DocToor

No more coffee

2009-10-12T11:19:00.002-05:00

During the summer I started drinking coffee again. Before then, I only drank coffee 3-4 times a year (for medicinal purposes only...when I was under the weather). I ended up getting very hooked on coffee. Every Saturday, I got a severe headache at around 11:00 AM because I didn't get my caffeine fix.

Pepsi or other caffeinated drinks didn't help at all. The headache lasted until 30 minutes after drinking a cup of coffee. After about 3 months of this, I decided to wean myself of coffee. Unfortunately, there were no weaning methods that I could find. If I drank even 3/4 of the cup of coffee, my headache came back.

I eventually just toughed it out dealt with a headache for an entire week while I detoxed my body of this horrible drink.

I'm proud to announce that I have not drank coffee in 5 weeks.

YouTube popularity

2009-10-07T08:30:00.003-05:00

I was in a meeting yesterday and learned that YouTube is actually the second most popular "search engine."

I did not know YouTube qualified as a search engine. Apparently, if people want information they would rather watch a video about it instead of having to read. Interestingly, After searching for something on google, I usually look things up on YouTube as well. But that's because I have a very limited attention span and I don't like reading.

By the way, Google is still the most popular search engine.

I'm back...I think

2009-10-07T08:26:00.002-05:00

Someone convinced me to start blogging again. I think I'll give it another shot. I haven't posted in almost a year. A lot has happened since. I'll keep you posted...

Rock gym

2008-11-15T17:29:00.005-05:00

Usman always talks about the benefits of exercise. As a healthcare professional I completely agree with him. Exercise is very important since it reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and almost any other serious ailments.

I've been trying very hard to get into a regular exercise routine, but could never stick with it. I got a bike, and I went on some really cool bike trips, but I wasn't getting the workout that I was looking for.

It was even more disturbing when I realized that I was gaining a lot of weight. So I had to do something. Ali got me and a few friends into a rock gym. I was immediately hooked. However, I thought this was just a fad and I would get over it in a month. That wasn't true. The rock gym was actually fun, and I got a workout. It was also great that I was able to go myself and still enjoy myself.

I've been a member of the New Jersey Rock Gym for about 5 months now, and there's no end in sight. I've taken many people with me to check it out, and everyone has said that indoor rock climbing is amazing.

So I invite all of you to come with me to the rock gym. As a first time guest, your admission will be free, and you'll only have to rent the gear, which is pretty inexpensive.

More on rock gyms in the next post.

Ski season

2008-11-14T09:51:00.003-05:00

Its almost time to start skiing. Both Camelback and Mountain Creek are offering great deals on life tickets, and in about a month, Camelback will be open for skiing.

Some more good news...looks like Mountain Creek is opening up a few new trails this year which have not been open to other skiers in the past.

Helmets in Connecticut

2008-09-02T09:48:00.003-05:00

I was driving through Connecticut this weekend, and saw lots of motorcyclists on the road. After passing up a few motorcyclists, I began noticing something strange. Not a single person was wearing a helmet. I must have passed up at least 20 people on motorcycles while there, and no one was wearing their helmet? There was even a point where a cop passed up a motorcyclist without pulling the person over for not wearing a helmet.

Well apparently, its not required to wear a helmet in Connecticut, unless you're less than 18 years old. Strange. Here's some more information about that:

STATUTE:

Title 14. Motor Vehicles. Use of the Highway by Vehicles. Section 14-249. Protective headgear for motorcyclists and passengers under eighteen years old.

"(a) On and after January 1, 1990, no person under eighteen years of age may operate a motorcycle, as defined in section 14-1, and no person under the age of eighteen may be a passenger on a motorcycle, unless such person is wearing protective headgear of a type which conforms to the minimum specifications established by regulations adopted under subsection (b) of this section. (See "Standards" below.)

(c) . . . Any operator or passenger of a motorcycle or motor-driven cycle who is under eighteen years of age shall at all times, while operating or riding on such motorcycle or motor-driven cycle, wear a protective helmet on his head in an appropriate manner safely secured."

Also, after looking into this a little more, helmets were required in Connecticut prior to 1975. Apparently, "helmets are dangerous in many situations, in that in addition to all the commonly accepted problems, such as vision and hearing impairment, heat retention, and others, the weight and design of most of the traditionally accepted helmet styles make them a serious threat to the neck."

