Monthly Archive for January, 2009
Drugs & Pharmacology Blog Carnival | By January 30, 2009 | By Shaheen E Lakhan, MS, MEd, PhD, MD | 2 Comments
Drugs and Pharmacology, Thirteenth Edition
Welcome to the thirteenth edition of Drugs and Pharmacology. Today, we will discuss the fallacies of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s logic on marijuana prohibition, the prevalence and impact of dual diagnosis (mental disorders coupled with substance abuse), the benefits of breaking caffeine addiction, and poisonous birds with an analgesic effect.
Remember, we review the latest blogs related to drugs — medicinal, recreational, interactional, personal, professional, or any other aspects. If you were left out in this round, just leave a comment with your blog entry. You can check out the archives for every edition of this carnival. Read more →
- Is Sugar the New Cocaine?
- New Year, New Resolutions – How Long Will They Last?
- Smoking Behavior and the Transtheoretical Model of the Stages of Change
- An Old Weapon May Still Be Effective in the War Against Bioterrorism – Smallpox Vaccination
- Therapy and Medication – Where’s the Breaking News?
- Are Generic Drugs Really Equivalent to Brand Name Drugs?
Refined sugars have only relatively recently appeared in the diets of most people. Regulatory pathways that balance calorie intake and energy expenditure and reward pathways help the body regulate ingestion of these sweeteners, as well as other foods. The overconsumption of refined sugars, including sucrose and fructose, in beverages and prepared foods, undoubtedly contributes to the obesity epidemic that is escalating in the United States and throughout other industrialized countries around the world. Obesity is also linked to inactivity, economic considerations, and the ready availability of food, but is the real problem that these sweeteners act like a drug, leading to a cycle of food use and reward and addiction? Read more →
I love the beginning of a new year, full of hope and promise and the idea that the slate has been wiped clean and a new start can be achieved. All over the world as the clock strikes midnight and amidst the streamers and celebrations, millions make resolutions to change in the New Year. The more popular ones include losing weight and saving money. Many of you may have already broken or forgotten yours. Read more →
Welcome to the New Year. Have you made any resolutions for 2009? Have you ever wondered what motivates people to change their behavior? There are some who are always seeking self-improvement. Others may feel content and they may see no reason to change certain habits or behaviors. Do you have any New Year’s resolutions that you plan to keep this year?
The famous transtheoretical model (TTM) of behavior change is often used to guide clinicians who are trying to promote smoking cessation. Read more →
In recent years, there has been renewed interest in creating new smallpox vaccines due to the threat of the smallpox pathogen being used as a bioterrorism tool. The vaccinia virus vaccine has been used to prevent smallpox disease since the late 18th century and, until 30 years ago, most countries conducted routine smallpox vaccination programs. Thanks to these efforts, smallpox was virtually eradicated from the world by 1977, and many countries discontinued the vaccination programs. For this reason, most Americans under 35 years of age have never had smallpox disease, nor been vaccinated against the disease, making immunity effectively nonexistent in today’s population. Read more →
The National Institute of Mental Health recently cited a study published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The study was cited as providing evidence that supports the idea that adolescents with major depressive disorder (i.e., depression) are less likely to relapse after treatment if they receive cognitive behavioral therapy in conjunction with psychotropic medication.
I have to admit that this was not entirely shocking news to me, but I was slightly surprised to find the topic highlighted by NIMH as a “Science Update.” Read more →
Countless drugs are manufactured as generic equivalents to brand name counterparts. Generic drugs must be bioequivalent to the brand name drug, meaning that they contain the same active ingredient at the same dose, in the same dosage form, with the same route of administration. The rate and extent of availability of the drugs must also be identical. Brand name drugs and their generic equivalents are interchangeable, and have demonstrated the same therapeutic effectiveness in clinical trials. Generic drugs, however, may not contain identical inactive ingredients or have identical formulations, packaging, or appearance. Read more →
Saturday, March 20, 2010
- Religion - A "Natural" Phenomenon?
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 1 - The Five Myths
- How Culture Shapes Our Mind and Brain
- Sex, Violence and The Male Warrior Hypothesis
- The Secret to Good Health – Listen to the Data
- If Herbal Medicine is Medicine, Shouldn't it be Treated as Such?
- Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neuroscience Conferences for 2010
- Too Much Information?
- "I Feel Your Pain" - The Neural Basis of Empathy
- Income Inequality and Health Outcomes
- The Evolution of Depression
- Journal Retracts Autism Research
- Speaking in Tongues - A Neural Snapshot
- Post-Partum Psychosis - Rare but Real
- Is Your Doctor Happy or Burnt-Out?
- Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective... Again
- Worried Well on the Web
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 2 - The Solutions
- Why Some Human Brains Become Leaders, While Others Followers?
- Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction
- Let the Matches Begin!
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 4 – Their Life Today
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 3 – Try to Work Out their Troubles
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 2 – Revealed to be Complicated
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 1 – Introduction
- Deep Brain Stimulation – A New Frontier in Psychiatry
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 3 – Equip Teachers with Prescription Pads?
- Why Some Human Brains Become Leaders, While Others Followers?
- Brain Blogger Finalist for Two 2010 Research Blogging Awards in Neuroscience and Psychology
- Tall Tales of Diabetic Amputations
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 2 – The Solutions
- Brain Blogging, Forty-Ninth Edition
- How Your Brain Groups Words
- The Child Brain and the Playing Teacher
- You Have a Right to Choose if we Agree
- Measuring Quality in Primary Care
- Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me A Match – The NRMP Main Residency Match
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 1 – The Five Myths
- When It Comes to Aging, Size Matters
- “I Feel Your Pain” – The Neural Basis of Empathy
- Very touching story. My heart goes out to your family. Seizures are tough. And ...
- Thank you for sharing your nephew's story. So hard on those who love him, but I...
- Congratulations to all who've matched! Although the results of NRMP Main Residen...
- It's been almost 25 years since my son suffered a TBI in an accident. He was onl...
- I tend to agree with the teachers.But a teacher can only keep a record about the...
- Very interesting article, the 5th paragraph gets a little biased...but I still e...
- Dear Dan,There is certainly much clinical interest in this field. ClinicalTr...
- I recently commented on a sciencedaily.com article reporting success with TRD an...
- I have family members who are teachers. After sharing this article with them, th...
- It is great that people are challenging the use of this medication. As, a societ...
- I agree with the stand of the teachers and their children's that more than half ...
- I think that there’s also a social aspect to it. If you grow up in an area where...
- I have had epilepsy since I was 9 and am now 42. I have tried about every med. o...
- In this text is a serious error. Brain areas are found that contain religious ex...
- It's amazing how the brain works....
- Organ transplant for unavoidable patients have been around for quite some time a...
- Diet plays a major role in having diabetes. In today's world, people are finding...
- Interesting... I think that there's also a social aspect to it. If you grow up i...
- I think the article is actually describing a normal human being. Leadership tra...
- I think that applies to leaders within certain fields of knowledge or creativity...

