Free Republic

Known to its Polynesian inhabitants as Rapa Nui, Easter Island is thought to have been colonised around the 13th Century and is famed for its mysterious large stone statues or moai. Otago Anatomy PhD student Monica Tromp and Idaho State University’s Dr John Dudgeon have just published new research clearing up their previous puzzling finding that suggested palm may have been a staple plant food for Rapa Nui’s population over several centuries. However, no other line of archaeological or ethnohistoric evidence supports palm having a dietary role on Easter Island; in fact evidence points to the palm becoming extinct soon...

WEDNESDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- The first transdermal patch to treat depression has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA approval was based on results of two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of Emsam. One study found that six weeks of treatment with Emsam was more effective than a non-medicinal placebo in relieving symptoms of major depression disorder in adults, United Press International reported. The once-a-day patch works by delivering selegiline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor or MAOI, through the skin and into the bloodstream. Emsam is designed to interact with three brain neurotransmitters that are believed to...