Anyway, here is the New Jersey Law:

STATUTE:

Title 39. Motor Vehicles and Traffic Regulations. Subtitle 1. motor Vehicle and Traffic Laws. Chapter 3. Motor Vehicles. Article 3. Equipment. Section 39:3-76.7. Protective Helmet of Proper Size To Be Worn By Operator and Passenger . . . :

"a. No person shall operate or ride upon a motorcycle unless he wears a securely fitted protective helmet of a size proper for that person and of a type approved by the director. . . ."

Musicogenic epilepsy

2008-01-18T09:28:00.000-05:00

I recently learned about musicogenic epilepsy. Pretty interesting form of epilepsy.

Background: Epilepsy is a neurological condition that affects the nervous system. It is also known as a seizure disorder. Other terms often associated with epilepsy are convulsions or convulsive disorders. Epilepsy is usually diagnosed after a person has had at least two seizures that were NOT caused by some known medical condition.

Musicogenic epilepsy is a form of reflex or affective epilepsy, and involves autonomic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional reactions to selected musical stimuli.

Autonomic - convulsions, eyes rolling back, etc.
Behavioral - feeling sleepy, daydreaming, etc.
Cognitive - experiencing déjà vu
Emotional - feeling unusually sad, angry, etc.

One interesting case I was reading about, was about a girl who starting convulsing whenever she listened to one specific song by Sean Paul. Other songs didn't trigger it, but only that one. She recently underwent surgery and for now, it looks like this issue has resolved.

Epilepsy is a very debilitating disorder, and a disorder that is not fully understood by the medical community. There are lots of treatments for this product on the market, and lots of people have to resort to surgery.

Losing weight with Alli

2008-01-11T14:20:00.000-05:00

There's a product that is over the counter (OTC) called Alli. The generic name is orlistat. The campaign for this product is to take Alli along with making some lifestyle changes, which include eating right and talking to your doctor about beginning an exercise program that is right for you. That's good advice....but is Alli right for you?

Orlistat used to be a prescription only item, which makes Alli the only FDA approved OTC weight loss product. The problem I have with this drug is because of its mechanism of action, which results directly in its main side effect.

Alli (like prescription orlistat - Xenical) is supposed to be taken before a meal. It works by...well...I suppose the best way to describe the way it works is to quote the Alli website directly:
"The active ingredient in alli attaches to some of the natural enzymes in the digestive system, preventing them from breaking down about a quarter of the fat you eat."

That doesn't sound so bad. But wait, there's more:
"Undigested fat cannot be absorbed and passes through the body naturally."

So basically, your body doesn't digest/absorb the fat, and you pass it out next time you go to the bathroom. You may be thinking: "SO??? That's not so bad???" But wait...there's more:
"The excess fat is not harmful. In fact, you may recognize it in the toilet as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza."

WOW!!! That's great advertising.

Also, the main side effect of this product is, oily, fatty stools. And this doesn't happen in a small population. It happens in almost everyone since the fat needs to go somewhere.

Hybrid fuel economy on a non-hybrid car?

2008-01-07T11:45:00.000-05:00

Since Usman got is new car, he’s been talking about the amazing fuel efficiency he’s been getting. He credits it to a new driving strategy he learned which puts less strain on his car and therefore uses less fuel.

To measure the his car’s fuel efficiency, he’s relying on the in-dash fuel economy indicator of his car. It got me thinking…I don’t think Usman’s car is really that efficient. It’s performing like the hybrid version of his car would do (which, by the way, costs about $10K more than the non-hybrid version).

So, I started reading about the accuracy of these MPG indicators in the car, and I recommend that Usman do a test to make sure that it is indeed giving the right reading. I doubt VERY much that there is any indicator that will accurately tell you what the actually fuel consumption over a period of time is.

So here’s what I recommend for his next drive to Maryland:
1. Stop at a gas station on the highway when you know you have a nice stretch ahead of you
2. Fill up the tank
3. Reset the trip odometer
4. Drive about 100 miles
5. Fill up the tank again
6. Divide how many gallons you filled up in step 5 into how many miles driven
7. As an extra check for accuracy, use GPS to double check odometer accuracy (which may be off as well)

Let’s see if these results show the same fuel efficiency as Usman claims.

