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  • Frats To Ban Hard Liquor After Pledge Deaths

    Frats To Ban Hard Liquor After Pledge Deaths

    Frats will have until September 1, 2019 to implement the new alcohol policy.

    The party scene on many college campuses could be changing, after a governing body that oversees more than 6,000 fraternities around the nation banned its members from serving hard alcohol beginning next fall. 

    The North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) policy means that frats will only be allowed to serve hard liquor (over 15% alcohol) if they do so using a licensed third-party vendor. 

    “At their core, fraternities are about brotherhood, personal development and providing a community of support. Alcohol abuse and its serious consequences endanger this very purpose,” Judson Horras, NIC president and CEO, said in a statement. “This action shows fraternities’ clear commitment and leadership to further their focus on the safety of members and all in our communities.”

    The policy change received near-unanimous support, the statement said. Some campuses already have restrictions in place around hard alcohol and report that the policies led to positive change. 

    “Our IFC and member fraternities eliminated hard alcohol from facilities and events on our campus several years ago and have seen a positive shift in our culture when it comes to the health and safety of our members and guests,” said Seth Gutwein, Purdue University IFC President. “With all NIC fraternities implementing this critical change, it will provide strong support for fraternities to move as one to make campus communities safer.”

    The changes come after a series of high-profile deaths caused by alcohol consumption at frats around the country. One of the most well-known cases was the death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, who died during a hazing ritual at Penn State in February of 2017. Since then, Piazza’s parents, Jim and Evelyn Piazza, have been advocating for stricter laws against hazing. 

    Tim’s father, Jim Piazza, told USA Today the new alcohol policy is “a good start.” He added that he and other family members have been talking to the NIC, and “they’ve been listening to us.”

    “It should make a meaningful difference,” Piazza said. “There are other reforms they need to put into place, and there’s still work to do. But this is a beginning.”

    Overall, Piazza said that a college culture that emphasizes drinking and partying is dangerous and needs to change. “Our aim is to make overall college life safer,” he said. 

    Frats will have until September 1, 2019 to implement the policy, which the NIC says is just one piece of an ongoing effort to make fraternity life safer and reduce hazing. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Is It Possible To Overdose On Caffeine?

    Is It Possible To Overdose On Caffeine?

    A new article delved into the potential risks of ingesting too much caffeine.

    Though caffeine is technically a “drug,” its effects are relatively benign.

    The naturally-occurring stimulant can be found in certain plants, nuts, seeds, and food products like sodas, teas, and chocolates.

    The normal daily serving of caffeine—per the U.S. government’s dietary guidelines—is up to 400 mg of caffeine, or 3-5 8-ounce cups of coffee. The effects range from alertness and a faster heart rate, to anxiousness, dehydration, and headache.

    Caffeine will begin to affect the body at a concentration of 15 milligrams per liter (mg/L) in the blood. Most of the time the effects are benign and do not cause lasting harm.

    However, while a fatal or even life-threatening overdose of caffeine is quite rare, consuming large amounts of caffeine can be harmful.

    According to Medical News Today, a concentration of 80 to 100 mg/L of caffeine in the body can be fatal.

    A death resulting from too much caffeine is typically caused by ventricular fibrillation—a rapid, inadequate heartbeat that prohibits the heart from pumping blood and leads to cardiac arrest. 

    Symptoms of a caffeine overdose include a fast/irregular heartbeat, shakiness, nausea or vomiting, confusion, and a panic attack. Treating a caffeine overdose may include receiving intravenous fluids, supplements, or activated charcoal.

    According to a 2018 review of scientific journal articles dating back to when online databases began, there have been 92 total reported deaths from caffeine overdose—researchers believe that about one-third of these deaths were “likely to be suicide,” according to Medical News Today.

    Coffee and tea typically do not pose a risk of caffeine overdose, but the risk is higher with dietary supplements and caffeine tablets, which contain higher concentrations of caffeine.

    Purified caffeine powder poses the highest risk of an overdose. According to Medical News Today, it is “highly dangerous and much more likely to cause an overdose.”

    One teaspoon of caffeine powder can be equivalent to 28 cups of coffee, according to the Food and Drug Administration; each teaspoon can contain 3,200-6,400 mg of caffeine.

    Mixing caffeine with alcohol can carry its own set of risks. Having caffeine with alcohol, a depressant, can “mask the effect” of alcohol by making a person feel more alert and believe they can drink more than they normally would.

