Lebanon is a land of contrasts. Beirut struggles to keep the lights on 24 hours a day, get the garbage collected, and what passes for a highway system would give the most jaded New York cabbie a heart attack. But there is one thing the Lebanese haven’t screwed up that we in the U.S. have turned into a royal mess. And that is the ability to deliver world class healthcare at an affordable price.
Last Thursday, a new bill was introduced that would effectively end the federal prohibition on medical cannabis. While I was certainly happy to see this bipartisan effort created, I was also reminded of how frustrating it is that such a bill needs to be introduced in the first place. As an unapologetic capitalist, I believe one of the greatest forces for good is the free market. When an industry has as much economic swagger as cannabis, it becomes difficult for anyone to shut it down. And this is one of the reasons I invest in the cannabis industry.
Eight weeks before the operation would take place, I was notified by phone about the match and the donation process. I was asked whether I was willing to donate. I said yes. A few weeks later, my blood stem cells were injected into a middle-aged man with myelodysplastic syndrome.
(ANTIMEDIA) In recent years, the term “plant medicine” has come to be associated with psychedelics like mushrooms and ayahuasca, which are increasingly documented to provide mental and emotional relief to users.
Even if one doesn’t like industrialization and its consequences, one cannot escape the reality that what preceded modernity was materially, intellectually, and culturally close to zero for nearly everyone. Something is surely amiss when modern critics, enjoying all the material comforts and conveniences as well as the cultural amenities available at the push of a button, venture to dismiss modernity as if it were something even one in a thousand of them would give up.
Mr. G. spotted this article and shared it, which goes well with today's main blog:…
The post TIDBIT: RUSSO-JAPANESE COOPERATION FOCUS ON MEDICINE AND ENERGY appeared first on Giza Death Star.
The FDA gave permission on November 29 for large-scale, Phase 3 clinical trials of Ecstasy for people suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Many people swear the currently-illicit street drug has saved their lives, and if the trial is successful, it would establish Ecstasy as a legitimate prescription drug. [1]
Preliminary trials of Ecstasy, also called MDMA, for PTSD have been successful, but a large-scale trial is necessary before the FDA can approve it. [2]
A panel of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) experts has recommended that an experimental antibiotic made by Cempra Inc. be approved, but just barely. [1]
The panel voted 7-6 in favor of the drug, saying the effectiveness of the new antibiotic outweighed risks of liver toxicity seen in many studies. The FDA does not have to follow the panel’s recommendation, but it typically does.
It’s so cool when science backs up something you’ve known for so long. In this case, a new study by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NICCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows that yoga, acupuncture, and tai chi can be effective at relieving certain types of pain, such as headaches, back pain, and arthritis. [1]
Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D., NCCIH’s lead epidemiologist and lead author of the analysis, says:
