Latest news with #Prozac
New Statesman
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
4.48 Psychosis is a disturbing dissection of the mind
Photo by Marc Brenner Twenty-five years since it was first staged, the playwright Sarah Kane's final play returns to the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. Labelled Kane's 'suicide note' by critics (the play was first performed the year after Kane took her own life), 4.48 Psychosis enters into the mind of an unnamed woman struggling with suicidal thoughts, derealisation and poor patient care – horrors made all the more intense by a theatre that sits 80. First performed before sertraline, Prozac and venlafaxine became part of casual conversation, it is no surprise that the play disturbed viewers. A quarter of a century on, it is still disturbing. And it should be. Kane convincingly portrayed the desperation and urgency of suicidal thoughts. The unnamed woman is played by three actors – all of whom were part of the original cast – at times speaking in unison, finishing each other's sentences or contradicting one another. The monologues, though, cannot be taken for delirious ramblings – the play's protagonist is highly intelligent and self-aware, eliciting laughs from the audience. Her erratic moods are only intensified by Nigel Edwards' lighting design: the blue and purple washes, low golden lights, the white and greys of TV static cast over the actors after the main character starts taking her antidepressants. The set designer, Jeremy Herbert, gives the audience an alternative perspective through which to watch: a six-panelled mirror, suspended from the ceiling at an angle. You can choose to see the story unfold in front of you, as you would real life, or watch a distorted reflection of it. 'Hatch opens,' say the actors on numerous occasions. But what do they mean? A moment of clarity and relief amid the anguish? A hatch into Kane's mind in the last few months before she took her own life? Either way, 4.48 Psychosis is a remarkably frank dissection of a mind at war with itself. 4.48 Psychosis Royal Court, London WC2. Until 5 July 2025 [See also: Thom Yorke's Hamlet is brilliantly rendered sacrilege] Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Related This article appears in the 25 Jun 2025 issue of the New Statesman, State of Emergency
New York Post
5 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
Warning to antidepressant users as heat wave temperatures hit 100 degrees
Can't take the heat? Your medication might be to blame. Doctors are warning that people taking certain antidepressants could be at risk of serious health problems as temperatures soar into the triple digits. They're urging users to take extra precautions as the tri-state swelters — before it's too late. Advertisement 3 Dr. Zachary Rubin is warning antidepressant users to be extra careful in the heat. TikTok/@rubin_allergy 'If you're taking certain antidepressants, you may be at risk for developing heat intolerance and dehydration,' Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatrician and immunologist, warned in a recent TikTok video. Studies show about 1 in 8 American adults take antidepressants. Research suggests that two major types can interfere with how the body regulates temperature. The first group, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), includes widely prescribed drugs like Prozac (fluoxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Lexapro (escitalopram), Paxil (paroxetine) and Celexa (citalopram). Advertisement The second group, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), includes older meds such as Elavil (amitriptyline), Anafranil (clomipramine) and Silenor (doxepin). Studies show these medications can spike internal body temps to 106°F or higher — while also throwing a wrench in the body's natural cooling system. 'You may excessively sweat or you may not be able to sweat quite as much,' Rubin explained. Advertisement 3 Sweat helps protect the body from overheating. Getty Images That's no small issue: Sweating is the body's primary defense against overheating. Without it, your chances of heatstroke, organ failure and even death increases substantially. Research shows SSRIs and TCAs may also mess with the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that helps regulate body temperature, thirst and blood pressure. Advertisement 'When the hypothalamus cannot control body temperature, someone can overheat,' Dr. David Tzall, a licensed psychologist, told Medical News Today. That increased heat sensitivity increases your chances of heat exhaustion, which has symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, headaches and heavy sweating, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Left unchecked, heat exhaustion can quickly escalate into heat stroke — the most dangerous form of heat-related illness. At that stage, the body can begin to shut down, triggering seizures, hot dry skin or intense sweating, loss of consciousness and serious brain trouble, including confusion, erratic behavior and slurred speech. In extreme cases, heat stroke can cause permanent disability or death. 'If you begin to feel a rapid heartbeat, start sweating excessively, develop nausea, dizziness or leg cramping, immediately seek air conditioning and if necessary, have someone call 911,' Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine physician, told Still, experts say SSRIs and TCAs are safe and effective — as long as patients know the risks and can spot the warning signs before things turn dangerous. Advertisement 3 SSRIs are the most popular form of antidepressants on the market. nenetus – Rubin recommends staying hydrated, avoiding direct sun and wearing loose, light-colored clothing when temperatures climb. 'If you are struggling at all, make sure that you seek out help,' he said. The warnings come as a once-in-a-century scorcher grips the East Coast, with more than 150 million Americans currently living under 'extreme' heat alerts. Advertisement Each summer, more than 500 New Yorkers die prematurely because of hot weather, a figure that has been climbing in recent years. 'This week's heat wave could be deadly and life threatening if you are not prepared,' Mayor Eric Adams warned in a recent public safety alert.
