ADHD Drug May Spur Brain Changes, Study Suggests

People with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who take certain medications over long periods may develop changes in their brains that ultimately impact their ability to respond to the drugs, a new study suggests.

In the study, adults with ADHD had higher levels of a protein called a dopamine transporter in their brains after one year of treatment with the drug methylphenidate (most commonly sold as Ritalin), compared with before they starting taking the drug.

While some researchers have speculated that people with ADHD naturally have more dopamine transporters in their brains, the new study suggests that the high numbers are a result of treatment with medications, said study researcher Dr. Gene-Jack Wang, of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y. Prior to the study, none of the participants had ever been treated with ADHD drugs.

Because the study only looked at patients over a one-year period, the consequence of this brain change is not known, Wang said.

But it's possible that the change could affect the way patients respond to the drugs.

Dopamine is a brain chemical that sends signals between nerve cells, and is linked with attention and pleasure. It's thought that people with ADHD have problems with their dopamine signaling, and drugs like Ritalin work by increasing levels of dopamine, which helps patients focus.

Dopamine transporters, on the other hand, clear dopamine after the chemical has sent a signal. Thus, more dopamine transporters could mean that dopamine gets cleared more quickly, particularly during times when patients stop taking their medications.

"This could result in more severe inattention and the need for higher doses of medication," the researchers write in the May 15 issue of the journal PLOS ONE.

Future research is needed to explore whether this increase in dopamine transporters does in fact lead to higher tolerance of ADHD drugs, Wang said. It's possible that, after patients stop taking the medications, the number of dopamine transporters is reduced.

Studies should also to determine whether some people are genetically prone to a lower tolerance of ADHD drugs, Wang said.

The study involved 18 adults with ADHD who had their brains scanned twice: once at the beginning of the study before any drug treatment, and once at the end of the study after one year of taking Ritalin.

Among these participants, there was a 24 percent increase in the number of dopamine transporters in some areas of the brain. In contrast, a group of healthy participants who did not take Ritalin had no increase in dopamine transporters after one year.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on LiveScience.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/adhd-drug-may-spur-brain-changes-study-suggests-213628387.html

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Tale of Mexican drug violence rattles Cannes

From left, actor Armando Espitia, director Amat Escalante and actress Andrea Vergara pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Heli at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

From left, actor Armando Espitia, director Amat Escalante and actress Andrea Vergara pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Heli at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Director Amat Escalante poses for photographers during a photo call for the film Heli at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

From left, actress Andrea Vergara, director Amat Escalante and actor Armando Espitia pose for photographers during a photo call for the film Heli at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Actress Andrea Vergara poses for photographers during a photo call for the film Heli at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

CANNES, France (AP) ? The Cannes Film Festival has had its first shock to the system, in the shape of Mexican director Amat Escalante's unsparingly violent drug war drama "Heli."

The story of the devastation wreaked by narco-violence on an ordinary Mexican family, the movie paints such a bleak picture that one journalist told its director Thursday that she had cancelled a planned trip to the country after seeing it.

Escalante said that wasn't the reaction he was hoping for.

"It's not an anti-tourism movie for Mexico at all," he told reporters in Cannes, where "Heli" is one of 20 films competing for the top prize, the Palme d'Or. "It's a drama that is quite extreme because I think it's even worse, the reality in Mexico ? but not the everyday reality.

"It's a great country, a beautiful country that has this virus that invades certain parts, and many people are suffering," said 34-year-old Escalante, both the youngest director and the only Latin American in the main Cannes competition.

"It would be very socially irresponsible not to talk about those bad things that are happening in our country," added Gabriel Reyes, who co-wrote the screenplay with Escalante.

"I think if we never talk about the bad things then problems might never be solved."

Filmed in the bleak and beautiful landscape around the central Mexican city of Guanajuato, the film focuses on Heli (Armando Espitia), a young man who works in a car plant and lives with his wife, baby, father and 12-year-old sister, Estella (Andrea Vergara).

When Estella falls for a police cadet, the family is sucked into the world of the country's drug wars.

With shocking suddenness, violence busts over them, then leaves the damaged survivors to pick up the pieces as best they can.

Two scenes drew gasps from Cannes audiences. One involves nastiness to a puppy, the other the brutal torture of a teenager, conducted partly by children and including what one critic described delicately as "genital immolation."

It was all too much for a few audience members, who walked out. The Hollywood Reporter called the film "an austere glumfest of stomach-churning sadism and lowlife misery porn," while Variety described it as "accomplished but singularly unpleasant."

Others, though, drew comparisons to "City of God" and "Amores Perros" ? artful and powerful depictions of violence in Latin America.

"Heli" follows last year's Mexican Cannes contender "Post Tenebras Lux" by Carlos Reygadas, a more surreal but thematically similar response to the drug trade violence that has caused at least 70,000 killings since 2006.

