Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Brain Eating Zombie of the Day

Yo Johah Lehrer
I told you that you were making the same psychosomatic mistake as the others.

Ironic how that "creativity" thing really works, huh?
It is very, very good-   in Moderation.
At higher doses it gets self referential and self reinforcing.   You start to believe your own bullshit...

I recommend periodontal care.

Anyway- I just wanted to say-  there's always Guerrilla Neuroscience.
Go Rogue.   Join the Zombie Revolution.  Fight the good fight.

Monday, July 30, 2012

Not if I can help it

Sleepless in America: A $32.4 Billion Business

I'm working on it.  Stay tuned.

Right in front of your face

As I was saying.
Holmes was wearing jeans and sneakers and described himself as a local student, Allen said. But Allen also said he noticed something strange about Holmes' eyes.
"His eyes were fluttering and blinking," Allen said. "It was really weird. I didn't know if he was high or what, but those eyes kept fluttering."

Just sayin'.
In the majority of cases, the first tics of Tourette’s Syndrome are usually simple motor tics of the head, face, neck, and shoulder region or simple phonic tics. Eye blinking is the most common ‘first tic'...
These are obvious external symptoms that all teachers should recognize.
Not to mention frakkin doctors, psychs and neuroscientists...

Dammit, now I'm twitching.

Writing about Writing

Textmania: a Modern Manifestation of Manic Hypergraphia? 

I think about compulsive writing a lot.  I've been doing it since I was 16.  It's a sure symptom of dopamine dysfunction.   And usually misinterpreted.

Grafitti.  Tagging.
That guy with the bus covered in Bible verses.
Internet trolls.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Not Surprising

Football Player Who Killed Himself Had Brain Disease
An autopsy report released this week, just before N.F.L. training camps opened, concluded that the former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, who committed suicide in April, had a degenerative brain disease widely connected to athletes who have absorbed frequent blows to the head.
Easterling, who played for the Falcons for eight seasons in the 1970s, began coping with apparent dementia and depression about a decade into his retirement. Easterling was 62 when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his longtime home in Richmond, Va.
Rest in Peace, dear man.

Fun with Politics

I love Seattle.   One of the reasons is this guy.   That's his legal name.
This is Message #43 from me, Goodspaceguy, on my blog Our Spaceship Earth.
I am now a 2012 candidate for US Representative to Congress from the 7th Congressional District of Washington State.
I, Goodspaceguy, ask that you think of our Earth as a natural spaceship that travels in our solar system around our star, the Sun, and with our Sun travels within our Milky Way Galaxy, a collection of hundreds of billions of solar systems.
He runs for a position in every election- and doesn't seem to care which one.   I usually vote for him-  just so he is motivated to run again next time.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

The Root of the Problem

Colo. shooting suspect was seeing psychiatrist, defense says
James Holmes, the suspect in the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting, was a patient of Dr. Lynne Fenton, medical director of student mental-health services at the University of Colorado, Denver.
And that seems to have been very effective, doncha think?

Friday, July 27, 2012

Travel Day

Going to visit a sick friend.
Have a song.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

This is Why

Read and weep.

For too many veterans, the ultimate defeat
About once every half hour in America, a veteran within the VA healthcare system tries to commit suicide, according to VA figures for fiscal year 2011.
And about once a day-  they succeed.

What I See

I have had this card hanging up in my kitchen for years and years.

Funny, that.

Increasing Dopamine in Brain's Frontal Cortex Decreases Impulsive Tendency
Raising levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the frontal cortex of the brain significantly decreased impulsivity in healthy adults.
The study was not designed to investigate the reasons that reduced dopamine is linked with impulsivity. However, explained Kayser, scientists believe that impulsivity is associated with an imbalance in dopamine between the frontal cortex, which governs executive functions such as cognitive control and self-regulation, and the striatum, which is thought to be involved in the planning and modification of more habitual behaviors.

Guess what increases dopamine in the frontal cortex but not striatum...
The drug they tell impulsive people not to use.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Circle of Insanity

The Aurora Murders and Demonic Possession

All this crazy lady wants is to live in a reality based reality.
This one freaks me out every day.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

See the Pathology

As far as I can tell, Trigeminal Neuralgia contributes to all cases of violence or self destruction.