    Recently the long-held belief that coffee can sober you up from a night of drinking was debunked.

    “We know from wider research that coffee isn’t an antidote to alcohol,” said Professor Tony Moss of London South Bank University. “Taking coffee as a stimulant that will reverse that feeling of being slightly tired as your blood alcohol is coming down.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Are Chocolate Chip Cookies As Addictive As Cocaine?

    Are Chocolate Chip Cookies As Addictive As Cocaine?

    Researchers examined the ingredients in chocolate chip cookies to determine why they are so addictive for some.

    Science has turned in a humdinger: studies indicate that sugar and sweetness can induce reward and craving that are comparable to those induced by cocaine.

    Research giving laboratory rats rewards of sugars and sweets shows that these goodies can not only replace a drug, but can even surpass the drug in the rats’ preference.

    CNN reports there are a variety of reasons for this powerful effect, including an emotional connection to good memories of baking. Kathleen King, founder of Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, New York, and maker of a top-rated chocolate chip cookie, shared with CNN, “If I’m celebrating, I can have a couple of cookies, but if I’m sad, I want 10 cookies. While the cookie is in your mouth, that moment is happiness—and then it’s gone, and you’re sad again, and you have another one.”

    The study shows that at a neurobiological level, the qualities of sugar and sweet rewards are apparently stronger than those of cocaine. The study indicates evolutionary pressures in seeking foods high in sugar and calories as a possible reason for this.

    In addition, according to CNN, chocolate contains trace amounts of the compound anandamide. Anandamide is also a brain chemical that targets the same cell receptors as THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. So there may be another chemical basis for the intense pleasure that many people get from a chocolate chip cookie.

    This also explains the insane popularity of “marijuana brownies” which combines THC and the chemical hit of chocolate. These chewy treats are so beloved that guru Martha Stewart even has a recipe for pot brownies.

    Salt is an important element to the chocolate chip cookie’s addictive quality.

    “It is what adds interest to food, even if it’s a sweet food, because it makes the sugar and other ingredients taste better and come together better,” Gail Vance Civille, founder and president of Sensory Spectrum, told CNN. “A pinch of salt in cookies really makes a difference, and it enhances sweetness a little bit.”

    Gary Wenk, director of neuroscience undergraduate programs at the Ohio State University and author of Your Brain on Food, notes that cookies high in fat and sugar will raise the level of anandamide in the brain regardless of what other ingredients are in the cookie.

    “The fat and sugar combine to induce our addiction as much as does the anandamide,” Wenk told CNN. “It’s a triple play of delight.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Death Certificate Project" Helps Identify Doctors Who Overprescribe

    "Death Certificate Project" Helps Identify Doctors Who Overprescribe

    The crackdown has spooked physicians, including some who say they’re now less inclined to treat complex patients. 

    Hundreds of California physicians are under investigation for their prescribing habits, as the state medical board cracks down on overprescribing.

    Under the “Death Certificate Project,” the Medical Board of California is trying to take a proactive approach to identifying overprescribing behavior.

    The board, a state agency that licenses/disciplines physicians, has reviewed death certificates that list a prescription opioid (or more) as the cause of death, then identify the provider(s) who prescribed the controlled substance to the patient “within three years of death, regardless of whether the particular drug caused the death or whether that doctor prescribed the lethal dose,” MedPage Today reports.

    Prescribers were matched to patients through California’s prescription drug database, CURES (California Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System).

    “Our goal is consumer protection… (to) identify physicians who may be inappropriately prescribing to patients and to make sure that those individuals are educated (about opioid guidelines), and where there are violations of the Medical Practices Act, the board takes (disciplinary) action,” said Kimberly Kirchmeyer, the medical board’s executive director.

    So far, 462 physicians have been identified as “warranting an investigation of patients’ files,” according to MedPage. Of these cases, 223 have been closed for either insufficient evidence, no violation, their license was already revoked/surrendered, or the physician has died.

    Nine physicians have been targeted in opioid-related prescribing accusations filed by the state Attorney General; four of them were already under scrutiny on “unrelated charges.”

    The state’s crackdown has spooked physicians, including some who say they’re now less inclined to treat complex patients.