Answer to previous post

2007-12-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

In the previous post, I asked if anyone knew why side effect rates were generally higher for patients in the United States vs. patients outside the United States. I got a few interesting reasons why, including this one:

"The U.S. has stricter reporting guidelines, allowing you devils [pharmaceutical companies] to cover-up 'adverse events' in other places?"

This may be hard for Americans to swallow, but the real reason why the rate of reported adverse events is higher is because Americans are complainers. We complain about every little thing, whether its related to the drug treatment or not. Americans always want something to blame for everything and we aren't as tolerant at people outside the United States.

Side effects: US vs. non-US

2007-11-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

I was reviewing a few pharmaceutical promotional pieces and noticed that adverse events (side effects) in the patient prescribing information (package insert) were broken out by regions. For a certain side effect, the rates were the following:

United States: 11.7%
Europe/Israel: 2.2%
Europe/South America: 2.7%

Something seemed a little odd. Why were the side effects for this product higher in the US (much higher, in fact) vs. outside the US. I figured that there were perhaps some genotype reasons for this. For instance, certain blood pressure and cholesterol lowering agents are less effective in Japanese men because of a certain genetic component. Or, certain drugs are metabolized differently by Askenazi Jews because they lack a certain protein in their bodies. So, I figured this might have been what happened with the side effects reported.

But then I started looking at side effect rates for other products when broken out by regions and noticed that in the United States the side effects were more often higher (significantly higher) vs. any other part of the world. That was REALLY strange.

So, I checked with a physician and statistician about why they thought this was the case, and they very quickly told me the answer for it.

Any guesses?

California wildfires on google maps

2007-10-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

This is a cool feature on Google Maps. You can track the California wildfire that they've been talking about on the news.

Thanks to Fawad for pointing this out.

How much time left before sunset?

2007-10-18T09:47:00.001-05:00

I tried this technique and it was pretty accurate in determining how much time there was left before sunset.

Here's what to do:
Find the location of the sun, without looking directly at it.

Place your hand out

Stand sideways on to the sun, raise your arm, then place your hand out as far as you can parallel to the ground.

Count each hand each time you flip (the lines denote hand flip levels)

Start with your hand positioned underneath the horizon.

Count the number of times you have to flip your hand upwards before you see that your hand is sitting just beneath the sun. Each hand width represents about one hour until the sun sets.

Swap to using fingers if there is less than one hour until sunset. Each finger typically represents around 15 minutes.

So, it got me thinking...if it can fairly accurately (within 5 minutes) tell me how much time is left before sunset, can I do the reverse, and tell what time it is just looking at the position of the sun in the sky?

I probably should have posted this AFTER I tested it out. Anyway, if I know what time Maghrib is every day, I should be able to use the same technique, and then subtract the times to find out what the current time is. It makes sense...but only if the sun isn't too high up. I'll test it out this week and post a comment.

iPhones: bad for the environment

2007-10-16T11:28:00.000-05:00

Apparently Apple is under fire because the iPhone contains potentially hazardous ingredients. I doubt there is any risk to people by simply using an iPhone. However, I suppose if it was ever to catch fire and the substances inside the iPhone burned up, they may pose some sort of minor risk.

"Greenpeace has disassembled an iPhone to find out what's inside, and claims to have uncovered two types of hazardous substances, some of which: "Have already been eliminated by other mobile phone makers," the organization said.

This analysis claims the iPhone contains toxic brominated compounds (indicating the presence of brominated flame retardants) and hazardous PVC."

Excellent steak spice

2007-10-14T22:07:00.000-05:00

I made some lamb chops using Emeril's All Natural Steak Rub (pictured above). I'm going to try it on steak this week. I added a little EVOO, and a good amount of the steak rub and it tasted amazing. I highly recommnend it. I only left the spice on the meat for about 1 hour (in the fridge) and it was long enough for it to give a nice strong flavor.

My only recommendation is to not add any salt (or anything else for that matter, besides the EVOO). The taste is even good if you're desi. So give it a try!

Gmail space

2007-10-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

Have you guys seen this on the login screen for gmail:

"Lots of space
Over 3140.712137 megabytes (and counting) of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message."

Interestingly, it seems to be speeding up. Two days ago (and for months before that), the gmail user's space was increasing about a MB every 3 days. All of a sudden its increased tremendously, and in a timespan of only ONE day it went up about 240 megabytes.

