On Thursday July 15, 2010 the decision to reject Vivus Inc.’s (VVUS) experimental weight-loss drug, Qnexa was made by a U.S. federal advisory panel. The concern is safety issues and long term effects that are unknown. The Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 6-to-10 against the drug. They were asked if they believed that the “overall risk-benefit assessment of Qnexa is favorable to support approval” especially in patients with obesity that might also have other health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Although the drug has resulted in significant weight loss, the agency has concerns about the long term effects including depression, the effects on the heart and birth defects. At this time there is only a year’s worth of data available on the drug.
Eric Colman, deputy director of the FDA’s metabolic and endocrinology products division, believes that not all the members of the panel were sure of their decision. The votes were 7-10 at first until there was a discussion on why the panel voted the way it did and one member then changed their vote.
Colman says that he is surprised that the votes went the way they did especially considering that both of the ingredients in Qnexa are already on the market separately in other drugs. Colman stated, “They weren’t strongly against the drug but had lingering concerns,”
A new spray has been created for men who suffer from premature love making. The new spray may be able to help improve a man’s stamina to help them last five times as longer in bed. The market for this type of product is massive. There are estimates that nearly 1/3 of men from the ages of 18 to 59 suffer from PE.
PE can be an embarrassing condition for men of all ages. Currently there are not any approved prescriptions that are for PE, but this new spray may be the answer. The spray was created by the University of California, and is only known as PSD502.
Recent tests have showed promising results. In a three month experiment conducted by researches, on group of men suffering from PE were given the spray, and the other group was given a simple placebo about five minutes before both groups had sex.
The results showed that the men who were given the spray were more satisfied, and lasted longer than the group of men who had only received the placebo.
The drug itself contains a combination of lidocaine and prilocaine, and acts as a desensitizing spray that is directly sprayed on. The desensitizing affect from the drug is what helps men to last longer according to the studies.
The results of the study were recently presented to the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The spray would still have to go through extensive research looking for possible side effects, or health hazards from use.
uke aikins made history Saturday when he became the first person to leap without a parachute and land in a net instead.
After a two-minute freefall, Aikins landed dead center in the 100-by-100-foot net at the Big Sky movie ranch on the outskirts of Simi Valley, reports FOX News.
As cheers erupted, Aikins quickly climbed out, walked over and hugged his wife, Monica, who had been watching from the ground with their 4-year-old son, Logan, and other family members.
“I’m almost levitating, it’s incredible,” the jubilant skydiver said, raising his hands over his head as his wife held their son, who dozed in her arms.
“This thing just happened! I can’t even get the words out of my mouth,” he added as he thanked the dozens of crew members who spent two years helping him prepare for the jump, including those who assembled the fishing trawler-like net and made sure it really worked.
Original Story Below
What would it take for you to jump from 25,000 feet from a plane without a parachute?
Extreme skydiver Luke Aikins plans on being the first person to do just that. Aikins plans on landing in a net that measures 100 feet by 100 feet.
Fox will broadcast the two-minute jump live at 8pm ET (5pm PT) Saturday as part of an hour-long TV special called Heaven Sent.
Fox describes the 1 hour show:
On Saturday, July 30, Stride gum will debut Heaven Sent, a historic and “mad intense” live event where professional skydiver Luke Aikins will jump from a plane at 25,000 feet with nothing but the clothes on his back, landing safely on the ground. Created by Chris Talley, Precision Food Works, and Jimmy Smith, Amusement Park Entertainment, the event will air exclusively in the U.S. on FOX at 8 p.m. ET/PT. It will be executive produced by Mondelēz International, Amusement Park Entertainment and four-time Emmy Award winner Al Berman. Mondelēz International is looking to make the event available across the globe through broadcast, online streaming and pay-per-view platforms.
Aikins says he knows how crazy the stunts
“If I wasn’t nervous I would be stupid,” the compact, muscular athlete says with a grin as he sits under a canopy near Saturday’s drop zone.
“We’re talking about jumping without a parachute, and I take that very seriously. It’s not a joke,” he adds.
This would not be the first jump where a skydiver has exited the plane without a parachute, with motocross legend Travis Pastrana being one of those, who famously exited shirtless, drinking a can of Red Bull. However, the big difference here is that in other occasions of “parachuteless” exits, the skydiver was then grabbed in freefall and still landed under a canopy, or placed their rig on while in freefall. With Luke Aikins, there will be no one and nothing to catch him, except for the hundred foot net, and Luke will be exiting from more than twice the height.