    “When you hear a bunch of doctors all at the same time all getting the same letter, and you realize they’re going through the same thing, you see why some are saying [to patients], ‘Sorry, if you have a lot of medical conditions, we’re not going to take care of you,’” said Dr. Brian J. Lenzkes, a San Diego internist and one of the targets of the Death Certificate Project.

    Last December, Lenzkes received a letter from the state medical board notifying him that there had been a “complaint filed against you” about a patient who had died of a prescription drug overdose in 2013.

    According to Lenzkes, the patient’s severe condition required him to take a regimen of prescription drugs including painkillers.

    After receiving the letter, however, Lenzkes says he’s more wary of taking on pain management, saying that he’ll refer patients to pain specialists instead. “I’m not taking any more. That’s just how I feel,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Christopher Kennedy Lawford Dies At 63

    Christopher Kennedy Lawford Dies At 63

    “He was the absolute cornerstone to my sobriety,” said his cousin, Patrick Kennedy.

    Actor Christopher Kennedy Lawford has died, according to his family. The nephew of John F. Kennedy succumbed to a heart attack on Tuesday, according to his cousin, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy. He was 63.

    Lawford was living in Vancouver, Canada with his girlfriend and working to open a recovery facility, according to the AP.

    Lawford used his own drug issues to author several books about addiction and recovery—including Moments of Clarity (2008), Recover to Live (2013), What Addicts Know (2014), and When Your Partner Has an Addiction (2016).

    Lawford—the son of English “Rat Pack” actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy—was candid about his recovery, and guided others on the same path.

    “He was the absolute cornerstone to my sobriety, along with my wife. He was the one who walked me through all the difficult days of that early period,” said Patrick Kennedy, who battled his own drug issues and is now a vocal advocate for mental health and addiction recovery.

    Lawford described using LSD in his youth while in boarding school. He stayed away at first, but began experimenting to cope with the trauma of his parents’ bitter divorce and the assassinations of his uncles John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.

    “I had friends trying to get me to use LSD in seventh grade. I grew up with an ethic of trying to do good in the world, and I said no. Then my Uncle Bobby was shot. Next fall they asked me again and I said sure,” Lawford told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2016.

    Things only got worse from there, as Lawford “graduated” to heroin and other opioids, according to the AP. In his memoir Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption (2005), Lawford described mugging women for money, panhandling in Grand Central Station, and getting arrested for drug possession.

    Lawford finally went to rehab at the age of 30. And while his life was far from perfect, he said he has no regrets.

    “There are many days when I wish I could take back and use my youth more appropriately. But all of that got me here,” he told the AP in 2005. “I can’t ask for some of my life to be changed and still extract the understanding and the life that I have today.”

    After the death of his cousin David Kennedy (son of RFK) who fatally overdosed at the age of 28, Lawford said in 1991, “I never expected to make it to 30. I shouldn’t have. I just have to stay out of my own way, because I’ve got this capacity to screw things up.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Can Pre-Birth Opioid Exposure Lead To Learning Disorders?

    Can Pre-Birth Opioid Exposure Lead To Learning Disorders?

    A new study examined the potential link between pre-birth opioid exposure and developmental issues. 

    Children born to mothers using opioids may grow up to demonstrate difficulty learning, a new study has found.

    The study examined the potential long-term issues for infants born to mothers who used opioids while pregnant, according to NBC News.

    The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that one in seven children affected by a mother using opioids needed to be placed in special education classrooms for various issues, including developmental issues and speech delay. In comparison, one in 10 children who were not exposed to opioids before birth required the same. 

    About 7,200 children from Tennessee’s Medicaid program were involved in the study, ranging in age from 3 to 8 years old. Of those children, nearly 2,000 were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)—or, in simpler terms, withdrawal from opioids due to a mother’s use.

    Tennessee has been greatly affected by the opioid epidemic, which is reflected in the number of infants exposed to opioids before birth. In 1999, it was one per 1,000 infants. But in 2015, it was 13 per 1,000.

    Researchers said they took specific factors into account like birth weight and mother’s education and tobacco use, but that those did not change the results. 

    According to study co-author Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University, the results make sense, as other studies have determined that there are brain differences in children affected by opioids while in utero. 

    Dr. Mary-Margaret Fill, lead author and a researcher with Tennessee’s health department, tells NBC News that affected children “are definitely not doomed. There are great programs and services that exist to help these children and their families. We just have to make sure they get plugged in.”

    Because the study was focused in Tennessee, it’s not clear if the results are similar in other U.S. states, and no other studies with the same focus have been conducted in the country. 

