Day: 10/06/2015

Australian High Court rules that the BRCA1 gene can’t be patented.

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YES!

Earlier this morning, the Australian High Court ruled that the BRCA1 gene – which is linked to a significant increase in breast and ovarian cancer risk – isn’t a “patentable invention”. The decision means that a single company will no longer be able to control research on the gene, or receive all the profits from testing for it.

Prior to this, US biotech company Myriad Genetics held the patent for BRCA1 in Australia, and its claim was upheld by the Federal Court during two earlier cases. But now the High Court has overturned those rulings and declared that the gene can’t be patented, as it’s simply been isolated, and not manufactured, by Myriad.

The decision comes two years after a similar ruling was made by the US Supreme Court, which declared in June 2013 that naturally occurring DNA, such as the BRCA1 gene, couldn’t be patented.

The case against Myriad Genetics in Australia was led by two-time cancer survivor Yvonne D’Arcy from Brisbane, who endeavoured to make breast cancer genetic testing more affordable for everyone, and open up the research so new treatments for genetic diseases could be developed.

“The testing will be a lot cheaper and it will be more available … rather than using only Myriad’s agents at a price that nobody really can afford,” D’Arcy told ABC News after her win. “For all those people who do have the genetic footprint for breast cancer or any cancer basically, it’s a win for them because now they’re forewarned.”

Myriad’s argument was that its researchers had created an “artificial state of affairs” by isolating the gene from the human body, and that by patenting BRCA1, they were insuring that research into the gene would be commercialised. But the High Court unanimously decided today that the gene didn’t classify as having been “manufactured” – one of the requirements for patent law in Australia.

“While the invention claimed might be, in a formal sense, a product of human action, it was the existence of the information stored in the relevant sequences that was an essential element of the invention as claimed,” the High Court concluded in a statement to the press.

Incidentally, Myriad’s patent had expired in August anyway, so the decision won’t have an impact on the availability of BRCA1 testing in Australia. But it’s a landmark ruling that sets a precedent for future cases over proprietary of the human genome.

“We have been waiting almost 30 years for a decision of this nature, on the issue of whether isolated DNA sequences are patentable subject matter,” said Dianne Nicol, director of the Centre for Law and Genetics at the University of Tasmania. “What is important is its effect on the availability of patents in new areas of technology more generally.

Here’s how to make perfect diamonds in the microwave.

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Thank you, science!

 

Right now, odds are that one in every four diamonds on sale around the world is ablood diamond – mined in a war zone and sold to finance armed conflict and civil war. And for those wanting to steer clear of such a commodity, it’s becoming nearly impossible to figure out the difference between a clean and a dirty diamond.

Which is why the market for lab-made diamonds is slowly but surely growing, offering a cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and ethically sound option that looks just as pretty as its natural counterpart. “To a modern young consumer, if they get a diamond from above the ground or in the ground, do they really care?” Chaim Even-Zohar from Tacy, an Israel-based diamond consulting firm, points out toBloomberg Businessweek.

And nope, these artificial diamonds are nothing like those cheap, lab-grown imitation diamonds, such as cubic zirconia – they have the exact same physical structure and chemical composition as a diamond that’s been pulled out of the ground.

The process works by placing a tiny fragment of diamond (called a carbon seed) into a microwave along with varying amounts of a carbon-heavy gas – methane is most commonly used. The gas mixture is heated to very high temperatures in the microwave to produce a plasma ball, and inside this, the gas breaks down and the carbon atoms crystallise and accumulate on the diamond seed, causing it to grow.

The process can take up to 10 weeks to produce a marketable diamond, but it works so well, experts reportedly need a machine to tell the lab-grown gems apart from natural ones sourced from mines or riverbeds.

So far, synthetic diamonds make up a tiny fraction of the US$80 billion global diamond market, with Bloomberg reporting that in 2014, an estimated 360,000 carats of lab-grown diamonds were manufactured, while about 146 million carats of natural diamonds were mined.

But if the results of a recent survey – which showed less than half of North American consumers aged between 18 to 35 said they’d prefer a natural diamond – are anything to go by, this is set to change in a hurry. It’s estimated that by 2026, the number of lab-made diamonds will skyrocket to 20 million carats, with Wal-Mart and Warren Buffett’s Helzberg Diamonds already starting to stock the synthetic versions.

Not that the mining companies are willing to let that slice of the market go without a fight. Bloomberg reports that they won a major victory against the labs back in July when the International Organisation for Standardisation ruled that their gems had to be labelled as either “synthetic”, “lab-grown”, or “lab-created”, and never “real”.

The companies behind the natural diamonds are hoping their customers will continue to be sold on the ‘romance’ of a stone borne from nature, and will be marketing the unique history of each one over the ‘cookie-cutter’ feel of the lab-grown diamonds. But with price tags as little as half that of natural diamonds –Bloomberg reports that in a New York jewellery store, a 1-carat synthetic diamond can cost about $6,000 there, compared with $10,000 for a similarly sized natural stone – and no ethical questions, the demand will surely be there in some capacity in the future.

“We are creating a new industry,” Vishal Mehta, CEO of IIA Technologies in Singapore, which is reportedly the most prolific producer of synthetic diamonds in the world, told Bloomberg. “Consumers today really resonate with the idea of an eco-friendly and a conflict-free choice for diamonds. That’s been a sticking point.”

25 Inspiring Quotes Of A Samurai

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25 Inspiring Quotes Of A Samurai

This is an article about 25 quotes of a samurai, as Yamamoto Tsunetomo wrote about them.

Tsunetomo (June 11, 1659 – November 30, 1719) was a samurai of the Saga Domain in Hizen Province under his lord Nabeshima Mitsushige. He believed that becoming one with death in one’s thoughts, even in life, was the highest attainment of purity and focus. He felt that a resolution to die gives rise to a higher state of life, infused with beauty and grace beyond the reach of those concerned with self-preservation.

Tsunemoto is famous for Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. It’s a practical and spiritual guide for a Samurai, which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. He is also known as Yamamoto Jōchō, the name he took after retiring and becoming a monk.