The rate of increase is also faster now. As of 10:56 PM tonight, the usage space goes up 1 MB every 11.67 seconds. Not sure why, and it's kind of late right now so I'm too lazy to look up why this is. I'll post something tomorrow after I do some research. (MAYBE!)

Don't forget to comment so I know people read my blog...Thanks

Post removed

2007-10-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

Post removed because Alex is a punk!

I can't steal carts anymore

2007-10-11T13:30:00.000-05:00

Recently I was doing some grocery shopping at the new ShopRite in Lodi, NJ. Very cool store by the way (I guess I'll dedicate an entire post to that grocery store later). Anyway...I was pushing the cart as I was walking into the store while my better half started to plan our shopping route, when I noticed that the cart had a note on it (pictured) where ads are usually shown. I read the note and noticed that it was informing me that the cart would lock up if it left the perimeter of the grocer store lot.

Of course I was immediately intrigued so I started analyzing each wheel. I received some strange looks but finally I found what I was looking for. The front right wheel was called “The Wheel” and looked different than all of the others. Apparently the wheel locks up if it is taken past the invisible barrier the store installs around the lot's perimeter.

It is a pretty interesting especially considering that, according to the Food Marketing Institute in Washington, D.C., annual losses total more than $800 million globally . Not sure if $10,000 per store loss is significant, considering that usually, in the same area where the note about the "anti-theft cart" was, they have ads. I'm sure they made a lot more money from monthly advertisements than lost grocery carts.

Eid party

2007-10-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

This is going to be the coolest Eid party ever.

"Malaysia's first astronaut will throw an Eid party in space in between research activities during his 11-day journey which takes off later on Wednesday.

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, an orthopedic surgeon, takes off for the $100-billion International Space Station (ISS) from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, making him the first Muslim to fly into space during the fasting month of Ramadan."

Google Phone (GPhone)

2007-10-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

This would be great if Google actually was planning on doing it. This isn't true, but would certainly be very cool and a very googlish thing for them to do.

"It has been suggested that the GPhone offer an ad-supported phone service in which users watch a 10 to 30 second advertisement before making a call. Users would also have a advertisement banner across the top of the screen while browsing the internet. Mostly aimed at teens and young adults, the ads would be aimed accordingly. Consumers may have the option to have them removed by paying a premium for the service"

Alas, Usman has confirmed that this is just a rumor and will not happen. At least not yet. But it's certainly doable.

Moonbow

2007-10-08T14:50:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting phenomenon. It's a moonbow, which is a rainbow that occurs at night. They are relatively faint, because there's less light from the moon. Similar to rainbows, they are always in the opposite part of the sky from the moon.

I've never heard of these before, and obviously never seen them either. Anyone else seen one of these?

Change of topic

2007-03-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

No comments = no interest in topic = change of topic to something more interesting.

OK...it seemed like my previous two posts were a bore because there were no comments. Apparently no one cares about sympathizing with pharmaticsts, so I'll go back to the other format of posting interesting facts about medicine. I'll start again Monday.

Volume of work

2007-03-21T08:44:00.000-05:00

This post is part of a series of posts starting on Monday, March 19, 2007. I will discuss reasons why wait times are so long at pharmacies, and identify common misconceptions patients have regarding pharmacy.

I encourage everyone to post questions in the comments page, and I will answer them over the next several days in my posts. Please keep your comments and questions specific to the practices of retail pharmacy.

Volume of Work
Even though the pharmacy is empty, it doesn’t mean that the pharmacy has no patients. There are patients that come through from the drive through, doctors calling in prescriptions over the phone, and patients roaming the store who have already dropped off their prescription. The average pharmacy fills about 400 prescriptions a day. A lot of pharmacies fill over 800 prescriptions a day. If you break it down per hour (assuming the store is opened for 12 hours and fills the average of 400 prescriptions a day), the pharmacy staff has to fill each prescription in less than 2 minutes.

Two minutes is just not enough time to do everything, because there are lots of steps which most patients don’t realize. Here are the steps:

1. Patient hands in prescription
2. Pharmacy staff takes down personal information such as date of birth, address, allergies, etc.
3. Pharmacy staff types the prescription into the computer. This includes the following:
..........a) Name of drug
..........b) Strength of drug
..........c) Dose of drug
..........d) Frequency of drug
..........e) Number of tablets
..........f) Number of refills
..........g) Other directions (including deciphering poor MD writing)
..........h) Doctor’s name
..........i) Date prescription was written
..........j) Insurance information
4. Pharmacy technician sends the prescription electronically to the insurance company. This step can take the most time and it will be discussed in a later post
5. Pharmacy staff finds the appropriate medicine and puts it in a bottle
6. Pharmacist verifies that everything is done correctly (right drug, right dose, right strength, etc.)
7. Pharmacy staff calls the patient and asks if there are any questions for the pharmacist
8. Pharmacist counsels the patient, which could take some time as well.

