[rael-science] Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence‏

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The Raelian Movement
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Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence
http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/#ixzz2FNH7YyEl

Follow @TIMEHealthland

When people consider the connections between drugs and violence, what
typically comes to mind are illegal drugs like crack cocaine. However,
certain medications — most notably, some antidepressants like Prozac —
have also been linked to increase risk for violent, even homicidal
behavior.

A new study from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices published
in the journal PloS One and based on data from the FDA’s Adverse Event
Reporting System has identified 31 drugs that are disproportionately
linked with reports of violent behavior towards others. (More on
Time.com: New Hope For An Anti-Cocaine Vaccine)

Please note that this does not necessarily mean that these drugs cause
violent behavior. For example, in the case of opioid pain medications
like Oxycontin, people with a prior history of violent behavior may
seek drugs in order to sustain an addiction, which they support via
predatory crime. In the case of antipsychotics, the drugs may be given
in an attempt to reduce violence by people suffering from
schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders — so the drugs here might
not be causing violence, but could be linked with it because they’re
used to try to stop it.

Nonetheless, when one particular drug in a class of nonaddictive drugs
used to treat the same problem stands out, that suggests caution:
unless the drug is being used to treat radically different groups of
people, that drug may actually be the problem. Researchers calculated
a ratio of risk for each drug compared to the others in the database,
adjusting for various relevant factors that could create misleading
comparisons. Here are the top ten offenders:

10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) An antidepressant which affects both
serotonin and noradrenaline, this drug is 7.9 times more likely to be
associated with violence than other drugs.

9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) A drug related to Pristiq in the same class
of antidepressants, both are also used to treat anxiety disorders.
Effexor is 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to
violent behavior. (More on Time.com: Adderall May Not Make You
Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are)

8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) An antidepressant that affects serotonin
(SSRI), Luvox is 8.4 times more likely than other medications to be
linked with violence

7. Triazolam (Halcion) A benzodiazepine which can be addictive, used
to treat insomnia. Halcion is 8.7 times more likely to be linked with
violence than other drugs, according to the study.

6) Atomoxetine (Strattera) Used to treat attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Strattera affects the neurotransmitter
noradrenaline and is 9 times more likely to be linked with violence
compared to the average medication.

5) Mefoquine (Lariam) A treatment for malaria, Lariam has long been
linked with reports of bizarre behavior. It is 9.5 times more likely
to be linked with violence than other drugs.

4) Amphetamines: (Various) Amphetamines are used to treat ADHD and
affect the brain’s dopamine and noradrenaline systems. They are 9.6
times more likely to be linked to violence, compared to other drugs.

3) Paroxetine (Paxil) An SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked
with more severe withdrawal symptoms and a greater risk of birth
defects compared to other medications in that class. It is 10.3 times
more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs. (More
on Time.com: Healthland’s Guide to Life 2011)

2) Fluoxetine (Prozac) The first well-known SSRI antidepressant,
Prozac is 10.9 times more likely to be linked with violence in
comparison with other medications.

1) Varenicline (Chantix) The anti-smoking medication Chantix affects
the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, which helps reduce craving for
smoking. Unfortunately, it’s 18 times more likely to be linked with
violence compared to other drugs — by comparison, that number for
Xyban is 3.9 and just 1.9 for nicotine replacement. Because Chantix is
slightly superior in terms of quit rates in comparison to other drugs,
it shouldn’t necessarily be ruled out as an option for those trying to
quit, however.



Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/#ixzz2FUZDSvLS


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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.

There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history, 
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.

On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
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Rael
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