Here are 25 timeless quotes of Tsunemoto that should become a lesson for everyone of us:

1) “There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

2) “There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

3) “Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards an irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

4) “To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

5) “Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

6) “It is said that what is called “the spirit of an age” is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world’s coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today’s world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

7) “It is a wretched thing that the young men of today are so contriving and so proud of their material posessions. Men with contriving hearts are lacking in duty. Lacking in duty, they will have no self-respect.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

8) “There is nothing we should be quite so grateful for as the last line of the poem that goes, ‘When your own heart asks.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

9) “In the Kamigata area, they have a sort of tiered lunchbox they use for a single day when flower viewing. Upon returning, they throw them away, trampling them underfoot. The end is important in all things.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

10) “When one is writing a letter, he should think that the recipient will make it into a hanging scroll.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

11) “Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

12) “If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever. The saying that “All abilities come from one mind” sounds as though it has to do with sentient matters, but it is in fact a matter of being unattached to life and death. With such non-attachment one can accomplish any feat.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

13) “If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The right and wrong of one’s way of doing things are found in trivial matters.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

14) “Singlemindedness is all-powerful.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

15) “Tether even a roasted chicken.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

16) “Respect, Honesty, Courage, Rectitude, Loyalty, Honour, Benevolence” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

17) “Sincerity does not only complete the self; it is the means by which all things are completed. As the self is completed, there is human-heartedness; as things are completed, there is wisdom. This is the virtue of one’s character, and the Way of joining the internal and external. Thus, when we use this, everything is correct.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

18) “If by setting one’s heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

19) “It is spiritless to think that you cannot attain to that which you have seen and heard the masters attain. The masters are men. You are also a man. If you think that you will be inferior in doing something, you will be on that road very soon.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

20) “Although this may be a most difficult thing, if one will do it, it can be done. There is nothing that one should suppose cannot be done.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

21) “If one does not get it into his head from the very beginning that the world is full of unseemly situations, for the most part his demeanour will be poor and he will not be believed by others.” (Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai)

22) “A man who can reason over trifles will become conceited, and will take pleasure in being described as ‘odd’. He will start boasting that he was born with a personality that doesn’t fit well with contemporary society, and be convinced that nobody else is above him. He will surely meet with divine retribution. Regardless of what abilities a man may possess, he will be of little use if rejected by others. People don’t slight those who are eager to help and serve well, and who readily exhibit humility to their associates.”

23) “Nothing is impossible in this world. Firm determination, it is said, can move heaven and earth. Things appear far beyond one’s power, because one cannot set his heart on any arduous project due to want of strong will.”

24) “Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die.”

25) “Continue to spur a running horse.” – See more at: http://www.thinkinghumanity.com/2015/09/25-inspiring-quotes-of-a-samurai.html?m=1#sthash.31c0cjFP.dpuf

6 Surprising Cancer Causers To Eliminate From Your Home

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We have grown to believe that our home is our castle. However, nowadays our homes may be hiding more danger than safety; the infamous formaldehyde, nitrobenzene and methylene chloride, are all carcinogens that can be found in everyday items including plastic, rubber, dyes and perfumes. Here’s a list of items thought to be harmless, and the health problems they provoke. 1. Candles According to a study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 40 percent of candles on the market contain lead wires inside their wicks. Scented candles most commonly contain lead wicks. Fragrance oils soften the wax, so the manufacturers use lead to make the wicks firmer. A candle with a lead-core wick releases five times the amount of lead considered hazardous for children and exceeds Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pollution standards for outdoor air, says the CPSC. Exposure to high amounts of lead may contribute to hormone disruption, behavioral problems, learning disabilities, and many other health problems. To keep your home softly lit and cozy without risking your health, you can use beeswax candles with cotton wicks. 2. Air Fresheners Many air fresheners have carcinogens, volatile organic compounds and toxins such as phthalate esters in their formulas. A Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study of 13 common household air fresheners found that most of the surveyed products contain chemicals that can aggravate asthma and affect reproductive development. According to a 2008 study by Anne Steinemann of the University of Washington, all air-fresheners tested gave off chemicals regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, including carcinogens with no safe exposure level. None of these chemicals, however, were listed on the product labels or Material Safety Data Sheets. As a replacement, try natural fragrances from essential oils. 3. Art Supplies Certain art supplies like Epoxy and rubber cement glues, acrylic paints and solvents, and permanent markers contain chemicals linked to allergies, organ damage, and cancer. Children are particularly vulnerable to toxins because of their higher metabolisms, and immature immune systems, so it pays to exercise extra care with the products they use. 4. Antiperspirants Most conventional deodorants and antiperspirants contain several ingredients linked to virulent cancers. Since deodorants and antiperspirants are designed to stay on our bodies for hours, this allows the potential absorption of harmful chemicals through the skin. 5. Shampoos Unlikely as it may sound, conventional shampoos have too many toxic ingredients. Funny as it may sound, their effects are still being researched, and there is no scientific consensus whether they cause cancer. If you want to be on the safe side, use any of the myriad of handmade shampoo bars. 6. Shower Curtains Plastic shower curtains release toxic chemicals not only into your shower or bath, but also into the environment, emitting harmful chemicals called volatile organic chemicals or VOCs. Ensure a healthy environment for you and your family by reducing contact with the above products.

Tinzaparin vs Warfarin for Treatment of Acute Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With Active Cancer:  A Randomized Clinical Trial

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Importance  Low-molecular-weight heparin is recommended over warfarin for the treatment of acute venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with active cancer largely based on results of a single, large trial.

Objective  To study the efficacy and safety of tinzaparin vs warfarin for treatment of acute, symptomatic VTE in patients with active cancer.

Design, Settings, and Participants  A randomized, open-label study with blinded central adjudication of study outcomes enrolled patients in 164 centers in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North, Central, and South America between August 2010 and November 2013. Adult patients with active cancer (defined as histologic diagnosis of cancer and receiving anticancer therapy or diagnosed with, or received such therapy, within the previous 6 months) and objectively documented proximal deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism, with a life expectancy greater than 6 months and without contraindications for anticoagulation, were followed up for 180 days and for 30 days after the last study medication dose for collection of safety data.

Interventions  Tinzaparin (175 IU/kg) once daily for 6 months vs conventional therapy with tinzaparin (175 IU/kg) once daily for 5 to 10 days followed by warfarin at a dose adjusted to maintain the international normalized ratio within the therapeutic range (2.0-3.0) for 6 months.