The 42-year-old daredevil has made 18,000 jumps.
He’s done stunts for “Ironman 3” and other movies and trained elite skydivers.
British comedian Ricky Gervais was the surprising choice to host the Golden Globe Awards this year. Gervais used the occasion to tell jokes that mocked many of the celebrities in attendance.
After the show, many of the attendees expressed anger and humiliation. Johnny Depp was one of the celebrities who was appalled at Gervais’ performance. Depp later confronted Gervais on the show “Life’s Too Short” about his misbehavior hosting the Golden Globes.
Depp took particular exception to rumors in the foreign press that he and Angelina Jolie accepted bribes.
Gervais has declined to comment on his conduct, but it is clear that his inappropriate antics will not soon be forgotten by the Hollywood A-list celebrities.
The television personality, Jimmy Kimmel, has declared war on Facebook friend statues. He has gone on record as telling Facebook users that November 17th is National UnFriend Day.
NUD as it is being referred to, is the international day when all Facebook user will UnFriend people that they do not actually know in real day to day life.
It is meant to bring meaning back to actual friendship and for the users of Facebook to “cut the fat” from their friends lists. It has already gained a cult following.
Some of Hollywood has even joined in. Here is a quote from William Shatner, “These people on Facebook, they’re not your friends.”
It remains to be seen if it will have much of an impact.
When Kate Middleton stands next to her new fiance, Prince William, officially described as 6 feet 3 inches tall, it is apparent she possesses the height of a model.
The bride-to-be is 5 feet 10 inches tall, and she has modeled a couple of times. First, for a charity fashion show at the University of St. Andrews in 2002, and second, at Blenheim Palace for a wild things line.
It is also reported that she has lost some weight in the past few years and is now an American size 2.
Her height, combined with her slender and athletic build, makes her ideal for most clothes and has put her on a number of best dressed lists over the past few years.
Phaedra Parks who is one of the stars of the reality show The Real Housewives of Atlanta gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday, November 14, 2010.
She was missing in action from a recent benefit called Dancing Stars of Atlanta, the reason she wasn’t able to attend was because she was giving birth to her new baby boy at a local hospital.
On previous episodes they televised the star’s baby shower. Parks and entertainment lawyer Apollo Nida recently tied the knot.
The two of them have made the decision together that they will not allow their new child to be on the reality tv series that Parks herself stars on.
The latest celebrity to find herself in the midst of yet another nude photo scandal is Kat Dennings. Dennings is the star of ‘Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist’. Several topless photos of the star were posted on the Fleshbot website. Dennings is seen posing in several suggestive positions. One photo shows her shows her lifting her shirt and exposing her breasts.
Two other photos were also posted one showing her on a bed in just her bra and panties and the other showed her sitting on the floor naked while covering up her private areas. People are wondering if the photos were stolen or if they were intentionally posted to help promote her upcoming film ‘Daydream Nation’. Dennings has yet to comment on this dilemma.
Loretta Lynn was honored at last night’s Country Music Awards ceremony in Tennessee in a tribute that featured Sissy Spacek, who portrayed Lynn in the movie ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’. Lynn was honored for having 50 years of experience as a professional musician under her belt. So how old does that make Lynn?
Loretta Webb was born on April 14, 1934 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, making the country music legend 76 years old. At just 13 years of age, she married Oliver “Doolittle” Lynn. Although she had often performed at churches and sang around the home, she had no professional experience or experience at playing instruments. On the couple’s ninth wedding anniversary, her husband presented her with a guitar as a gift and Lynn learned to play it. Her earliest attempts fell to the ears of the couple’s sixth children.
Lynn was recently honored with the release of a name in her honor, ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn’. The album featured Lynn’s most popular songs being performed by seasoned stars Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, Jack White, Kid Rock, and Haley Williams.
The Discroll Middle School football team is making news nationwide this week after a recent field play that caught the opposing team completely off guard and allowed Driscoll to make a 67 yard touch down.
The play, planned in advance by the team’s assistant coach John De Los Santos, involved the quarterback taking the ball from the center and moving across the field towards a game official before he began to dash across the field ball in hand.
The trick play allowed for quarterback Jason Garza to move past both the offensive and defensive lines unscathed.
The touch down brought the time to a tie with their opposition of 6-6. Although the game held a tied score, Driscoll’s opposition, Wynne Seale, was declared the win because of two penetrations that occurred at the 20 yard line.
The declaration didn’t keep video footage of the sensational psyche out from going viral, however.
“This was the coolest trick we had,” De Los Santos has said.