As you can see, all these steps cannot be done in less than 2 minutes. In fact, it can’t be done in 5 minutes either. Not to mention, the estimate of filling one prescription every 2 minutes is assuming that the patient volume is spread out throughout the day. This is certainly not the case. Most patients come at the same time. The 3 hours around lunch time and 3 hours after work are heavy. Eighty-percent of the prescriptions come in those 6 hours. It is also around these times when patients are most anxious because they need to complete everything during lunch, or just want to get home after work. It is around these times that the pharmacy staff has to increase the wait times to 30-45 minutes, or even an hour.

So it’s really not as simple as just taking tablets from a big bottle and putting them in a little bottle. There’s a lot more to it because mistakes can’t be made on prescriptions. When mistakes are made, patients blame the pharmacist instead of blaming themselves for rushing the process. So next time you go to the pharmacy, please be patient. Even though there is no one waiting at the pharmacy counter, there is still a heavy volume of work.

The life of a retail pharmacist

2007-03-19T10:16:00.000-05:00

A lot of people ask me why it takes so long to fill a prescription at the pharmacy. It sounds like a pretty simple process, but wait times at pharmacies are increasing. The average wait time is 30 minutes, and in most cases, the pharmacy staff asks patients to wait 45 minutes for a prescription. In my experience, most patients don’t make a big deal out of these wait times, and come back later to pick up the prescription. However, there are others that are completely intolerant simply because they’re impatient and don’t understand what the pharmacy staff has to go through behind the counter.

The process seems simple enough:
1. Patient brings in a prescription
2. Pharmacy staff puts medicine from a larger container into a vial
3. Filled prescription is handed to the patient

However, it’s a little more complicated then that, and it is very important for all consumers to understand the reasons.

This post will be continued over the next several days starting on Monday, March 19, 2007. I will discuss reasons why wait times are so long at pharmacies, and identify common misconceptions patients have regarding pharmacy.

I encourage everyone to post questions in the comments page, and I will answer them over the next several days in my posts. Please keep your comments and questions specific to the practices of retail pharmacy.

I’m not smoking marijuana…I promise

2007-03-14T13:17:00.000-05:00

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) is a very common disorder in the world. A lot of people refer to it as acid reflux, but it’s a little more than that. One of the most effective treatments for GERD is the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). PPIs are very effective in reducing the pH (a measure of acidity) in the body.

PPIs available on the market are Prilosec, Nexium, Aciphex, Prevacid, and Protonix. Side effects are generally mild, and these drugs are considered very safe. They might even all go over the counter soon (as Prilosec did several years back). Please refer to the individual product labeling for information on dosing and side effects.

Protonix, or pantoprazole, has a very interesting statement in the prescribing information (also known as product labeling or package insert). The full prescribing information for pantoprazole, reads:

Laboratory Tests
There have been reports of false-positive urine screening tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in patients receiving most proton pump inhibitors, including pantoprazole. An alternative confirmatory method should be considered to verify positive results.
Tetrahydrocannabinol Tetrahydrocannabinol is the active ingredient in cannabis and one of the oldest hallucinogenic drugs known.

So basically, if you’re applying for a new job and you’re on pantoprazole (one of the most prescribed drugs of last year', your urine sample is going to come up positive for marijuana. You will have officially failed the drug test.

Here is a complication of abstracts regarding pantoprazole and false positive drug testing.

As a note, whenever you take a drug test, make sure you list all the medications that you are on, and ask for another drug test if you come up false positive and you know for a fact that you’re not doing drugs.

2007-03-13T09:02:00.000-05:00

Ulcerative Colitis (UC): A disease that causes inflammation and sores, called ulcers, in the lining of the rectum and colon. Ulcers form where inflammation has killed the cells that usually line the colon, then bleed and produce pus. Inflammation in the colon also causes the colon to empty frequently, causing diarrhea.