Main Outcomes and Measures  Primary efficacy outcome was a composite of centrally adjudicated recurrent DVT, fatal or nonfatal pulmonary embolism, and incidental VTE. Safety outcomes included major bleeding, clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding, and overall mortality.

Results  Nine hundred patients were randomized and included in intention-to-treat efficacy and safety analyses. Recurrent VTE occurred in 31 of 449 patients treated with tinzaparin and 45 of 451 patients treated with warfarin (6-month cumulative incidence, 7.2% for tinzaparin vs 10.5% for warfarin; hazard ratio [HR], 0.65 [95% CI, 0.41-1.03]; P = .07). There were no differences in major bleeding (12 patients for tinzaparin vs 11 patients for warfarin; HR, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.40-1.99]; P = .77) or overall mortality (150 patients for tinzaparin vs 138 patients for warfarin; HR, 1.08 [95% CI, 0.85-1.36]; P = .54). A significant reduction in clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding was observed with tinzaparin (49 of 449 patients for tinzaparin vs 69 of 451 patients for warfarin; HR, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.40-0.84]; P = .004).

Conclusions and Relevance  Among patients with active cancer and acute symptomatic VTE, the use of full-dose tinzaparin (175 IU/kg) daily compared with warfarin for 6 months did not significantly reduce the composite measure of recurrent VTE and was not associated with reductions in overall mortality or major bleeding, but was associated with a lower rate of clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding. Further studies are needed to assess whether the efficacy outcomes would be different in patients at higher risk of recurrent VTE.

The Electromagnetic Field Around Every Person Becomes Depleted With Unhealthiness.

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Since ancient times we have seen pictures and paintings of different spiritual leaders across various traditions but one thing that is common among all of them is the halo that surrounds their head which is known as the Aura- energy field. Many have dismissed Auras, especially those professed to be experts in natural sciences. However, with the assistance of highly sensitive cameras scientists have been able to photograph this field some experts believe could become a tool for use in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases.

This aura represents your physical, mental, emotional as well as spiritual energies. The aura is often seen a mix of fine coloured frequencies where each colour defines its own individual nature and characteristics.

The vibration of this aura is very fine and subtle so we need very fine instruments to detect it and also to interpret the different colours and shapes in the aura which can reveal us a lot of unsaid information.

A study, published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, explained the esoteric phenomenon of the aura and energy field of luminous radiation surrounding a person as a halo. The study explained that in neurological terms, synesthesia is due to cross-wiring in the brain of some people called synesthetes. In other words, synesthetes have more synaptic connections than “normal” people. “These extra connections cause them to automatically establish associations between brain areas that are not normally interconnected”, said Prof. Gomez Milan, a lead author of the study. “Many healers claiming to see the aura of people might have this condition.”

KIRLIAN EFFECT

The pioneers in this field, in fact, are the Kirlians, to this day any halos around photographed objects are referred to as the “Kirlian effect”.

Kirlian photography is a collection of photographic techniques used to capture the phenomenon of electrical coronal discharges. It is named after Semyon Kirlian, who, in 1939 accidentally discovered that if an object on a photographic plate is connected to a high-voltage source, an image is produced on the photographic plate.

The technique has been variously known as“electrography”, “electrophotography”, “corona discharge photography” (CDP), “bioelectrography”, “gas discharge visualization (GDV)”, “electrophotonic imaging (EPI)”, and, in Russian literature,“Kirlianography”.

Kirlian patented many inventions to photograph the glow and captured many images of it. Over time, they noticed that the images varied from person to person. Kirlian and his wife were demonstrated that their images showed a life force or energy field that reflected the physical and emotional states of their living subjects. These images could be used to diagnose illnesses. In 1961, they published their first paper on the subject in the Russian Journal of Scientific and Applied Photography.

The aura of a person has been found to be directly connected to the level of health of the person. A person is considered to be healthy in when their physical vitality, mental clarity, emotional well being as well as highly positive spiritual energies are relatively balanced. So a person who is healthy at all these levels has a bigger and brighter aura and vice versa in the case of an unhealthy person. A faint glow around certain body parts may indicate the presence of a disease or disorder.

From the intensity of the glow, the Kirlians learned to determine the total activity of the body, the efficiency of different treatments, as well as the state of organs and systems. Today the GDV method is fairly well developed and can be used to conduct a general analysis of the whole body. The pictures are qualitatively and objectively interpreted reducing the risk of medical errors. The effectiveness of different treatments can be detected individually.

GDV is based on light emissions which appear in high voltage electromagnetic fields. If it were to become widely used in traditional diagnosis then, with its help, doctors could not only easily carry out common diagnosis at a given moment but also identify diseases which may occur in the future. This could greatly improve the quality of preventive care.

THE HUMAN AURA CAN CHANGE DRAMATICALLY AND QUICKLY

It was found, that objects which are not alive, do not change parameters of their “aura” more than 2%. LIVING objects however can change their aura field dramatically and quickly. This provides scientists with unique tools to study physics of LIFE and consciousness using bio-electrography. For example, Prof Bunzen in Russia found that the response in Kirlian Aura seems to precede (appear as soon or earlier than) electric processes in the brain during a decision making process. From his research, presented in 2001 at the International Congress “Science Information, Spirit” in St Petersburg, it seems that a thought “appears” in the aura before any electrical activity can be detected in the brain. Is our consciousness electro-photonic to begin with?

It also appears that auras of people who interact with various objects such as drugs, crystals, minerals, colours etc. may change significantly. Modern Kirlian equipment are capable to quantify these effects in terms of their influence on the electro-photonic glow. It seems that detailed functioning of every organ and health effects can be also determined from the recorder stimulated electro-photonic glow.

All living objects show continuous changes in their aura. A major series of experiments of a team of scientists coordinated by Prof Korotkov in St Petersburg, Russia, demonstrated that aura of the human body continues to change continuously for almost exactly 72 hours after clinical death. It seems, that among other things, not only the time, but also the reason for death can be determined on the basis of these changes. It is interesting to note that in nearly every culture on Earth for centuries people observe a 3 day period between death of the body and burial.

Slowly and gradually as more research was done in this field of Aura photography different technologies were developed claiming to capture the human aura or the electromagnetic field. Now till date we have different systems like PIP (Poly contrast Interference Photography), DAS (Digital Aura Scanning system), RFI ( Resonant Field imaging) etc which claim to capture the human aura and also help us in detecting the subtle imbalances in our bodies.

