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Can “super drug” do double-duty?

08 May 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the first reading this Sunday from the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter reminds the people that Jesus was commended to them by God “with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs.” In recent decades medical science has accomplished a few mighty deeds and wonders of its own. Now studies suggest a new “super drug” could end up fighting both HIV and malaria, which together kill nearly 3 million people annually. HIV “protease inhibitors” are drugs designed to prevent HIV from constructing its proteins correctly and have been used widely in HIV treatment the past decade. “They have completely changed the face of HIV treatment in recent years. People who take these drugs don't die of AIDS anymore," said Photini Sinnis, head of the Medical Parasitology Laboratory at the New York University Langone Medical Center. Over the past few years, however, research groups, including Sinnis', have noticed a surprising positive side effect of the HIV-specific protease inhibitors: "We're finding that the drugs have anti-malaria properties," Sinnis said. Researchers believe that HIV protease inhibitors shut down protease present in the malaria parasite just as they do to protease in HIV. No human trials have been conducted yet, but initial positive results in mice have HIV researchers advocating the exclusive use of protease inhibitors for HIV treatment in Africa. "In Africa, where HIV and malaria overlap a lot, the HIV drugs we use should be the protease inhibitors," Sinnis said. "Then they would have the added benefit of inhibiting malaria infection." At the moment, protease inhibitors are more toxic than many of the drugs used to combat malaria by itself and so wouldn't be given to a person only to treat malaria. But if protease inhibitors can be adjusted to be less toxic, they could be viable as stand-alone malaria medicine. And if that happens it will be a welcome weapon against the disease. Because malaria rapidly evolves immunity to anti-malaria drugs, new ones are desperately needed. Source: An article by Natalie Wolchover for LiveScience

hiv africa malaria protease inhibitors drugs photini sinnis
Youth urged to avoid the agony of Ecstasy

08 Sep 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God’s counsel may be inscrutable to mere mortals, as the first reading suggests this Sunday, but the advice to party-going youth regarding a potent form of the designer drug Ecstasy, called Molly, is clear and urgent: Stay away from it.The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is ramping up its efforts against Molly, the powder form of Ecstasy, after numerous overdoses along the East Coast last weekend. “There’s no ‘good batch’ of Molly, MDMA, Ecstasy,” said Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA New England division.“This is stuff that’s made in somebody’s bathtub in either Asia, the Netherlands, Canada, you have no idea what is in this stuff," he said. "Dealers want to make more money, so they’ll mix and adulterate the stuff with meth and any number of other drugs to addict people to it.”Whether it's snorted as a powder or swallowed as a capsule, the drug is said to lead to a sudden rush of energy and "feel good" levels of the brain chemical serotonin for 3 to 6 hours. "It produces feelings of increased energy, euphoria, emotional warmth and empathy toward others, and distortions in sensory and time perception," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.The negative side effects are often teeth grinding, dehydration, anxiety, insomnia, fever, and loss of appetite, but even more dangerous ones can occur, including hyperthermia, seizures, high blood pressure, and depression due to the sudden drop in serotonin levels as the drug wears off. Other dangers—not always known by users—arise if it's cut with substances like methamphetamine.Amid the string of overdoses, DEA offices in New England and other regions are engaging “in a continuous exchange of information” to target those bringing the drug into the country from overseas, said Erin Mulvey, a spokeswoman for the New York DEA.“We are seeing [Molly] goes hand-in-hand with a lot of nightclub activity, concert venues, areas where there’s a lot of teens listening to music,” she said. “With these overdose deaths and the focus now with trying to get the awareness out, we’re trying to get in front of the problem.”Homily hint: Our culture is awash in pharmaceuticals—some of them prescribed for illnesses, others bought and sold for “recreation.” But our God calls us to freedom. Encourage families and loved ones to have open, frank conversations about drugs so that problems can be addressed before they develop or worsen. Sources: Articles by Jack Encarnacao for the Boston Herald, Kent Sepkowitzfor The Daily Beast, and Nina Golgowski for the New York Daily News

teenagers molly illegal drugs dea drug enforcement agency anthony pettigrew national institute of drug abuse erin mulvey youth drugs teens young people ecstasy
Youth urged to avoid the agony of Ecstasy

