That's news to me

Researchers reported Thursday that cyclists may be able to increase their performance by taking Viagra--their athletic performance, that is.

The cyclists were tested on an exercise bike under normal conditions and while breathing air low in oxygen. Some were given sugar pills, and the others took Viagra.

"The participants told us that while they were riding the bike they didn't know whether they were on the drug or not," Friedlander said. "However, what they did say was that in the showers afterward they pretty much knew which pill they had been given."

A former handyman has won more than $US400,000 ($A545,890) in a lawsuit over a penile implant that gave him a 10-year erection.

Charles "Chick" Lennon, 68, received the steel and plastic implant in 1996, about two years before Viagra went on the market. The Dura-II is designed to allow impotent men to position the penis upward for sex, then lower it.

But Lennon could not position his penis downward. He said he could no longer hug people, ride a bike, swim or wear a swimming costume because of the pain and embarrassment.