This is Trent Reznor.   He seems to be a pretty obsessively unhappy guy.
Anyhow, in that photo he has the most inflamed maxillary nerve I've ever seen.   It is flaring out on both sides of his nose like a neon sign.  It tends to make your eyebrows pinch like that, too.
His upper lip also shows signs of swelling, like his jaw or teeth are infected.

This is me.     When I was 8.

He seems to be looking better lately.  I hope he's not so angry anymore.  Even though he was very, very good at it.

This guy was very bad at it.
Something to think about. 
Not to mention this.

As I was saying

Are The Recommendations For Kids' Cholesterol Tests Safe?
According to three UCSF researchers, recent guidelines that recommend children to be tested for cholesterol levels fail to weigh health benefits against potential harms and costs. The researchers highlight the fact that the recommendations, published in Pediatrics, are not based on solid evidence, but on expert opinion, which raises the issue of potential conflict of interest due disclosure of the guidelines' authors.
This group believes the original authors have conflicts of interest-  will benefit from this recommendation.
And guess what-  serum cholesterol levels do not predict heart disease.  So the kids won't.

Heads they win, tails you lose.

Correlation Games

Cutting dietary salt 'could prevent stomach cancer'

They completely neglect to say Why.
Helicobacter Pylori causes stomach cancer.  H. Pylori likes salt.
H. Pylori also raises blood pressure. and causes atherosclerosis. and maybe even Parkinson's.

Maybe y'all should start testing for that instead of serum cholesterol.
Or telling everyone to cut back on salt.

Science is wonderful.  Try it sometime.

A General Rule

Ironically, you can pretty much assume all Neuroscientists have warped brains.

The Strange Neuroscience of Immortality

They call it "gifted".  The technical term is manic.
And when it is good it is very, very good.  But when it is bad you are crazy.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Insomnia, Narcolepsy, or Both?

James Holmes in court
His hair dyed a faded orange, Holmes looked dazed and struggled to keep his eyes open.
Half a dozen guards were posted throughout the courtroom as Holmes’s face stretched into grimaces and his head lolled during the proceedings.
He's probably pretty sleep deprived.
That sounds clinically severe enough to be Tourette's.

More Pics Here.
Compare old and new.
His nose and upper lip are swollen and he has the red dot on his cheekbone.
His trigeminal is acutely infected.

Everyone says they want to know why he did it.  I wonder if they really do.
I am pretty sure he will be surprised himself.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

I Wish I Could Drink

Today seems like a good day for that. It's been cloudy again here. It's annoying.

Washington just switched over from State owned liquor stores to retail vendors.  There's a bunch of new stores and Jeff wanted to see if there were good Bourbons.  I haven't been able to metabolize alcohol for a long time, so never went to the pathetic state stores.  We went to Wine World (party on, excellent) it was huge and they had tons of stuff.
I went over to the Vodka section- they have the prettiest bottles.  Anyhow, did you know there are a zillion cake flavored liquors now?   Man, I thought I was bad, I drank the sweetest dessert wine I could find (Verdi).  This stuff looks like it's targeted directly at your pancreas.  Cupcake flavor, Red Velvet cake, Chocolate cake, oh my.
Hmmm, I wonder what their market profile is?   Hypoglycemic women maybe?

Not that I wouldn't if I could...

Last night I went shopping for nicotine liquid for my electronic cigarette. It's getting almost as bad over there. Every dessert flavor you can think of.
I use coffee flavor for my everyday vape, but I got some "Glazed Donut" just to try it.

Friday, July 20, 2012

This is Why

He's been sick for a while. Probably a long time.
"The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus can confirm that Mr. James Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado Denver's graduate program in neurosciences," the university statement said
And even there- surrounded by medical facilities and cognitive specialists- nobody recognized the pathology or helped him.

Fox buys Henhouse

Nestlé Invests in 'Brain Health' Milkshake Maker
 Accera sells Axona, an easy-mix powder that is added to milk or other liquids to make a once-daily drink. Axona is already given to 30,000 patients in the U.S. Axona is made from a compound derived from coconut oil that purports to provide an alternative energy source for the brain. In theory, this would help Alzheimer's patients because their brains are less able to use glucose for the energy they need.
However, the company states-
In our clinical studies with Axona, participants were not asked to change their diets and most were on standard U.S. diet (rich in carbohydrates). 
Funny thing-   Your brain uses glucose first.  So if you don't restrict your carbs, your brain won't even use the ketones.   It's completely pointless.

