JOSH'S CONDITIONS & TREATMENTS BLOG

Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware)

By now, everyone knows about the performance-enhancing juggernaut, Viagra. But the public, especially men who suffer from heart disease, have to look out for knock-offs that claim to be all natural.

Viagra is not supposed to be taken with heart-disease medication. Together, the two drugs cause the blood to flow slower than molasses, the sweet, sassy kind. This drug interaction causes strokes and heart attacks.  The irony of the situation is that erectile dysfunction can be a side effect of cardiovascular disease. Men are left frustrated.

So men, forthright and good, have turned towards all-natural herbal supplements, hoping to find a cure amongst mystical-seeming herbs and finger-lickin' spices.  If lucky, these herbal supplements will work, do nothing or give the user a mild headache.

Those herbal supplements seem harmless with their lists of silly and magical-sounding ingredients, but they often contain the same chemicals that Viagra and Levitra have and sometimes more of it.  All around the country, men have been turning up in emergency rooms with herb-related ailments.

The most common side effects were severe headaches, stroke, and priapisms. One doctor said that people may have died from this.

Before taking an herbal supplement, see a doctor-- A cardiologist for heart disease and a urologist for erectile dysfunction. To find a local medical services, click here.

Just for fun and becuase it is Friday, here is a list of horrible herbal supplement names:

• Vigorsauraus X!
• Staminasty
• Youthenizer
• Some Dashboar Dust and Other Small Particles I Found Around My Car- X2500
• Myocardial-Infarction Ensurer
• Ingestadon
• Vitalizin' Larry's

"Save it for Queen Dopplepopolis!"

In the New York Times, there is an article about a patient with a confounding disorder. The disorder is known as Capgras Delusion. People who suffer from this illness believe that their loved ones, most likely the spouse, are being replaced by nearly-identical replicas. Which, in a perfect world, would be great for spicing up the old marriage. Unfortunately, the experience is usually rather frightening for the sick person, and they may even begin to believe that inanimate objects and pets have been replaced.  Amazingly, even their own reflections are often believed to be impostors.

     Capgras Delusion is thought to be caused by a head trauma or lesions/tumors that break the connections between the facial-recognition area of the brain and the area associated with emotions. The syndrome often accompanies epilepsy, schizophrenia, strokes and malformed lobes.

  This seems like an off-the-wall disorder, absurd and unrelatable, but we all experience a little taste of Capgras Delusion when we have feelings of deja vu or jamais vu. 

Basically, the area of the brain where the idea of the yourself is stored becomes traumatized. You can no longer access your feelings and thoughts about yourself and your relationships to other people. So when you see your friend, your brain knows that he looks like friend but you are unable to access any sort of familiarity with that person. It's a complete breakdown of the "sense of self." 

It doesn't sound so absurd now.

There are treatments for this condition, both pharmaceutical and psychiatric. If someone you think you know suffers from Capgras Syndrome and needs to see an unreplacable doctor, click here.