In the wake of the recent reclassification of mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) in Britain as a class B drug, new chemicals — many apparently manufactured in China — have rushed to fill the void. According to press reports, the most prevalent of these is naphyrone (nrg-1), which is sold over the internet where it is often labelled as a “…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKxZBvE8bjM
The Memphis Jug Band recorded in the 1920s and 30s with an ever-changing line-up of musicians and instruments, usually including a liquor jug used as a wind instrument to supply the bass line. According to the Black Media Archive, the personnel on this track included Will Shade (harmonica), Tee Wee Blackman (guitar), Ben Ramey (kazoo), Ham Lewis (jug), and Hattie Hart (vocals). The lyrics use few words to limn an evocative portrait of the role of cocaine in certain communities in the early 20th century. Version of “Cocaine Habit Blues” were recorded by Leadbelly, The Byrds, Old Crow Medicine Show, and others.
In April,the Labour government banned mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) in part because the deaths of two British teenagers were associated with the drug. Yesterday, The Guardian (U.K.) reported on the results of post-mortem toxicology tests: no mephedrone was found in the teens’ bodies. The paper interviewed Professor Roumen Sedefov from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, who stated he was aware of only one death clearly linked to mephedrone — that of a woman in Sweden. It is not clear from the story whether methadone was also involved in that death.
The New Scientist also reports on this story, and provides a link to a compilation of mephedrone myths, including one headlined “Legal drug teen ripped his scrotum off“.
An article today in The Telegraph (U.K.) claims that Botticelli’s great painting “Venus and Mars” depicts not post coital bliss (or tristesse) but Jimson Weed (Datura stromonium) poisoning! A description from London’s National Gallery, which displays the painting, comments that: “The scene is of an adulterous liaison, as Venus was the wife of Vulcan, the …
Paraquat Ingestion: A Challenging Diagnosis. Chen JG et al. Pediatrics June 2010;125(6):e1506-e1509
This very interesting case report from Duke and East Carolina University describes a 8-year-old boy who was brought to the emergency department several hours after ingesting a liquid herbicide that his parents identified as Amoxone (2,4-D) — a relatively non-toxic compound whose clinical effects are generally limited …
Isoniazid-Induced Status Epilepticus in a Pediatric Patient After Inadequate Pyridoxine Therapy. Minns AB et al. Pediatr Emerg Care 2010;26:380-381.
This short case report describes at 0-month-old male infant who ingested up to 2.7 gm of isoniazid (INH). He had a seizure approximately 45 minutes after ingestion and was treated with pyridoxine (70 mg/kg) and diazepam (1 mg). Because …
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IWmETZCLHs
I’ve ordered a copy of the new remastering of The Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street” and am looking forward to hearing it — especially the previously unreleased material. Although some critics think that “Exile” is The Stones’ masterpiece, I do have to admit that I agree with the opinion expressed this morning by Ben Ratliff in The New York Times: the album is “good, but not great”, and it is distinctly inferior to at least two other Stones releases from the early 1970s . . .
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMUJOYyJqwc&feature=related
Broken heart syndrome: Tako Tsubo cardiomyopathy associated with an overdose of the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor Venlafaxine. Christoph M et al. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2010 (Epub ahead of print)
Tako Tsubo cardiomyopathy (broken heart syndrome) is a unique clinical entity in which excess catecholamines — often associated with physical or emotion stress — cause acute left ventricular (LV) apical dysfunction. This can present similarly to acute coronary syndrome, with chest pain, dyspnea, ST elevation and/or T-wave inversion, and minimally elevated cardiac enzymes. Echocardiogram shows . . .
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