Here’s some more information about UC. It’s not a fun disorder to have. Actually, no disorder is fun to have. This one is particularly no fun because it’s painful, and the pain is constant. Typical treatment for UC includes drug therapy or surgery. Drug therapy is preferred because having to remove one’s colon or rectum is a very serious lifestyle decision. Surgery only happens after drug therapy has failed. Drug therapy includes the use of aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, and immunomodulators. The main goal of these therapies is to reduce inflammation.

When looking at the prevalence of UC, researches discovered that UC seemed to occur in non-smokers. Former smokers seemed to be at most risk for developing UC, while current smokers seemed to have the least risk. Nicotine seemed to have a positive influence on the symptoms of UC. Although the exact mechanism for this effect is unknown, researches theorize that nicotine affects smooth muscle in the colon, which decreases gut motility, thereby decreasing the rate of waste movement through the colon.

Interestingly enough, children exposed to second hand smoke also had a decreased change of developing UC. So they didn’t even have to smoke. The small amount of nicotine found in second hand smoke was enough to lower the changes of UC.

But don’t light up yet. Smoking increases the risk of the other irritable bowel disease (referred to as IBD), Crohn’s Disease. Crohn’s Disease is no picnic either, and there was a higher prevalence of it in the smoking population. Not to mention, smoking itself can lead to lung cancer and puts patients at serious cardiovascular and overall physical risk.

In the meantime, if you’re suffering from UC, a nicotine patch may be the way to go, depending on your physician’s assessment of your condition. The affect of nicotine patches on UC has not been evaluated in large, adequately designed, well-controlled, clinical studies.

Medical use for cocaine?

2007-03-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

Besides being an extremely addictive and dangerous narcotic, cocaine has some medicinal use. Cocaine has been used as a local anesthetic for eye and nasal surgery. Besides being an anesthetic, it also is a potent vasoconstrictor (constricts the blood vessels around the area where injected [eye or nose]). The vasoconstriction helps reduce bleeding and the systemic circulation of cocaine (into the heart, specifically).

More recently, the use of cocaine as an anesthetic for eye and nasal surgery has diminished, and has been replaced by other local anesthetics. These newer (and safer) local anesthetics have to be combined with a vasoconstrictor in order to do the same effect as cocaine.

Pharmaceutical grade cocaine is available in a 4% solution for injection. Studies comparing cocaine to other local anesthetics most often reveal that newer local anesthetics are more effective in reducing pain during surgeries and safer. It is generally accepted by the medical community that the use of cocaine for medical procedures should be limited. However, the need for it to be available is still there.

Drugs during pregnancy

2007-03-09T12:42:00.001-05:00

If you’re pregnant, its important to review the pregnancy category for products before taking them. Serious harm to the fetus can occur when taking certain medications which routinely would seem safe. Here are the official pregnancy categories in the United States according to the FDA:

Pregnancy Category A
Adequate and well-controlled studies have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus in the first trimester of pregnancy (and there is no evidence of risk in later trimesters).

Pregnancy Category B
Animal reproduction studies have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women OR Animal studies which have shown an adverse effect, but adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women have failed to demonstrate a risk to the fetus in any trimester.

Pregnancy Category C
Animal reproduction studies have shown an adverse effect on the fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in humans, but potential benefits may warrant use of the drug in pregnant women despite potential risks.

Pregnancy Category D
There is positive evidence of human fetal risk based on adverse reaction data from investigational or marketing experience or studies in humans, but potential benefits may warrant use of the drug in pregnant women despite potential risks.

Pregnancy Category X
Studies in animals or humans have demonstrated fetal abnormalities and/or there is positive evidence of human fetal risk based on adverse reaction data from investigational or marketing experience, and the risks involved in use of the drug in pregnant women clearly outweigh potential benefits.

This becomes a problem because some drugs that would commonly be taken without any serious adverse events to mother are teratogenic. For instance, statins (for cholesterol) are absolutely contraindicated (category X) in pregnant women due to the harm it can cause to the fetus. Some antibiotics such as tetracycline have tons of data for causing fetal risk (category D). If a mother has epilepsy, she shouldn’t take phenytoin which is one of the most widely used anti-convulsants on the market, because it so happens that phenytoin also has evidence for causing serious fetal risk (category D).There are also blood pressure medications that also are pregnancy category X. So, you really need to be upfront with your gynecologist and let him/her know exactly what medication you are on in the event you become pregnant.

