CanDrug August 2006 Newsletter

• Nearly half of all men over 50 have an enlarging prostate!
• Happy Labor Day!
• What a SUPER deal!

AVODART

Nearly half of all men over 50 have an enlarging prostate.

It's a fact of life. The older you get, the more attention you need to pay to your health. And one of the things your doctor needs to monitor is the size and health of your prostate. That's because an enlarging prostate, if left untreated, can lead to problems that might require surgery. Although Enlarging Prostate may be uncomfortable to talk about, it's something you should be checked for on a regular basis.

If you have been diagnosed with Enlarging Prostate—sometimes called benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH for short, and your symptoms are bothersome to you, over time AVODART may provide the following benefits:

• shrink your prostate
• improve your symptoms
• lower your chance for problems like surgery on your prostate

The prostate is one of the main organs of the male reproductive system. This organ is vital for the male sex organs to develop normally.

In adult men, the prostate acts mainly to add important fluids to the semen that nourish sperm and protect them against the natural acids in the vagina. In many men, the prostate begins to grow when they are in their 50s, and it may continue to grow for the rest of their lives. An enlarged prostate is usually an “enlarging prostate” for most men over age 50, which means that if your prostate has started to grow, it may continue to grow.

As the prostate grows, it puts pressure on the urethra—the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body. This increasing pressure on the urethra can lead to bothersome urinary symptoms and future problems such as surgery on your prostate.

This condition is known as Enlarging Prostate, or Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). Although prostate cancer can also cause the prostate to grow, Enlarging Prostate is not a cancerous condition—it is not the same as prostate cancer, and it does not lead to cancer.

Enlarging Prostate is not life threatening, but you and your doctor need to keep an eye on it so that it does not get worse.

Know the symptoms of Enlarging Prostate

If you have an enlarging prostate, you may find that you likely have one or more of the following symptoms:

• It is difficult to start urinating.
• It is difficult to empty your bladder completely, and because of this, urine may dribble after you are done.
• The stream of your urine is weak and may start and stop.
• You urinate more often, especially at night.
• You feel the need to urinate more often.
• You get sudden strong urges to urinate.
• You feel bothered about the difficulty that your urinary problems are causing you.

If left untreated…

If left untreated, enlarged prostate can cause bothersome symptoms–even long-term problems such as prostate surgery.
Without treatment, an enlarging prostate can continue to grow over time. Symptoms may develop or get worse. Your chances of having other problems increases over time.

In very severe cases, the prostate becomes so large that it completely blocks the flow of urine out of the bladder. This condition—known as Acute Urinary Retention, or AUR—is a medical emergency.  Patients with AUR must have a catheter inserted through the penis into the bladder to relieve pressure and restart the flow of urine. In some cases, surgery may also be needed.

And in rare cases, an untreated enlarged prostate may eventually lead to incontinence (leaking urine), bladder stones, kidney infection, or even permanent damage to the bladder, kidneys, or urethra. That's why it's so important to treat the cause of enlarged prostate and not just the symptoms. Men over the age of 50 should see their doctor regularly for exams.

Tools and Resources

American Foundation for Urologic Disease
http://www.afud.org

Healthfinder

www.healthfinder.gov

National Institutes of Health
http://www.nih.gov

Excerpt from www.advodart.com

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Happy Labor Day!

     Candrug office is closed on Monday September 4^th, 2006 and will resume business on Tuesday September 5^th, 2006.

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Avordart  – What a SUPER deal!

Dosage	Qty	US $	Price in US
0.5 mg	30	$ 65	$ 95
0.5 mg	60	$ 109	$ 180
0.5 mg	90	$ 160	$ 270

*Price subjects to change without further notifications.

Avodart Information : What is Avodart?

Avodart prevents the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in the body. DHT is involved in the development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Avodart is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with an enlarged prostate. Avodart may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide What should I discuss with my healthcare provider before taking Avodart? Before taking Avodart, tell your doctor if you have liver disease. You may not be able to take Avodart, or you may need a dosage adjustment or special monitoring during therapy. Do not donate blood while taking Avodart and for at least 6 months after the last dose to prevent pregnant women from receiving Avodart through blood transfusion. Avodart is intended for use by men only. Avodart is not intended for use by women. Do not handle this medication if you are pregnant or could become pregnant. Avodart is in the FDA pregnancy category X. This means that it is known to cause birth defects to an unborn baby. If contact is made with leaking capsules, the contact area should be washed immediately with soap and water. It is not known whether Avodart passes into breast milk.

Avodart Side Effects : What are the possible side effects of Avodart? Stop taking Avodart and seek emergency medical attention if you experience a rare allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives). Other, less serious side effects have been reported but may resolve with continued treatment. Continue to take Avodart and notify your doctor if you experience decreased Libido (sex drive); decreased amount of semen released during sex; impotence (trouble getting or keeping an erection); breast tenderness or enlargement Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome. What other drugs will affect Avodart? Many drugs may affect the way that Avodart is metabolized ("broken down") in the body, leading to higher or lower than expected levels of the medication in the blood. Talk to your doctor and pharmacist before taking any prescription or over-the-counter medicines, including vitamins, minerals, and herbal products, during treatment with Avodart.

Hair Loss Issues - It is believed that Phase III trials for hair loss are underway by GSK.- There Supplemental New Drug Application for Hair Loss is thought to have been submitted to FDA sometime in 2001. The excitement around Avodart stems from the fact that it has a much greater and longer inhibition of DHT than Propecia (Finasteride) in early testing. A larger question ultimately will be is it better than Propecia and whether side effects will be greater or more serious. It's currently approved a 0.5 mg softgel form. The drug is expected to be on the market for hair loss in 2006 if approved. Avodart, a second-generation 5 alpha-reductase inhibitor, is the first and only medicine to inhibit both the type 1 and type 2 enzymes responsible for the conversion of testosterone to DHT (dihydrotestosterone), the primary cause of prostate growth. Avodart's dual inhibition decreases levels of DHT by 90 percent at two weeks and 93 percent at two years. By reducing DHT levels, Avodart reduces the size of an enlarged prostate. This reduction in prostate volume was seen as early as one month with reductions continuing through treatment. Shrinking the enlarged prostate relieves urinary obstruction and improves urinary flow. Avodart also improves urinary symptoms and reduces the risk of AUR (the sudden complete inability to urinate) and BPH-related surgery, two potential long-term serious consequences of BPH. The pivotal phase III study data were published in this month's edition of the journal Urology.1 "With avodart, we now have a medicine that reduces the production of DHT by more than 90 percent, helping to shrink the prostate," said Claus Roehrborn, MD, a principal trial investigator and professor and chairman of the Department of Urology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. "By taking Avodart, patients can improve urinary symptoms and reduce their risk of suffering from acute urinary retention - where you suddenly can't urinate at all - or needing BPH-related prostate surgery."

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