IOL News
18-06-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Mental health pills for pets? The rise of psychiatric medication in dog behaviour therapy
We love our dogs like family, but putting them on medication for 'behavioural problems' may not be the answer. We love our dogs like family . They greet us with wagging tails, comfort us on tough days and ask for little more than a walk and a treat. But lately, a question has been quietly echoing online and in vet clinics - "Are we medicating our pets for just being themselves?" A recent viral TikTok video by content creator Dr Jef has stirred the pot on pet parenting, sparking fiery debate about whether we've lost sight of what it means to let animals just be animals. The clip zooms in on an unsettling trend: more and more dogs are being prescribed psychiatric medication like Prozac, not for serious mental health disorders, but for simply behaving like right. Barking. Chewing. Running wildly around the house. Behaviours that were once shrugged off as part of the canine experience are now being 'treated' with pills. And it's not just social media buzz. Data backs it up. Dr Diana Neil at the UK's Royal Veterinary College analysed data from over 2.3 million dogs and found that 1 in every 500 dogs was prescribed Prozac for behaviour-related issues. Just a decade ago, that number was 1 in 10,000. The reasons range from barking excessively and chewing furniture to showing separation anxiety or general restlessness. Research confirms that mood stabilisers for pets, often the same ones prescribed to humans are becoming more common, especially post-lockdown. Covid created a generation of 'lockdown puppies' who missed critical early socialisation. When their humans returned to the office, many dogs were left with high anxiety levels they didn't know how to cope with. The stress is real for both the dog and the owner. Are we projecting our mental health struggles onto our pets? Melissa Bain, a professor of veterinary behaviour at the University of California, Davis, told STAT News, "When we start to recognise things in humans, we recognise it in our dogs too." She believes the growing focus on human mental health, especially since the pandemic, has made us more conscious of our pets' emotions. But while awareness is essential, experts warn that not every 'bad' behaviour requires a pill. Breed choices and lifestyle mismatches High-energy breeds like Border Collies, Labradors and Belgian Malinois - historically bred for work - top the list for behavioural drug prescriptions. Why? Because we bring them into small apartments, work long hours, and expect them to be Instagrammable cuddle companions. We're medicating normal animal behaviours because they don't fit into our lifestyles. If a dog has too much energy for your schedule, that's not the dog's fault. That's a mismatch. And let's be honest: many of us pick pets based on cuteness, not compatibility. The rise in popularity of working dogs with strong instincts and high prey drive clashes with our urban, high-stress lives.
