IT’S PHYSICAL – June 2, 2022 – Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and avoidant or restrictive food intake disorder are life-threatening psychiatric disorders that are generally difficult to treat. The lifetime prevalence of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder is 8.4 percent for women and 2.2 percent for men around the world. These data reflect diagnostic criteria based on clinical presentation in women and, therefore, most likely underestimate the prevalence in men. Women experience societal pressures that encourage and reward them for being thin; in contrast, men are encouraged to become large and muscular. These…
Author: Leonard Buschel
FOLLOW THE MONEY – June 2, 2022 – Oregonians passed Ballot Measure 110 in 2020 decriminalizing possession of personal amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs — the first in the nation to do so. A person found with drugs receives a citation, like a traffic ticket, with the maximum $100 fine waived if they call a hotline for a health assessment. The ballot measure redirected millions of dollars in tax revenue from the state’s legal marijuana industry to treatment. But applications for funding stacked up after state officials underestimated the work required to vet them and get…
SAVE A LIFE! – June 2, 2022 – “We know that we are experiencing a crisis of overdose deaths, and these are preventable,” said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener. “This is one way to help keep people safe and to actually help people get into treatment.” Assembly Public Safety Committee members advanced the bill on a 5-2 vote after hearing conflicting statistics about the experiences in Canada, Europe, Australia and most recently two sites in New York City. There has been not a single overdose death in the supervised sites, said Wiener and proponents of his bill. But people still are…
SCIENCE MAY ONE DAY DO SO – June 2, 2022 – Gene Analysis was performed by the Clariom S Assay tool. This machine serves as a next generation transcriptome-wide gene-level expression profiling tool, which allows for the fastest, simplest, and most scalable path to generating actionable results. Based on industry-leading microarray technology, the novel rat Clariom S Assay provides extensive coverage of all known well-annotated genes, compatibility with clinical sample types, scalable formats, and flexible data analysis software. The GeneChip™ Rat Genome 230 2.0 Assay was used to evaluate gene expression levels and in cell lines that were treated…
VIDEO – NOT JUST IN USA – June 4, 2022 – Kevin Kamere, a resident of Jawatho village in Nakuru, did not know that bondage, not freedom, awaited him. Then 19-year-old university student, little did he know the first sip of liquor he took in 2020 as a cheeky activity with friends would spiral out of control and thrust him into a long-drawn-out battle with alcoholism, he might have reconsidered his actions. more@YouTube
IT’S IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER – June 2, 2022 – “We have an epidemic of body image anxiety,” Professor Widdows says. “We have to move away from that.” “We need to start taking it seriously.” Joseph Taylor, 36, says he grew up hating his “stereotypical [ethnic] big nose”. He’s since had three nose jobs, the first when he was 17. Schoolyard teasing played a part in his decision. “Kids can be horrible,” he says. “Someone probably said something like, ‘Oh, you big nose’. “It must have, at some point, really got to me.” “When we’re young, we’re…
TALK IS NOT CHEAP – May 15, 2022 – Mylan continued: “My personal relationships suffered, my work relationships suffered and it robbed me of my inner ambition. “I managed to work, I managed around relationships and things to a degree but nothing ever lasted because, ultimately, it was chaos. It definitely took chunks of my life away from me.” The father-of-two eventually sought help with the ‘unconditional support’ of wife Tammie, who had told him they would get through it together. “I was almost like washed up on a shoreline half dead, thinking I’ve had enough,” he said. “I wanted…
MONEY MONEY MONEY – May 31, 2022 – Psychologists often classify the preoccupation with wealth as a “process addiction,” a category that also includes a fixation on gambling, sex, or even exercise (though the psychiatric bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, doesn’t specifically outline a “wealth addiction”). It’s not a diagnosis triggered by an arbitrary net worth figure or brokerage balance but rather how it affects your emotional well-being and your relationships. “What turns habits into addictions is their compulsive and harmful nature,” says Stanton Peele, a Brooklyn-based psychologist. “For example, if someone is accumulating wealth yet they’re spending all…
SCIENCE IS REAL – June 1, 2022 – “We’re trying to provide a better understanding of the neurotransmission side of the compulsions that define addiction, to understand which neurons are relevant on the network level,” Kroener said. He said changes in an addicted person’s brain persist beyond the initial withdrawal period. “These persistent neuroadaptations increase alcohol’s incentive salience — the motivation to seek rewards through alcohol,” he said. “The desire to seek out the addictive substance escalates as someone tries to quit.” With the new funding, Kroener will focus on changes in the medial prefrontal cortex and deficits in…
VIDEO – BUT HOW MUCH IS THE DEDUCTIBLE? – June 3, 2022 – “For thousands of patients, medical marijuana is a safer and more effective medication than other drugs, especially opioids,” a justification memo attached to the bill says. “While it can be prohibitively expensive for many patients, especially in the absence of insurance coverage, it may often be less expensive than what their insurance coverage pays for other medications.” Responding to concerns from fellow lawmakers on the floor ahead of the vote about the potential costs of the legislation, Savino said that “it is time for New York State…
