Medications are often sugar coated to prevent the medicine from causing, in particular, gastric upsets in those swallowing the pills. Now a new study is reporting that the very ‘sugar coating’ that is protecting the body might itself be bad for the body.
According to this study, sponsored by the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority and published in Toxicology Letters,  just one ‘sugar coated’ tablet of an easy to obtain over-the-counter medication ‘can raise the levels of phthalates in the body by 100 fold before being quickly eliminated.’  Apparently, it’s quickly eliminated, but the fact that it even gets into …read more

Image details: Tomatos served by picapp.com
I don’t think anyone’s more excited about this news than me, but just in case you are, the FDA has lifted the tomato warning that has been plaguing these little red wonders for far too long now.
Salmonella cases are still popping up at a rate of 30 – 40 per day, but the maters currently found in fields and stores are getting the A-okay. Jalepeno and serrano peppers are not, however, so continue to beware of the spicies.
For more info, read here.
I’m off to make some nachos…with a whole lotta tomatoes!

If you think drugs are scary now, take a look at what was on offer in the 1800’s and 1900’s…

Source: Dr. Bonkers presents
The Nearly Genuine and Truly Marvelous
Psychoneuropharmacological Mental Medicine Show

Okay, so it’s not something any of us ever thought we’d see in our life time.
Especially not in the United States.
But here they are – marijuana dispensing vending machines.

In California.
To be more specific, in Los Angeles.
To be exact, at a Herbal Nutrition Center in Los Angeles.
Not that you or I are ever going to be able to use them – least I hope not cause they are only there for those who need marijuana for medicinal purposes. And even they have to prove that they need it – via a doctor’s prescription. But it’s an amazing development, given the controversy surrounding …read more

Photo Credit
Step aside, Viagra. Science is getting ever-closer to a version just for the ladies. LibiGel, a testosterone-laden ointment which is intended to boost the libidos of women, will be tested at the University of Virginia (among 99 other institutions) in coming months. Fantastic news, considering hypoactive sexual desire disorder (lack of sexual interest) affects about one-third of American women.
If the FDA approves this potentially-miraculous drug, LibiGel’s manufacturer, BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc., intends to offer the drug to any woman suffering from a low sex drive. At this point, however, only study participants with the following distinctions are eligible:

Must be …read more

Next time you’re feeling a little blue, spare a thought for a man who has been really ‘blue’ for over a decade.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking – it’s a gimmick and the guy really just wants to join the Blue Man Group. But no, it’s the real deal with a simple explanation.
Plagued by a bad case of dermatitis, Paul Karason started self-medicating with colloidal silver, a liquid made by extracting silver from metal. He both drank it and rubbed it on his face. And as a result, he ended up with a condition known as Argyria, an irreversible blue-gray …read more

Nice, but it’s missing something…
I have a very normal, balanced friend I’ll refer to herein as the Skritch who was misdiagnosed with ADHD as a child. To this day, her parents still refer sympathetically to her atrocious attention span, continuously seeking out new ways to help the poor thing just keep it all together. I say misdiagnosed because there is no possible way a rational creature would ever conceive of ADHD and the Skritch hanging out in the same room, let alone having any sort of “thing” together. As a teen, she sensibly held the Ritalin under her tongue until …read more

Remember that thing we used to do called the Morning News Fix? Good godlet, we’re neglectful. What’s up, kids? My toe is intact, my move is complete, and the cat says mew. Let’s get down to business, because we’re gangsta like that:
Mixing Vodka and Red Bull Is Unhealthy
More importantly, it’s disgusting. As usual, the health is really beside the point, isn’t it? Anyway, Fox is all in a tizzy about this study that shows college kids who drink caffeinated beverages mixed with alcohol are not only more likely to wear graphic tees with skulls and have skunk stripe highlights, they …read more

Still Completely Incompetent, and You?
Adverse drug reactions – including deaths – have more than doubled since 1998. The FDA is facing harsh criticism from the AMA. The report finds that there is “plenty of blame to go around” as health care practitioners administer drugs incorrectly and fail to manage prescription use properly. And it gets better: a leading expert states flatly that the FDA is in denial about drug safety. So by better, we’re talking worse.
Fetal Testosterone Levels Linked to Autism
For the first time, a study has linked high fetal testosterone levels with later development of autistic symptoms. Scientists …read more

A man who ate two to three bags of microwaved extra-butter popcorn for a decade has developed popcorn lung.
Thank You For Popping?
This is not the first case. Popcorn lung, or broncheolitis obliterans, is a deadly disease that ravages lung tissue and leaves its victims dependent upon an oxygen tank to survive. It turns out that popcorn lung is prevalent among popcorn factory workers and the buttered popcorn industry has known about the problem since 2002. This man’s particular story is the first time popcorn lung has gone public.
Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the man, but one …read more