    However, a similar study was conducted in Australia last year, and found that children exposed to opioids before birth had worse academic scores in seventh grade in comparison to others their age. The U.S. study did not examine academic performance.

    Dr. Matthew Davis, co-chair of the Opioid Task Force at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, tells the Chicago Tribune that the study results should serve as a sign that opioid use affects a wide range.

    “There’s a sense that the opioid epidemic is somebody else’s problem, but it affects more than those who take the drugs,” Davis said. “I hope the study is a wake-up call, so people understand that this epidemic is a community-level, multigenerational problem that will only grow if we don’t take the proper steps to address it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Marijuana's Pain-Relieving Properties To Be Studied By UCLA Researchers

    Marijuana's Pain-Relieving Properties To Be Studied By UCLA Researchers

    “The public consumption of cannabis has already far outpaced our scientific understanding. We really desperately need to catch up.”

    Thirty states and Washington D.C. have medical marijuana programs, but there has been little scientific research into the pain relieving properties of pot.

    Now, however, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles are trying to change that, by conducting research into marijuana as a pain reliever. 

    “We’re not trying to do pro-cannabis research or anti-cannabis research,” Dr. Jeffrey Chen, director of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative told NBC News. “We’re just trying to do good science.”

    The initiative’s first goal will be to conduct a high-quality clinical research trial into pain relief. It will look at which types of cannabis products provide the most pain relief and whether cannabis may be able to replace opioid pain relievers for some patients.

    Edythe London, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the UCLA school of medicine, designed the study to test different combinations of THC, the principal psychoactive component of marijuana, and cannabidiol, an anti-inflammatory component that does not give a high. She wants to measure which “produces the most good,” she said, in terms of reducing pain and opioid use.

    Studies have shown that states with medical marijuana programs have fewer opioid overdose deaths. However, there haven’t been studies that show whether pain patients are switching from opioids to medical marijuana, or studies to see how effective medical marijuana is at treating pain in individuals.

    Because of this, the proposed UCLA study is “much-needed research,” according to Yuyan Shi, a health policy analyst at the University of California, San Diego, who studies the health consequences of marijuana and opioid use. 

    The study still needs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and more funding is needed.

    However, Chen said that more organizations and individuals are realizing the importance of studying cannabis. Because of this, the research already has funds from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, federal and state sources, and private donors, he said. 

    “The public consumption of cannabis has already far outpaced our scientific understanding,” Chen said. “We really desperately need to catch up.”

    Chen hopes that the pain relief study will just be the first step for the research initiative. 

    “While our priority is to study the therapeutic potential and health risks of cannabis on the body, brain, and mind, our mission is the interdisciplinary study of the wide-ranging health, legal, economic, and social impacts of cannabis,” he wrote in a message on the organization’s website. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Tess Holliday On Postpartum Depression: I Wished I Could Disappear

    Tess Holliday On Postpartum Depression: I Wished I Could Disappear

    The model has been open about her struggles with postpartum depression on Instagram.

    Plus-sized model Tess Holliday opened up about her battle with postpartum depression to Cosmopolitan UK.

    The 33-year-old, who launched the body positive movement (#effyourbeautystandards) in 2013, struggled with postpartum depression after giving birth to her son Bowie, which lasted from January 2017 to the spring of 2018.

    “It felt like the water was boiling over and things were coming to the top again,” she recalled in a May post on Instagram. “I remember very vividly driving in the car with Bowie and I thought to myself, ‘I wish I could just disappear. I wish I could vanish.’”

    Holliday also confessed on Instagram, “I’ve never had suicidal thoughts, or self harm, but the thoughts of just wanting to stop hurting and feeling helpless were new and frankly overwhelming. I’ve been open about my struggles with Postpartum Depression, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized I had extreme PPD.”

    Holliday was afraid to turn to her family for help because she didn’t want to burden them. “I felt at that point like I was causing everyone around me so much pain,” she continued. “It felt like a never-ending black hole. I was so tired of hurting… I just didn’t want to be here any more.”

    Yet it was with the help of her family and antidepressants that she finally got out of the black hole. “Ask for help, talk to someone, find a support group or hell, message me. You aren’t alone and you don’t need to suffer alone.”

