Have we Become Completely drug dependent?

We have a drug for every ailment imaginable. I’m not just talking about prescription drugs, I mean all drugs from A to Z. The slightest little problem can be remedied by reaching into the medicine cabinet.

Obviously some medications are necessary, though many are redundant and should be left alone. If we can’t sleep we have sleeping pills, aspirin for headaches, and tums for upset stomachs, you name we have something for it. Many doctors hand out prescriptions like they are candy. If someone is a little blue they can go pick up a prescription for Prozac or some other similar pill.

The question that needs to be asked is what exactly is the cost of having a pill for everything? Aren’t headaches and upset stomachs natural? Isn’t it normal to occasionally have a restless night? What will happen if our body quits healing itself? All of these are question that should raise concern. Our ancestors were able to fight off minor ailments without unneeded medication.

In the past if someone was a little down, they would work through it until it had passed. Imagine what would happen if we suddenly lost the ability to fight off a little melancholy. If we lost our natural defense to ward off emotional sadness would it leave us in a state of severe sadness that never really went away?

I know all of these pills aren’t needed. I know this through my own life, there have been numerous times when I have had a headache and just never got around to taking aspirin and amazingly my headache just naturally went away every time. In my mind, that proves that the body is perfectly capable of fighting off little things like headaches and therefore it only makes since that we don’t need a pill for every single discomfort that we suffer.

Should Beta-blockers be used to Fight Racism?

"When we look at racism which resulted from upbringing, there just isn’t any fear attached."

A popular heart drug has been used on volunteer test subjects to access its effect on alleviating racial thoughts on the subconscious level. The theory is that racism is built off of subconscious fear and therefore if a beta-blocker that blocked the brains neurotransmitters that led to fear were used then racism would decrease.

Then you have to ask whether or not all racism evolved from fear. I for one don’t believe that all racism is based on fear and if all racism doesn’t stem from fear then taking a beta-blocker wouldn’t necessarily work. Racism just isn’t that simple, it comes from many sources. It’s true some racist thoughts are based on fear, such as the type that is an extreme of stereotyping in example, when a person becomes uncomfortable when in a neighborhood that is dominantly one specific race. That type of racism is most likely fear based.

When we look at racism which resulted from upbringing, there just isn’t any fear attached. There may have been fear associated with this type of racism originally however as time progressed it became less fear and more learned or ingrained character flaws.

I may be looking too far into this and simply splitting hairs, yet still I just can’t seem to chalk all levels and all types of racism into fear. I believe that the root cause of racism can come from many avenues beyond fear. Do you believe that racism is strictly a result of fear or is it possible that it springs from other areas?

Put Down the Bottle and Grab some Acid

New study suggest LSD can benefit alcoholics

Pharmaceutical just might be turning to drugs, real drugs that is. We have already seen the a few states making use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, now we may be seeing that trend increase into other drug uses. LSD just might be next on topic for medicine.

A new study has shown that LSD could benefit alcoholics get and remain sober. In fact it could be advisable to pull out the old acid test from the 1960’s and 1970’s to see just how beneficial LSD could be for various medical issues. In the Norwegian study that tested 536 alcoholics there was a 60% success rate in getting alcoholics to sober up and stay sober. Unfortunately LSD doesn’t provide a one-time cure and therefore continuous use may be needed.

Alcoholism has been a problem that affects many people each year, including the people around them. If alcoholics can clean up with the use of LSD that would be great. No more senseless drunkenness, though we would probably have new problems. We would have nonfunctional alcoholics turned into useless acid trippers.

It would be nice to see a sociological experiment ran alongside more scientific studies so that we would have a look at the possible sociological aspects that could arise with treating alcoholism with LSD. Really we would be trading one substance for another. It has been argued that the same is done with methadone treatment and heroin, however methadone is given to fight severe heroin withdraws. When it comes right down to it, I guess like any other drug you take the good with the bad.

Are Drug Companies destroying prevention Strategies?

Medications are known to help countless individuals with medical problems, however sometimes they are made frivolously

Drug companies have made medications to help the extreme obese lose weight for countless years. Though these drugs never last as they eventually cause severe medical conditions and we eventually see class action law suits advertised to gain more clients. Doesn’t it seem to reason that maybe our medical field should spend more time on prevention strategies and natural paths to help patients lose weight through education and support and less time pushing drugs?

