of condoms- both regular latex and lambskin, after I discovered that latex irritates my skin. When my best friend contracted HIV from a lover he had trusted, and who had repeatedly betrayed him, I added a twice yearly full work-up of STDs, regardless of my sexual activity.

To this day, I keep my STD checks up to date. I will willingly take any of my "kids" for a health check at the local free clinic, lecture them on a regular basis about responsibility to themselves and their partners, and try to make sure than any of my girls have access to counselling, condoms, and contraceptives, in that order.

I've seen what havoc conscienceless(sp, probably) sex can wreak on a life. I've seen what cancer can do to a family, the victim themselves notwithstanding. I'm watching my mother, who ate right, exercised, never smoked, or drank, or do drugs, die by inches. My husband's family are a seething mass of disease and chronic syndromes. The fact that so much of it could be at least treated effectively if more care was given to curing than continuing care, breaks my heart. The fact that there is a PROVEN cure for addiction that is ILLEGAL in this country breaks down further that little piece I still have that wants to believe that the world really isnt a bad place, and people are basically good.

Health is something that becomes a habit- you either make it one, or don't. I worry imensely about the world my children will live in twenty years from now. I try to teach my family and friends how to make healthy a habit, although I have my own shortcomings. I try to eliminate what factors I can, and take an interest in the changes that need to be made, that should be supported.

But, that's all any one person can do. Until it becomes a cohesive and constant thought process for a majority- it isn't going to work. The best I can do is continue to share what I know, and give what I can to those I can.

 

[Liar]

Heard about some of these side effects, but that not all. Also heard about herbal alternatives. Hope that there are some. There seem to be herbal alternatives to everything else these days. Sex IS important, but so are some other things.

Yes. If I had to choose between an erection and a pulse, I know which I'd pick.

Anyway, I'm suspicious of herbal alternatives. Natural does not equal better and safer, and I'd rather deal with the side effects that I know than those that I don't. Or does alternative medicine manufacturers have the same responsibility to indentify and declare side effects as regular pill-cos in America? They sure as hell don't here.

 

[FallingToFly]

Yes. If I had to choose between an erection and a pulse, I know which I'd pick.

Anyway, I'm suspicious of herbal alternatives. Natural does not equal better and safer, and I'd rather deal with the side effects that I know than those that I don't. Or does alternative medicine manufacturers have the same responsibility to indentify and declare side effects as regular pill-cos in America? They sure as hell don't here.

Most herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction revolve around a cleansing and purifying agent- clean out the system and the blood to improve overall health-

The sexual side effects are just that- side effects to a general change in overall health.

 

[Oblimo]

It doesn't make a difference to our bodies whether an ingested chemical came from a lab or was grown in our backyards. "Natural" is a regulatory and marketing category, not a biochemical one. In the case of medicinal remedies, "natural" means much less testing and oversight, based, I imagine, on the preposterous notion that, since it wasn't vetted by peer-reviewed scientific method, it can't hurt. In the case of groceries, on the other hand, to be labeled "natural" means more testing and oversight. Why it's more important to protect consumers from being tricked into thinking that their food is "natural" than to protect consumers from the unknown affects of herbal remedies is beyond me.

As for the production and marketing of Viagra, I personally find it no more outragous than what is done in the nicotine, alcohol, and caffine industries. In other words, I find it obscene.

 

[Skip1934a]

Something that my husband and I were discussing recently.

Why do we need sexual performance drugs? WHY?

80 year olds with hard ons, grandmothers in garter belts and negligees, endless erections, orgasm enhancers.

If the damn drug companies would take all that money and research time and apply it to cancer, or AIDS, or lupus, or leukemia- wait, nevermind. That would be USEFUL.

Did you know there is a proven herbal cure for drug addiction? It's illegal in the States, and last I checked, Canada and the EU as well. You have to go to AFRICA to get it, and take it. It's a one-shot treatment. Amazingly enough- they've been using it for... ever? Gee, who knew.

Science has finally managed, with aggressive drug and gene therapy, to give CANCER to the only creature on earth (beside insects) that doesn't get cancer. But who cares, sharks aren't cute, ad no one wants to save them. When the endangered ones die out (last I checked, they aren't even on the ES list) and the rest are killed off for fin soup and sport fishing, I'm sure we won't miss them....

But I'll be damned if they can come up wih an effective treatment for cancer, heart disease, lupus, leukemia, HIV, AIDS, venereal diseases, or at least a practical and useful approach to mental illness...