MORE SCIENCE IS VALIDATING SENSORY ACTIVITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS

Even though we are often consciously aware of our current emotional state, such as anger or happiness, the mechanisms giving rise to these subjective sensations have remained unresolved. Brilliant research by Finnish scientists has mapped the areas of our body that are experiencing an increase or decrease in sensory activity when we experience a particular emotion. Each of these areas also affects our aura.

Each body area has a language as to what the organs do, the muscles, the nerves, etc. When a condition occurs in the body in a localized area, it’s to help us discover what we might need to change in order to keep “homeostasis” in our emotions, mental reasoning, and spiritual living.

Needless to say, that in the traditional ancient oriental medicine the concept of the aura is well understood and commonly accepted. Eastern practices, both medical and spiritual, are initially directed at correcting the aura i.e. the spiritual body rather than the physical.

Scientists such as Beverly Rubik have explored the idea of a human biofield using Kirlian photography research, attempting to explain the Chinese discipline of Qigong. Qigong teaches that there is a vitalistic energy called qi (or chi) that permeates all living things. Rubik’s experiments relied on Konstantin Korotkov’s GDV device to produce images which were thought to visualize these qi biofields in chronically ill patients. Vitalistic energies, such as qi and prana, exist beyond the natural world.

The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) program, which flourished for nearly three decades under the aegis of Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, has also completed its experimental agenda of studying the interaction of human consciousness with sensitive physical devices, systems, and processes, and developing complementary theoretical models to enable better understanding of the role of consciousness in the establishment of physical reality.

EVERYTHING IS ENERGY

Scientists and researchers today all around the globe have confirmed that the matter which appears to be solid in reality is NOT A TRUE reality. This solid looking matter is actually made up of pure energy which is vibrating at a specific frequency which gives matter properties like shape, size, texture etc. These solid looking objects like a pen, book and even the molecules, atoms and cells in our bodies for that matter are actually made up of vibratory energy particles called electron, protons , neutrons and further more tiny particles. So when these particles vibrate in their nucleus, a small electrical impulse is generated in our body and according to the famous law of physics “When there is a electrical field around a body, a magnetic field gets developed automatically”. So the tiny electrical impulses in our body results into the formation of a magnetic field around our body which is actually know as the AURA- electromagnetic field of the body.

Since everything in this universe is made up of the same constituent particles electron, protons, neutrons etc that means EVERYTHING HAS AN AURA. And if we keep on expanding these so called elementary particles we reach a point where we find nothing but pure energy vibrating at the very essence of these solid looking objects. Everything in this physical universe is nothing but energy which connects to everything in the universe.

If we study our ancient Indian texts especially the yoga sutras we will come to know the subtle anatomy of our human chakra system which is actually a very important aspect of our Aura. Spiritually we can say that aura is our very own soul nature, it reflects our innermost desires and feelings, emotions etc.

Aura is the layer of energy which interconnects all other subtle bodies and also acts like a shield covering and protecting our more refined subtle bodies like the mental, emotional, and spiritual and astral bodies. Like for our physical body to survive and maintain its health, oxygen plays a vital role for our existence similarly the Pranic forces which are commonly called Prana is the subtle energy that is required by our more refined bodies to function and maintain a good health.

SUBTLE BODIES CONTROL OUR HEALTH IN THE PHYSICAL

So if we want our bodies to absorb oxygen properly from the environment we should keep our lungs healthy thereby keeping our physical body healthy, similarly if we want our subtle bodies to function properly and to absorb the pranic energies properly we need to keep our aura healthy. Like for our physical bodies we do regular exercises to keep it healthy and working, we should also practice some form of energy exercise which regulates the proper flow of pranic energies in our subtle bodies.

“Our Subtle bodies”, namely they are called physical body, emotional body, mental body, spiritual body and the last is our Astral body. So all in all our aura is made up of 5 basic layers out of which the physical body we are able to see with our naked eyes because it vibrates at a relatively lower and denser vibrational rate and the rest of the four bodies vibrate at a higher frequency.

Even if the physical organ is removed from the physical body, its energy imprint is always there in the astral body. Most of the healing which is intended to be sent on the physical body is first received on this layer, the healing is done on the intended parts of this astral body and then the new energy imprint or the information is transferred down to each of the lower body till it reaches the physical body.

Once the root of the disease is removed from the blueprint of our physical body, the symptoms appearing in the physical body start to disappear. The root of all disease then is not in the physical body but in the energetic body and no disease can ever take place in physical first before it is translated from the energetic body.

So in this way energy healing sent by prayers, reiki, intention etc. is always first received on the outermost layer of the aura i.e., Astral body and then transferred to the other bodies. The most important purpose of our aura is to act like a vessel to hold all our bodies together and also to act like a shield protecting us from unhealthy vibrations. So the stronger our aura is the more protected & powerful we are.

In time, a greater percentage of human beings will grow to adopt these concepts since consciousness is now at a level on Earth where we can understand why these energies exist without rejection. That in turn will assist in the progression of health to such an extent, that it will translate into a mastering of control on the subtle bodies that will no longer allow for disease in the physical body.

12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn’t Teach You In School

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After finding these math hacks, I’m convinced that all those years of being forced to struggle through math class really was just a torture ploy created by evil math teachers everywhere. Check out these amazing math tips and you’ll agree! Watch out though, you may just unleash the inner math whiz you never knew was in you…

1. How To Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius

As if it was this simple all along…

12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via reddit/u/quaxon

2. How To Multiply Large Numbers In Your Head

Who knew?
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via imgur / MoonnMan

3. How To Multiply By 11

Finally! I can now multiply more than single digits by 11 in my head.

