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When older adults living in nursing homes are prescribed the pain medicine tramadol alongside certain antidepressants, their risk of seizures may go up, according to a study. While this study found a link, it does not prove one causes the other. Tramadol is an opioid used to treat moderate to severe pain in adults. Some antidepressants that inhibit the CYP2D6 enzyme, called CYP2D6 inhibitors, can interfere with how the body metabolizes tramadol. When the CYP2D6 enzyme is blocked, tramadol is not metabolized properly and may build up in the body, potentially increasing the risk of side effects like seizures. Common...

A former flight attendant caught smuggling over 100 pounds of a deadly new synthetic drug made of human bones faces up to 25 years in a Sri Lankan prison.Charlotte May Lee, 21, from the United Kingdom, was seized at Bandaranaike Airport in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo earlier this month after allegedly carrying suitcases full of "kush," a new[-ish] drug originating in West Africa which kills an estimated dozen people a week in Sierra Leone alone.

A psychoactive drug made from human bones is leaving addicts digging up graves in order to get their fix. Police officers are guarding cemeteries in Freetown, Sierra Leone, after more people are turning to the drug Kush. It is made from a variety of toxic substances, with one of its main ingredients is ground-up human bone. Human remains contain traces of sulphur, which allegedly can enhance the affects of drugs. It first emerged in the country around six years ago and induces a hypnotic high which can last for several hours. One former user Abu Bakhar, 25, told Channel 4...

Sierra Leone has declared a national emergency over a psychoactive drug made from human bones. The country has witnessed a sharp spike in abuse of the drug, kush, forcing police officers to guard cemeteries in the capital of Freetown, to stop young men from digging up skeletons to get high. Kush is a drug made from a variety of substances, including toxic chemicals, herbs, cannabis, disinfenctant but one of its main ingredients is ground-up human bone, as they contain traces of sulphur, which allegedly can enhance the drugs effect. In a nationwide broadcast yesterday, Sierra Leone's President Bio said: 'Our...

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinians struggling to cope with the Israeli blockade of Gaza and the trauma of war are turning to painkillers and tranquillizers at a rate that risks triggering a wave of addiction. There is also evidence of mounting recreational drug use as Gaza drifts in limbo, with no clear political future. Gaza residents reported health problems after a 22-day Israeli offensive last January, with most citing psychological problems and stress, according to a survey published by the United Nations Gender Task Force on April 21. "With increased trauma and stress and limited access to professional psychosocial services, there...

A Coast Guard lieutenant assigned to the service's headquarters in Washington, D.C., has been arrested on drug and gun possession charges, and is accused of plans to "murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to documents filed in Maryland District Court. Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, an acquisitions officer for the National Security Cutter Acquisition Program, was arrested Feb. 15 and charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition by an unlawful user or addict of controlled substances, and possession of Tramadol, a Schedule IV pain medication. A motion for detention pending trial, filed by U.S....

A team of researchers led by Michel De Waard, Inserm Research Director at the Grenoble Institute of Neurosciences (Inserm, University Joseph Fourier, CNRS), has discovered that an African medicinal plant produces large quantities of molecules with analgesic properties. Even more surprising, analysis show that the molecule is identical to Tramadol, a wholly synthetic medication that is used world-wide as a painkiller. According to the research team, this is the first time ever that a synthetic medication produced by the pharmaceutical industry has been discovered in strong concentrations in a natural source. This unexpected discovery had just been published in the...