But for the record, coconut oil doesn't relieve dementia because of the ketone bodies, it works because it's antiviral.   Coats the mouth and prevents herpes virus reactivation.

I guess that's better than Nestle Chocolate- which activates them...

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Circle of Insanity

The only known recording of Sigmund Freud’s voice

The audio is interesting, but I just wanted to point this out-
Freud died of Jaw Cancer.   An oral disease caused by streptococcal bacteria.

Psychoanalysis is the product of a man suffering from Infectious Mania.   Go figure.

An Offhand Synthesis

Alzheimer’s Disease Linked to Diabetes
The researchers found substantial increases in amyloid beta peptide pathology -- a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease -- in the brain cortex and hippocampus concurrent with diabetes. They also found significant amyloid beta pathology in the retina and by contrast, when diabetes is not present, no observable pathology was detected in either the brain or the retina.
This is how I am beginning to think it works-
APOE4 compromises cell immunity to HSV1, and susceptible individuals are infected.
Herpes infection impairs the beta-amyloid pathway, which controls insulin processing.
Affected individuals with comorbid Hyperinsulinemia experience insulin resistance compounded by beta-amyloid accumulation.

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Medical Theater of the Damned
Judge Rotenberg Educational Center 

A torture chamber masquerading as a rehab center.
Training mentally disabled students to buckle down and suppress their symptoms using a shock collar.

When people who aren't doctors do that, it called child abuse.

(One hundred dollars says they feed those kids Fruit Loops.)

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Correlation Games

Binge drinking increases risk of cognitive decline
"Alcohol use in late life many not be beneficial in older women," says lead author Tina Hoang of The Veterans Health Research Institute in San Francisco. "It may be that the brains of older individuals are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol."
Well, sort of.  Older people are more prone to glucose metabolism dysfunction.
Binge drinking or eating at any age is a sign of blood sugar control problems.
Impaired glucose control is a known contributor to cognitive dysfunction.

Back to the Future

Obesity pill Qsymia gains FDA approval

Qsymia is the new name for another drug Qnexa, that wasn't approved for safety reasons.  Very clever.
Anyhow, it is a combination of Phentermine and Topiramate.   Phentermine is a methylated amphetamine, and Topiramate increases insulin sensitivity in fat cells.

(For the record-  Phentermine and Topiramate are both generic drugs now.   The only reason this pill exists is to provide the financial benefit of patent protection.)

I really like Phentermine in small doses.   It's an anorectic- reduces hunger- and the lowered food intake really did help my symptoms more than just losing weight.   It does increase anxiety and pain though.   And it also promotes dry mouth and gum disease which is the real reason it causes heart problems and if doctors realized this and gave oral care advice it might be the perfect narcolepsy drug, but I digress...

Topiramate increases insulin sensitivity.    If you are  hyperinsulinemic this is the EXACT OPPOSITE thing you want.   It is good for insulin deficient or resistant diabetics, but for narcoleptics will probably  cancel out the metabolic enhancing properties of the other drug.

But don't worry.   When it doesn't work for you, they will get approved to upgrade you to surgery.
SSDD.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

A Reminder

The Narcolepsy Network Conference is October 19-21 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Christina has already made plans to go.
My sister lives near there so I will be in town for the whole week and more. 
Hope to see a few more of you there.   

Monday, July 16, 2012

Busy

The roundup isn't done and I can't seem to find any good articles.

Here.   Snack Time Zombie Baby.   Living the low carb lifestyle.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Wouldn't it be nice

If this lady could get the kind of help she truly needs?

Iowa GOP State Senate Candidate Joins ‘Alternative’ U.S. Government
In a letter released Friday, Randi Shannon informs supporters of her new position as “U.S. Senator in the Republic of the United States of America.” You see, according to Shannon, the U.S. government has been acting unlawfully as the “‘official government,’ which clearly it is not!”
The libertarian-leaning group she joined claims it “re-inhabited” the government on March 30, 2010. The group claims the “United States Corporation” unlawfully formed in 1871 without the American people’s consent. “Since 1871, the abuses of this corporation upon both the international community as well as the American people are inestimable and unconscionable,” the group’s website claims.
“If people think it’s crazy to want to have a constitutional government in place, then so be it,” she told the paper.
That is the good part of the ride- the crash that's coming is not going to be pretty.