12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via WonderHowTo

4. Secret To Remembering The Numbers In Pi

Also a cool party trick.
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via 1000lifehacks

5. How To Find Fractions Of Whole Numbers

12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via imgur / ayounes

6. How To Figure Out What Day Of The Week Falls On What Date…

You might be confused looking at the picture below, but the math is actually quite simple (albeit a bit elaborate). You’ll need the codes HERE, which will help you master this.
July simply has a code of 5.
20th is 6 because 7 goes into 20 twice, which is 14. 20 – 14 = 6.
2069 is 2 because the leap year code of 2068 is 1 and 2069 is 1 year after, so that’s 2.
The math can be difficult at first because there are a lot of codes, but it works out incredibly well once you pick it up. Here’s a separate example:
January 3, 2014 is a Friday, right?
So, January, according to the table, is 6, and we handle days by using multiples of 7. We don’t need to, so it’s actually just 3 in this case. Next we need to know the closest leap year, which was 2012. That has a year code of 1 and 2013 is 2 years after, so 3 again.
We get 6 + 3 + 3 = 12 – 7 = 5! FRIDAY!
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via lifehacker

7. How to Add And Subtract Fractions

12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via imgur / ayounes

8. How To Figure Out Multiples Of Nine

Just count up in the tens column and down in the ones column.
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via Pinterest / Charles Stirton

9. How To Use Your Hands For 5, 6, and 9 Times Tables

Click HERE for more detailed instruction…
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via instructables / misko13

10. How To Figure Out Percentages

12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via Twitter /@LifeHacks

11. How To Remember Which Sign Is Greater Than and Which Is Less Than

Alligator always eats the bigger number!
12 Useful Math Hacks That They Didn't Teach You In School
via ducksters

12. Use Lines To Multiply

http://xposethereal.com/12-useful-math-hacks-that-they-didnt-teach-you-in-school.html

Healthy gut bacteria and the understanding of interconnectivity is the key to longevity

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The prevailing belief portrayed in the world today is that people are separate from one another. Many people believe they are separate from the natural processes occurring here on Earth, such as how soil is replenished, how food is grown, and how proper nutrition creates well-being inside.

In these beliefs of separateness, their actions toward nature and their lack of interactions with nature do not matter to them. Their actions toward their fellow man do not matter either. Interactions with plants, animals, and even bacteria are viewed through a lens of isolation and fear. For example, man’s role in preserving the health of the soil directly impacts his health. The depletion of nutrients and microbes in the soil via herbicide poisoning ultimately has negative repercussions for the entire community because a diverse array of bacteria is necessary for the people. Bacteria are necessary for establishing healthy human immunity, digestion, and nutrient absorption. These colonies of bacteria live symbiotically with people inside and outside of their bodies, communicating with cells and signaling when the immune system should prepare during stressful times.

bacteria

The illusion of separateness creates an internal environment that welcomes chronic disease

Many people believe that their internal organs, body systems, and organ functions are separate from the whole person, but everything is connected. Entire communities of bacteria are living among people in numbers that can exceed 100 trillion per individual. This intelligent community of single-celled organisms living in the body can weigh up to five pounds!

Likewise, no one should overlook the electrical and magnetic fields that emanate powerfully from the heart. The heart is not a separate organ that just pumps blood. The feelings bestowed in the heart have an impact on the entire person’s well-being.

If the illusions of separation remain ingrained in a person’s thinking, a belief system of judgment takes hold. This judgment not only expresses itself as disharmony between people, religions, and races; it can express itself in the chemical makeup of the body as a disharmony of cellular functions. The Western culture is more diseased that it has ever been, with cancerous cells showing up in nearly half the population.

What if we ceased viewing germs as evil purveyors of disease? What if we stopped viewing the byproducts of the human body as worthless wastes? What if we thanked the germs and the discarded matter for serving the body and being a part of a process that nourishes and sustains life inside?

Newly discovered bacteria strain proves to be an elixir of life

The individual’s path in life is not about existing on Earth eternally. Even longevity must come to an end. The most important part of longevity is for the individual to find their most healing, regenerative state of existence. This power is in every person and it is activated by dissolving the illusion of separateness.

Now Russian scientists have discovered and are unlocking the DNA of one of the most powerful substances that could strengthen and sustain people’s quality of life. It comes in the form of bacteria, something that is often feared or forgotten. The newly discovered specimen, uncovered from permafrost in the Siberian wilderness of Yakutia on Mammoth Mountain, is proving to be an elixir of life. The bacterium was discovered in 2009 by Dr. Anatoli Brouchkov from Moscow State University. It is supposedly 3.5 million years old. It is proving to have a positive impact on human blood cells, mice, fruit flies and crops. Called Bacillus F, this rare strain is showing promise for experiments on human erythrocytes and leucocytes.

Mysterious and resilient bacteria strains such as Bacillus F remind the people of the world that their most beautiful state of healing is found in the understanding that all life on Earth is connected. Beneficial bacteria are living among us and within us. They are a part of our digestive processes, they are a part of the communication that activates the immune system, and they take part in protecting the brain from neuro-toxic elements . Bacteria are an insight into our own health. These living communities are not something to fear and not something to destroy with antibiotics. They are a part of us and a part of everything that supports our natural, regenerative, and whole state of existence.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/051445_gut_bacteria_healing_connectedness.html#ixzz3nzXoxWw4

Neil deGrasse Tyson Talks God, Aliens, and Multiverses

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Things are looking up for Neil deGrasse Tyson—way up. As the director of the Hayden Planetarium and the author of several popular books on space, Tyson is already one of the nation’s best-known scientists. And now his already-high profile is set for a big boost with the March 9 launch of “Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey,” a new documentary television series that he hosts.

Tyson calls the 13-part series a continuation of “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,” a 1980 PBS series narrated by Carl Sagan that is acclaimed as one of the most significant science-themed programs in television history.

In anticipation of the new series’ debut, Tyson, 55, sat down with HuffPost Science for a wide-ranging and surprisingly frank interview. What follows is a condensed and edited version of the discussion, which took place in the astrophysicist’s New York City office.

 David Freeman: Cosmologically speaking, what’s changed in the 34 years since the original “Cosmos?”

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Just about everything.

 

DF: Exoplanets hadn’t yet been observed back then. Now we’ve seen hundreds. Does that mean we’re closer to discovering extraterrestrial life?

NT: That is a big question we all have: are we alone in the universe? And exoplanets confirm the suspicion that planets are not rare. Life as we know it lives on a planet. So if we are going to look for life as we know it, you want a good inventory of planets. There is a whole cottage industry of people trying to study the properties of the planets. It’s very hard because they’re orbiting next to hugely bright stars. The analogy is given–and if you calculate it out, it turns out to be about right–it would be like trying to detect a firefly around one of those Hollywood searchlights pointing straight at you.

DF: And our conception of the cosmos may also have changed. Do you think we live in a universe–or a multiverse? 