But hey! At least we can fuck while they kill us off by inches!

[/rant]

We have them because I'm getting old and can't get it up without them, thank you very much.

I understand your rant, darling, but wait till you're seventy and ask the same questions. There are advances being made every day in treatment of adult diseases. My wife is a 22 year survivor of cancer. She's hoping now for a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Diabetes. The latest in diabetes is implanted insulin rather than injections.

Our biggest problem in medicine is that we know how to keep people alive, but we don't know how to make them well.

luv ya, girl. I'd love to have you as one of my grandchildren. You are a bitch at times, but a very sweet one.

 

[Matadore]

Genetics and human embrio research

Not to divert the thread, still on topic.

Where does embrionic research play a role here? It promises many cures potentionaly.

Several forms of breast cancers have been brought to control in the last few years through research in medication, genetics, and hormones. (IBC went from a post diagnosis life expectancy of months to 80% after five years, and the odds are improving daily.)

"We" still basicly look to treat and cure disease by one or more of only three ways; to burn, to poison, and to cut. Maybe understanding and treating the causes and focusing on prevention is a better way.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Skip1934a]

Something that my husband and I were discussing recently.

Why do we need sexual performance drugs? WHY?

80 year olds with hard ons, grandmothers in garter belts and negligees, endless erections, orgasm enhancers.

If the damn drug companies would take all that money and research time and apply it to cancer, or AIDS, or lupus, or leukemia- wait, nevermind. That would be USEFUL.

Did you know there is a proven herbal cure for drug addiction? It's illegal in the States, and last I checked, Canada and the EU as well. You have to go to AFRICA to get it, and take it. It's a one-shot treatment. Amazingly enough- they've been using it for... ever? Gee, who knew.

Science has finally managed, with aggressive drug and gene therapy, to give CANCER to the only creature on earth (beside insects) that doesn't get cancer. But who cares, sharks aren't cute, ad no one wants to save them. When the endangered ones die out (last I checked, they aren't even on the ES list) and the rest are killed off for fin soup and sport fishing, I'm sure we won't miss them....

But I'll be damned if they can come up wih an effective treatment for cancer, heart disease, lupus, leukemia, HIV, AIDS, venereal diseases, or at least a practical and useful approach to mental illness...

But hey! At least we can fuck while they kill us off by inches!

[/rant]

They make those little blue pills because I'm over seventy and can't get it uo without them. I'm not ready to end my sex life just because I'm getting old. As for the disease you speak of, there are signs of progress in finding better ways to treat them Maybe not cures, but things that extend useful life. My wife is a 22 yaer cancer survivor. A friend has had stem cell procedures that have extended his life despite a prognosis of less that five yaers to live. That was seven years ago, and he still works at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Sexual enhancement drugs don't seem to cost that much in research dollars or time, IMHO. And the sales bring in more money for research on the disease oriented drugs. So, I see nothing to argue about.

Maybe when you're seventy, you'll see things from a different perspective, darlin'. At don't take my post as disrespectful. I have the utmost respect for the lady I wish was my granddaughter. Actually, I have one just a year or two younger than you, and she's a flirt, a wannabe bitch, and a precious jewel, just like you.

An edit: I posted a similar rebuttle earlier today, but thought it didn't post at all, because it didn't show up as quickly as most do. So I see now that it did. Sorry, but maybe the bump will keep the thread closer to the top.

 

[Skip1934a]

Heard about some of these side effects, but that not all. Also heard about herbal alternatives. Hope that there are some. There seem to be herbal alternatives to everything else these days. Sex IS important, but so are some other things. It would be nice to focus more of getting rid of the STDs and AIDS, so that people would have less worry and more fun during sex. I have a hard time believing that it's impossible. But horny teenagers have less clout than elderly couples with plenty of cash. The elderly are more likely to be MARRIED, after all, and we shouldn't invest in college kids who just want to fornicate without consequences.

Sorry, my own little rant. Yeah, the're cool with college and high school kids having sex, as long as they are willing to "pay the price"- death and disease. "Wages of sin" and all, you know.

Do you read the possible side effects of mainstream medications, like for heart disease or diabetes, for example? Every single one of the companies that make these things, by direction of the FDA in the US, at least, tell you they can make things worse than the intended purpose of the drug.

Surgery procedures are no better. You always sign a release form that says you understand the procedure might kill you. How promising is that?