    Holliday confessed she still has tough days. “Some days are still filled with sadness, anxiety and helplessness,” she adds. “As I write this, I’m in the bath, crying to my life coach via text wondering how my life is so full of so many amazing things, but the good bits seem hard to reach… Moms are expected to ‘bounce back’ physically and emotionally. We are expected to ‘stay strong’ for the family. Yet most of us (myself included) still have days where we feel like a stranger in our bodies.”

    Holliday concluded, “I’m grateful to have support in my life, friends to talk to, but it got so bad that I had to take action and by doing so it potentially saved my life.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Paul McCartney "Saw God" During A DMT Trip

    Paul McCartney "Saw God" During A DMT Trip

    The legendary musician described a past hallucinogenic trip in a recent interview with The Sunday Times.

    Former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, had a vision of a higher power while tripping on DMT (dimethyltryptamine), back in the Fab Four’s heyday. He described the experience, and the impact it had on him, with the Sunday Times.

    “There was a gallery owner Robert Fraser, me, a couple of others. We were immediately nailed to the sofa. And I saw God, this amazing towering thing, and I was humbled,” he said.

    The musician admitted that he will “cherry-pick” aspects of his spirituality, but ultimately, he says, “I do think there is something higher.”

    His vision continues: “It was huge. A massive wall that I couldn’t see the top of, and I was at the bottom. And anybody else would say it’s just the drug, the hallucination, but both Robert and I were like, ‘Did you see that?’ We felt we had seen a higher thing.”

    This experience would fuel the hope that he is still connected with his late loved ones: “Having lost both my parents and Linda, and having experienced people close to me dying, you often hear this from others when you say you’re missing a person so much. ‘Don’t worry,’ they say. ‘They’re here, looking down on you.’ And there’s part of you that thinks there is no proof of that. But there’s part of you that wants to believe it.”

    The 76-year-old musician was never one to shy away from his drug use. In a two-minute clip available on YouTube, the singer, much younger, candidly fields a question about his use of LSD raised by a persistent reporter.

    McCartney, whose latest album Egypt Station will be released on September 7, has also admitted in past interviews that he felt depressed following the break-up of The Beatles in 1970, and coped by drinking alcohol.

    “I was breaking from my lifelong friends, not knowing whether I was going to continue in music. I took to the bevvies (slang for drinks). I took to a wee dram,” he said, according to Yahoo.

    “It was great at first, then suddenly I wasn’t having a good time. It wasn’t working. I wanted to get back to square one, so I ended up forming Wings (his rock band formed in 1971).”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Slash Talks Performing, Writing Music While Sober

    Slash Talks Performing, Writing Music While Sober

    “I found that when I got sober… my partying thing was really a matter of killing time in between things.”

    Slash, who is currently enjoying a successful reunion tour with Guns N’ Roses, had a long history with substance use before finally getting sober in 2006.

    The famous guitarist born Saul Hudson also has a new solo album, Living the Dream, coming out on September 21, and now that he’s writing new music and performing sober, he realizes it’s been a whole new ballgame.

    “I found that when I got sober, sort of looking back from the time that I started playing up until 2006, my partying thing was really a matter of killing time in between things. I wasn’t really using when I was in the studio, I was always focused on music,” he told Loudwire. “So when I got sober, all that effort that I put into what turned into a massive addiction at that point, I took all that and just put it straight back into the music, and it wasn’t really reliant on me being buzzed, or should I say inebriated, to be able to create stuff.”

    When writing the classic Guns N’ Roses songs, Slash recalled, “A lot of that material from the old days—I can pick particular songs that were definitely written under the influence, but I can pick other songs that were written under the influence of a couple beers.”

    Slash confessed to Rolling Stone, “From ’86 to ’94, there was definitely not a day or a show that I was sober… I was a very functional alcoholic. When I was on tour, it’s always alcohol. I knew better than to try a [heroin] habit on the road, knowing that if things don’t go as planned, you’re gonna be sick and all that miserable shit. So, it was just alcohol that I was dealing with. Which is its own demon, but I mean, I was good with it [laughs].”

    Slash has always been a workaholic, and keeping busy has been the key to his sobriety. “I think, probably I’m at my weakest if I don’t have a bunch of shit going on.”

    Today, he says his sobriety has “been going well. All addicts and alcoholics have to know that it’s there… I’ve been really fortunate that I finally got to that point where I was just over it. And I haven’t had an issue since then. I haven’t had any desire to go back and do that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com