NT: We have excellent theoretical and philosophical reasons to think we live in a multiverse.

 

DF: Why is that?

NT: Quantum physics, which is the physics of the small, behaves in odd ways. Everything that the tenets of quantum physics predict about the universe–we go out and test it and it’s there. General relativity, which was put forth by Einstein, is the theory of the large–gravity and the large-scale structure of the universe. That also works. Yet they don’t work with one another. If you take the universe all the way back to the Big Bang, well, the entire universe was really small. So now you take the shotgun wedding–quantum physics and general relativity. In that shotgun wedding, if you follow through with all the predictions quantum physics gives you, it allows multiple bubbles to form–one of which is our universe. These are sorts of fluctuations in the quantum foam. Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the time. It’s whole universes coming into and out of existence.

 

DF: And philosophically?

NT: Philosophically, the universe has really never made things in ones. The Earth is special and everything else is different? No, we’ve got seven other planets. The sun? No, the sun is one of those dots in the night sky. The Milky Way? No, it’s one of a hundred billion galaxies. And the universe–maybe it’s countless other universes.

DF: And our multiverse could be just one of many?

NT: Exactly. It might be that the multiverse is not alone.

DF: If particles blink into and out of existence, could the whole universe blink out of existence?

NT: It is statistically so unlikely that you should just think of it as zero. Don’t worry about it.

DF: You must get a lot of strange questions from your lecture audiences. Do you find yourself having to correct people’s misconceptions?
NT: That’s not my goal. As an educator, I try to get people to be fundamentally curious and to question ideas that they might have or that are shared by others. In that state of mind, they have earned a kind of inoculation against the fuzzy thinking of these weird ideas floating around out there. So rather than correct the weird ideas, I would rather them to know how to think in the first place. Then they can correct the weird idea themselves. I don’t just tell them no. That’s pontifical.

DF: What role do you play in what some have called a culture war between science and science deniers?

NT: People reach for me to have those fights, but I don’t engage in them. You’ve never seen me debate anybody. On anything. Ever. My investment of time, as an educator, in my judgment, is best served teaching people how to think about the world around them. Teach them how to pose a question. How to judge whether one thing is true versus another. What the laws of physics say. That’s an educational process. It’s not a debate and whoever argues best wins. I don’t do that. I’m not saying other people shouldn’t. I’m not saying it isn’t a great thing that they’re doing it.

 

DF: What do you think our approach should be to exploring the moon and Mars and to space exploration in general?

NT: I don’t create agendas that people should follow. But if you care about the economic health of this nation, then you ought to know that innovation in science and technology in the 21st Century will be the engine of tomorrow’s economy. Nations that embrace this fact will lead the world economically.

 

DF: How do you convince people of the importance of science and technology?

NT: You can make programs that improve science teachers, but what do you do when you get out? Is it embraced by your culture? No, it’s not. It’s a band-aid. But when the culture wants to do it, you don’t need programs to make it happen. There were no programs in the 1960s to get people interested in science. There were programs to manage the rising science interest that became manifest when Sputnik was launched, but the interest was built into the culture. People were thinking about tomorrow in ways only science and technology could deliver. My read of human history and 20th Century tells me that there is no force as powerful, as ambition-stimulating, as exploring the great frontier. And right now that frontier is space. I’m not here to tell you to like space. I’m here to tell you the cost of not liking space.

DF: Some scientists argue that in order to ensure our long-term survival, humans must colonize other planets. What do you say?

NT: It would be great if we were on multiple planets, but I think that’s unrealistic. Hawking says we have to be on multiple planets so an asteroid could come and you’d still have some humans left. It’s a nice idea. It satisfies the multiple-eggs-in-multiple-baskets concept. However, I claim that whatever power you have amassed to terraform Mars to make it look like Earth and then ship a billion people there…whatever effort that requires is more than figuring out how to deflect the asteroid. It’s more effort than fixing runaway global warming.

DF: If someone offered you a one-way trip to Mars, would you take it?

NT: I don’t see any point of a one-way trip. In the era of the great explorers, colonies were established in places where explorers had already put the place on the map–and were able to tell you, “Yeah, there’s air to breathe and fruit on the trees and bring this winter coat and here is a shovel and some hammers and nails, go at it. Oh, by the way, if it doesn’t work out, come back.” That’s different from saying here’s a spaceship that is only designed to go one way and, by the way, when you get there there’s no air or water. So make it a round trip. You stay as long as you want.

 

DF: In a recent article in Parade magazine, you were quoted as saying that as a young man, despite being an aspiring astrophysicist, you were sometimes viewed as a mugger or shoplifter. That was surprising to see, given your reputation as someone who is disinclined to talk about racism.

NT: I didn’t talk to them at all. They went into my memoir written in 1999 and extracted from a single chapter in the book. People feel some major urge to say oh, he’s a black scientist so let’s have part of the conversation about being a black scientist. I never initiate such conversations. Ever. In fact, I decline invitations to speak during Black History Month. If you only think of me during Black History Month, I must be failing as an educator and as an astrophysicist. By the way, if my professional identity involved strong racial issues, then it would be unfair and unrealistic to decline such invitations. But I never talk about it. I never volunteer to talk about god or religion, but people feel compelled to talk about it.

 

DF: Do you want to talk about religion now?

NT: I’m here for you.

 

DF: Do you believe in god?

NT: I presume you’ve pre-specified which god you’re asking about?

 

DF: Define god as you would.

NT: You’re the one who’s asking the question. So pick a god and ask me if I believe in that god.

 

DF: The Judeo-Christian god.

NT: OK, if that god is described as being all-powerful and all-knowing and all-good, I don’t see evidence for it anywhere in the world. So I remain unconvinced. If that god is all-powerful and all-good, I don’t see that when a tsunami kills a quarter-million or an earthquake kills a quarter-million people. I’d like to think of good as something in the interest of your health or longevity. That’s a pretty simple definition of something that is good for you. That’s not a controversial understanding of the word “good.” So if Earth in two separate events separated by just a couple of years can kill a half-million people, then if the god as you describe exists, that god is either not all-powerful or not all-good. And so therefore I am not convinced.

 

DF: Can science and religion be reconciled?

