nouvelles diverses

One of the most worrying effects of this trend has been a boom in the prescription of antidepressant medication and quotes the worrying figures that « Roughly 10% of women and 4% of men in the United States take antidepressant medication at any time. By 2000, antidepressants were the best-selling prescription drugs of any type ». [An Epidemic of Depression]

The debate over whether depression is being over-diagnosed hit the pages of the British Medical Journal last year with the both pro and anti positions being argued with full force.

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A clinical trial showed the Pfizer pill, called Sutent, delays cancer progression for six months at an estimated treatment cost of $54,000. But at that price, Hardy’s life is not worth prolonging, according to the UK’s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which has decided that, except in rare cases, the government can only afford about $22,750 to save six months of a citizen’s life. [How Much Is A Life Worth? The Cost Of A Drug]

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Une lecture passionnante du moment : comment les liens sociaux sont affectés et soutenus par les mécanismes primaires, biochimiques du cerveau : Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change. Wexler shows how childhood learning affects brain development, arguing that it is not individual brain functions but systems that are developed in the brain which reflect our learning and our development. But once in place, it is more difficult to change brain patterns. Thus what is familar is better, and we tend to fear the unknown because it is not part of how our brains interpret the world. Wexler shows how these patterns affect everything from cultural wars to fears of immigrants to how we tend to prefer the familiar in everyday life. On the other dise of the coin he shows how parents can be affected by the learning of their children. Une fascinante petite plaquette de… Oups après vérification le bouquin fait quand même 253 pages avant références. Mais le format de poche, la minceur du papier et le souvenir d’un prix abordable (16$) expliquent sans doute cette impression de légèreté.