Thursday, February 09, 2006
Hope and Selfishness
The babies of women who take SSRI antidepressants while pregnant are 600% more likely to develop persistent pulmonary hypertension - a very often deadly lung disease - as well as being prone to withdrawal symptoms after birth. I can't say I'm shocked that these drugs have effects on newborns; frankly I think that any doctor who allows a pregnant woman to be on any medication she does not absolutely need to be on should have his/her license revoked. I know how much depression sucks, but it is only very rarely so severe that the risk of suicide is higher than the risk of damaging a baby. We have built ourselves a society where we are so massively self-indulgent and overmedicated that we are doing this shit to our kids. Stupid.
Somewhat similarly, it seems that a some popular non-prescription stomach drugs - H2 blockers like Pepcid, Zantac, Axid, or Tagamet - may cause a severe bowel disease when given to premature infants. Interesting.
The good news is that researchers may have found a compound, CSA-54, capable of blocking HIV infection of cells. We'll see if it goes anywhere.
Also, it seems that eating red grapefruit (one of my favorite foods) is extra good for you: coronary patients with statin-resistant hyperlipidemia who ate a red or white grapefruit a day for thirty days had significantly lowered cholesterol than those who ate none. Those who ate red grapefruit had even better results than those eating white grapefruit, particularly with respects to their triglyceride levels. So, yay grapefruit!
Somewhat similarly, it seems that a some popular non-prescription stomach drugs - H2 blockers like Pepcid, Zantac, Axid, or Tagamet - may cause a severe bowel disease when given to premature infants. Interesting.
The good news is that researchers may have found a compound, CSA-54, capable of blocking HIV infection of cells. We'll see if it goes anywhere.
Also, it seems that eating red grapefruit (one of my favorite foods) is extra good for you: coronary patients with statin-resistant hyperlipidemia who ate a red or white grapefruit a day for thirty days had significantly lowered cholesterol than those who ate none. Those who ate red grapefruit had even better results than those eating white grapefruit, particularly with respects to their triglyceride levels. So, yay grapefruit!