NT: As religion is now practiced and science is now practiced, there is no intersection between the two. That is for certain. And it’s not for want of trying. Over the centuries, many people–theologians as well scientists–have tried to explore points of intersection. And anytime anyone has declared that harmony has risen up, it is the consequence of religion acquiescing to scientific discovery. In every single case.

 

DF: Is religion dying?

NT: It depends on what you mean by dying. Most of Europe is atheistic. Even in Italy, the seat of the Vatican, most people never go to church. The Netherlands is essentially 100 percent atheist. The churches are relics. So the trend line in the Western world is that the influence of religion is diminishing. That’s just a fact. I don’t care whether it rises or falls. It really doesn’t matter to me.

 

DF: And yet for some people, religion provides a source of wonder and awe.

NT: I would say it’s not the only way. It’s not the best way. You can have awe of the universe, and it has the advantage of being objectively verifiable. And this is an awe that will continue even after new discoveries are made. You’re not being awed at the same thing your ancestors were. You’ve moved on.

 

DF: What things do you find most awesome?

NT: There are two. One relates to the formation of the heavy elements in the stars landing inside the human body and all life on Earth. In terms of the most astonishing fact about which we know nothing, there is dark matter and dark energy. We don’t know what either of them is. Everything we know and love about the universe and all the laws of physics as they apply, apply to four percent of the universe. That’s stunning. That’s as humbling a fact as there is.

DF: But you have faith that someday we will know what dark matter and dark energy are.

NT: If you want to use faith in that way, sure. But when faith is used in modern society it has a strong association with religion. The history of science shows that great mysteries get solved. It may be that there’s an answer that humans are too stupid to understand. I’m intrigued by that possibility.

 

DF: Might we be able to create brains that are smarter than we are?

NT: That’s an interesting question. Possibly. If we know what’s making us smart, go tweak the DNA. Tweak the genome in some way.

DF: How about the idea of uploading your brain into some sort of computer as a way to achieve immortality?

NT: I don’t see that as an important day, any more than the day a machine replaced you on the assembly line, the day a machine replaced your oxen, the day a machine beat us at chess, the day a machine beat us at Jeopardy. It’s fine and intriguing, but to assert that all of life is going to be different or that it’s immortality… don’t tell me it’s you with immortality.

 

DF: What’s something that people would be surprised to learn about you?

NT: If I had another life, I would be a librettist for Broadway musicals. I love musicals.
DF: Do you have a favorite?

NT: My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, All That Jazz.

 

DF: So you go to Broadway a lot?

NT: Yeah. I go to plays with my wife and Broadway musicals with the whole family. We just saw The Glass Menagerie.

 

DF: What else do you do in your spare time?

NT: We both cook and enjoy good wine with good food. The great frustration is that the better we are in the kitchen, the fewer restaurants become available to us to eat in.

DF: Do you have a killer lasagna?

NT: My wife has a killer lasagna. Oh my god.

 

DF: What’s your best dish?

NT: I make a pistachio-mint-encrusted shank of lamb. With that one you reach for your better bottle of wine. I can’t order rack of lamb in a restaurant anymore. It’s just not as good.

 

DF: Sounds like you have a sense of awe and wonder at your rack of lamb.
NT (laughing): No, I have a sense of awe and wonder at the food still made by master chefs that I am sure I will never figure out.

star animated GIF

DF: What’s one interesting thing viewers will learn from “Cosmos?”

NT: We tell the stories of scientists in different cultures and different eras whose life work was fought against by the culture or the governments that controlled their lives or by social mores that interfered with their exploration of the truth. Some gave their lives for having found truth and in that world you learn that there are science martyrs. They’re people who cared more about the truth than their own relationship to their homeland.

Flibanserin: More Than Just a “Pink Viagra”

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Attention spans are shorter than ever, so maybe it was to be expected that the media would try to tell the entire story of the FDA’s approval of Sprout Pharmaceuticals’ flibanserin on August 18, 2015, for generalized, acquired hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), with 2 words: “Pink Viagra.”1 Unfortunately, while one of those words is technically correct—the pill is pink—put together they don’t tell the story at all. Flibanserin, to be marketed beginning October 17, 2015, as Addyi, is nothing like sildenafil (Viagra). Flibanserin’s goal is different. Its administration is different. And its mechanism of action is different. Not only is the phrase misleading, but it does a disservice to our understanding of HSDD, to the newly approved treatment for it, and to the potentially millions of women across the country whose lives have been disrupted by the condition.
HSDD has been in the scientific literature since 1977.2 And while it affects 6% to 10% of US women, it still has not received the sort of attention from the scientific community as erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment, which began with the FDA approval of sildenafil 17 years ago and today includes 3 other phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors.3-5

HSDD is essentially distressing low sexual desire—distressing being the operative word.6 In the women I see, this is usually an acquired condition. That is, they had what they considered an adequate level of desire, and for some reason unknown to them, it is now diminished or completely absent. As a result, they feel significant distress. They don’t feel like themselves as a sexual being, they’re concerned about the impact of the loss of desire on their relationship, and they’re frustrated with this loss. For these women, increasing the number of “date nights” with their partners, romantic weekend getaways, or other such “cures” are useless. HSDD is biological—it is a daily state of being, is consistent, and persists for years.

There are 2 primary ways that HSDD affects a woman. First, she feels bad about herself, which can carry over into every aspect of her life—in her relationship with her partner, of course, but also in her relationship with her children, her friends, and her colleagues, because it changes her view of herself. Second, her behaviors change. Because she’s not interested in sex, she avoids her partner, so she doesn’t have to make a decision about whether to participate in sex if approached. Some women will say yes, usually out of obligation, every time their partner tries to initiate sex; others decline their partner routinely. Loss of sexual desire changes their relationship, as these women avoid the circumstances in which their partners might approach them. And their partners often respond by blaming themselves or believing she is no longer in love with or attracted to them.

Unlike PDE-5 inhibitors—ED treatments that enhance performance by increasing blood flow to the penis—flibanserin acts to correct the imbalance in the function of neurotransmitters in the brain that affect sexual desire.7,8 While the exact mechanism of action for flibanserin remains unclear, flibanserin has been found to stimulate postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors and block postsynaptic 5-HT2A receptors in the prefrontal cortex.9 This decreases serotonin activity, which is responsible for sexual inhibition, and indirectly increases the availability of dopamine and norepinephrine, which are responsible for sexual excitement.8 In other words, flibanserin seems to reduce inhibitory effects at the same time as it enhances excitatory effects in reward circuits, leading to the generation of sexual desire. Because of these effects, flibanserin is administered as 100 mg daily at bedtime, with a gradual effect over 2 to 8 weeks.