08 Sep 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

God’s counsel may be inscrutable to mere mortals, as the first reading suggests this Sunday, but the advice to party-going youth regarding a potent form of the designer drug Ecstasy, called Molly, is clear and urgent: Stay away from it.The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is ramping up its efforts against Molly, the powder form of Ecstasy, after numerous overdoses along the East Coast last weekend. “There’s no ‘good batch’ of Molly, MDMA, Ecstasy,” said Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA New England division.“This is stuff that’s made in somebody’s bathtub in either Asia, the Netherlands, Canada, you have no idea what is in this stuff," he said. "Dealers want to make more money, so they’ll mix and adulterate the stuff with meth and any number of other drugs to addict people to it.”Whether it's snorted as a powder or swallowed as a capsule, the drug is said to lead to a sudden rush of energy and "feel good" levels of the brain chemical serotonin for 3 to 6 hours. "It produces feelings of increased energy, euphoria, emotional warmth and empathy toward others, and distortions in sensory and time perception," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.The negative side effects are often teeth grinding, dehydration, anxiety, insomnia, fever, and loss of appetite, but even more dangerous ones can occur, including hyperthermia, seizures, high blood pressure, and depression due to the sudden drop in serotonin levels as the drug wears off. Other dangers—not always known by users—arise if it's cut with substances like methamphetamine.Amid the string of overdoses, DEA offices in New England and other regions are engaging “in a continuous exchange of information” to target those bringing the drug into the country from overseas, said Erin Mulvey, a spokeswoman for the New York DEA.“We are seeing [Molly] goes hand-in-hand with a lot of nightclub activity, concert venues, areas where there’s a lot of teens listening to music,” she said. “With these overdose deaths and the focus now with trying to get the awareness out, we’re trying to get in front of the problem.”Homily hint: Our culture is awash in pharmaceuticals—some of them prescribed for illnesses, others bought and sold for “recreation.” But our God calls us to freedom. Encourage families and loved ones to have open, frank conversations about drugs so that problems can be addressed before they develop or worsen. Sources: Articles by Jack Encarnacao for the Boston Herald, Kent Sepkowitzfor The Daily Beast, and Nina Golgowski for the New York Daily News

teenagers molly illegal drugs dea drug enforcement agency anthony pettigrew national institute of drug abuse erin mulvey youth drugs teens young people ecstasy
High time to abide by company drug policy

14 Sep 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Hearken, my people, to my teaching,” announces the psalmist this Sunday. Companies want employees to pay attention to their policies with regard to marijuana use on or off the job. Few organizations with zero-tolerance policies are changing them, regardless of whether or not marijuana has been legalized or permitted for medical purposes in their state.Even as 23 states allow medical or recreational marijuana, employment experts say that most businesses are keeping their drug-free policies. The result is a clash between a culture that increasingly accepts marijuana and companies that will fire employees who use it.Even in Colorado and Washington, the country’s most marijuana-friendly states, online classified ads lay out an unwelcome landscape for marijuana smokers. “Please do not apply if you are NOT drug free or carry a medical marijuana card,” warns one job listing for a mechanic in Denver. A Chevrolet dealership in the suburb of Aurora tells applicants, “We do screen for medical or recreational marijuana.” In Seattle, a recycling company looking for a welder cautions that they are a “zero-tolerance company including marijuana!!”Employers and business groups say the screenings identify drug-abusing workers, create a safer workplace, lower their insurance costs, and, in some cases, are required by law. But marijuana advocates say the prohibitions amount to discrimination, either against people using marijuana to treat a medical condition or against people who smoke it because they simply have the legal right to do so, off the clock and away from the office.After Colorado voted in 2012 to allow adults to buy, sell, and grow their own recreational marijuana, scarcely any businesses relaxed their own rules, according to a survey by the Mountain States Employers Council, which represents 3,500 companies. Seventy-one percent left their drug-testing policies in place, and 21 percent actually imposed stricter rules.“People were scared they were going to have a stoned work force,” said Curtis Graves, a staff lawyer for the group. A survey by Quest Diagnostics, which conducts millions of drug tests across the country, found that positive results for marijuana rose in both Colorado and Washington in the year after legalization measures passed.Homily hint: Why do people seek escape through drug and alcohol abuse? Many answers are given but ultimately habitual drug use is an indication of a spiritual crisis, a loss of meaning and purpose in life. If someone in your own life is struggling with habitual use of marijuana or other intoxicants, reach out to them with an offer to help them find their way. Source: An article by Jack Healy for The New York Times

marijuana drugs spiritual crisis
The overmedicated society

08 Nov 2015 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews promises that Christ will return to bring salvation to all those who turn to him. Seems more and more Americans are turning to regular use of prescription medications to save them from a growing list of maladies. Use of prescription medications—for chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, acid reflux, and depression—has surged in the U.S. in the past decade, according to research published Tuesday. Researchers looked at data on nearly 38,000 adults aged 20 and older and estimated that overall prescription drug use in the U.S. rose from approximately 51 percent to 59 percent between 1999 and 2012. In particular, the number of Americans who are on five or more maintenance medications at once—called poly-pharmacy use—nearly doubled in the same period. Homily hint: “Big Pharm” is a derogatory term applied to huge pharmaceutical companies that aggressively promote use of prescription medications for a growing list of conditions. Pause and consider whether you are being persuaded by advertisers to take medications you may not need. Let’s be sure that we really need the drugs we take on a regular basis. For more on the rise in prescription drug use, see: More Than Half of Americans Take Prescription Drugs

prescription drugs overmedicating health