Speaking of epic meltdowns:  Charlie Sheen officially signed off from Twitter Thursday after more than a year's worth of coining quotable phrases and unleashing head-scratching outbursts online.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Surrounded by Insanity

JP Morgan Traders Lied About How Much Money They Lost
JP Morgan Chase announced its long-awaited second-quarter earnings today, but also admitted that its first-quarter statements were completely wrong, because some of their employees were deliberately trying to hide their losses......
The bad news is that it exposes their oversight and risk management operations to be shoddy and ineffective. No one seems to have had any grasp of who was trading what or how much money was involved in a significant portion of their business. That's a serious problem that must be corrected.  The good news is that for top executives like CEO Jamie Dimon, it looks less like the giant losses are the result of their incompetence and more like they were duped by bad actors. 
And that's what's called good news in American high finance these days.

I used to read a crime blog to find stories about sociopaths.   It's really superflous anymore.  The most spectacular pathology is being exhibited on the front page above the fold every day.

How to worsen symptoms for your Sleep Test

Eat lots of gluten and sugar.

Sleep in the chair.

Bring your own pillow and blanket.

The new status quo

Is Your Fertility Doctor Taking Kickbacks?

Desperate People.
Predatory Lending.
And proud of it.

(Do they follow you to the park and repo the babies if you don't pay?)

Friday, July 13, 2012

Home Improvement


















After taking a year off-
I am thisclose to installing baseboards.
I have been working on my house for 12 years.   I have redone almost all the rooms but have never replaced the trim.
It's a new era.

Brain Food

Zombie Head Popcorn Buckets

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Thoughts for the Day

Unaccountability is the root of all evil.

Plausible deniability is the telltale sign of a sociopath.

We're Number One!

Here's a map of soda consumption in 80 countries.

Duh Science

Psychologists Discover Links Between Angry Thoughts and Displaced Aggression in Male Gang Affiliates
The research, concluded that angry rumination could be the psychological path that links gang affiliation to displaced aggression. In other words, if rumination did not occur, displaced aggression might be reduced in gang affiliates.
Seriously.  You take yourselves seriously...

And here, this psych nonsense has now been debunked too.

The Eyes Don't Have It: New Research Into Lying and Eye Movements
"A large percentage of the public believes that certain eye movements are a sign of lying, and this idea is even taught in organisational training courses. Our research provides no support for the idea and so suggests that it is time to abandon this approach to detecting deceit" remarked Watt.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Brain Eating Zombie of the Day

Dr. Jules Hirsch
Who, in an article about Reality Based Dieting, dismisses the data and doubles down on the disproven dogma.

In Dieting, Magic Isn’t a Substitute for Science
If he ran that experiment and got those results-  he's a lousy researcher.   They aren't physiologically possible.  Eating carbs causes insulin production which lowers metabolism.  He confounded his data somewhere. 

Apparently Gary's article was too popular, it was on the top ten for over a week.
The glucose-industrial complex strikes back.
SSDD.

Bonus article in same paper with same doctor from 17 years ago:   Benefit of Standard Low-Fat Diet Is Doubted

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Old Song of the Day

Dedicated to Dr. Drew.
From a Dead Man.

The Public Face of Medicine

Y'all already know how I feel about this.  I just liked this quote.

Dr. Drew Cashes In
You've seen the look: lips pursed, eyes narrowed, head slightly tilted to stage right. It's an expression that seems practiced in front of a mirror, designed to dispense to his troubled patients precisely the right dosage of compassion tinged with disapproval...
That look of "You just don't understand" ...  yeah, know it well.

Apparently this author has been investigating him for a while.
I checked the database.  It's not at all comprehensive.    Go figure.

Monday, July 9, 2012

Say it ain't so

Cannabis could be used to treat obesity-related diseases

The recursive, networked layers of irony are more than my verbal abilities can handle right now.

The Glucose-Industrial Complex

US sugar program pits growers against soda, candy makers
Doing away with the sugar program would be a "huge boost" to candy makers and help them grow, said Robert Simpson Jr., president of Jelly Belly Candy Co., which has factories in California, Chicago and Thailand.
But the efforts of manufacturers are sparking intense opposition among lawmakers from sugar-growing states and the sugar lobby, as well as from some public health advocates.
"Is this where we need Congress to spend its time, trying to make cheap candy bars?" said Mark Muller, director of the Food and Justice Program at the advocacy group Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/07/06/155263/us-sugar-program-pits-growers.html#storylink=cpy
 I thought this article fit well with the previous post.

