Health Alert - Sweet Energizer Vitality Candy

Health Canada is advising consumers of possible side effects of Sweet Energizer Vitality Candy which is promoted for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

The Hong Kong Department of Health also warned consumers not to buy or use the product Sweet Energizer Vitality Candy because it was found to contain an unauthorised substance with a structure similar to tadalafil (aminotadalafil).

Tadalafil is a prescription drug used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction, and should only be used under the supervision of a health care practitioner.

Possible Side-Effects

Unsupervised use of tadalafil by patients with heart disease can result in serious cardiovascular side-effects such as sudden cardiac death, heart attack, stroke, hypertension, chest pain and abnormal heartbeat. Additionally, use of tadalafil may be associated with other side-effects including temporary vision loss, seizure, prolonged erection, headache, flushing, nasal congestion and abdominal pain. Products containing tadalafil should not be used by individuals taking any type of nitrate drug (e.g., nitroglycerine) due to the risk of developing potentially life-threatening low blood pressure.

Use in Canada

These products are not authorized for sale in Canada and have not been found in the Canadian marketplace, but it is possible they may have been brought into the country by travellers or purchased over the Internet.

Canadians who have this product are advised not to use it, and should consult with a health care professional if they have concerns about their health related to the use of this product.

Drugs and natural health products that are authorized for sale in Canada will have either an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN), a Natural Product Number (NPN) or a Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) on the label. These numbers indicate that the products have been assessed by Health Canada for safety, effectiveness and quality.

Health Canada advises Canadians to contact the Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate at 1-800-267-9675 if they find the product listed in the table in the Canadian marketplace.

For more information about the information contained in this advisory, please contact Health Canada's public inquiries line at (613) 957-2991 or toll-free at 1-866-225-0709.

As of the date of this posting, no adverse reactions suspected to be associated with the use of this product have been reported in Canada.

In Other Canadian Health and Disability News

Poverty and inequality rates in Canada have been on the rise since 1995 and are now higher than the average developed nation, according to a new study. The income gap is growing throughout the developed world, but the gap between rich and poor in Canada widened more dramatically than in most countries between 1995 and 2005, according to the report released in Paris today.

Poverty and inequality rates in Canada have been on the rise since 1995 and are now higher than the average developed nation, according to a new study.

The income gap is growing throughout the developed world, but the gap between rich and poor in Canada widened more dramatically than in most countries between 1995 and 2005, according to the report released in Paris today. The 20-year analysis by the 30-member Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development found only Germany saw a similar rate of increase during the past 10 years.

"After 20 years of continuous decline, both inequality and poverty rates (in Canada) have increased rapidly in the past 10 years, now reaching levels above the OECD average," says the report.

The Supreme Court of Canada agreed Thursday to consider whether a B.C. man is entitled to $200,000 in disability insurance for being rendered paraplegic after having unprotected sex.

The case, which pits the Co-operators Life Insurance Company against Randolph Gibbens, will centre on the meaning of the word "accident" in deciding insurance claims. The court will consider whether the 47-year-old Port Coquitlam man was the author of his own misfortune for having unprotected sex in early 2003 and contracting genital herpes, a virus that attacked his spine and paralyzed him from his abdomen down.

At the time, he belonged to the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades, which had a group insurance policy with Co-operators that paid $200,000 to claimants who lost their legs in an accident.

The B.C. Supreme Court, in siding with Gibbens in July 2007, concluded his "foolish" behaviour was a far cry from engaging in "inordinate risk," such as playing Russian Roulette, laying down on the centre line of a highway during traffic or precariously balancing on a patio ledge. The Supreme Court hearing will likely take place in 2009.

VANCOUVER - Pickpockets have been targeting seniors in Langley.

A man, 78, was distracted by two men and one woman as he left the Wal-Mart store in Langley about 1:30 p.m. last Saturday. One of the persons sprayed the victim's jacket with a yellow substance. The three persons apologized then offered him help to clean up. The victim noticed a hand in his pocket and yelled for help. He noticed later that his credit card was missing from his wallet.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told the province's municipalities, hospitals and school boards yesterday to brace for bad news in the budget next year, when they will feel the full impact of spending cuts to address the ailing economy.

The warning comes as municipalities await word on when the province will take back responsibility for funding social services that was shifted to them in the mid-1990s. The global financial crisis, which is expected to bring hard times to Canada's most populous province for the next two years, will force the government to put the brakes on new initiatives, including taking back responsibility for social programs.

The McGuinty government already has taken steps to ease financial pressures on local governments, including sharing a portion of provincial gas tax revenues. In addition, the province has taken back the cost of public health, land ambulance and, by 2011, the municipal share of the Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Drug Benefits for social assistance recipients.

As if patients with chronic lung disease didn't have enough to worry about.

In addition to the panic and helplessness that climbing a flight of stairs can trigger, the results of a recent study may now have patients wondering if the inhaler medicine they are taking is also going to give them a heart attack - even a fatal one. This week's HealthWatch takes a closer look at how reliable these findings are and what they mean for patients with smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.

Canada is a nation of caregivers, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

A rapidly ageing population means the number of people needing a helping hand could eventually exceed the ranks of those able to provide one. One in five Canadians aged 45 and older was providing unpaid care to a senior last year, one-quarter of whom are seniors themselves.

 The number of Canadians caregivers jumped by 670,000 between 2002 and 2007 and now sits at 2.7 million. Of those, 675,000 are seniors and one-third of that group is over 75.

Forty-three per cent of caregivers are in the 45-to-54 age group most likely to have children at home and find themselves in the "sandwich generation," balancing the needs of their aging parents and their own families.