Viagra

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Roush Racing and driver Mark Martin confirmed the speculation yesterday by unveiling their 2001 Winston Cup race car with the word Viagra sprawled all over it. The announcement was billed as one of the season's biggest, but when time came to deliver the goods, all parties declined to say exactly what made the announcement so big. How much money Pfizer Inc., maker of the anti-impotence drug for men, paid in the deal was the obvious...

AC/DC's Brian Johnson is a randy old buzzard. He's got only one thing on his mind, and it's double entendres. Skim through the titles on AC/DC's latest album, "Stiff Upper Lip" (EastWest 24942, arriving in stores today), and it's hard to miss the thrust of his lyrics. He "Can't Stand Still" because he wants his honey to "Give It Up." So he's telling her to "Come and Get It" before he heads into the "House of Jazz" and has a "Meltdown." You can stop snickering now, Beavis. Such pre-pubescent prurience would be forgivable if Johnson's nudge-wink lyrics were supported by head-banging guitar work.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A few weeks before coming here, Winston Cup rookie driver Jeff Fuller stood beside his vibrant blue-and-white race car. It was the car that was attracting the attention, not the driver. Not then, anyway. The car, the No. 27 Pontiac, had its sponsor's name sprawled across its hood. V-I-A-G-R-A. The jokes inevitably came. "Jeff, if you should happen to win a race, do you get out of your car in Victory Lane and say, `I owe it all to Viagra?' " Fuller didn't even crack a smile.

Q.My husband takes coated aspirin, furosemide and vitamins. He has just purchased a big package of licorice twists, which he loves. Did I read in your column that licorice can interfere with medicines? I am a bit concerned. A. Your concern is justified. Natural black licorice contains glycyrrhizin, an herbal ingredient that can deplete the body of potassium. In combination with a potassium-wasting diuretic furo-semide (Lasix), this could lead to a life-threatening situation. If potassium levels sink too low, heart rhythm may be disrupted.

Q. I often read in your column about individuals suffering lack of libido due to anti-depressant use. I assume "libido" indicates a lack of fulfillment from the sex act, since they have enough interest to write.My wife was finding our sex life less than rewarding as a result of taking the anti-depressant Zoloft. I'd heard that some women had used Viagra for relief of this situation, so we got a sample to try.It worked very well. Now that she's used the Viagra, she doesn't always need it. I thought you might find our experience interesting.

Just one year after the anti- impotence drug Viagra burst onto pharmacy shelves, the baby blue pill that roared is being sold in 50 countries worldwide, ranging from Thailand to Chile to South Africa.How popular has it been? Before gaining government approval in Thailand, Viagra sold on the black market for about $30 per pill -- about triple the U.S. retail price. And before the Canadian government approved the drug, men there flocked across the border to fill prescriptions -- leading some to dub the honeymoon capital of the world "Viagra Falls."

BOSTON -- The woman is sitting at the beauty parlor scanning the pages of Esquire when he pops up. Bob Dole, World War II veteran, presidential candidate, Senate leader and svelte spokesman on impotence -- no, Erectile Dysfunction -- is staring out at her. Again.Surrounding his photo is the word "Courage." Beside him is the admonition that other men go see their doctor. In the lower right hand corner is a small logo for Pfizer, maker of Viagra.This woman is a certified believer in male openness and sharing and touching and feeling.

Q. I have heard there is a new medicine for people with arthritis. Please tell me the name of this drug and when it will become available.My knees are in bad shape, and I took Advil until it gave me an ulcer. Now I get by on Tylenol but would appreciate something stronger.A. Celebrex (celecoxib) is a new kind of prescription arthritis medicine that the Food and Drug Administration may approve any day now. It probably won't be more effective against arthritis pain than current medications, but it is less likely to irritate the stomach lining.

Manufacturers of the experimental mail-order plane that nose-dived into Beards Creek on Saturday defend the integrity of their product and speculate that pilot error, not mechanical problems, caused the accident that killed actor William Gardner Knight.Federal investigators, tipped off by a prescription bottle found among Knight's belongings, suspect that the pilot made a fatal mistake while impaired by the side effects of Viagra, though they have not ruled out other causes.They sent blood and tissue samples yesterday to Federal Aviation Administration laboratories in Oklahoma City, where a test is being developed to help determine whether Knight, 56, had the impotence drug in his system.

Manufacturers of the experimental mail-order plane that nose-dived into Beards Creek on Saturday defend the integrity of their product and speculate that pilot error, not mechanical problems, caused the accident that killed actor William Gardner Knight.Federal investigators, tipped off by a prescription bottle found among Knight's belongings, suspect that the pilot made a fatal mistake while impaired by the side effects of Viagra, though they have not ruled out other potential causes.They sent blood and tissue samples yesterday to Federal Aviation Administration laboratories in Oklahoma City, where a test is being developed to help determine whether Knight, 56, had the impotence drug in his system.