Correlation Games

Play the Lightning Round

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Simply Shameless

I watched that Frontline special about dentists.

It was heartbreaking.   Poor sick people unable to afford care.
And the corporations that have swooped in to "serve their needs" with Medicaid exploitation or high interest loans. 

They didn't exactly use this term, but now that they have no houses or jobs-  this seems to be the latest greatest way to steal anything they might ever have from the poor:     Predatory Dentistry


If you build it, they will come

Use of surgical robots booming despite hefty cost
Washington hospitals now have at least 37 surgical robots, and robotic surgeries — most to remove a uterus or prostate — have skyrocketed in recent years. Swedish Medical Center has seven robots, Sacred Heart in Spokane has three. Even tiny Pullman Regional Hospital, with 25 beds, bought one. It cost twice as much as the hospital netted in 2010.
This headlong proliferation, with uneven safeguards and significant costs that may ultimately push insurance costs higher, has raised alarms even among surgeons.
Just owning one of those things means they have to pay the bill.  And that means they have to do a lot of surgeries.   And that skews treatment recommendations.

It reminds me of the sleep lab I went to for my MSLT.  They had a whole wing- at least 15 rooms completely wired for sound and video and remote control EEG and PSG and a control center in the middle with lots of whiz bang electronics and computers.  And a bunch of technicians who monitored it all night long.  And there were only three other patients besides me.   The  place was creepy.  And there's several other sleep labs in this city.
Not to mention- after 40 years of hypersomnia and 10 of obesity, the test still failed to identify my illness.   Many people are tested numerous times.  The surgery robot may skew priorities, but at least it provides a tangible service.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Olympic Level Compulsion

New record for faking data set by Japanese researcher
Anesthesiologist published 212 papers; only 3 fraud-free.
Clearly a man dedicated to his work.

Unfortunately data fraud is the least of it.  The whole Scientific Literature Industry is a racket now too.  Very little of the "legitimate" research has any value either.   Every publisher puts out as many journals that they can, the authors submit as many papers as they can, they hire anyone they can for peer review, and just crank out the "studies" as fast as they can.   The authors pad their resumes and the publishers keep all the copyrights.
China is really bad about this right now, they put every person in the department on the list of authors for every paper.  The list of names is often longer than the abstract.  It's insane.

There's a journal for anything you can think of.   If you want to start a new science genre-  just start a journal...   I don't know, the Journal of Aberrent Internet Behavior.   Whatever.

There are prestigious journals, ones that are truly high calibre operations.   But there are so many others now, practically speaking-  anyone can get a scientific article published.   Anyone.
Because it's not about quality science anymore.  It's about quantity.  This too is now driven by third-party-profit.

Yo Psychs

Mary Kennedy had three prescription anti-depressants in her blood when she hanged herself.

You got some 'splainin to do.
And don't blame the sick lady.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Doctor removes 51-pound tumor from a New Jersey woman (gnarly pics)
Evelyn was on death’s door when she arrived in the emergency room last month, breathing with the help of a machine and “maxed out on blood pressure medication,” said Dupree.
Slender and small-boned, the woman thought she was just putting on weight when her belly suddenly began swelling two months earlier.
“I wasn’t in pain, but I was really uncomfortable,” she said. “But I couldn’t go to the doctor right away because I was going to be 65 in June and had to wait for the Medicare to kick in.”

The Problem with Society

Nobody bothers to use a coaster any more.

ht Reddit 

(seriously, I start to get a headache just looking at that.)

Friday, July 6, 2012

Duh Science

Here's an experiment we've all performed-

Moderate Doses of Alcohol Increase Social Bonding in Groups
A new study led by University of Pittsburgh researchers reveals that moderate amounts of alcohol -- consumed in a social setting -- can enhance positive emotions and social bonding and relieve negative emotions among those drinking.
Huh.  Go figure.  Maybe that explains why I can't tolerate people anymore.  Ha.

Hook me Up

Diabetes Drug Makes Brain Cells Grow
The widely used diabetes drug metformin comes with a rather unexpected and alluring side effect: it encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain.
The new evidence lends support to that promising idea in both mouse brains and human cells. Mice taking metformin not only showed an increase in the birth of new neurons, but they were also better able to learn the location of a hidden platform in a standard maze test of spatial learning.
While it remains to be seen whether the very popular diabetes drug might already be serving as a brain booster for those who are now taking it, there are already some early hints that it may have cognitive benefits for people with Alzheimer's disease. It had been thought those improvements were the result of better diabetes control, Miller says, but it now appears that metformin may improve Alzheimer's symptoms by enhancing brain repair.
Or maybe glucose and insulin are contributing to the neural demise.