Escalante, who has worked as an assistant director for Reygadas, defended the film's depiction of violence. He shoots it in a manner that's the antithesis of Hollywood ? through unblinking scenes that create a sense of detachment but also offer no escape from the horror on show.

"If I'm going to show violence, I'm going to give it the weight it should have," the director said.

"In a moral way, I think the responsibility is to show violence how it should be ? sad and unpleasant and very dirty and a nightmare.

"I couldn't show it half way," he added. "Hitchcock said, if you don't show it, it's more powerful. I've always remembered that ? but I've tried to do the opposite."

___

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-16-France-Cannes-Heli/id-c3ea08ef5750406e86be922fd53a0f0c

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Obama taps his point man on sequester to head IRS

May 15 (Reuters) - Post positions for the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes, to be run at Pimlico on Saturday (Post Position, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Odds) 1. Orb, Joel Rosario, Shug McGaughey, even 2. Goldencents, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill, 8-1 3. Titletown Five, Julien Leparoux, D. Wayne Lukas, 30-1 4. Departing, Brian Hernandez, Al Stall, 6-1 5. Mylute, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss, 5-1 6. Oxbow, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas, 15-1 7. Will Take Charge, Mike Smith, D. Wayne Lukas, 12-1 8. Govenor Charlie, Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert, 12-1 9. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-choose-omb-official-danny-werfel-head-irs-191121420.html

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Farm bill: Still a little something for everyone

WASHINGTON (AP) ? There's still a little something for everyone in massive farm bills that Congress is considering this week, even though the legislation would cut billions of dollars from federal farm and food subsidies.

The Senate version of the bill, to be considered by the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, makes concessions to Southern rice and peanut farmers, thanks to a new top Republican on the committee, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran. Because those Southern-grown crops rely on subsidies called direct payments that are being eliminated, the bill would make it easier for those farmers to receive alternate subsidies if prices dip.

The House bill, authored by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., and being considered by the House Agriculture Committee on Wednesday, is even more favorable to Southern farms, which are among the nation's biggest.

Each bill would eliminate $5 billion in annual direct payments that aren't tied to production or crop prices and would consolidate other programs. At the same time, the bills would create new programs with some of that money and raise the subsidies for some crops while business is booming in the agricultural sector.

Both bills would boost federally subsidized crop insurance and a new program that covers smaller losses on planted crops before crop insurance kicks in, favoring Midwestern corn and soybean farmers who use crop insurance most often.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said the changes are meant to make farm programs more efficient. The Senate bill calls for roughly $2.4 billion a year in cuts, while the House would save $4 billion out of about $100 billion annually.

"Instead of subsidies that pay out every year even in good times, the bill creates risk management tools that support farmers when they are negatively impacted by weather disaster or market events beyond their control," she said.

The two bills are further apart on domestic food aid. The Senate bill would cut $400 million out of almost $80 billion spent annually on food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. In an effort to appease conservatives, the House bill would cut $2 billion annually from the program and rewrite policy that allows some people who already receive benefits to automatically receive food stamps.

Balancing the cutbacks important to conservatives with maintaining the generous safety net that farmers have relied on for decades will be key to getting the bill passed before current farm programs expire Sept. 30.

This is the third year in a row that farm-state lawmakers have tried to push the bill through; though it passed the Senate, the House declined to take up the bill last year after conservatives in that chamber objected to the bill's cost and insisted on higher cuts to food stamps. House leaders have given supporters more optimism this year as they have said they plan to put the measure on the floor this summer.

Longtime critics of farm policy say that even with the belt-tightening, the legislation is still a giveaway to the largest farms which tend to receive the largest shares of the subsidies.

"It's very disappointing in a time of runaway deficits and record farm income," says Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group.

Farm groups defend the policy by using last year's drought as an example. Despite widespread losses, federally subsidized crop insurance helped farmers recover.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-14-Farm%20Bill/id-5179edc5e1384a959ce93958cab69d6c

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4 kids, 2 adults dead in Pa. fire on Mother's Day

POTTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) ? Fire tore through a family's home on Mother's Day, authorities said, killing four young children, their father and another relative while their mother was across the street doing laundry at a friend's house.

The blaze broke out around 11:55 p.m. Sunday at the single-family home in Pottsville, in eastern Pennsylvania. Firefighters later found all of the bodies on the third floor of the building, which sits on a steep hillside not far from the D.G. Yuengling & Son brewery in Pennsylvania's coal country, about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The fire was declared under control shortly before 1 a.m. State police fire marshals were sifting through the debris later Monday morning and authorities were searching for the cause of the blaze, which investigators say began in the kitchen.

Fire Chief Todd March said it was the deadliest blaze in Pottsville, a city of about 14,000, in his 37-year career.

"It's hard to take, and there was nothing we could do," he said.

The Schuylkill County Coroner's office identified the victims as the father, Eric Brown, 30; and his children, Elijah Brown, 2; Emily Brown, 3; Jeremiah Brown, 7; and Joy Brown, 8. Another adult, Kristina Thomas, 26, also died in the fire. She's the sister of 28-year-old Kelly Brown, the mother who survived.