I know that the obesity battle can be strenuous and difficult. My own mother battled her weight her entire life until she finally gave up and consequently blew up to around 350 pounds. This resulted in Type II Diabetes. When she was diagnosed she took her medication and slowly began to seek and follow outside help. It took her several years to change her life, however she has lost an amazing amount of weight, in fact she is skinnier than I’ve ever seen her.

The greatest news and the reason that I believe obesity should be fought with education and support instead of dangerous drugs is that my mother went in for her normal checkup a few months back and she has successfully reversed her Type II Diabetes. They have taken back all of her medication and she now lives a healthy active lifestyle that she personally has never known. Think of all the people that can reverse their own Type II Diabetes, if only they received help instead of drugs that came with an side effect list an entire page long.

New Drug Fights Criminal Behavior but at What Cost?

Pleasure blockers are being used to prevent pleasure seeking behaviors such as addiction

Drugs and prison overcrowding have been a burden on society for countless decades. Usually the result of taking drugs is what actually lands people in prison either by the drug itself or a result of behavior caused by the drug. That may however be changed.

Instead of drugs landing people in prison it just may prevent people from going to prison in the first place. Alkermes Pharmaceuticals has a new drug (Vivitrol) in its initial study conducted with current prisoners in prison. The drug is injected once a month and blocks pleasure receptors. Basically it has the potential to eliminate the pleasure received by doing drugs and therefore will prevent drug use and crime resulting from drug use.

I find the ideal of Vivitrol to be interesting however I can’t help but to contemplate the risk. Immediate questions are brought to mind. What are the long time effects? If Vivitrol, a blocker is administered for say a year or more will pleasure receptors eventually wear down? Another point to consider is the long term emotional damage. Will pleasure receptors be damaged or destroyed? If pleasure receptors are blocked then it stands to reason that these people are lacking all pleasure, which over time just may cause them to lose their desire and even become depressed.

One other point that I’d like to mention is that Vivitrol is a temporary fix. While Vivitrol is in a person system they lack the pleasurable effects of whichever drug they seek. This doesn’t necessarily remove the desire or deal with the underlying cause of their behavior. Therefore it stands to reason that when they stop they’ll still be drug addicted criminals looking to quench their needs.

A fresh Glass of Pharmaceuticals

Do you Know What's in Your Drinking Water?

 

Bottled water is essential for many reasons. Naturally it’s great to eat for overall good health. It’s also good to ensure that you know what is going into your body.

Every now and again we’re reminded that Americans take so many pills that the bulk of them go right through the body and are then flushed back into the water supply. Also some people have been known to flush medicines that they no longer need. This has in a sense contaminated our water supply that people drink every day for good health. In addition to water being contaminated through regular use, many hospitals have been known to flush unused medications.

Even though our water supply is thoroughly cleaned before it comes through each faucet, the cleaning process still isn’t getting it all. Our drinking water can contain any number of prescription drugs ranging from painkillers, anti-depressants, blood pressure pills and even sex hormones. These are all medicines that the average person doesn’t need in their drinking water.

The best way to avoid drinking someone else’s pills is to just have clean uncontaminated water on hand at all times. This can be accomplished in several ways. You can order your water and have it delivered to your doorstep, though the cost of this can fluctuate depending on which carrier you use and where you live. You can also buy bottled water, though buying single bottles can become expensive.  Another option is to refill your own jugs of water at your local grocery store, most grocery stores now have a place that will allow you to fill bottles up with fresh water.

Acai Diet Pills Busted - Not Breaking News after all

If only we can get the other fake pages removed

How many times have you been surfing the web and came across an Acai Diet pill news story? Now each time that I came across it I was a little puzzled simply because it literally looked like a news story. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed unlikely. Unfortunately, not everyone realized that they were reading an ad made to look like a reputable news article. Many people were duped into spending money on Acai products as a result of their fraudulent acts.

This little unethical practice has ended, in fact it’s going to cost the perpetrators a large amount of money. The LA Times have reported that “Online promoters of swift weight loss from acai berry diet pills have agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.” It’s nice to know that the Federal Trade Commission is stepping up to protect consumers.

