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Lethal drug 10,000 times stronger than morphine is being sold on the dark web

Provided by Metro Carfentanil is a substance that acts on opioid receptors and is primarily used for pain relief and anaesthesia (Picture: Hailshadow/Getty)

An extremely ‘lethal’ drug is now available from more than 60 dark web suppliers, experts have warned.

Carfentanil is said to be 10,000 times more powerful than morphine and is used in veterinary medicine to anaesthetise elephants and bears.

Russia deployed the drug against Chechen separatists in 2002, killing 125 people and now experts have found 63 vendors selling the opioid online.

Ornella Corazza, professor of addiction science at Hertfordshire University, told the Home Affairs Committee: ‘According to our systematic analysis of the dark net we found 118 listings where you could actually buy this substance. 

‘Carfentanil is extremely toxic and powerful.

‘In an age of global insecurity, I would advise that more attention is paid to these types of substances and the illicit dark market,’ she added.

Professor David Nutt, former government advisor on drug misuse, warned that fentanils – the group of drugs carfentanil belongs to – would pose a ‘serious problem’ if they became as widely used as in the United States.

Provided by Metro There are fears the UK could have a tidal wave of fentanyl overdoses and deaths like in the US (Picture: Getty)

‘Fentanils are the biggest risk drug because they are so lethal,’ he said. 

‘They are to my mind a big threat, particularly if there is a drought of heroin as there has been previously when Afghanistan stops production.’

Experts agreed that a proactive approach was needed to reduce potential harms.

‘The only way you can deal with a problem like fentanyl is to have a regulated market for drugs that are less harmful so that people don’t go on the black market to get it,’ Professor Nutt said.

He then called for a wider rollout of antidotes in case people do accidentally take it.

The researchers found it is not just being used as a heroin substitute, but dealers are putting it into other drugs to give them a bit more kick and a bigger high.

It comes after Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders announced they were banning drug production.

When they enforced a similar ban in 2000 to 2001, international drug cartels turned to other types of illegal substances to make money.

Reference: Metro: Ruchira Sharma 

Why Emphysema May Often Be Missed in Black Men

Provided by HealthDay

MONDAY, May 16, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Emphysema is missed more often in Black Americans than in white Americans, and now researchers report they have figured out why.

The investigators found that many Black men who were considered to have normal results after race-specific interpretations of a common lung function test called spirometry actually had emphysema when assessed using computed tomography (CT).

Emphysema involves the gradual destruction of lung tissue and is often associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Spirometry measures how much air a person can exhale and inhale. It's standard practice to interpret spirometry results using race-specific norms, resulting in a predicted lower limit of normal for FEV1 and FVC for Black patients, the study authors explained. FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in the first second) is the maximum amount of air a person can exhale in one second and FVC (forced vital capacity) is the maximum amount exhaled after breathing in deeply.

Race-based correction of spirometry has no biological basis and comes from an old mistaken belief that Black people have smaller lungs, the study authors pointed out.

For the study, the researchers examined the results from more than 2,600 Black and white men who had lung CT scans at an average age of 50 and spirometry at an average age of 55.

The study showed that nearly 15% of the Black men with above-normal spirometry results based on race-based adjustments were found to have emphysema on CT scans, compared with just under 2% of white men.

"We found that significant racial disparities in emphysema prevalence occur predominantly among those with FEV1 between 80% and 120% of that predicted," said study author Dr. Gabrielle Liu. She is a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

"This suggests that the greatest potential for misclassification using race-specific equations occurs among Black adults who are at risk for disease and who could potentially benefit from risk factor modification," said Liu, who was scheduled to present the findings May 15 at the American Thoracic Society annual meeting in San Francisco. Such findings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"We feel these findings support reconsidering the use of race-specific spirometry reference equations in favor of race-neutral reference equations, and support further research into the utility and implications of incorporating CT imaging into the evaluation of those with suspected impaired respiratory health and normal spirometry," Liu said in a meeting news release. 

It’s Coeliac Awareness Week and this is the financial burden of a gluten-free diet to stay healthy

BBC presenter Ellie Colton, 23, was relieved when doctors finally found the answer to her worrying symptom after several misdiagnoses – coeliac disease, a condition where a person’s immune system attacks their own tissues when they consume gluten. 

But not only was she warned that the damage to her gut was “really bad”, she also had to take on the financial burden of a strict, gluten-free diet.

Originally from Sheffield, Colton rents a property in Manchester for £1,200 per month and cares for her pug Luna. She says gluten-free food is “simply unaffordable” and living alone is a worry as it “costs way more than the average person to feed” herself. A 2018 UK study showed that gluten-free foods on average costs 159 per cent more than their conventional counterparts.

