The Drugs Don't Work - A Penguin Special by Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England 'If we fail to act, we are looking at an almost unthinkable scenario where antibiotics no longer work and we are cast back into the dark ages of medicine where treatable infections and injuries will kill once again' David Cameron, Prime Minister Resistance to our current range of antibiotics is the new inconvenient truth. If we don't act now, we risk the health of our parents, our children and our grandchildren. Antibiotics add, on average, twenty years to our lives. For over seventy years, since the manufacture of penicillin in 1943, we have survived extraordinary operations and life-threatening infections. We are so familiar with these wonder drugs that we take them for granted. The truth is that we have been abusing them: as patients, as doctors, as travellers, in our food. No new class of antibacterial has been discovered for twenty six years and the bugs are fighting back. If we do not take responsibility now, in a few decades we may start dying from the most commonplace of operations and ailments that can today be treated easily. This short book, which will be enjoyed by readers of An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore and Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre, will be the subject of a TEDex talk given by Professor Dame Sally Davies at the Royal Albert Hall. Professor Dame Sally C. Davies is the Chief Medical Officer for England and the first woman to hold the post. As CMO she is the independent advisor to the Government on medical matters with particular interest in Public Health and Research. She holds a number of international advisory positions and is an Emeritus Professor at Imperial College. Dr Jonathan Grant is a Principal Research Fellow and former President at RAND Europe, a not-for-profit public policy research institute. His main research interests are on health R&D policy and the use of research and evidence in policymaking. He was formerly Head of Policy at The Wellcome Trust. He received his PhD from the Faculty of Medicine, University of London, and his B.Sc. (Econ) from the London School of Economics. Professor Mike Catchpole is an internationally recognized expert in infectious diseases and the Director of Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control at Public Health England. He has coordinated many national infectious disease outbreak investigations and is an advisor to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. He is also a visiting professor at Imperial College.

When a mother discovers that the drugs her daughter has been prescribed are making her physically and mentally ill, she tries to have the group home decrease them in stages and find herself fighting against an invincible system. That system includes the regulatory organizations, the funding organizations and of course the pharmaceutical companies who make the drugs. However the drug manufacturers do not recommend the mixing of drugs which is being practiced in 24/7 group homes, and which is a requirement for food and shelter there.

The book highlights the conceptual flaw in the drug-based approach to healthcare, which only damages health and even leads to pandemics. Most drugs are designed to chemically block the normal function of healthy aspects of the body, in an attempt to conceal symptoms. In the process, they also accidentally chemically block the main organs from working normally, which is what produces most adverse effects and prevents the patient from ever returning to full health. The book compares the drug-based approach with natural healing. Certain branches of natural healing work by returning the organs to normal function, which clears all symptoms and produces a genuine cure; whereas the drug-based approach has no ability to return an organ to normal function. This is why mainstream healthcare often finds itself unable to properly treat many common conditions. In contrast, natural healing successfully treats those same conditions by simply returning the main organs to normal function. The book demonstrates the natural healing approach to most conditions, and this is compared to the drug-based approach, including the fraudulent conduct of drug companies in concealing harms, manipulating data, and making false claims for their drugs to boost sales at the expense of world health. Ironically, the book shows that a 2,000 year old medical system is far more scientific, effective, and genuinely evidence based than today’s mainstream healthcare. Fletcher Kovich works as a traditional acupuncture practitioner and researcher. He developed and tested the intelligent tissue theory, which, for the first time, scientifically explains how acupuncture works to correct organ malfunctions.

A challenging reappraisal of the history of antipsychotics, revealing how they were transformed from neurological poisons into magical cures, their benefits exaggerated and their toxic effects minimized or ignored.

Recounts the addiction and recovery of the world-renowned solo artist and former lead singer and songwriter of Soul Coughing.

