Cure for Alcoholism in Dispute
You go to about.com. Their page on medical treatment for alcohol states, “Science has yet to develop a magic pill to cure alcoholism, but there are some drugs that will help reduce cravings and benefit those who are sincerely trying to quit drinking.”
Then you see on the ABC News (or the BBC News, like I did this past weekend) that there’s a doctor saying he did develop a magic pill to cure alcoholism.
Dr. Olivier Ameisen, 55, French cardiologist, claims he found a cure for alcoholism in a pill designed to help MS patients with their muscle spasms. In his book, “Le Dernier Verre,” he says he’d started taking the drug baclofen after reading about a man being cured of his cocaine dependence through baclofen. Now, claims Dr. Ameisen, he can have an alcoholic drink in a social setting with no side effects.
More doctors seem to dispute the cure claim than to support it, and I don’t really see it as a magical cure-all drug for alcoholism anyway. Perhaps it works for the good doctor, but it can’t work for everyone. There are too many factors that lead to alcoholism. Also, consider the fact that the, “discontinuation of baclofen can be associated with a withdrawal syndrome which resembles benzodiazepine withdrawal and alcohol withdrawal.” What’s the point of taking an alcohol-cure pill if discontinuation puts you into alcohol withdrawal anyway? I think we will have to see how this plays out in the medical journals.
Actually, what I think is most intriguing is how the heck this guy manages to cover a simple cure for alcoholism, but then requires an entire book just to say how.
Sex, drugs, and rock & roll (without the sex and music)
I’ve met some drug users. Some claimed to be recreational pot smokers. Some were recreational pill poppers. Some were recreational abusers of their own prescription drugs. Some were probably more than recreational users.
It doesn’t matter what drugs they did or how much they did (well, it matters; it just doesn’t matter for this blog). I noticed an unusual similarity among the users. Most of them tried to adhere to a “healthy” lifestyle: eating right, eating organic, taking vitamins, exercising regularly, etc.
I’m not a drug user. I’ve never been a drug user, but the metaphor goes beyond the 4:20 crowd. Why are people so full of contradictions? Why do we try so hard to be healthy in one aspect of our lives while we continually destroy other aspects of our lives?
Vitamins for the Dead
Go into any shampoo aisle and you will likely find containers filled with not only a simple hair cleansing substance, but a substance with VITAMINS! Vitamins?!? I recognize that vitamins are good for living people, but are they necessary for the dead cells known as hair? What’s next, a daily vitamin for your dead pet?
I bet the Bride of Frankenstein had a lot of vitamins in her hair. I can just see her, hair higher than the Empire State Building, standing next to a Flinstones Vitamin kid, saying, “I’m building strong and growing!” I took vitamins when I was little. I didn’t grow much, but my hair has consistently grown. Perhaps the vitamins DO work in hair!
