Recently having gone to the vet and walking out with a $650 bill for 2 small dogs yearly shots, I felt it was time to investigate better alternatives to keeping my pets healthy.

There was a parvo shot (a viral disease that mainly affects puppies), kennel cough, rabies, etc, etc. They bundle these shots together to provide a purported price break. But when you break down some of the shots, you often realize that your pet doesn’t even need half of them.

After paying my bill, I went on the internet with my list of shots and came to the determination that I did not need a laundry list of what was provided.

The overall recommendation is; before you subject your pet and your wallet to the vet for their yearly shots, get a list of what they will give them. Then, research it online from reputable websites.

Also, shop around.

There are also online companies such as PetMeds.com. The problem is that they are good for products such as heartworm medication. Customers can order heartworm pills online only if you have previously had your dog tested at the vets office (within the past year) and he doesn’t mind providing you with a prescription for the medication. More and more, veterinarians are charging aggregious sums for prescriptions due to the loss of business from these online pet meds suppliers.

Beware and do not be afraid to question what they are providing. This is not only good medicine for your pet, but also your pocketbook.

Doctors cautioned that taking birth control pills could wreck a woman’s sex life.

Women may benefit from the freedom to make love as much as they like without fear of getting pregnant after taking contraceptive pills but it could also switch off their desire.

The pill has been linked with many side effects including blood clots, migraines and weight gain but perhaps the least discussed is its propensity to dampen libido by decreasing testosterone levels.

Contraceptive drugs curb the hormone’s production in the ovaries and also increase levels of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) – a substance that effectively takes it out of play because testosterone-bound SHBG is considered biologically inactive.

But it is uncertain how regular problems are in pill users and until now any sexual dysfunction – including loss of libido, subdued or non-existent orgasms or painful intercourse – was believed to be reversible when women stopped taking the drug.

Boston University’s Dr Irwin Goldstein and colleagues studied 125 young women who attended a sexual dysfunction clinic. Sixty-two of them were taking oral contraceptives, 40 had previously taken them and 23 had never taken them, reports New Scientist.

The team measured levels of SHBG in the women every three months for a year and found in pill users they were seven times as high as in women who had never taken them.

Levels fell in women who had stopped taking the oral contraceptive – but remained three to four times as high as in those who had never taken it, the researchers told a meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in Washington DC last week.

Dr Goldstein said: “There’s the possibility it’s imprinting a woman for the rest of her life.”

He says the most common problem for women is lack of libido – or sexual desire – which he believes is a result of sex steroid hormone levels gone haywire.

He said: “Women who are on the birth control pill have huge problems with sex steroid hormone levels.”

But Dr Goldstein believes there’s room for drugs in sex therapy. He says those who reject the medical approach to women’s sexual troubles aren’t seeing the bigger picture.

He said: “It took us 20 years to understand the physiology of men’s erections. We have to do the basics before we can get to the therapeutics that have efficacy.”

A new drug can put an end to premature ejaculation during sexual intercourse.

A new drug known as dapoxetine can extend the duration of intercourse by three to four times.

It is believed that up to a third of the male population has problems with premature ejaculation. However, it will still be some time before the drug is available in pharmacies.

Premature ejaculation

The US FDA is reviewing an application for dapoxetine, which was developed by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, a Johnson and Johnson company.

Dapoxetine is chemically similar to a family of antidepressants called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).

These types of antidepressants are known to have an impact on ejaculation.

Studies of dapoxetine have included 2,614 men between the ages of 18 and 77 with premature ejaculation, who maintained monogamous sexual relationships for more than six months.

Each received 30mg or 60mg of dapoxetine or a placebo for 12 weeks.

Dapoxetine increased the duration of intercourse. This beneficial effect occurred after the first dose and increased over the study period.

Lead researcher Dr Jon Pryor, a urologist at the University of Minnesota, said: “The impact premature ejaculation can have on men and their partners can be devastating for a relationship and, currently, there are no truly optimal therapies for premature ejaculation.”

Professor Alan White, professor of men’s health at Leeds Metropolitan University and chairman of the Men’s Health Forum, said: “This is certainly a problem that affects many men – as many as one in three or four.

“It’s one of those hidden conditions that can cause terrible problems in a relationship and a great deal of embarrassment.

“Men are often reluctant to discuss it with their doctor and if a medication became available, it might make them more willing to go and discuss the problem with their doctor.”

He said some cases might be treatable with this new drug, but stressed that counseling was also important because psychological reasons may also be involved.

“Talking can help. Hopefully this drug will also be able to help some men with this terrible condition.”

Adding sunscreen may do more harm than good when going to beach this summer. According to recent studies, vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, may help prevent skin cancer.
Dr. Edward Giovannucci, of Harvard University, lead the study and many scientists reccommend 15 minutes of ‘safe sun’ a few days a week to scare off skin cancer.

Many studies observing big groups of subjects found that those with greater vitamin D levels also had lower cancer rates. For some of
these studies, doctors used blood samples to measure vitamin D, making
the findings particularly strong. Even so, these studies aren’t the
gold standard of medical research a comparison over many years of a
large group of people who were given the vitamin with a large group who
didn’t take it would be necessary. In the past, the best research has reduced health
claims involving other nutrients, including vitamin E and beta carotene.

It used to be that excercise was discouraged to people suffering from multiple sclerosis. Doctors now know that weight training and aerobic exercises actually help ms sufferers.

Patients are able to coordinate steps better and suffer from less fatigue after regular exercise.