drugs
What Is the Truth About Energy Drinks?
Stimulants in a Bottle Does energy come from a bottle? Some people claim it does. You can find energy drinks such as Bang, Red Bull, and Energy Shot everywhere food and soft drinks are sold. Since they contain large amounts of caffeine and sugar, they may be a stimulant for some people. There’s also an…
Read MoreHow Smart Is It to Take Smart Drugs?
This is an article by Stacey J. Miller. I offer it with the author’s permission for informational purposes. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE HER OWN AND DO NOT REPRESENT MY VIEW OR MEDICAL ADVICE. The Myth of Brain Power If you hear something often enough, you may start to believe it. Most of…
Read MoreRare Diseases and Orphan Drugs
Many Types of Pain Are Considered Rare Diseases According to Scientific American, there are approximately 6,800 rare diseases, most of which have no approved treatment. To be considered a rare disease, it must affect fewer than 200,000 Americans. Most rare diseases have limited treatment options. Unfortunately, many types of chronic pain are considered rare diseases…
Read MoreBreaking Bad 2018
TV’s Hit Show “Breaking Bad” Glamorized Meth Abuse The television hit show, Breaking Bad, lionized the idea of making and selling meth. A high school teacher who was dying of lung cancer wanted to leave his family enough funds to live, and he chose drug dealing as a way to achieve his goal. The show…
Read MoreResponse to People in Pain
CDC Guidelines for Opioid Prescriptions The CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March 2016, was meant to provide recommendations for prescribing opioids. It was not meant to mandate policy. Since then, states have developed their own restrictive guidelines for prescribing opioids largely…
Read MoreEverything Isn’t as Perfect as It Seems in Ireland
Is the Opioid Crisis Uniquely an American Problem? For the past two weeks, I have been visiting Ireland. I attended a meeting for a few days in Dublin, but then my wife and I toured parts of the beautiful country boasting deeply green meadows that connected huge historic cathedrals and exquisite castles. On the way…
Read MoreDavid C. Holzman Shatters Addiction Myths
Addiction Is a Complex Disease In a WBUR CommonHealth article, “How I Was Seduced By Cigarettes, And What Set Me Free,” David C. Holzman bravely recalled his struggle with the addiction of nicotine. He was honest enough to describe the stressors in his life that made him vulnerable to the addiction and the changes of…
Read MoreBlack Box Warnings
How Drugs Receive FDA Approval The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) is the watchdog agency that’s responsible for testing new medications before they are approved. Drug manufacturers seek approval from the FDA after they have conducted numerous clinical trials and submitted all of their data to the…
Read MoreOpen Letter to Journalists and Editors About “Addicted Babies”
Babies Cannot Be Born Addicted to Drugs “Babies Born Addicted,” “Addicted Babies,” “Babies with Addiction,” and similar headlines appear nearly daily in the media. This is because babies exhibit horrible withdrawal symptoms if they are born physically dependent on opioids, and it pulls at our heartstrings to see them suffer. But it misleads media consumers,…
Read MoreFormer Secretary of State George P. Shultz’s Mea Culpa on the War on Drugs
A Unique Perspective of the War on Drugs George Shultz has fought the war on drugs. He worked as the Secretary of State during the Reagan Administration when First Lady Nancy Reagan failed to significantly decrease drug abuse with her well-intended, yet overly simplistic, “Just Say No” campaign. He has a unique perspective on the…
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