A Strange History Is one of the oldest, cheapest drugs in the international pharmacopeia soon to become the medication that will block Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and MS? Work by Giovanna Mallucci’s laboratory at Britain’s Medical Research Council has shown – in mice – that trazodone and DBM, an anti-cancer drug, appear to stop a common neurodegenerative process which […]
Zee Drugs (8/18/14)
Zee Story The back of the alphabet is pushing for primacy. The masked avenger Zorro appeared in 1919; the remarkably popular Z cars television crime series transfixed Britain in the 1960s. Now is era of Z drugs. Zolpidem, zaleplon, and eszopiclone – respectively named for the commercially minded ambien, sonata and lunesta – are today’s […]
Amazing Ambien (3/19/12)
The Rock Star Drug Steve Tyler of Aeorosmith took it to sooth an aching foot. He fell off the stage. One Calgary man claimed it made him take a bottle of vodka out of the fridge, down it and drive directly into other cars – all while he was asleep! My patients have woken with […]
Sleepwalking stops vegetarianism (4/2/12)
Eating in Your Sleep Some people do not eat meat; they will not eat meat. The reasons are many. They range from concern for their own health to concern for the health of the planet, as eight pounds of grain is usually needed to create one pound of meat. Yet even vegetarians of 40 years […]
Booze and sleeping pills – the wrong combination (11/16/11)
Alcohol and Pills for Sleep “Beer and valium, that’s how I sleep. Works every time, a perfect night’s sleep.” So said an actor friend of mine, who often had trouble “coming down” after a play and used this cocktail three or four times a week. Yet often alcohol plus sleeping pills do not “work.” Thirty […]