Why do smokers claim that the first cigarette of the day is the best? What is the biological basis behind some heavy drinkers' belief that the "hair-of-the-dog" method alleviates the effects of a hangover? Why does marijuana seem to affect ones problem-solving capacity? Intoxicating Minds is, in the author's words, "a grand excavation of drug myth." Neither extolling nor condemning drug use, it is a story of scientific and artistic achievement, war and greed, empires and religions, and lessons for the future. Ciaran Regan looks at each class of drugs, describing the historical evolution of their use, explaining how they work within the brain's neurophysiology, and outlining the basic pharmacology of those substances. From a consideration of the effect of stimulants, such as caffeine and nicotine, and the reasons and consequences of their sudden popularity in the seventeenth century, the book moves to a discussion of more modern stimulants, such as cocaine and ecstasy. In addition, Regan explains how we process memory, the nature of thought disorders, and therapies for treating depression and schizophrenia. Regan then considers psychedelic drugs and their perceived mystical properties and traces the history of placebos to ancient civilizations. Finally, Intoxicating Minds considers the physical consequences of our co-evolution with drugs—how they have altered our very being—and offers a glimpse of the brave new world of drug therapies.

The New York Times Bestseller What if everything you think you know about addiction is wrong? Johann Hari's journey into the heart of the war on drugs led him to ask this question--and to write the book that gave rise to his viral TED talk, viewed more than 62 million times, and inspired the feature film The United States vs. Billie Holiday and the documentary series The Fix. One of Johann Hari's earliest memories is of trying to wake up one of his relatives and not being able to. As he grew older, he realized he had addiction in his family. Confused, not knowing what to do, he set out and traveled over 30,000 miles over three years to discover what really causes addiction--and what really solves it. He uncovered a range of remarkable human stories--of how the war on drugs began with Billie Holiday, the great jazz singer, being stalked and killed by a racist policeman; of the scientist who discovered the surprising key to addiction; and of the countries that ended their own war on drugs--with extraordinary results. Chasing the Scream is the story of a life-changing journey that transformed the addiction debate internationally--and showed the world that the opposite of addiction is connection.

'Essential' Adam Rutherford, bestselling author of How to Argue With a Racist 'In an area where factual accuracy is often rejected in favour of moralising or panicking this book is a vitally useful and frequently fascinating' Robin Ince __________ Drugs. We've all done them. Whether it's a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, a cigarette or a sleeping pill. But how well do we understand the effects of the drugs we take - legal or illegal? Say Why to Drugs investigates the science behind recreational drugs- debunking common myths and misconceptions, as well as containing the most recent scientific research. Looking at a range of drugs, this book provides a clear understanding of how drugs work and what they're really doing to your mind and body. Along the way you will find out why ketamine is on the WHO's list of essential medicines, why some researchers hope MDMA could treat PTSD, and much more. Enlightening, entertaining, and thought-provoking, Say Why to Drugs is a compelling read that will surprise and educate proponents on both sides of the drugs debate. __________ A definitive and authoritative guide to drugs and why we get high from the creator of the top-rated podcast, Say Why to Drugs.

The basis for the movie High Resolution From one of this generation's most talked about and enigmatic writers comes a deeply personal, powerful, and moving novel about family, relationships, accelerating drug use, and the lingering possibility of death. Taipei by Tao Lin is an ode--or lament--to the way we live now. Following Paul from New York, where he comically navigates Manhattan's art and literary scenes, to Taipei, Taiwan, where he confronts his family's roots, we see one relationship fail, while another is born on the internet and blooms into an unexpected wedding in Las Vegas. Along the way—whether on all night drives up the East Coast, shoplifting excursions in the South, book readings on the West Coast, or ill advised grocery runs in Ohio—movies are made with laptop cameras, massive amounts of drugs are ingested, and two young lovers come to learn what it means to share themselves completely. The result is a suspenseful meditation on memory, love, and what it means to be alive, young, and on the fringe in America, or anywhere else for that matter.