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FDA crackdown could empty some medicine cabinets

When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) takes a serious look at restricting access to a medication, we're talking about an issue far more serious than some weight loss pill reviews you might read on a blog. We're talking about decisions -- in this case regarding one of the most widely used painkillers in history -- that may empty out medicine cabinets (including mine) throughout the land.

In case you haven't heard about this yet, an advisory committee to the FDA recently went public with plans calling for serious restrictions on the use of acetaminophen (you probably know it best by its chief brand name: Tylenol). It seems people haven't paid close attention to warning labels and somewhere around 50,000+ or more people experience liver damage, sometimes bad enough to call for a liver transplant or even cause death, from overdosing on this painkiller.

Amazing. People seem to be incapable of reading, or unwilling to follow, directions clearly printed on acetaminophen labels. The drug is found in many compounds, both prescriptions and over the counter, hence people are sometimes carelessly taking too much.

But what amazes me further is the degree to which dosages would be restricted. Currently, total daily dosages of 4 grams is considered safe -- that's eight (I think) extra-strength tablets in a 24 hour period. Under the suggested restrictions, a "safe" dosage would be considered no more than 650 milligrams per dose. That amounts to two regular strength tablets. So, if I understood some of the newscasts correctly, the guidelines will make extra-strength acetaminophen available by prescription only.

For your information: I struggle daily with a very sore, lame shoulder the doctor says is probably caused by arthritis. The generic version of "Tylenol Arthritis" pills I take at bedtime most nights are two 650 milligram "caplets." I guess that would mean a whole different level of dosage and pain relief (or non-relief?) for me most evenings.

So what are we to do? Hard to imagine becoming a "junkie" for jumbo sized acetaminophen caplets. I guess we'll see what the future and the FDA bring to us.

July 1, 2009 | Filed Under Health News | Leave a Comment

Do you just ‘think’ for a living, or do you perform ‘real’ work?

I put the quote marks around "think" and "real" in the title of this blog post for a reason: I wanted to reflect the "real work" nature of a guest I saw interviewed recently on "The Colbert Report." The guest was Matthew Crawford, and the topic was Crawford's book, "Shop Class as Soulcraft." In the book, and the interview, discussion centered around the dichotomy Crawford sees in our culture between knowledge or "thinking" work and manual labor. I strongly recommend you click the link and watch the video.

Have we, as Crawford maintains, spent too much time and energy directing "smart" people away from vocational training into "college prep" courses as he calls them? Does that mean there's something good about white collar stuff and either bad or inferior about blue collar jobs? Why do we even make the distinction in our educational systems and our society as a whole?

I think Crawford's probably onto a problem we're failing to address. Take a look at our economic base in America, for example. We have ceased to be a nation that "makes" things, i.e., manufacturing, inventing industrial processes, creating industrial products, all that has really gone away. We've turned into a nation of laborers with a variety of service industries at the bottom and at the top, financial speculators/investors.

I'm sure a lot of this has been caused by a world of forces at work in our nation and world, from economic and business trends to politics. But I think a great deal of this shrinking of America's industrial base may stem from attitudes created by this "thinking students" v. "vocational workers" dichotomy Crawford hits on.

Perhaps it's worth thinking about.

June 27, 2009 | Filed Under Cultural News | Leave a Comment

Hard to exercise in summer’s heat — how about you?

I find it hard to get out and exercise in the summer's heat. I find winter's chill (as long as the ice doesn't trip me up) preferable to that nasty 95-100 degree stuff we've had here in the Ozarks for the last two or three weeks. Almost makes me get out and buy one of those ellipticals, treadmills, or exercise bicycles I've thought about in the past, though I don't think there's much room for such in our old house right now.

But, I ramble with the heat.

The point I intended for this post, before the heat and humidity struck my aging body/brain continuum, was related to all the gaming consoles out there with exercise components -- more specifically, Nintendo's "everyone-should-own-one-but-I-don't-yet" Wii. Any of you have Wii and use it for regular daily exercise? Or do you have Wii and use it just for games, not exercise or sports applications?

I confess computer games, gaming, and all the rest is something I've never done, nor did my kids when they were still young and living at home. But I've been intrigued by all the stuff I've seen online, particularly the Wii stuff.

