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Addiction Not the Same as Neuroadaptation
It’s common to read or hear people say they’re “addicted” to all sorts of things, like chocolate, but there’s a difference between addiction and adaptation. Adaptation can also be called “dependence” or the fancier “neuroadaptation.” This can foster a discussion about whether you can be addicted to antidepressants, which by extension, could mean it’s difficult…
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Are There Clear and Consistent Racial Differences in Immunity?
So, the short answer is “Probably not.” I did a little digging on this because I heard the recently confirmed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr) cite studies which he says did indicate there are differences in humoral immunity between Caucasians and African Americans. Now remember, I’m a retired general hospital psychiatric consultant…
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Old School
We were reminiscing about our elementary school days following a discussion of news article about what some educators want to do with the school day schedule. Apparently, kids are pretty sleepy in class and teachers think it’s because they’re sleep deprived. Apparently, they’re not getting enough sleep at night and the proposal is that the…
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Send The Asteroid; We Deserve It
About that news article regarding an asteroid colliding with earth—I couldn’t read it…hits too close to home (rim shot!). More seriously (but not much!), the background for this is that the asteroid 2024 YR4 has been identified by NASA and is tracking it now. News stories emphasize its large size of maybe up to a…
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Get Ready to Vaccinate Your Chickens!
I’ve heard about the recent contract a drug company (Zoetis) obtained to make chicken vaccine for the H5N1 bird flu virus which is hopping from birds to cows and even to humans. So far, I haven’t heard that the bird flu is transmitted between humans. As far as eating eggs, I’ve read that the chance…
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Rounding@Iowa Podcast: “Challenges in Transitioning Seriously Ill Patients from Pediatric to Adult Systems of Care”
I listened to the Rounding@Iowa podcast of February 11, 2025, “Challenges in Transitioning Seriously Ill Patients from Pediatric to Adult Systems of Care.” This was a very interesting presentation about the challenges of helping persons with life-limiting conditions (for example, hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia and more) transition from pediatric to adult systems of…
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Rife vs Ripe: Which is Right?
I noticed a couple of things about one of the President’s many new Executive Orders, which was “ESTABLISHING THE PRESIDENT’S MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN COMMISSION,” or MAHA for short. It was posted on February 13, 2025. One thing it reminded me of is the tax filing season, which is upon us (everything reminds me of…
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FDA Has Yet to Decide on What to Do About the Clozapine REMS Program
I checked on what the FDA is doing about changing or closing down the Clozapine REMS program. It doesn’t look like they’ve taken any action yet. Recall there was a Clozapine REMS Advisory Committee meeting about this on November 19, 2024 that I posted about recently. The upshot was that the committee voted overwhelmingly (14…
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Sena Double Dog Dared Me to Try the Electric Snow Shovel!
Well, the snow kept coming down. I had to go back out to shovel. I was going to use my plow shovel, but Sena said I was too chicken to try the electric snow shovel. I couldn’t back down. So, I had to go out there, after the wind had changed mind you, and use…
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Sena Gives the Electric Snow Blower the Real Test!
We got a real snowfall starting last night and into this morning. Sena took the Voltask battery-powered 48V 16-inch snow shovel out and put it through its paces. We got about 6 inches of snow and it chewed right through it. It threw the snow into the next county! It took her about 30 minutes…
Go Retire Psychiatrist 