Results tagged “drugs” from 60 Second Science

We've all been awakened to the possibilities of science to solve murders on TV, but sometimes even the most obscure scientific disciplines becomes invaluable to an international criminal case involving intrigue, espionage and, of course, drugs.

INTERPOL had been trying to catch a gang that made millions selling fake malaria drugs all over Asia for years, but they were only able to crack the case with the help of forensic palynologists, who analyze pollen. The palynologists found trace amounts of pollen indigenous to a very specific region in China in the air pockets of the blisterpacks of artesunate, a common malaria treatment. They backed up their claim by also detecting calcite specific to this same region in southern China.

With scientific evidence to back them up, Johnny Law swooped in to arrest a suspect in China's Yunnan Province in 2006:

He is alleged to have traded 240,000 blisterpacks of counterfeit artesunate, enough to "treat" almost a quarter of a million adults with a medicine with no activity against a potentially fatal disease. Whilst the Chinese authorities were able to seize 24,000 of these packs, the remainder are alleged to have been sold at crossings on the border of Yunnan and Myanmar (Burma), accounting for almost a half of all blisterpacks of artesunate sold to the region.

Continue reading 'Move over, CSI: Pollen detectives help bust counterfeit malaria drug runners' >

Yes, Dr Robert Jarvik invented an artificial heart. But should he be the face of Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor? Congress isn't so sure.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has asked Mr Jarvik to answer questions regarding his job as poster boy for the pill.

In the hot seat, Jarvik will probably be questioned about his medical credentials--he is not licensed to practice medicine nor is he a cardiologist--as well as his athleticism. In the ads, Jarvik appears to rowing a shell when in fact body doubles from Lake Washington Rowing Club were hired to do the work.

“He’s about as much an outdoorsman as Woody Allen,” said a longtime collaborator, Dr. O. H. Frazier of the Texas Heart Institute. “He can’t row.”

Continue reading 'Congress questions Lipitor's spokesman and his sportsmanship' >

Rock n' rollers have had unprejudiced access to the mind-expanding potential of drugs as fuel for inspiration for decades — why shouldn't Silicon Valley wondernerds have the same options?

Silicon Valley blog Valley Wag reports on an insider who says that OC-80 (that's oxycontin in an 80-milligram dose) has swept the valley by storm, seducing "everyone who's anyone" with its "much better than cocaine" effects. The expensive highs can cost $70 per pill at retail prices and $40 in bulk. Allegedly users get docs from the more permissive burg of L.A. to FedEx the prescription medication in its highest dose to their offices. Then it's scrape the green coating, crush, snort and on to some righteous beta testing! Saith Silicon Valley's Deep Throat:

You have no idea (or maybe you do) the amount of prescription painkillers flowing in Silicon Valley. If you think that Hollywood has drug problems, the Valley is way, way worse. It's just that people keep it much more secret.

A follow-up tip from another insider posits that OC use might have even contributed to the much-reported decline of Yahoo. I'm sure Microsoft will clean up the place...right after this last toot of OC. (What, those Yahoo guys practically left it on the counter!)

Continue reading 'Like rock n' roll before it, tech innovation is virtually impossible without drugs' >

Some of us just can't get any satisfaction out of life, so we do it by blasting 8-year-olds in online FPS games like Halo, Team Fortress, or Call of Duty. Problem is, those little bastards are getting pretty good. What's an older gamer to do when he feels his reflexes aren't as quick as they should be? Why swallow a pill of course!

Just like any other modern malady, shite gaming can be treated with meds — or so claim the makers of FpsBrain, the first performance-enhancing pill for gamers. The German-made product claims to provide a “remarkable increase in perception and reaction capacities,” and to "enhance their mental performance and their work efficieny [sic],” and it's backed by a “a 110% money-back guarantee.” Sounds like I can use this for a lot of things other than blasting aliens. What's to lose?

