Posts Tagged: ‘drugs’

We’ve all heard of the placebo effect, but what exactly going on in our bodies when we benefit from a simple sugar pill — or when a placebo outperforms actual medication? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Julie and I look into the world of big pharm to ponder just how powerful a little deception can be. Plus, you’ll learn about the nocebo effect (placebo’s evil cousin) in which the patient exhibits the supposed harmful side effects of a fake drug.

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The drug trade demonstrates one interesting fact about capitalism. If there is a market for a product, even if it is an illegal market, people will try to satisfy the demand in return for money. If customers are willing to pay lots of money, the pressure to deliver products to the customers can be tremendous. [...]

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Look, wallabies are munching down Tasmanian opium crops and lemurs are giving themselves a millipede rubdown. And if that’s not weird enough for you, just think about the fact that your sleeping brain does far more than make you show up late for college exams naked. This is how we aim to please you on the latest two episodes of Stuff to Blow Your Mind.

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Have you ever thought about drugs like cocaine, ecstasy or meth and wondered what these drugs actually do inside a person’s brain? This Flash presentation shows you what is happening…

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We’re all familiar with energy drinks, the beverages that give some of us the caffeine, vitamins, herbs and sugar to power through our work days and stretch our nights out to the max. Regardless of the brand, you’re basically guzzling down stuff from the local hippie health store with a cola makeover.

Anti-energy drinks, as you can probably guess, are the same idea aimed at opposite results. Hit your favorite natural foods store and you’ll find no shortage of herbal sleep and relaxation aids like melatonin, kava root or valerian root. Given the enormous worldwide success the energy drink industry has enjoyed, it makes perfect sense to throw some of those aids into a can and add a little flavor, fizz and a suitably ridiculous brand name. Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda and Drank anyone?

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There’s a part in the movie Big Fish where the protagonist, Edward Bloom, loses his shoes to a girl named Jenny Hill. Jenny doesn’t want Edward to leave the subtly mythical town of Spectre and indoctrinates him as per the town custom: tying the laces of one’s pair of shoes and throwing them over a telephone wire, to dangle out of reach. The logic, ethereal as it is, goes that without one’s shoes, one can no longer travel and might as well settle down.

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Never let it be said that Robert Lamb doesn’t appreciate a good sports story. While baseball and I have never quite seen eye-to-eye, I can’t help but be amused by Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis’ 1970 no-hitter (or “no-no”) against the San Diego Padres — a feat that Ellis claims to have accomplished while totally mind-blasted on LSD.

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What mysterious causes underlie the existence of crop circles? Alien spacecraft from beyond the stars? Pranksters from the next town over? Or are they actually the work of opium-addicted wallabies? Well, at least in Australia, doped-up marsupials may indeed be the ones to blame.

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This just in from CNN.com – the case of the eighth grade girl who was strip searched in her middle school is now heading to the Supreme Court.

Some details if you aren’t familiar:

In 2003, Savana Redding was an eight grade honor student in a middle school in Arizona and was pulled into the principal’s office after a fellow student accused her of providing prescription-strength ibuprofen pills. She denied it, so they searched her backpack and found nothing. Even though she had never been in any kind of trouble before, she was then taken to a private room and by three female school employees and made to strip to her underwear. They also had her pull her bra out for further inspection. No drugs.

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Most drugs travel through the bloodstream. If a drug molecule is too large, or dissolves in stomach acid, it must be given as a shot. Learn more about shots in this HowStuffWorks podcast.

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