Either way, I am beginning to think I want some of this stuff.   It's been on the market for decades and is safer than aspirin.

(I cannot tell if this is OTC in Mexico.  I think it might be, but any real info has been swamped by dubious websites offering to sell me some.   If anyone knows, please tell me.)

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Crazy Ladies

Women Infected With Common Parasite Have Increased Risk of Attempting Suicide
Women infected with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, which is spread through contact with cat feces or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attempting suicide, according to a new study of more than 45,000 women in Denmark.
Toxoplasmosis probably does have psychoactive effects.   But I tend to think it's more of an obsession with animals than depression.  (That would explain my sister and her farm.)(not to mention militant vegetarians.)
This direct causation with suicide seems unlikely.   I bet depressed ladies are just more likely to have kitties.  Just sayin'.
I had a couple cats.   My depression went away when I changed my diet.  My sister's did too.
Just sayin'.

Update:  I was wrong.

Eggs and Bacon. Bacon and Eggs.

Skipping Breakfast Can Lead to Unhealthy Habits All Day Long
Compared to breakfast-eaters, breakfast-skippers tend to weigh more and have other unhealthy habits, such as consuming too many sugary drinks or high-calorie snacks.
"Breakfast is the most important meal of the Day"  is a statement made up by the cereal industry.
And cereal is the worst possible thing you could eat for breakfast.

Humans have a glucose spike in the morning after they get up-  they produce their own energy so they can go out and find some food.   Right after you get up is the Exact Wrong time to eat.
The problem is, if you skip breakfast- modern schedules then make people wait too long to eat lunch.
Their serum glucose levels drop too low, and they get food cravings, eat carbs and worsen the cycle.

So the standard solution is feeding people early, and sending them off and hoping it lasts until lunch.  Unfortunately, as I said before, this usually involves breakfast cereal-  carbohydrates.   In susceptible people, this actually increases the glucose and insulin burden, causing a blood sugar surge and crash, making it worse.  These people tend to become breakfast skippers.  The ones who already have glucose problems... 

I have a whole rant in my head about the sleep and dietary problems caused by the distorted schedule of industrial society.   It seems to be a basic issue.  In the meantime:

The problem is not breakfast.   It's carbohydrates.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha

Zombie Theme Park Planning To Open In Detroit
Entrepreneur Mark Siwak wants to create a live-action terror theme park called 'Z World' in Detroit's run-down and abandoned streets and buildings.
Zombie Town.  Dr. Drew.
There's a reality TV show in there somewhere.

Liars and Criminals Ctd.

As I was saying-  the price of doing business.

Feds Say Dr. Drew Was Paid By Glaxo To Talk Up Antidepressant 
Part of the case made by U.S. prosecutors that led to GlaxoSmithKline‘s $3 billion settlement today is that the company used a network of paid experts, speaking to doctors and to the press, to promote uses of its drugs that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. According to the Department of Justice’s complaint, one of those paid experts was celebrity physician Dr. Drew Pinsky, then the host of the radio show Loveline, which was also being broadcast on MTV. Pinsky has gone on to host Celebrity Rehab, Dr. Drew on HLN, and Dr. Drew’s Lifechangers on the CW.
The government alleges that Pinsky was paid a total of $275,000 over just two months – March and April 1999 – to deliver messages about Wellbutrin SR, a Glaxo antidepressant, “in settings where it did not appear that Dr. Pinsky was speaking for GSK.”
I like to think there's a special place in Hell for that.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Brain Eating Zombies of the Day

Zombie Idea that Will Not Die.

