CBS has reported that there is now a line of Ecstasy pills made in the image of the 44th president of the United States, according to Texas police who have snatched a batch off the streets.

A stash of the brightly colored tablets was found Monday during a south Texas traffic stop. Police in Palmview detained a driver after finding black tar heroin, cocaine, marijuana and several Ecstasy pills in the back of his car.  The drugs look like a “vitamin for kids,” police spokesman Lenny Sanchez said. Police say that other Ecstasy pills they found were made to look like the cartoon characters Homer Simpson and the Smurfs.

The 22-year-old driver is expected to face felony drug possession counts.

Ecstasy is known for a sense of elation, diminished feelings of fear and anxiety, and ability to induce a sense of intimacy with others.

Oprah To Film Christmas Show With The Obamas

Guess Who GQ Named “Man Of The Year”?

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After years of shaking those hips, Prince is in need of double hip surgery.

According to eurweb.com, entertainment columnist Roger Friedman is reporting that Prince now has two bad hips and is in desperate need of double hip replacement, yet continues to refuse surgery based on religious grounds.

News of Prince needing a hip replacement first surfaced in 2005. Prince who is a Jehovah’s Witness, does not believe in blood transfusions, according to Friedman.

Purple Rain’s 25th anniversary.

The singer recently made an appearance at the Apollo Theater’s 75th anniversary celebration to toast legendary singer Patti LaBelle.  Apparently Prince was  walking around in a lot of pain and popping pain killers hoping it will all go away.

Check out the singer over the years:

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Did Prince steal Rihanna’s haircut, or vice versa?

The diet industry is a super-expensive one. But are you really getting your money’s worth, or should you just stick with good, old-fashioned working out and eating right? Check out what Health.com has to say below.

[From Health.com]

MYTH: The African herb hoodia is an effective appetite suppressant

FACT: It’s still unclear whether hoodia makes it easier to skip dinner and save a few hundred calories, although there is some anecdotal evidence of the herb’s powers. “Hoodia is reported to arrest hunger for those making long journeys in the desert,” explains Roberta Anding, RD, a clinical dietitian and the director of sports nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The active ingredient in hoodia is believed to be a compound called P57. Research suggests that animals who have had P57 injected into their brains eat less, but this effect is unlikely to be replicated in humans taking hoodia capsules, Anding says.

Hoodia hasn’t been studied in humans, and until it is the plant’s safety and ability to stop hunger are anyone’s guess.

MYTH: I don’t need to diet or exercise if I’m taking a weight-loss supplement

FACT: Practically every supplement’s label-not to mention every weight-loss expert and dietitian-will tell you that if you want to shed pounds you’ll also need to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

Even the over-the-counter drug Alli, a half-strength version of the prescription weight-loss medication orlistat, should be thought of as a boost to dieting and exercise, not a replacement for either. If you take Alli, you’ll need to stick to a low-fat diet (no more than about 15 grams of fat per meal) or you could experience some pretty unpleasant side effects. “Alli keeps your gut from absorbing some of the fat you eat,” explains Saul Shiffman, PhD, a senior scientific advisor to Pinney Associates in Pittsburgh. “So if people eat too much fat at a meal it’s flushed through, and they can feel bloated and even stain themselves.” The bottom line? Taking Alli may require a change in diet.

What are 4 more myths? Click here to find out.

Can diet supplements hurt more than they help?

Don’t make one of the 6 common dieting mistakes!

Some people don’t want harsh chemicals and hormones added to their body when they’re trying to lose weight, so they turn to herbal supplements for a diet boost. However, these “natural” pills might not be as wholesome as you thought they were.

[From CNN Health]

The names of the weight-loss supplements say it all: 7 Day Herbal Slim, 2 Day Diet, and even 24 Hours Diet. Those are just three of dozens of different brands touted as all-natural ways to shed pounds, and lose them super fast.

But according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nothing could be further from the truth. Many of these “herbal” weight-loss remedies — 69 at last count — are tainted with prescription drugs or mixtures of drugs, including laxatives, diuretics, and anti-seizure medications. And that list of 69 products will probably grow in the coming weeks, says FDA spokesperson Rita Chappelle.

“Our investigation is ongoing and quite extensive, and more products will be added to the list,” she says.

