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Strategies & Market Trends : Roger's 1998 Short Picks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BDR who wrote (8447)	5/6/1998 3:04:00 AM
From: George Acton	Respond to of 18691

The visual side effect is understandable as an intrinsic effect of the drug. There's a "second messenger" compound in cells called cyclic GMP. In the retina the level changes in response to light and gets translated in signals to the brain. In erectile tissue (of both sexes), it tells muscle cells in blood vessels to relax so that blood is retained and the tissue fills with blood. Viagra acts to block the enzyme that breaks down cGMP so the visual effect is understandable. PFE is lucky that the effect is minor in the retina and major where it contrubutes to the bottom line <sorry, couldn't resist>. Coffee and tea block the breakdown enzyme for a related second messenger, cAMP, and Folger's and Lipton's seem to avoid product liability suits. --George Acton