<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Illegal pills contain high levels of diabetes drug
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Over the past one year and five months, 10 Singaporeans have died from taking illegal sexual enhancement pills.
Sixty-six others were confirmed to have taken ill due to the pills. Some fell into a coma and others suffered brain damage. Another 226 people are suspected to have become sick after taking these drugs.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) does not keep records on detailed profiles of these victims, but said all but one were men and their ages ranged from 21 to over 90. More than half were above the age of 40.
A study of 30 such men last year found that they were generally lower-scaled workers. Most had taken pills containing overly high levels of a diabetes drug.
So far, four products here - Power 1 Walnut, fake Cialis, Santi Bonvine Penis Erecting Capsule and Zhong Hua Niu Bian - have been found to contain the diabetes drug, glibenclamide, at levels of up to five times the maximum dose taken by diabetics. They are believed to be illegally made in countries like China, India and Indonesia.
Ms Chan Cheng Leng, director of the HSA's pharmacovigilance branch, said such products from dubious sources may have been contaminated.
The pills could also be laced with glibenclamide in various levels. A person who takes one laced lightly might take two pills the next time for a stronger effect. But if he takes two pills that were laced with high levels the next round, he will be in danger.
Dr Chin Chong Min, a senior consultant urologist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said that glibenclamide can lower blood-sugar levels. 'You can die from that as low blood-sugar is like cutting off the electrical supply to the brain...It leads to coma and even death.'
While such drugs appeal to those with erectile dysfunction issues, they are also in demand by people who are addicted to the highs of sex and want to prolong the experience, said Dr Chin.
Since February last year, the HSA has conducted more than 40 operations to weed out illegal sexual enhancement products. Twenty-four peddlers have been caught and convicted in court.
Ms Chan said if a person really needs such products, he should visit doctors and not 'gamble your life away' by taking illegal pills.
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Over the past one year and five months, 10 Singaporeans have died from taking illegal sexual enhancement pills.
Sixty-six others were confirmed to have taken ill due to the pills. Some fell into a coma and others suffered brain damage. Another 226 people are suspected to have become sick after taking these drugs.
The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) does not keep records on detailed profiles of these victims, but said all but one were men and their ages ranged from 21 to over 90. More than half were above the age of 40.
A study of 30 such men last year found that they were generally lower-scaled workers. Most had taken pills containing overly high levels of a diabetes drug.
So far, four products here - Power 1 Walnut, fake Cialis, Santi Bonvine Penis Erecting Capsule and Zhong Hua Niu Bian - have been found to contain the diabetes drug, glibenclamide, at levels of up to five times the maximum dose taken by diabetics. They are believed to be illegally made in countries like China, India and Indonesia.
Ms Chan Cheng Leng, director of the HSA's pharmacovigilance branch, said such products from dubious sources may have been contaminated.
The pills could also be laced with glibenclamide in various levels. A person who takes one laced lightly might take two pills the next time for a stronger effect. But if he takes two pills that were laced with high levels the next round, he will be in danger.
Dr Chin Chong Min, a senior consultant urologist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, said that glibenclamide can lower blood-sugar levels. 'You can die from that as low blood-sugar is like cutting off the electrical supply to the brain...It leads to coma and even death.'
While such drugs appeal to those with erectile dysfunction issues, they are also in demand by people who are addicted to the highs of sex and want to prolong the experience, said Dr Chin.
Since February last year, the HSA has conducted more than 40 operations to weed out illegal sexual enhancement products. Twenty-four peddlers have been caught and convicted in court.
Ms Chan said if a person really needs such products, he should visit doctors and not 'gamble your life away' by taking illegal pills.
