'Viagra' for women to hit the shelves soon

Washington, May 24 (ANI): Good news for women who want to perk up the action in their bedroom-the Food and Drug Administration committee is thinking of endorsing the first pill designed to do for women what Viagra does for men-boost their sex lives.
A German pharmaceutical giant wants to sell a drug with the decidedly unsexy name "flibanserin," which has shown prowess for sparking a woman's sexual desire by fiddling with her brain chemicals.
The FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee will meet on June 18 to consider the request.
But the prospect of the drug's approval has already triggered debate over whether the medication, like others in the pipeline, represents a long-sought step toward equity for women's health or the latest example of the pharmaceutical industry fabricating a questionable disorder to sell unnecessary and potentially dangerous drugs.
"Achieving a happy and healthy sex life can be a real and important problem for some women. But we have lots of questions about the 'pink Viagra,'" the Washington Post quoted Amy Allina of the National Women's Health Network, a Washington-based advocacy group, as saying.
Viagra's catapult to blockbuster status after its 1998 approval set off a flurry of interest in me-too medications for women.
However, drugmaker Pfizer's hopes that its "little blue pill" would also ignite female libido fizzled, making it clear that a woman's sexuality is more complicated than a man's.
But, Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim is optimistic that flibanserin is on the verge of becoming the first prescription medication to tap what some have estimated could be a 2 billion dollar market in the United States alone.
"We believe women deserve options and we're hoping flibanserin may represent a safe and effective option for many women," said Michael Sand, who heads the company's clinical research on flibanserin.
Scientists found that flibanserin, developed as an antidepressant, was ineffective for treatment of depression.
But the drug appeared to produce an unexpected side effect: boosting women's libido.
This prompted the company to study it for hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD, an otherwise unexplained loss of sexual thoughts, fantasies and desire that can cause significant emotional distress.
Some research suggests 10 percent of women may suffer from HSDD.
"It's not that they are averse to sex. It's just that they don't care about it. They just stop thinking about it. It's like a switch has been flipped. It's a loss for them. They miss it. And they want it back," said Anita H. Clayton, a professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia who has studied the drug for the company. (ANI)
Source: in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100524/981/tsc-viagra-for-women-to-hit-the-shelves.html

What are condoms, pills?

Mumbai, May 15, 2010 -- If you believe that today's youngsters are well-informed and don't need sex education, consider this: More than 40 per cent of unmarried women (age 15 to 24) in Maharashtra don't know about condoms and 72 per cent are clueless about emergency contraceptive pills, a survey has found. On an average, 30 per cent of unmarried Indian women don't know about condoms, the survey revealed.

While the lack of awareness may not have been a concern two decades ago, it spells trouble considering past studies have established that Indians are becoming sexually active at a younger age. The survey - the third District Level Household Survey (DLHS) - was commissioned by the Union Health Ministry to assess the current state of reproductive, maternal and child health across the country.

In Maharashtra, more than 37,600 households were surveyed between May and October 2008. A detailed report will be published soon.

Researchers found that while more than 75 per cent of women (married and unmarried) in the state knew about HIV/AIDS, nearly 73 per cent women had not even heard of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Mumbai women were as ignorant - 70 per cent of them had not heard of STIs and barely 37 per cent knew that consistent use of condoms could protect one against HIV. Worse, 18.7 per cent of married women in the state had symptoms of the infections.

And, awareness levels were higher at the time of the second DLHS in 2002-4 when only 62.5 per cent women had not heard of STIs.
Source:-http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20100515/1506/tls-what-are-condoms-pills_1.html

Paneer open toasted sandwiches

ngredients

• 4 whole wheat brown bread slices, toasted
For the topping:
• 1 tsp oil
• ¼ cup finely chopped onions
• ½ tsp finely chopped ginger (adrak)
• ½ tsp finely chopped garlic (lehsun)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped capsicum
• 1 to 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• A pinch turmeric powder (haldi)
• A pinch black salt (sanchal)
• ½ cup grated low fat paneer (cottage cheese)
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
• 2 tbsp chopped mint (phudina) leaves
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Salt to taste

Method

• 1.
  Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the onions, ginger, garlic and sauté on a medium flame till the onions turn translucent, while stirring continuously.
• 2.
  Add the capsicum, green chillies, turmeric powder and black salt, mix well and sauté for a minute, while stirring continuously.
• 3.
  Add the paneer, coriander, mint leaves, lemon juice and salt, mix well and sauté for another minute, while stirring continuously.
• 4.
  Divide it into 4 equal portions and keep aside.
• How to proceed:
• 1.
  Remove the sides of the toasted breads and spread a portion of the topping on each toasted bread.
• 2.
  Grill in a pre-heated oven at 200ºC (400ºF) for a minute.
  
  
  source:-yahoo.com

Tips For Cheap Healthy Way Of Living

Most people want to stay healthy or become healthier. But a lot of us make bad choices in our daily lives. We make these decisions from our desire for pleasure and how we have set our priorities. Few people are willing to make changes in their lives, but here are a few simple suggestions to make life a little better.
Doing the right thing starts in you "head", how you think of things and how you see life around yo

All of this will bring you a happier and healthier life. Just try to add one of these things each week. Within 5 months you will be doing all of them.

Enjoy your life, it is the only one you get, and YOU are responsible for it. If you are not happy, YOU need to change, not someone else

Freedom of choice causes depression

Researchers have carried out the study and found that while the ability to choose is generally a good thing too much freedom of choice is actually crippling people with indecision and making them unhappy.
According to the researchers, the problem is that when people have too much choice, they become obsessed about what your decision will say about you. And then when you have made the choice you worry that it is wrong. Choice can also foster selfishness and a lack of empathy because it can focus people on their own preferences and on themselves at the expense of what is good for society as a whole.

Lead author Prof Hazel Rose Markus of Stanford University says that we cannot assume that choice, as understood by educated, affluent Westerners, It is a universal aspiration, and that the provision of choice will necessarily foster freedom and well-being.

Even in contexts where choice can foster freedom, empowerment, and independence, it is not an unalloyed good. Choice can also produce a numbing uncertainty, depression, and selfishness.

In their study, the researchers looked at a body of research into the cultural ideas surrounding choice. They found that among non-Western cultures and among working class Westerners, freedom and choice are less important or mean something different than they do for educated people.

The enormous opportunity for growth and self- advancement that flows from unlimited freedom of choice may diminish rather than enhance subjective well-being. The findings are to be published in the upcoming issue of the 'Journal of Consumer Research'.
Source:-http://lifestyle.in.msn.com