LIFE AND LESS DEATH – June 4, 2022 – Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody tweeted a copy of one of the woke NYC subway ads — which also says druggies should feel “empowered” when they use potentially lethal fentanyl safely, even though the substance was the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 45 in 2020, according to one analysis. “There is no ‘safe’ way to abuse fentanyl & these ads do not ‘empower’ users — they could get them killed,” the Republican AG wrote Tuesday. “I’m astounded how far off the rails NYC leaders have gone. DO…
DOCTOR KNOWS – June 1, 2022 – He was a key figure in a cesspool of fraud uncovered by The Center for Investigative Reporting and CNN in an investigation that documented rampant cheating and a glaring lack of state oversight in California’s rehab system for the poor. Now, Oliver’s in prison, sentenced to serve more than seven years. His conviction is a capstone of a sweeping yearslong criminal crackdown on fraudulent rehab clinics prompted directly by the 2013 CIR/CNN investigation. All told, the California attorney general’s office has charged 144 people associated with 49 rehab clinics, resulting in 96 convictions…
VIDEO – IS STARBUCKS A HEALTH RETREAT? – May 31, 2022 – Contrary to popular myth, forgoing coffee isn’t likely to improve your health. The opposite might be true: Years of research suggests that drinking coffee is linked with a lower risk of death. The latest addition to that body of research was published Mondayin the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study looked at around 120,000 people in the U.K. who regularly drank unsweetened or sugar-sweetened coffee over seven years. The findings suggested that those who drank 1.5 to 3.5 cups a day had a lower risk of death…
JUST LIKE BABY FORMULA – June 3, 2022 – Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation CEO and owner Lou Kennedy said in a statement that the company is “cooperating” with the FDA on the recalled products. “While there has been no impact to patient safety, and there is no evidence of contamination, Nephron has decided in the interest of patients to proceed with this recall process,” Kennedy said. 8.4% Sodium Bicarbonate InjectionCalcium Gluconate InjectionEpinephrine InjectionFentanyl Citrate in 0.9% Sodium Chloride InjectionGlycopyrrolate InjectionHydromorphone HCl InjectionKetamine Hydrochloride InjectionLabetalol HCl InjectionLidocaine HCl InjectionNeostigmine Methylsulfate InjectionOxytocin 30 Units/500 mLPhenylephrine HCl InjectionRocuronium Bromide InjectionSuccinylcholine Chloride Injection more@NJ
HARM REDUCTION WORKS – June 3, 2022 – Whether it’s the safe-injection sites in Harlem and Brooklyn or the decriminalization of cocaine and opioid possession in British Columbia (announced this week), advocates of the harm-reduction approach must be willing to accept evidence. Accepting hard-drug use signals that public-health authorities believe they have no tools to reverse a public-health crisis, that they are giving up on thousands of citizens or embracing the misbegotten idea that one can be a productive drug addict. Here’s another idea for the city Health Department: a subway campaign urging riders not to use drugs in the…
VIDEO – THE OTHER PANDEMIC WITHIN A PANDEMIC – June 3, 2022 – There is probably a small group of kids who get long Covid where you might say that there is some direct impact of the Covid virus on the brain, but that’s a pretty small group of kids. But overall, when we think about what Covid has done, it has really destroyed the infrastructure for kids with mental health problems. If you really think about it in a slightly deeper way, we’ve been advocating for mental health for kids for a long time. Families and schools are more…
GREEDY MONSTERS – May 20, 2022 – And as you know, another agency with alleged ties to Big Pharma, The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations was also found to be responsible for participating in the opiate nightmare by wholeheartedly and murderously adopting and forcing most hospitals in America to add “pain” as the fifth vital sign, which contributed to an incredible increase in the amount of painkiller prescriptions being written across America. Maybe the most obvious cause is greed; personal, corporate and political GREED. After all, who benefits from the opioid crisis? The pharmaceutical companiesThe prison industrial complexHospitalsThe…
SHE HAS A NEW GOAL – May 1, 2022 – Through a statement published on social networks, the American explained: “I will voluntarily enter a program as an alcohol treatment patient to address my alcohol problems” adding: “Right now, my energies and attention are totally directed towards my health, my recovery and the care of my family.” On May 21, He was only going to participate in the ceremony to enter the United States Soccer Hall of Fame. In the letter, he announced that he had already contacted the authorities and that it was decided to postpone his entry to…
NATURAL SOLUTION – June 3, 2022 – Cowley mixed the drink using Ritual Tequila Alternative — a zero-proof substitute that’s part of a new genre of alcohol-free “liquors.” The brand also makes zero-proof gin, rum and whiskey. A third round included the Cowley’s Poggy Bay Breeze, made with Damrak — a company that makes actual gin and has started with a nonalcoholic version called VirGin — as well as pineapple, pomegranate and lime. “The name came from Poggy Bay, a very small bay off of Stonington Point. Poggy is slang for porgy, which is slang for scup, which used…
