Obesity can kill your sex life

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Here's another reason why you should shed the flab - excess weight can hamper your bedroom life, for a study has found that obese people have less sex.

An international team, led by Professor Frances Quirk of James Cook University, has carried out the study and found that in addition to increasing health risks, obesity can kill overweight people's sex lives.

According to researchers, there are several biological and physical factors which could lead to a decrease in sexual functionality.

"Sexual dysfunction is very personal and even within a relationship lots of couples find it very difficult to talk about changes. One partner may say, 'I think something has changed and I don't know what it is, while the other is thinking 'they've gone off me'. Excessive weight gain may lead one partner to find the other less physically attractive, a change in hormone production and lower energy levels and all these things can have a negative impact on your sex life," Prof Quirk said. According to the researchers, people are likely to be attracted to certain body shapes in the opposite sex.

"When men see women with a small waistline and broad hips the are just primed to respond to those shapes, while women are attracted to the triangular shape of a man. These body types are indicative of hormonal and physiological characteristics that are naturally attractive.

"With a round body shape all of those cues are hidden so what you're relying on in terms of your own sexual response to someone is subjective feelings," Prof Quirk said.

Viagra not harmful to vision: study

Sat, Oct 31, 2009
AFP
   
 
WASHINGTON, US - Treatments for erectile dysfunction such as the hugely popular drug Viagra do not appear to pose long-term damage to men's sight, a new study has shown.

Doctors had been concerned that Viagra, and its competitor drug sold in the United States as Cialis, might prove harmful after some men reported blurred and blue-tinged vision. The two drugs accounted for a billion dollars in sales in 2008.

But the six-month study published Monday and funded by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, the makers of Cialis, showed no side effects on sight, according to the results published in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

The drugs treat erectile dysfunction by blocking an enzyme in the blood flowing to the penis, and there had been fears they could also act on similar compounds in the retina in the eye that receives and transmits images.

A total of 244 healthy men, some with mild erectile dysfunction, aged 30 to 65 took part in the study. Some 85 took five milligrams of Cialis daily, 77 took 50 milligrams of Viagra manufactured by Pfizer and 82 were given a placebo.

Among the 194 men who completed the study and eye examinations no significant differences were found in vision between those taking the drugs and the placebo groups.

"Our results indicate that there is no cumulative damage or effect of clinical significance for either 5 milligrams of tadalafil (Cialis) or 50 milligrams of sildenafil (Viagra) taken daily for six months," the report noted.

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Lottery fever grips Italy; jackpot tops $200M
By Eric J. Lyman, Special for USA TODAY

8/21

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ROME — Ignoring long odds and searing temperatures, millions of Italians and foreigners are lining up for a chance to win Europe's record lottery jackpot as it climbed Wednesday to $204.3 million — and that's tax-free money.

No one has picked the lucky six-number combination in the SuperEnalotto game to win the top prize since January, and Thursday night is the next drawing. There are three drawings per week.

About 140 Germans are using discount airfares to fly to Milan every other day to "eat pizza, drink cappuccino and buy lottery tickets," said Michael Staskin, a spokesman for Sisal, the company that runs SuperEnalotto.

He said lottery ticket sellers near Italy's borders with France, Switzerland and Austria are reporting a dramatic rise in sales to foreigners who cross into Italy to buy a chance at big money. Passengers on cruise ships at Italian ports are also snapping up tickets. Television news programs show lines stretching around city blocks.

"We've never seen anything like this," Staskin said.

For comparison with the U.S., the multistate Powerball jackpot was estimated at $250 million for Wednesday's drawing. Unlike in Italy, lottery winnings in the U.S. are considered taxable income. The Powerball record of $365 million was won in 2006.

Sisal reports selling around 275 million SuperEnalotto tickets per week compared with just under 100 million per week before the jackpot reached nine figures. Odds of winning are about 1 in 622 million, much tougher than Powerball's 1 in 195 million.

Those tough odds, along with it being the hottest summer in Italy since 2003, haven't dampened people's enthusiasm to play.

Luca Tardella, a statistician with Rome's Sapienza University, said there are multiple reasons for the excitement over a ticket that costs 1 euro, or $1.42. Players pick six numbers from 90 available. The jackpot winners must match all six.

"The weak economy and the size of the prize are factors, but there's also something in the Italian psychology that makes this so popular," Tardella said. "There's the idea that fate or chance will play a role in what happens is very attractive."

Maria Rossi, co-director of the polling firm Opinioni, said the growing interest feeds on itself.

"I don't think people really grasp the long odds or even if they have an idea of what they'd do with all that money," she said. "But the more they hear about it, the more realistic it seems, and eventually people just think, 'Why not me?' "