Boston Globe
17-06-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Healthcare exchanges in New England shared users' sensitive health data with companies like Google
The exchange websites ask users to answer a series of questions, including about their health histories, to find them the most relevant information on plans. But in some cases, when visitors responded to sensitive questions, the invisible trackers sent that information to platforms like Google, Advertisement The Markup and CalMatters audited the websites of all 19 states that independently operate their own online health exchange. While most of the sites contained advertising trackers of some kind, The Markup and CalMatters found that four states exposed visitors' sensitive health information. Nevada's exchange, Nevada Health Link, asks visitors about what prescriptions they use, including the names and dosages of the drugs, to help them find their best options for health insurance. When visitors start typing, it suggests specific medications, including antidepressants, birth control and hormone therapies. As visitors answered the questions, their responses were sent to LinkedIn and Snapchat, according to tests conducted by The Markup and CalMatters in April and May. When an individual indicated that they took Fluoxetine, commonly known as Prozac, on Nevada Health Link, the information was sent to LinkedIn. The Markup/CalMatters On the other side of the country, Maine's exchange, sent information on drug prescriptions and dosages to Google through an analytics tool. It also sent the names of doctors and hospitals that people had previously visited. Advertisement Rhode Island's exchange, HealthSource RI, sent prescription information, dosages, and doctors' names to Google. Massachusetts Health Connector, another exchange, told LinkedIn whether visitors said they were pregnant, blind, or disabled. After being contacted by The Markup and CalMatters, Nevada's health exchange stopped sending visitors' data to Snapchat and Massachusetts stopped sending data to LinkedIn. Additionally, The Markup and CalMatters found that Nevada stopped sending data to LinkedIn in early May, as we were testing. The Markup and CalMatters discovered the sharing after finding that California's exchange, Covered California, Experts said state health exchanges' use of advertising trackers was troubling if not entirely surprising. Such tools can help organizations to reach visitors and tailor ads for them. Google Analytics allows website operators to better understand who is coming to their site and to optimize ad campaigns. The LinkedIn and Snap trackers, like a similar offering from Meta, help companies target their social media ads. Nevada uses the trackers to help target marketing at uninsured residents, according to Russell Cook, Executive Director of the state agency that operates Nevada's exchange, Silver State Health Insurance Exchange. But health care services need to be especially careful with those tools, said John Haskell, a data privacy attorney who has previously worked as an investigator for the Department of Health and Human Services. 'It doesn't surprise me that organizations that have these massive tech stacks that rely on third party-resources don't have a full understanding of what the configuration is, what the data flows are, and then once they go to somebody, what that data is being used for,' Haskell said. 'It's something that needs to be addressed.' Advertisement How was state exchange data tied to users' identities? After The Markup and CalMatters then examined websites operated by 18 states other than California, as well as Washington, D.C., to see what information they shared as users navigated them. The sites were established under the Affordable Care Act, which requires states to offer health insurance either through their own exchanges or one operated by the federal government. To test them, we first ran the sites through The results showed that 18 used some sort of tracker. Some were filled with them. Nevada, for example, used nearly 50. By contrast, Blacklight found no tracker of any kind on Washington, D.C.'s exchange. Popular websites use on average seven trackers, according to Many of the sites used trackers in relatively innocuous ways, like counting page views. The four exchanges we found sharing sensitive health data sent varied responses to questions about the tracking. Advertisement Cook said in a statement that trackers placed by his Nevada agency were 'inadvertently obtaining information regarding the name and dosage of prescription drugs' and sending it to LinkedIn and Snapchat. Cook acknowledged such data was 'wholly irrelevant to our marketing efforts' and said it had disabled tracking software pending an audit. Jason Lefferts, a spokesperson for Massachusetts Health Connector, said in a statement that 'personally identifiable information is not part of the tool's structure and no personally identifiable information, not even the IP addresses of users of the tool, has ever been shared with any party in any way via this tool.' But LinkedIn's Spokespeople for the Rhode Island and Maine health exchanges said that they pay a vendor, Consumers' Checkbook, to run a separate site that allows visitors to explore what plans are available to them through their states' exchanges. It was from these sites that sensitive information was shared to Google. Consumers' Checkbook's sites are at different web addresses than the exchange sites, but are prominently linked to on the exchange sites and display identical branding like the state health exchange's logo, making it unlikely that an average visitor would realize they were no longer on a state-run domain. Christina Spaight O'Reilly, a spokesperson for HealthSource RI, said the company uses Google Analytics to study trends but not to serve ads, and 'disables Google Signals Data Collection, ensuring that no data is shared with