5 disturbing drugs that you never wanted to know about We’ve all been subjected to that terrible ‘This is your brain on drugs’ video where they fry an egg. The only thing that video ever did was make me hungry for breakfast food. In my opinion, if the public school system wants to scare kids away from doing drugs, they should put on a screening of Requiem for a Dream at the school assembly. More commonly known as Ambien, this prescription sleeping pill was developed to treat insomnia. Photo credit: Azlin Ahmad Yes, that’s right – the stuff you generously sprinkle on your eggnog around the holidays is a hallucinogenic. Named for its molecular structure, which resembles a dragonfly, this drug is essentially a super-charged version of LSD. 2,4-Dinitrophenol is an industrial chemical that became popular among those who wanted to lose weight – without doing the work. Popular in Russia, this DIY drug is cheap and can be easily made with just a single trip to your local pharmacy and hardware store.
foodandwine You may be planning a quiet evening in this weekend, but your brain could have other plans for you. New research from Texas A&M and the University of California, San Francisco says that when your brain and booze get together, they have a devious way of encouraging you to keep going back to the bar for one more drink. In a recently published paper in The Journal of Neuroscience, scientists say that alcohol is able to change neurons in the brain in a way that encourages the brain to want to drink more alcohol, and the more you drink over time, the more pronounced these changes can become. According to Futurity, researchers looked at two types of dopamine receptors in animals: D1 neurons, referred to as “go” pathways because they encourage behavior, and D2 neurons, referred to as “no-go” pathways because they inhibit behavior. The animals that were exposed to alcohol saw their D1 neurons “mature,” making them more susceptible to activation in the future.
Newly Risen From Yeast: THC Photo In August, researchers announced they had genetically engineered yeast to produce the powerful painkiller hydrocodone. Now comes the perhaps inevitable sequel: Scientists have created yeasts that can make important constituents of marijuana, including the main psychoactive compound, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Synthetic versions of THC are available in pill form under brand names like Marinol and Cesamet; they are generally used to treat nausea, and caused by infection or . Genetically modified yeast could make THC in a cheaper and more streamlined way than traditional chemical synthesis. Using yeast could also shed light on the clinical usefulness of cannabis-derived compounds. Continue reading the main story Video “This is something that could literally change the lives of millions of people,” said Kevin Chen, the chief executive of Hyasynth Bio, a company working to create yeasts that produce THC and cannabidiol, another marijuana compound of medicinal interest. Dr. Dr. Photo Dr.
America’s Most Admired Lawbreaker By Steven Brill What Happened in the Previous Chapter A ConvenientRe-Analysis New York Hotel MeetingJune 14, 2002 (p. 71-75) Six days before Austin Pledger swallowed his first Risperdal, Janssen scientists and marketing executives met with an advisory board of doctors in a luxury hotel suite in New York. The group wrestled with problems concerning the prolactin and gynecomastia data that had come in from the clinical study Gorsky and his team had ordered up, hoping to put the issue to rest. This new study was actually a study of studies. Although this approach diluted the bad news for Janssen, there were still two problems. First, the gynecomastia rates remained high. Second, one table showed a statistically significant relationship between elevated prolactin and breasts among boys who had been taking the drug for eight weeks. Testimony About the Data “Re-Analysis”(p. 67-74) The group agreed to see how that “re-analysis” affected the numbers. The Phony Denominator The re-analysis had worked.
Your Brain on Coffee, Wine, and Cannabis A funny, but realistic, look at the mental effects of 3 of the world’s most talked about substances. Coffee vs. Wine vs. A coffee drinker will explain the profundity of getting things done. Coffee Caffeine in coffee has a chemical structure very similar to a chemical in our brain called adenosine, which is what makes us sleepy. Wine Alcohol in wine is a chemical that stimulates a part of your brain often referred to as the “primitive brain” (aka hypothalamus). Cannabis THC in cannabis is a chemical that has an effect on all chemical messages (neurotransmitters) sent around in your brain. Focus Were you hoping to get something done? Emotions Time for a roller-coaster ride! “We all need something to help us unwind at the end of the day. ― Russell Brand, 24 Funny Wine Quotes Awareness Did you look over your shoulder once while looking at this? Driving Time to get an Uber. Hunger Fortunately for us wine drinkers, food goes really well with wine. Sex Yes please. Love Wine? Creativity Read more wine comics
The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance among US Adults - The American Journal of Medicine Background There are limited data regarding the relationship between cannabinoids and metabolic processes. Epidemiologic studies have found lower prevalence rates of obesity and diabetes mellitus in marijuana users compared with people who have never used marijuana, suggesting a relationship between cannabinoids and peripheral metabolic processes. To date, no study has investigated the relationship between marijuana use and fasting insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance. Methods We included 4657 adult men and women from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005 to 2010. Results Of the participants in our study sample, 579 were current marijuana users and 1975 were past users. Conclusions We found that marijuana use was associated with lower levels of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, and smaller waist circumference.
FDA ticks off first drug to treat radiation sickness after nuclear disasters A drug long-used to counter the negative effects of chemotherapy has won US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in treating the nasty effects of exposure to radiation following a nuclear disaster. Known commercially as Neupogen, the drug has been shown to work by shielding the body's white blood cells to heighten a patient's chances of survival. Neupogen, or filgrastim as it is otherwise known, is a synthetic protein that boosts the growth of infection-fighting white blood cells. Neupogen was first approved for helping to treat those undergoing chemotherapy in 1991, and has since been one of a number of multi-purpose drugs investigated for potential use in the aftermath of nuclear disasters. "Our research shows that this drug works to increase survival by protecting blood cells," says Dr Thomas MacVittie, professor at the University of Maryland's School of Medicine. Sources: University of Maryland, FDA
'Our purity is above 99%': the Chinese labs churning out legal highs for the west | Society At midnight on a recent Friday, in a backroom at Chemsun Global pharmaceutical laboratory in Shanghai, a Chinese chemist who called himself Terry was eager to close a deal. Outside in the lab a bright yellow liquid whirred around a flask. The smell of fumes was so intense it left a bitter, chemical aftertaste. The place was filthy: surfaces were strewn with discarded rubber gloves and in one corner a sack of white powder spilled onto the floor. I was there to “inspect” the lab, to take stock of the wooden barrels full of drugs, but Terry wasn’t interested in small talk. In the last decade, the global trade in drugs has changed in profound and unpredictable ways. Meanwhile the newly interconnected, globalised drugs scene has grown too complex and fractured for existing laws to control – a situation vividly illustrated by the rapid emergence of “legal highs”, or what official bodies call novel psychoactive substances (NPS). All this has happened in a relatively short time.
The movement to completely change the way you get high By Cece Lederer on February 15th, 2015 “I’ve got something special for us,” A.J. said as I cued up my recording device. “Have you ever done dabs?” A.J. is about as close to weed royalty as you can get. If you’ve heard of Sour Diesel, you’ve heard of him. Careful to keep it horizontal, he unzipped a rolling suitcase and took out a blowtorch. Then came the jars. The blowtorch heated the ceramic until it glowed. “Be careful,” he warned. I have never been so stoned so immediately. THC (or tetrahydrocannabinol) consumption and sales are moving away from dry herb and toward dabs and other refined cannabis products. Information about concentrated THC products is spreading rapidly, fueling popularity; legalization is gaining exponential momentum. Lately, slow and steady decriminalization has picked up steam. The more accepted cannabis becomes, the more sweeping change will be. Almost as important as what passes is what fails to pass. The investment is likely to pay off. What did I just do? Dr.