Yet more scare stories?

anu

One of the ways newspapers aim to sell more copies is to blanket the front page with a scoop. Every journalist dreams of getting one - if it's sensational enough, there's a chance of the Pulitzer and national recognition. Unfortunately, there are only one or two really sensational stories out there at any one time. Most of the news is the boring same-old, same-old. That's where the editors come riding into the rescue of their corporate owners. If there are no real scoops and factual stories are not going to sell, you have to tweak the facts to make them exciting. So, suddenly, the everyday becomes scary. Why scary, you ask. Because news about danger captures people's attention. It's something built into our genes. When people lived in caves, we needed to know if there was a sabre-tooth tiger outside waiting for a meal. Today, we need to know if killer tomatoes (those are the ones coated with E.Coli from the sewage processing plant next to the farm) are being sold in our local store. That's where the FDA and scientists come into the picture. They tell us when danger lurks. So, for food, The Centers for Disease Control estimates that tens of million people are made ill by the food they eat, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized and thousands die every year in the US. Hence the stories about the killer tomatoes, leafy greens and sprouts. All of which brings us to Bisphenol A (BPA) and erectile dysfunction.

It would be wonderful if all these new stories about BPA were an exaggeration and there was nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, that may not be the case. Let's start at the beginning. BPA is everywhere. It's used to make plastic, it lines food and drink cans, and when made into epoxy resin, it sticks things together. The scientific evidence is clear. When used in packaging, it leaches into the food and drink. Most every time we eat or drink out of a can, the odds favor us consuming some BPA. This is bad for infants and, in many countries around the world, the use of BPA in baby bottles has been banned. In the US, major chains like Wal-Mart and Toy "R" Us have already removed all infant products containing BPA from their shelves. The FDA has been reviewing all the evidence and is due to report on the level of danger in the next few months. Which brings us to new research published in Human Reproduction, funded by the US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and carried out by an American company in China. It confirms that men exposed to high levels of BPA are up to seven times more likely to experience erectile dysfunction than men who have no exposure.

The potential threat is serious because damage would not be reversible. Once toxic levels are reached in men, they would become impotent and no use of levitra would be able to restore erections. For once, there is real reason to watch out for the headlines when the FDA publish their report. If BPA is found too dangerous to use, it will require a revolution in the food packaging and plastics industry to find a safe alternative. If you have erectile dysfunction now, buy levitra. It is the most powerful and effective of all the drugs used to treat this problem.