Some supplements contain rimonabant, a prescription drug rejected by the FDA for use in the United States due to safety concerns. And others contain sibutramine, a prescription weight-loss drug sold as Meridia in the United Sates. However, the supplements often contain more than one drug, and in doses three to four times what you would get with a doctor’s prescription. The supplements’ labels don’t mention the medications, much less the amount of the drug found in the pills.

“The biggest issue generally speaking with herbal over-the-counter supplements is that people don’t think they’re drugs to begin with,” says Matthew Grissinger, director of error reporting programs at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, in Horsham, Pennsylvania. Undeclared ingredients make it even more likely that a person could have interactions with prescription medications or other health risks, he says.

Someone with high blood pressure or heart failure (not uncommon in the overweight) “may already be on diuretics, so now they are literally taking two, three, four times the amount of diuretic they are supposed to,” he says.

More than 150 million people in the U.S. take vitamins and other dietary supplements, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), which represents supplement manufacturers. The group supports the FDA’s efforts and encourages “consumers to be savvy when it comes to their supplements,” said CRN’s president and CEO, Steve Mister, in a statement. “Always buy from reputable companies that you know and trust.”

The FDA does not approve or regulate dietary supplements before they come on the market; “let the buyer beware” is typically the rule of thumb.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Why not ditch the supplements altogether? Click here for 6 top secrets of fitness pros.

Herbal supplements may be BS, but you wouldn’t believe what else is!

What’s better – being depressed and in a relationship, or being depressed, on meds, and single? It’s a tough call. However, a recent study is suggesting that being on antidepressants actually lowers a person’s chances of finding the right partner, so maybe they’re not as effective as “happy pills” as we thought. How… depressing.

[From Wired]

Antidepressant drugs, already known to cause sexual side effects, may also suppress the basic human emotions of love and romance.

That SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – the most common type of antidepressant – cause sexual dysfunction is common knowledge. Of the 31 million adults in the United States who take the SSRIs, about 30 percent are believed to experience sexual dysfunction.

But a new theory suggests that SSRI antidepressants may also subtly alter the fundamental chemistry of love and romance, snuffing the first sparks between two people otherwise destined to become lovers, and preventing couples from bonding.

“There’s every reason to think SSRIs blunt your ability to fall and stay in love,” said Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University biological anthropologist who has pioneered the modern science of love.

For some people, of course, sexual side effects are an acceptable price to pay for curing debilitating depression. But as antidepressant use becomes more common, extending beyond full-blown clinical depression to disorders like anxiety and, in some cases, insomnia, the possibility of love-stunting is troubling.

SSRI antidepressants work by boosting circulating levels of serotonin, a mood-regulating neurotransmitter that also inhibits desire. The drugs also decrease dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in a wide range of cognitive and behavioral processes, among them desire and arousal. The new research suggests that dopamine may also play a part in romance.

During sex, a cocktail of hormones is released that appears to play important roles in fostering romantic attachment within the brain. Take away sex, and romantic love can dwindle. But this is just part of the problem, say Fisher and University of Virginia psychiatrist James Thomson.

Dopamine also appears central to the neurobiology of romantic love and attachment, conditions that Fisher believes to be affected by – but ultimately distinct from – sexual love and its effects. She and Thomson say that SSRIs may do more than cause sexual dysfunction: They also suppress romance.

“There are all sorts of unconscious systems in our brain that we use to negotiate romantic love and romantic attraction,” said Thomson. “If these drugs cause conscious sexual side effects, we’d argue that there are going to be side effects that are not conscious.”

According to Fisher, humans have three distinct but interconnected love-related brain systems: one for sex, another for attachment and another for romantic love. This is still hypothetical – nobody knows exactly what love does in the brain – but Fisher has been a pioneering researcher on romantic love’s neurobiology, and dopamine indeed appears important.

When couples have just fallen in love, the mere sight of the other causes a jump in dopamine-related brain activity. If they manage to stay in love, with the early flush giving way to long-term affection, those brain patterns stay active.

Reduced dopamine levels, however, are an inevitable effect of SSRIs. Reduce dopamine, say Fisher and Thomson, and the possibility of love itself is reduced.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

Maybe antidepressants aren’t for you, but is hormone therapy?