Florida is only one of two states that do not allow Nurse Practitioners to prescribe controlled substances which include psychotropic drugs and painkillers. For years, bills have been introduced (unsuccessfully) to expand their role in health care and current legislation seeks to give them the authority to Baker Act.

In the U.S., there are:
 - Roughly 1.1 million people over the age of 13 living with HIV. 
 -190,000 (about 16%) are unaware of their infection.
 - Rates of new infections has remained stable for the past decade at about 50K cases per year.
 - With early detection and the beginning of ART (antiretroviral therapy), life expectancy is now comparable to those living without HIV.
 - Male to male sex accounts for 78% of new infections.
 - I.V. drug users account for 8% of new HIV infections.

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Researchers the the University of Pittsburgh have learned that drug cravings can be stopped at the synaptic level. More specifically, a chemical receptor known as CP-AMPAR has been shown to be essential in the maturation process of synapses which send drug cravings (cocaine in this study) in the brain. The researchers have shown that cravings can be eliminated or greatly reduced by the removal of this chemical which stops the growth of these synapses thus rendering them 'silent'.

'Wax' or 'Dabs' is a fairly new and significantly more potent form of THC. THC is extracted from marijuana by soaking it in butane or alcohol. The liquid is then boiled leaving THC is a 'waxy' residue. Lab tests show wax can have a potency up to 99% THC. Users pick off a 'dab' of the substance and smoke it in a customized pipe. While stronger forms of THC have been around for decades (e.g. Hash oil with THC up to 50%), Wax is an evolution of the drug that is gaining popularity with recreational users.

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Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., a neurologist at the University of Rochester, has just published a study on a new understanding of the importance of sleep for brain functioning. She has learned that during sleep, the amount of space in between brain cells increases by 60% allowing for spinal fluid to more easily pass between these cells and wash away toxins accumulated during awake time. One of the waste products of the brain is the protein amyloid-beta, which accumulates and forms plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis had previously shown that levels of amyloid-beta in mice brains dropped during sleep because of a decrease in production of the protein.

Asperger Syndrome (AS) was first observed by Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger in 1944. He described several children who lacked nonverbal communication skills, failed to demonstrate empathy with their peers, and were physically awkward.  Their speech was either disjointed or overly formal, and their all-absorbing interest in a single topic dominated their conversations. He labelled these patterns as "autistic psychopathy" and his writings gathered little attention until 1981 when English doctor Lorna Wing published similar case studies and credited Dr. Asperger by using his name to describe the syndrome. AS became an official diagnosis in 1992 with the World Health Organization listing it in their official manual (ICD-10). The official diagnostic manual of the psychological field (DSM) first recognized AS in 1994.

Multiple studies have confirmed these similar results. The recommendation is to obtain Omega-3 (lowers risk if heart disease and Alzheimer's) from vegetable sources.
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