Safety and Quality Concerns Regarding Over-the-Counter Sexual Enhancement Products Sold in the USA Market Pose a Major Health Risk

Safety and quality concerns regarding over the counter sexual enhancement products sold in the USA market pose a major health risk to the general public. Nevertheless, the use of herbal medicines continues to expand rapidly across world and many people perceive usage of herbal medication as a safe and reliable way to improve health outcome. 

The safety of herbal supplements has become a globally major concern in national and international health authorities due to increasing adverse events and adulterations associated with usage of herbal medications. These products are accessible for purchase from local food, drug stores and the internet. These products are marketed as supplements and are not currently under the regulations of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are thus released to the general public containing unknown amounts of medications or drugs that are normally available by prescription only in the USA. Read more>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Celebrating Cancer Survivorship- A focus on Breast Cancer

A person is considered to be a survivor from the time of cancer diagnosis until the end of life. There are almost 14.5 million cancer survivors alive in the US today, and that number will grow to almost 19 million by 2024. Follow-up care and psychosocial needs of cancer survivors are often unmet or inappropriately addressed. 

In 2006, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a milestone comprehensive report, From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition. Of the 10 recommendations regarding cancer survivorship by the IOM, the issues receiving the utmost attention to date have been the provision of a summary of diagnosis, treatment received (treatment summary), future follow-up care plans, and healthy lifestyle recommendations. These recommendations mainly focused on the majority of cancer survivors who have completed active cancer treatment. It is estimated that there will be 3.4 million breast cancer survivors in 2015 in the US, an increase from 2.8 million in 2014. Long-term survival rates after a diagnosis of breast cancer are steadily rising. Read more>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Inheritance in OCD in Moslems

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by the presence of either obsessions or compulsions that cause Significant Distress to Afflicted individuals. Estimates of prevalence vary slightly across countries and symptom presentation depends on cultural and religious factors. Genetic factors account for 45-65% of OCDsymptoms in patients diagnosed with the disorder. Environmental factors also Play Arolein How These Anxiety Symptoms Are expressed.

 Researchers found that relatives with the disorder possessed a difference in a gene called, SLC1A1, which is the glutamate transporter gene. They found that the discrepancy in the gene caused the flow of glutamine, in relation to brain cells, to happen much quicker for people with the disorder. The researchers at Yale and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found a mutation in the gene coding of the human serotonin transporter (sSERT). Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps transmit signals across nerve cells to help process information. Serotonin usually travels back after the signal transports but some people do not receive enough serotonin back. This lack of serotonin reuptake can increase the risk of someone having OCD. Read more>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Aircraft-Assisted Pilot Suicides in the United States, 2003-2012

Flying continues to be the safest mode of transportation in the United States (ICAO Safety Report 2014 Edition). This can be attributed to safety oversight, aircraft maintenance, and the aviation medicine certification processes. Pilots have a special relationship with flight, and the aircraft is often felt as a simple extension of the pilot. With such a relationship, the mental well-being of a pilot is paramount to his/her flight safety. During times of excessive stress, pilots predisposed to self-destructive behaviors may display these behaviors during flight. 

Aircraft-assisted suicides are tragic, intentional events that are hard to predict and difficult to prevent. Factors involved in aircraft-assisted suicide may be depression, social relationships, and financial difficulties, just to name a few. Suicide attempts almost always result in pilot fatality; they also have the unfortunate potential to cause collateral damage to property and life. Our laboratory has long been interested in epidemiological and toxicological findings from aircraft-assisted pilot suicides. This study is a 10-year review (2003-2012) of aircraft-assisted pilot suicides and is a follow up to our previous (1993-2002) aircraft-assisted pilot suicide review. Read more>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Synthetic Opioids, (re)Emerging Problem in Europe and North America

I would like to draw the reader´s attention to group of synthetic opioids, which have been increasingly appearing or re-emerging during the last few years on the black drug markets in many European countries, the USA, Canada and elsewhere. Newly encouraged interest in synthetic opioids has been observed forlast 6-7 years and recently has grown intensively. 

Increasing number of European countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic etc.) have reported abuse of fentanyl (Janssen, 1962), which so far has been rather limited to Estonia (Fentanyl in Europe, 2012; Mounteney, 2015), fentanylrelated intoxications and deaths have markedly increased recently (to hundreds) in the USA (NIDA, 2015) and Canada (CCNDU Bulletin, 2014). Also the spectrum of different structures of synthetic opioids on the black market has significantly risen and many of these substances are already associated with serious or fatal overdoses (EMCDDA, 2009-12; European Drug Report, 2013-15). Read more>>>>>>>>>>>>>