“I don’t want to be paying an extra £80 per month just to eat properly,” she tells i, “I don’t buy cakes, crisps, biscuits or treats as I did because it’s just way too expensive. It’s embarrassing if you’ve got friends coming over and you can’t put on a spread like you used to.”

Coeliac disease affects 1 in 100 people in the UK but only 30 per cent of people are currently clinically diagnosed, according to Coeliac UK. If a strict gluten-free diet is not followed, complications such as cancer of the small bowel and unexplained infertility problems can occur.

When Colton first started showing symptoms including behavioural issues, nausea, joint pains and bloating at 12 years old, doctors diagnosed her with Osgood Schlatter disease, a condition that causes swelling below the knee joint.

What followed was a misdiagnosis of a Bakers cyst, formed when fluid fills a cushioning pouch on the back of the knee, and Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, a form of arthritis in children. It wasn’t until doctors considered her sickness that they sent her for tests that later confirmed she had coeliac disease.

Gastroenterology dietician Cristian Costas, who has set up a national award winning dietetic-led coeliac service in the UK, says that the gluten-free diet can be a constant burden for those suffering and Norwegian research shows it to be up to 433 per cent more expensive.

And the hefty price tag isn’t the only challenge. Colton recalls choosing a gluten free chicken and mayonnaise sandwich in Hathersage aged 18 and the waiter asking if it was okay that the mayonnaise had a little bit of gluten in it. Despite knowing that the sauce naturally doesn’t contain gluten, she realised “the kitchen nor the staff had any idea how serious coeliac is”.

And apparently, the Hathersage waiter is not alone. Questions like “one crumb won’t hurt though, will it?” and assumptions such as “if it’s just one-off then it won’t affect you” has caused food anxiety for the 23-year-old who is forced to have serious conversations with every server at a restaurant before she can order food when out with friends.

“Gluten free has been wrongly labelled as a fad diet thanks to the Kardashians. It makes mine, and every other person with Coeliac Disease’s skin crawl. It’s anything but a fad. It can be really isolating when people around you don’t understand.”

“When I started eating gluten free there wasn’t even a free from aisle,” says 32-year-old Sarah Howells, who has lived with coeliac disease for 20 years. Since being diagnosed as a young teen in 2002, she has always found the cost of her diet to be more expensive.

The reason for the additional expense is that gluten-free foods undergo additional safety and quality checks, require different ingredients and equipment to ensure those with coeliac disease will not be harmed. As little as 20mg, or one crumb, can attack the small intestine, says Costas. This, added to the extra cost of separate utensils and toaster bags to avoid cross contamination, forces those with no choice to constantly pay more.

“It upsets me to see people struggling to get hold of basic foods such as bread because of increasing bills,” Howells tells i. The rising prices of things like gas have left many in England struggling for essentials and choosing between heating and food. For struggling coeliacs, the extra cost of their food shop is a burden – a loaf of free-from bread can cost upwards of £3.50 compared to a conventional loaf that can be as little as 36 pence.

Howells, who is a full-time gluten-free food blogger, advocates buying in bulk where possible from online free-from suppliers and freezing homemade food to save money. “Shopping at different places is really helpful,” says Costas who suggests that a naturally gluten-free diet with products such as rice, vegetables, fruits and eggs is both cheaper and more nutritional.

Apps such as Gluten Free Food Checker allows people to scan barcodes and find out what foods on the shelves are naturally safe. Costas says the £1.25 monthly fee for the app can save people with coeliac disease money in the long run as they can shop for conventional, but safe, food products.

Coeliac Awareness Week runs from 9 to 15 May - Reference: Kia-elise-green

Ibuprofen warning: Mixing painkiller and blood pressure pills could damage kidneys 

The "triple whammy" of combining water-loss tablets with an RSA inhibitor like Advil, as well as ibuprofen, reduces your kidney's ability to process these drugs and can cause major damage.

The study's scientists advise people being treated for high blood pressure to talk to their doctor about choosing a different form of painkiller.

The NHS already advises against ibuprofen usage in the later stages of pregnancy and for anyone who has experienced shortness of breath after taking aspirin or Ibuprofen.

Many people are unaware of these potentially adverse effects from taking the painkiller. More widely, ibuprofen should also not be used by people with asthma, Crohn's disease, stomach ulcers, arterial disease, heart disease, or a history of strokes.

"It's not that everyone who happens to take this combination of drugs is going to have problems," said Professor Anita Layton, one of the study's authors.

"But the research shows it's enough of a problem that you should exercise caution."

"Diuretics are a family of drugs that make the body hold less water," Layton said. "Being dehydrated is a major factor in acute kidney injury, and then the RAS inhibitor and ibuprofen hit the kidney with this triple whammy.

"If you happen to be on these hypertension drugs and need a painkiller, consider acetaminophen instead." 

Reference: Mirror: William Morgan