One thing that had bothered me whenever I came across one of the Acai News article type ads is that I was certain that laws were being broken, however nothing ever seemed to come of it. This was disturbing considering that it pointed towards a new kind of advertising that in all honesty has been in the making for some time. It’s actually become so prevalent that it makes it difficult to locate information online. It’s become unbearable to look up a simple question, mainly because you have to often go over several pages to find an actual article that’s not falsely written up with the purpose of directing you to a website trying to sell you something. It’ll be nice if this case becomes a stepping stone to turn the internet back into what it once was.

A Cure for Alzheimers by 2025 - maybe

Imagine the lives that it'll impact

Is the goal of having a new drug to combat Alzheimer’s by 2025 to unrealistic? Many say that it is and there is a fear that drug companies will give up altogether. This is a nice goal, yet it may very well be out of reach.

Alzheimer’s is a terrible fact of life for countless people that alter the lives of not only those who have it, also those around them. My mother n law was diagnosed around 6 or 7 years ago after beating cancer. We watched as  she turned into a different person. The once confident strong woman that we all knew had become incapable of caring for herself.

She now lives with her brother and we take turns caring for her. He has had to completely alter his life. We switch off every couple days so that neither one of us become too overwhelmed.  She has good days and bad days, when she is having a bad day everyone is having a bad day.

She’s been known to break down crying for no reason at all. She’s very childlike, sometimes when she’s done eating or she doesn’t care for what you made she’ll pick up her plate and throw it upside down on the table or the floor. Anytime that you leave the room, she ‘ll think that she’s being talked about and instantly go into a tantrum.

Having a drug for Alzheimer’s that actually helps would be amazing not only for those who might have it in the future, also for anyone who is currently suffering. It can also be a lifesaver for the people who have to care for their loved ones who happen to have Alzheimer’s. I would love to see a drug by 2025. I’m not sure whether it’s doable or not, at the very least it’s a step in the right direction.

Are Pill Mill Operators finally being seen as the Drug Dealers that they are?

Prescription drugs can cause the same addiction problems that illegal drugs cause

Whatever happened to the good ole days of marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogenic? I’m not saying they were great, though at least people knew what they were taking and other people knew what to expect from someone taking these substances. Now we still have them, though we also have a whole smorgasbord substances that can create any number of reactions.

There are pills for any number of problems, most people only take pills if their doctor has prescribed them. Unfortunately many people take them to get high, often more than one type. This can cause moderate to severe drug interactions.

Doctors normally make sure that they aren’t giving a patient a drug that can interact with another drug. Unfortunately addicts can bypass this by visiting their local Pill Mill. Pill Mills give out Pharmaceuticals, personally I look at them like the new drug dealers, after all they’re basically the same minus the dark shady street corner.

 Pill Mills and the addiction that Pill Mills feed have led to them finally being seen as the drug dealers that they are. In fact prison sentences are beginning to be handed down with similar time amounts that standard illegal drugs would bring in, although it’s hard to say whether or not the sentence requirement is the same. For example a Florida man who was a co-owner of a Pill Mill recently received a 15 year sentence for illegally distributing 20 million pills, though that wasn’t his only crime. He also was charged with racketeering conspiracy and 2nd degree murder, resulting from a drug overdose. Actual drug dealers don’t keep records therefore they can only be charged with the amount of drugs that they happen to have on hand.

Is America Catching up with Canada?

Imagine if it works...

The power of mind can change behavioral habits. It’s funny how people think and come to different outcomes through different paths. Recently, researchers have found that replacing calories displayed for the amount of time needed to jog swayed a high percentage of teenagers to purchase lower calorie drinks.

It’s hard to say at this point whether the switch resulted from realization or the idea of running. I would imagine that it was a little of both. This research in actuality isn’t all that new. In fact Canada has used negative aspects for quite a while to discourage unhealthy purchases.

The main campaign that Canada uses negative images on is tobacco products. They put extremely graphic images right on the cigarette packs. The images can be anything from rotten teeth to cancerous images.

I often secretly wished that the same was done here, I mean I wonder how many people would still light up if they had to look at a disgusting image each time they wanted a cigarette. It’d be nice if images could be shown on every unhealthy product. Like for instances our poor nutritional food items.

Just imagine looking at a 400 pound person on the packaging of Oreo Cookies. I’m willing to bet that a lot of people would leave them sitting on the shelves. That could very well be the reason we don’t use graphic warnings, I imagine the food production companies would fight it tooth and nail. Of course the right thing to do is to maybe consider producing healthier alternatives, oddly I don’t see that ever happening.

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