If you, or anyone you know, has ever taken Prozac, you might want to click on the header.
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What about this picture? Well, we live at high altitude here and sometimes we wonder what the flatlanders are up to in regards to television advertising and drug research.
You know they go together if you watch any TV at all. Drug companies flood magazines, newspapers and especially television with advertising.
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In any case, there's a fairly new drug that is being pushed for Restless Leg Syndrome, a problem my Wild Thing has suffered from for many years. It's called Mirapex and is manufactured by Pharmacia & Upjohn.
The Food and Drug Administration put out this warning: "Two new drugs for Parkinson's disease may suddenly put patients to sleep, a dangerous side effect termed ''sleep attack'' that has caused at least eight people to have car wrecks, doctors said today.
"The effect appears rare: More than 100,000 Americans take these drugs, and the food and drug agency said it knew of no additional cases."
Like many meds, it warns against driving while taking the drug. No biggie. (And besides, those who "fell asleep" while driving might very well have been overtired and the sandman just caught up with them. But it's always handy to have a whipping boy available when you have a prang.)
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It also has warnings that, in addition to physiological effects, it can have psychological effects. Like overeating. Like becoming oversexed. Like gambling. Yes, truly. There's an article from the Mayo Clinic if you're interested: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/BN/00043.html .
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So I tried to figure out which parts of the body control the desire to gamble. I checked the instep of my left foot, my belly button and my scalp and right ear and lobe. No luck. I spent 47 minutes carefully examining different body parts (use your imagination) and nothing indicated that any part was interested in gambling. Except my brain, which considered gambling as enjoyable. Rats.
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Next, I tried to find out which part of my body controlled the sex drive. After only 26 minutes, the only thing I could find was (no, not that), my brain, which considered sex enjoyable. Rats.
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I hunted for my overeating glands and wound up at my brain after only 17 minutes. Yep, it considered eating enjoyable, too.
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This isn't a put-on posting. Really. But I have trouble with a drug invented for one problem being used to help with a different problem and then turning out to have the power and potency to alter a person's mind and thinking processes.
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I am wondering why the FDA doesn't declare these drugs as potentially mind altering and put them either on a severely restricted list or have the manufacturers remove them completely from the market? It looks like a bit of collusion to me.