As the first-ever FDA-approved treatment for HSDD, flibanserin is a breakthrough. It’s going to make a real difference for women because it has the potential to affect them on a daily basis. And it’s going to change my practice, as well as those of many others, since we’ve been using off-label treatments, reassurance, and other unproven interventions—the truth is, these treatments have not been effective. We will finally be able to talk to women with HSDD about a treatment that has FDA approval.

Approval from the FDA also means that patients will be bringing up the topic of their sexuality, and providers will need to understand HSDD and this new treatment option. While flibanserin is not appropriate for all patients, approval opens the door to a bigger discussion between every woman and her health care provider about sexuality and sexual health.

FDA approval also means that an accurate diagnosis of HSDD is more important than ever. More physicians will become familiar with the Decreased Sexual Desire Screener (DSDS), a highly reliable tool that was developed to provide clinicians with easy-to-use screening for the diagnosis of HSDD in women. The DSDS comprises 4 simple yes/no questions:

1. In the past, was your level of sexual desire or interest good and satisfying to you?

2. Has there been a decrease in your level of sexual desire or interest?

3. Are you bothered by your decreased level of sexual desire or interest?

4. Would you like your level of sexual desire or interest to increase?

A fifth question asks about potential factors that might be contributing to the loss of desire, such as medications, recent childbirth, a partner’s sexual problems, or dissatisfaction with one’s relationship.

Diagnostic assessment by a non–sexual medicine expert using the DSDS versus administration of a standard diagnostic interview by a sexual medicine expert demonstrated agreement in 85.2% of cases, with sensitivity of 83.6% and specificity of 87.8%.10 Providers will also need to complete online training about the risks and prescribing of flibanserin before their prescriptions will be filled by certified pharmacies, which is not currently required for use of medications to treat ED despite similar drug interactions.

Flibanserin can improve a woman’s sexual desire so that she becomes interested in sex again—50% of women who received flibanserin responded to treatment during clinical trials. Specifically, the studies showed a 53% improvement in women’s desire for sex as measured by the Female Sexual Function Index-Desire subscale; flibanserin may even restore a woman’s desire to her previously satisfying level.

Avoidant behaviors also change. The woman feels better about herself as a woman and as a sexual being, and her distress decreases (29% decrease in distress evaluated with the Female Sexual Distress Scale); she might even start initiating sexual activity again. And responders report more and better sex as measured by satisfying sexual events, which doubled with flibanserin. On every endpoint, flibanserin was statistically superior to placebo. And those changes matter: 60% of women in the clinical trials indicated the improvement they experienced was clinically meaningful to them.

The power of an established diagnosis, and of having an approved treatment, is that it empowers a woman to decide what’s right for her. She makes the decision whether her distress is high enough to take a medication, and she’s the one who decides through her own experience whether the medication has been effective for her in a way that has changed her life. While we know flibanserin has been shown to be effective in half the women who take it, not all who take it will, in the end, decide it’s right for them.11

What are the adverse effects with flibanserin? As with most CNS drugs, there are adverse effects such as nausea, dizziness, and sedation. These adverse effects are generally mitigated by the bedtime dosing of flibanserin; fewer than 13% of women who took flibanserin in the 6-month registration trials discontinued use due to adverse effects.12

Ultimately, FDA approval of flibanserin not only will help women living with HSDD in the short run, but over the long term it will open up opportunities for a deeper, richer dialogue between physicians and patients (and perhaps on a societal/cultural level). It is a first step that can lead to more research and new drugs to address this very real, very distressing condition experienced by so many women.

Dr Clayton is David C. Wilson Professor and Interim Chair of the department of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia Health Systems in Charlottesville, VA. She reports that she has received grants from Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Forest Research Institute, Inc, and Palatin Technologies; she is on the Advisory Board/a consultant for Forest Labs, Lundbeck, Naurex, Otsuka, Palatin Technologies, Roche, S1 Biopharmaceuticals, and Sprout Pharmaceuticals; she receives royalties/holds copyright from Ballantine Books/Random House, Changes in Sexual Function Questionnaire, and Guilford Publications; she has shares/restricted stock units in Euthymics and S1 Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. She does not stand to benefit from the approval of any drug under consideration by the FDA; and she has no promotional relationships to declare.

REFERENCES

1. US Food and Drug Administration. FDA approves first treatment for sexual desire disorder. August 18, 2015. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm458734.htm. Accessed September 15, 2015.

2. Jutel A. Framing disease: the example of female hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Soc Sci Med. 2010;70:1084-1090.

3. Shifren JL, Monz BU, Russo PA, et al. Sexual problems and distress in United States women: prevalence and correlates. Obstet Gynecol. 2008;112:970-978.

4. Johannes CB, Clayton, AH, Odom DM, et al. Distressing sexual problems in United States women revisited: prevalence after accounting for depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2009;70:1698-1706.

5. Caplan A. Ethical implications of drugs for erectile dysfunction. Virt Ment. 2014;16:928-931.

6. Brotto LA. The DSM diagnostic criteria for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women. Arch Sex Behav. 2010;39:221-239.

7. Pfizer. How does VIAGRA® (sildenafil citrate) work? Accessed September 15, 2015.

8. Reviriego C. Flibanserin for female sexual dysfunction. Drugs Today. 2014;50:549.

9. Stahl S. Mechanism of action of flibanserin, a multifunctional serotonin agonist and antagonist (MSAA), in hypoactive sexual desire disorder. CNS Spectr. 2015;20:1-6.

10. Clayton AH, Goldfischer ER, Goldstein I, et al. Validation of the decreased sexual desire screener (DSDS): a brief diagnostic instrument for generalized acquired female hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). J Sex Med. 2009;6:730-738.

11. Flibanserin for the Treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Premenopausal Women Advisory Committee Briefing Document; 2015. Accessed September 17, 2015.

12. Addyi [package insert]. Raleigh, NC: Sprout Pharmaceuticals; 2015.

– See more at: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/sexual-disorders/flibanserin-more-just-pink-viagra#sthash.zL5ySm0z.dpuf