Maybe something like that would get me off the old behind and onto my feet to get more movement/exercise done -- even in this nasty Ozarks heat. (Weather alert: We're supposed to get some showers and we're looking at our first forecast high under 90 -- tomorrow -- which we've seen in several weeks. Of course, today we're supposed to hit 98 or 99. Ugh.)

June 27, 2009 | Filed Under Health News | Leave a Comment

Teens and drug use — how accurate are survey results, really?

I have two adult children, both wonderful people who, really, were pretty painless to rear — even during their teen years. At a time when I followed such news as surveys about teen drug use, teen drinking, teen crime, and all the rest, my son explained the obvious to me: You can’t really trust teen survey results because teens 1) love to put things over on adults, and, 2) know how to tell adults in authority just what they want to hear. (Hmm … sounds oddly like politicians, doesn't it?)

So I learned some years ago not to put much credence in major news stories characterizing teen drug use which are based on survey results. To be honest, I don’t know of an effective way to monitor or measure teen drug use besides such surveys. And the one released yesterday was certainly based on a ton of people surveyed -- something near 50,000 teenagers.

Having said that, the latest survey was encouraging, for sure:

"Thirteen percent of eighth grade students reported using an illicit drug at least once in the past year in 2007, down nearly half from 24 percent in 1996, University of Michigan researchers said."

So let's rightfully be encouraged. I think President Bush was reaching when he claimed anti-drug policies and work by his Administration were significantly responsible for the decline. But I applaud any and all who are trying to help teenagers stay away from drugs. Adults, too, for that matter. (My daughter has spent the first 10-12 years of her professional career counseling teens and adults regarding drug abuse.)

Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
[tags]teen drug use, teen drug use declines, drug abuse, teen surveys, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]

June 26, 2009 | Filed Under Health News, National News | Leave a Comment

What ‘lessons’ can we learn from Gov. Sanford’s affair?

Once again, a high-profile politician bites the dust. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford held a press conference yesterday to confess his infidelity to his wife, and his failure to "be there" (literally) for the people of South Carolina. What can we learn from this in particular, and from the many high-profile politicians who've let their followers (and their pants) down in recent years?

I think the number one "lesson" we may learn from this is that powerful people need some sort of DAILY "reality check" about their own importance and their responsibilities. I truly believe, whether it's rich people, celebrities, and/or politicians, that such folks reach a feeling that they somehow are 1) invincible, 2) untouchable by their critics, 3) way to clever to get caught, 4) entitled to special sexual/material privileges, or, 5) all of the above. They simply and clearly need to "get over themselves."

A second very important lesson for us all is this: Human failure (shall we call it "sin" -- I'm okay with that) is bipartisan. I would not dare to make cracks about Gov. Sanford's politics, party affiliation, or any such stuff. The last 10-15 years is filled with a litany of men who were prominent Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, that have failed to keep their pants on when they should have. And there are probably thousands (yes, at least thousands) of other politicians and people in leadership roles who simply were never caught.

But perhaps the most important lesson in Sanford's case for us all would be this: He must accept responsibility for destroying his wife, harming his family, and harming "the other woman" and her family. I watched his June 25 press conference where he revealed his infidelity. I also read the published email excerpts of emails he had sent to his mistress nearly a year ago. I came away just a little puzzled at his mixed message. On the one hand he confessed and called his actions "sin" by his own admission. On the other hand, he did not express, I thought, true repentance, leaving a sort of "affairs of the heart that we just can't help ourselves with" attitude when he left the podium.

It is my prayer and my wish for Gov. Sanford and his family and all involved that he DOES work through this and resolve it in a manner that's least harmful to all parties involved, especially his children and his mistress's children. When adults destroy marriage and family relationships, it's always the children who get dumped on the worst.

Oh, and then there's the little matter of Sanford's offense(s) against the people of South Carolina. He truly needs, in my opinion, to step down as governor. The people of South Carolina didn't offer the governorship for sale in some fashion -- they elected him governor and he accepted the responsibilities of that position. Somehow "following your heart" has no place in overseeing responsible governing of the state. He literally disappeared for several days. Had their been a state emergency requiring their governor, the folks in South Carolina wouldn't even have known they didn't HAVE a governor until it may have been too late.

June 25, 2009 | Filed Under National News, Political News | 2 Comments