Kelly Brown had been doing laundry at a neighbor's house nearby at the time of the blaze because her washing machine was broken, according to the neighbor, Jennifer Purcell. Purcell said they had smelled smoke, and Purcell went outside and saw the flames, telling Brown, "Oh my God, your house is on fire!"

They both ran up the street to the house, but weren't able to get inside, Purcell said.

Kelly Brown started screaming to emergency personnel keeping her back, "What do you mean I can't go in? My kids are in there, my husband is in there, my sister is in there. I've got to get them," according to Purcell. Brown got weak after that and had to be walked down the street because she couldn't stand, Purcell said.

Kelly Brown is now staying at her husband's relatives' house elsewhere in Pottsville, Purcell said, adding that they later spoke on the phone and her friend was devastated.

"She's a wreck," Purcell said. "Not only did she lose, as she said, her best friend, her husband, her kids, but it also happened on Mother's Day."

Neighbors said they heard screams for help, but the flames were too intense by the time they got to the house to try to rescue the family.

Jeff Kuhlwind, 50, who lives across the street, said he was on his computer in the front of his house when he heard screaming, "Help! Help me!"

He said he called 911, ran outside and saw "massive flames" shooting from a second-floor window, along with a woman screaming for help.

Kuhlwind and several other neighbors ran up to the front of the house, and he was about to go inside when he saw flames shooting out the front window and was forced away.

"Nobody was getting in, there wasn't no way," he said. "It went quick, really, really quick."

Investigators were looking at a wood-burning stove in the home's kitchen as a potential cause, though Chief March said it was only one among several possibilities. A family friend, Keith Wykle ? who had lit the stove shortly before the fire broke out ? said he'd lit it many times previously and never had a problem with it. He said he had been hanging out with his friend Eric Brown earlier in the evening.

March also said there was no immediate evidence of smoke detectors in the home.

The upper two floors of the three-story home were charred and the rear of the building appeared to have sustained heavy damage, with several of the walls knocked out. Furniture and other debris sat on the front sidewalk.

Crews from all the city's fire companies responded to the blaze and March said investigators had to proceed carefully through the building because of the extensive amount of damage.

Neighbors were taking it hard, choking back tears as they recounted the fire and recalled the family who lived there.

"My heart's breaking for my little girl because I really don't think she understands," said Christina Groves, who lives behind the house. "They were her best friends ... and I don't think she understands the true meaning that her friends aren't coming back."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/4-kids-2-adults-dead-pa-fire-mothers-150558203.html

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Farrah Abraham: Pregnant With James Deen Spawn?!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/farrah-abraham-pregnant-with-james-deen-spawn/

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US government files morning-after pill appeal

This Thursday, May 2, 2013 photo shows pharmacist Simon Gorelikov holding a generic emergency contraceptive at the Health First Pharmacy in Boston. New rules permitting 15-year-olds to get the morning-after pill without a prescription are being debated by teens as well as adults, with some saying it will help kids who can't confide in an adult, while others say the lower age infringes on a parent's right to know what's going on. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

This Thursday, May 2, 2013 photo shows pharmacist Simon Gorelikov holding a generic emergency contraceptive at the Health First Pharmacy in Boston. New rules permitting 15-year-olds to get the morning-after pill without a prescription are being debated by teens as well as adults, with some saying it will help kids who can't confide in an adult, while others say the lower age infringes on a parent's right to know what's going on. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Obama administration on Monday filed a last-minute appeal to delay the sale of the morning-after contraceptive pill to girls of any age without a prescription.

The legal paperwork asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to postpone a federal judge's ruling that eliminated age limits on the pill while the government appeals that overall decision.

U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman has said that politics was behind efforts by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to block the unrestricted sale of the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill and its generic competitors.

Last month, he ordered that the levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives be made available without prescription and without age restrictions. He then denied a request to postpone his ruling while the government appealed, but gave them until Monday to appeal again.

Government attorneys warned that "substantial market confusion" could result if Korman's ruling was enforced while appeals are pending. On Monday, lawyers argued that the district court "plainly overstepped its authority," and that they believe they will win the overall appeal.

Attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights have said in court papers that every day the ruling is not enforced is "life-altering" to some women. They have 10 days to respond to the most recent government filings, after which the appeals court will issue a decision.

If the government fails, it would clear the way for over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill to younger girls. The FDA announced earlier this month that the contraception could be sold without a prescription to those 15 and older, a decision Korman said merely sugarcoated the appeal of his order lifting the age restriction.

Sales had previously been limited to those who were at least 17.

The judge said he ruled against the government "because the secretary's action was politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent" and because there was no basis to deny the request to make the drugs widely available.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-05-13-Morning-After%20Pill/id-92263af338594c9eb7e2796df34a7ee8

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