Google Ads for audience creation or ad personalization, and no session data is linked to Google's advertising cookies or identifiers.' HealthSource RI's terms of use mention the use of Google Analytics, she noted. A spokesperson for made similar points, saying that the agency 'does not collect or retain any data entered into the tool.' Advertisement When an individual selected a doctor on HealthSource RI, the doctor's name was sent to Google Analytics. The Markup/CalMatters Consumers' Checkbook declined to comment beyond the exchanges' statements. All of the exchanges said that individually identifiable health information, like names and addresses, wasn't sent to third parties. But the point of the trackers is to enhance information sent about a user with data the platforms already have on that user, and every tracker found by The Markup and CalMatters logged details about individual visitors, such as their operating system, browser, device, and times of visit. In response to requests for comment, the tech companies whose trackers we examined uniformly said they do not want organizations sending them potentially sensitive health data, and that doing so is against their terms of use. Steve Ganem, Director of Product Management for Google Analytics, said that 'by default any data sent to Google Analytics does not identify individuals, and we have strict policies against collecting Private Health Information or advertising based on sensitive information.' A spokesperson for LinkedIn, Brionna Ruff, said that advertisers are not allowed 'to target ads based on sensitive data categories,' such as health issues. A spokesperson for Snapchat owner Snap said the same, noting that sending purchases of supplies like prescriptions would run afoul of the company's rules about sensitive data. Advertisement 'It is important to ensure that your implementation of Google Analytics and the data collected about visitors to your properties satisfies all applicable legal requirements,' the page reads. More incidents State exchanges aren't the only health sites that have sent medical information to social media companies. In 2022, In 2023, a New York hospital agreed to pay a $300,000 fine for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. In response to a series of incidents, the Some plaintiffs have used state laws, like those in California, to argue that they should be compensated for having their health data sent to third parties without consent. Others have argued that this kind of tracking runs afoul of 'Organizations aren't investing enough time and resources into properly vetting everything,' said Haskell, who advises clients to be very careful about the information they track on their sites. 'When organizations are saying, 'we didn't understand that there's a certain configuration of this tool that we're using,' well, I can't really not put that on you.'
New York Post
15-06-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Drug that makes our ‘brains happier' can also fight tumors: study
This will brighten your mood. A surprising new study has found that some common medication used to make people feel better might also be effective in the fight against cancer. 'These drugs have been widely and safely used to treat depression for decades, so repurposing them for cancer would be a lot easier than developing an entirely new therapy,' Dr. Lili Yang, a member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, said in a press release. 3 A surprising new study has found that some common medication used to make people feel better might also be effective in the fight against cancer. Tyler Olson – Yang and her team found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs — medications like Prozac and Celexa that millions of Americans take daily — can help T-cells tackle tumors with greater aplomb. 'It turns out SSRIs don't just make our brains happier; they also make our T-cells happier — even while they're fighting tumors,' she said. In lab tests using both mouse and human tumor models — spanning melanoma, breast, prostate, colon and bladder cancers — SSRIs shrunk tumors by over 50%. The drugs heightened killer-T‑cell activity, enhancing their ability to locate and destroy cancer cells. 'SSRIs made the killer T cells happier in the otherwise oppressive tumor environment by increasing their access to serotonin signals, reinvigorating them to fight and kill cancer cells,' Yang said. 3 Yang and her team found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs — medications like Prozac and Celexa that millions of Americans take daily — can help T-cells tackle tumors with greater aplomb. KMPZZZ – While serotonin is primarily known for regulating mood, it also plays a crucial role in managing sleep, gut health, appetite, libido and blood clotting. Now, it's being given its proper due in combatting this devastating disease. The research, which was published in the journal Cell, has exciting implications for cancer treatment, since SSRIs are already FDA-approved, paving the way for clinical trials. 'Studies estimate the bench-to-bedside pipeline for new cancer therapies costs an average of $1.5 billion,' she said. 'When you compare this to the estimated $300 million cost to repurpose FDA-approved drugs, it's clear why this approach has so much potential.' 3 'It turns out SSRIs don't just make our brains happier; they also make our T cells happier — even while they're fighting tumors,' she said. Daniel – Even better? When SSRIs were paired with existing cancer immunotherapy, the results were even more dramatic. Treated mice saw tumors shrink dramatically, and in some cases, vanish altogether. 'Immune checkpoint blockades are effective in fewer than 25% of patients,' study co-author James Elsten-Brown, a graduate student in the Yang lab, said. 'If a safe, widely available drug like an SSRI could make these therapies more effective, it would be hugely impactful.'