NOT IF YOU QUIT – June 5, 2022 – I have been, for many years and mostly from an academic point of view, fascinated by addiction. Perhaps my fascination was sharpened also by a subconscious worry that a genetic curse afflicting both my maternal and paternal families, going back many generations, might too be visited on me. A great grandfather on my mother’s side was banished to America in 1907 before he “drank the farm”. Both my father’s grandparents were drunks causing their children, including my grandfather, to be taken into care; the reason my father and his brother…
“Everybody says sex is obscene. The only true obscenity is war.” – Henry Miller (Happy Birthday Henry! Dec. 26, 1891–June 7, 1980)
AND END UP ON THE STREET – MAY 27, 2022 – It was a nurse who first introduced Stretch to opioids The nurse instigated the shot. I think she understood I was pretty miserable and offered me one where nobody else had. And of course I was kind of like, “I guess.” And she’s, “Okay I’m going to get you one.” So she comes back with a shot and gives it to me. And it seemed like forever later, just sitting on the edge of the bed in the same exact spot that I was, after I sat up…
MAIL ORDER IN REVERSE – May 24, 2022 – The researchers invited 657 patients to participate in their study, and 302 consented. Of those who participated in the trial, which took place from April 19 to June 1, 2021, half were sent an at-home disposal kit that was embedded in an existing postoperative text message program used to capture patient-reported outcomes data. Delivery of disposal kits was timed so that they would arrive when patients were most likely to be finished taking the medications. The remaining half of the study’s participants were given usual care, which includes a text message…
THROWS BOTTLE OFF HIS BACK – May 22, 2022 – In 2021, after a year and a half in recovery from his injuries and struggling with alcohol abuse, Oleson checked himself into Renaissance Ranch, a treatment facility in Bluffdale, Utah. “It was tough at first. I was in pretty bad shape emotionally, mentally stuff like that,” says Oleson. “But going through it, it was one of the best things of my life, honestly. Even today, when I’m back in the Idaho/Utah area, I try to hang around that treatment center. They have a pretty good group of people, a…
CRAZY TIMES – May 26, 2022 – The investigational schizophrenia treatment xanomeline/trospium (KarXT) yielded significantly greater improvements in all five Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Marder factors versus placebo, according to the phase II EMERGENT-1study. These improvements were significant by week 2 of treatment, and included positive and negative symptoms, disorganized thought, uncontrolled hostility, and depression/anxiety. In the 5-week randomized trial among 170 inpatients with schizophrenia, those treated with a maximum of 125 mg/30 mg twice daily also had significant improvements in Clinical Global Impressions Scale categorical responses as early as week 2 of treatment. “If confirmed in ongoing…
VIDEO – ART SAVES LIVES – May 26, 2022 – “Our district has seen an increase in the number of suicide assessments being completed, increased levels of grief, and increased aggression within behavior,” he said. “We’ve also seen an elevated increase in illegal substance use.” District 11 is urging parents to talk to their children about the dangers of fentanyl amidst what they are calling “an epidemic” of synthetic opioid use. To support and anchor his students at Community Prep, Tryon created a darkroom in the school’s basement in 2018. From photography classes to exhibits, an addiction counselor connects students…
FAMILY TIES – May 24, 2022 – At some point that “fun” drinking turned into a nightly routine that meant I couldn’t have important conversations with my mum past a certain hour, because they’d turn into an argument, or she would not remember them. I began to live in fear that my mum would fall down the stairs when drunk, or have some other accident. I felt an immense pressure to protect her, but helpless in my ability to. I was always an anxious child, and that anxiety increased hugely. Then she’d wake up, shake off the hangover and…
AUDIO – LOCK THEM ADDICTS UP – May 24, 2022 – As legislators seem poised to add millions of dollars in funding for involuntary commitment programs under the law called Section 35, there are concerns among legislators, public health advocates and families on the state of forced treatment here. About a month ago, Jim Derick, of Franklin, petitioned a court to “section” his 31-year-old son to treatment for the fourth time in three years. Derick, president of the SAFE Coalition, a substance use support and education nonprofit, said he opted for forced treatment after Franklin police had found Derick’s son…
JUST LIKE THE OLIVE TREE – May 16, 2022 – Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy was always wild and even got kicked out of his own band in 1979 following booze and drug-fuelled incidents. Ozzy, who was originally from Birmingham, returned to his band Black Sabbath for a short time following the series. In 2016, he and Sharon announced they were splitting after 33 years of marriage. Ozzy was said to have had an affair with his hairdresser, but received treatment for sex addiction, and was soon back in Sharon’s arms. he rocker and son Jack then did a show…
SOMEONE’S IN THE KITCHEN – May 26th 2022 – Bailey is standing side-by-side with her peers in the recovery community at this cooking class as they learn tips and tools for a safe, sober life. The Alano Club of Portland, in partnership with Ben’s Friends, has organized monthly cooking classes for people working through their addiction recovery, taught by some established Portland-area chefs who are also in addiction recovery. The project, known as Plates For The People, was born before the coronavirus pandemic but was halted, as COVID-19 forced people into isolation for two years. Kasey Anderson, the Alano…