Luckily, MTV's Gaming blog enlisted registered dietitian Danielle Marzano of the Sysosset Health & Wellness Center to check out the ingredients listed on the FpsBrain website. Before you down that pill with a full can of Red Bull or Rockstar energy drink, there's a few things you should know.

Continue reading 'Getting pwned in Halo 3? Take a pill!' >

Everyone gets a rise out of watching the 5 foot 8 receiver get jacked up by the 250 pound linebacker. Here's why 16 million viewers of Sunday Night football can't help but love watching the big hits.

The brain processes aggression as a reward, similar to the way it reacts to sex, food and drugs, according to new research.

In a series of experiments on mice, scientists discovered that mice will literally push the button willingly to introduce more aggression into their lives. Behaving just as they would for the good stuff.

"Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food,” says Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University. “We have found that the ‘reward pathway’ in the brain becomes engaged in response to an aggressive event and that dopamine is involved.”

Continue reading 'Aggression feels as good as sex, drugs, and rock and roll' >

The AP is reporting on controversy in California over the way treatment for addicted doctors is handled by the state medical board.

California recently scrapped its system for anonymously treating addicted doctors without informing patients of their physicians’ condition-- following outrage over botched surgery by an addicted plastic surgeon. But its new cure for the problem may be worse than the disease.

For one, what the AP doesn’t mention is that treatment for addicted doctors is one of the shining successes in the addiction world: virtually all treatment (even programs known to contain elements that are ineffective or harmful) produces impressive outcomes.

Continue reading 'The only thing worse than letting addicted docs practice is banning them...' >

Today's 60 Second Science Podcast is brought to you by the Larium crazies:

Malaria Parasites May Be Allies Against Drug Resistance

Full transcript after the jump...

Continue reading 'Malaria Parasites May Be Allies Against Drug Resistance [podcast]' >

Nobody cheer leads their drug of choice more than ravers -- according to them, your ticket to complete and utter bliss is only a dolphin-shaped pill away. Generally, I have trouble following the advice of a 24-year-old adult dressed like an infant who survived a clown explosion, but maybe they really are on to something. The first government-sanctioned experiments in two decades into the potential for psychedelic drugs to treat psychiatric disorders shows that the active ingredient in ecstasy, MDMA, can be quite effective at healing post-traumatic stress disorder.

If more research backs this up, I guess we should start handing out pacifiers and rainbow jumpsuits to soldiers as soon as they step off the plane from Iraq.

Continue reading 'Ecstasy shows promise in treating PTSD, lame dance parties' >

The left-leaning and heavily Greek-accented Huffington Post has an interesting takedown of the nefarious ties between the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Big Pharma by blogger and clinical psychologist Bruce Levine. Levine asks whether psychiatry has earned its bad reputation in the public eye by heading out to Makeout Point with Big Pharma and letting it, at the very least,get to third base.

Continue reading 'Psychiatry and Big Pharma cited for bad reps, smoking behind the school gym' >

Now I feel cheated that I didn't get high every time I swallowed my Legos. An Australian craft toy called Bindeez has been recalled because the easily-ingestible pieces contain chemicals that turn into the famed date-rape drug GHB when eaten. Whoah! "Don't cry, little Jimmy -- the shaking means you're just gettin' used to ridin' the grape dragon!"

A popular children's toy found to contain a chemical that the human body turns into the party drug "fantasy", or "GHB", has been banned in three states and is being recalled by its Melbourne creator.

Three children, two in (New South Wales) and one in Queensland, have been admitted to hospital in the past 10 days after ingesting the toy's beads. The toy is produced by Melbourne company Moose and won this year's toy of the year award at the Melbourne Toy and Hobby Fair. Bindeez consists of colourful craft beads that are joined together to create designs. They are sprayed with water to fix them.

Continue reading 'Best recall ever: Australian toy turns into DRUGS' >

A study just published in the Journal of Clinical investigation suggests a novel way of reducing the tolerance that can develop when morphine is given as a treatment for pain. But will this lead to the long-awaited “non addictive” opioid or is it more complicated?

Continue reading 'Is the "non addictive" opiate finally within reach?' >