Tracie Afifi
Spanking linked to increased risk of mental health problems 
Among the adult mental illnesses most strongly linked to a history of harsh physical punishment in childhood were mania (an adult diagnosis 5.2% more likely in those who reported harsh physical punishment); alcohol abuse or dependence (3.4% more likely); and drug abuse or dependence (3% more likely).
Adults physically punished as children were even more likely to be diagnosed with personality disorders: Those who experienced such discipline were 7.2% more likely to be diagnosed as adults with schizotypal personality disorders, in which a strong pattern of odd or paranoid thinking results in job loss, relationship failures and other woes; they were 5.5% more likely to get a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, in which low levels of empathy and moral responsibility result in illegal behavior and hurtful relationships; they were 4.7% more likely to be diagnosed with narcissistic personality characterized by extreme egotism and self-regard; and 4.6% more likely to have a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, in which unpredictable swings of neediness, narcissism and risk-taking often result in a string of failed relationships.
All of these disorders have genetic and infectious factors which completely account for this effect.
The parents are sick and prone to impulse control problems.
And their children share genes and close contact with them.
They concluded that the nation's physicians should explicitly tell parents that physical punishment, including spanking, smacking and slapping, "should not be used on children of any age."
Spanking isn't desirable, or effective-  but not because it is a cause of illness-  it's a symptom.  This behavior is indicative of various anxiety disorders.

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

Stop Talking Shit. Get your Cause and Effect straight.
Adverse events do not cause mental illness. Sickness does.
Sickness facilitates adverse outcomes. And then compounds them.
Period.

---------------------

And it seems the backward brains are busy today...  This lady gets a bonus mention.

Abuse During Childhood May Contribute to Obesity in Adulthood
"Abuse during childhood may adversely shape health behaviors and coping strategies, which could lead to greater weight gain in later life," explained Renee Boynton-Jarrett, MD, the lead investigator of the study and a pediatric primary care physician at Boston Medical Center.
Serum Glucose regulation is also genetically and infectiously influenced.
And also causes impulse control problems.

These are sick people.   And you are ignoring their illnesses.    Period.

As I was saying

Impulse Control Problems.

Study: One in Four Texas Teens 'Sexting'
More than a quarter of teens at seven Texas high schools reported having sent a "sext" -- a naked picture of themselves by text or email, researchers found... Such sexting behavior was associated with an increased likelihood of dating or having sex for both boys and girls, and with risky sexual behaviors for girls, the researchers reported online in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Nearly 1 in 12 teens has anger disorder
While most teens have a violent, angry outburst at some point during their adolescence, nearly 8 percent have regular violent outbursts that would fall into the category of a mental health disorder. That’s according to a Harvard Medical School finding published online Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the first studies to measure the prevalence of the disorder in teens.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Busy Monday

What Really Makes Us Fat
Gary Taubes' take on the study I already linked to.   Well written.  Worth reading.

Severe sleep deprivation hurts immunity
Severe sleep deprivation affects the body's immune system the same way physical stress does, researchers in the Netherlands and Britain found.

Childless Women With Fertility Problems at Higher Risk of Hospitalization for Psychiatric Disorders

Doubling Down

Honestly. They don't even know how ridiculous they sound at this point.

Obesity researchers study thin people for clues about hunger and metabolism

Try Medline.  Look up Orexin.  Lots of interesting info in there.

Bloggy Business

I am working on the roundup.   Really.

I want to update the insanity site.   Especially the second section with all the bacteria and virus info.  If you have any comments on what was confusing or suggestions for additional topics-  please let me know.   I could use ideas.

Liars and Criminals

Another installment in our continuing series- 

GlaxoSmithKline fined $3 billion
GlaxoSmithKline was socked with $3 billion in fines by US authorities Monday over charges it marketed drugs for unauthorized uses, held back safety data, and cheated the government's Medicaid program.  The Justice Department said GSK was fined over misbranding its drugs Paxil and Wellbutrin, and for holding back data while making unbacked claims for its diabetes drug Avandia.  GSK pleaded guilty and agreed to the fines in what the department called the largest health care fraud settlement in US history.
Don't have any illusions:  this is the Rule, not the Exception.
Blatant Lying about Psychoactive Drugs is calculated into the price of doing business.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Fun with Obsession

Life-size Hot Wheels set Guinness world record – w/video

Life. Size. Hot. Wheels.

My kind of guy

Dan Ariely: Why You Shouldn't Trust Your Dentist      (4 minute video)

Because their interests are not the same as your interests.
Their interests are highly biased by their reimbursement from insurance companies.   The automatically approved procedures are what gets recommended.

"Please cite the evidence for your advice."
That statement always seems to stop my health professionals in their tracks.
Yet we assume Science is what their decisions are based on.

I gotta read his book and see if he's got the same blind spot as his targets:
About the Author:  Dan earned one PhD in cognitive psychology and another PhD in business administration.   He is the founder and director of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. 
Psychology.  Dentists.  Trust.  Efficacy.  Hindsight.  Cognitive dissonance, oh my.