Any drug reference can be used to find out the pregnancy category of drugs.

Furthermore…after pregnancy, if a mother decides to nurse the child, its important to keep in mind what drugs are excreted in breast milk. While certain drugs can be taken by adults, they can be toxic (at certain doses) for babies. This information is harder to find, and is not usually in the package insert. Here is a useful link with a list of drugs that a baby can receive through breast milk.

Cutting pills in half

2007-03-07T10:54:00.000-05:00

Scoring: a notch, scratch, or incision; a stroke or line.

Here is a picture of a scored tablet. Tablets are scored so that it is easier to break the tablet in half, or thirds, or even in quarters in some cases. But why would anyone want to break the tablet in half?

Although this is an unacceptable practice, patients break tablets in half in order to save money in some cases. If a patient needs 50 mg of a certain drug, and the drug is available in doses of 50 mg and 100 mg...some physicians (knowing that the their patients do not have insurance or the finances to pay for drugs) will write a prescription for 100 mg of the drug, and ask the patient to cut the tablet in half. This will allow the patient to double their supply for the same price. Of course, this is assuming that the 50 mg tablet costs just as much as the 100 mg tablet - which is the case for 90% of the drugs out there.

But what about drugs that are not scored? Can those tablets be cut in half? Pill cutters are readily available in pharmacies for patients to cut pills in half. But should they be cutting unscored tablets in half, after receiving a prescription for double their recommended dose?

Unfortunately, they should not. Tablets are scored for a reason. They're not just scored to make it easier to cut in half, but they are scored because they are drugs that require up or down titration depending on how the patient is reacting to the drug. It is also important to note that when pharmaceutical companies manufacture these types of drugs that are scored, these tablets contain the same amount of drug in each half. So a 100 mg scored tablet will contain 50 mg of active ingredient in each half of the tablet.

Tablets that are not scored, don't undergo this type of manufacturing process and due to different variables, such as, type of exipient used, moisture, or uneven settling of dry powder, the active ingredient may not be equally distributed within the tablet, and may be bunched up into one end of the tablet. Therefore, if that tablet is cut in half, there is a chance that on one day the patient may not be getting ANY active ingredient, and on the other day, the patient may get double what they should be getting.

This can get troublesome in the cases of blood pressure medication, anticoagulants, antibiotics, pain relievers, and almost all drugs that require a certain pharmacokinetic response within the body.

So just as a reminder, if the tablet is NOT scored, then DO NOT cut it in half to take only half the dose at a time. Furthermore, even if the tablet is scored, you still should read the package insert to make sure that the tablet can be cut in half to be taken at half the dose at a time. I can also think of several scored tablets that should NOT be cut in half because they are not manufactured in a way to ensure consistency in each side of the tablet. In these cases, the tablet is scored only as a convenience measure to help break a large tablet into smaller pieces for easy ingestion.

Urine color change

2007-03-06T07:34:00.000-05:00

Urine color can change as a result of foods (such as beets and berries), certain dyes in food, or certain drugs. However, this can also happen due to a urinary tract infection or something even more severe like liver disease such as acute viral hepatitis or cirrhosis. This is why you can’t just assume that a change in urine color is due to some drug or food that someone has taken.

However, there are some drugs that can cause a change in urine color. Here’s a list:
-Aldomet - may make urine black
-Beta-carotene supplements – may make urine yellow or orange
-Certain laxatives – may make urine red
-Certain tranquilizers – may make urine red or brown
-Methelene blue – may make urine green or blue
-Phenolphthaleine – may make urine red
-Pyridium – may make urine orange
-Rifampin – may make urine orange
-Risanpin – may make urine blue or green
-Urised – may make urine green
-Vitamin B supplements – may make urine orange

But the most interesting effect on urine I’ve seen is with the gold treatment products (intravenous or oral). These products are excreted primarily through the kidneys. The urine color remains yellow, but gold is also excreted in the urine. If you were so inclined, you could actually extract the gold out of your urine after being on gold treatment. However, you’ll need a significant amount of urine to get enough gold of value.

Interesting use of gold

2007-03-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

Did you know that besides being a precious metal, Gold (Au) is a treatment for arthritis. Obviously not pure gold, but different salts of gold are effective for controlling some types of arthritis and related diseases. In some people, it helps relieve joint pain and stiffness, reduces swelling and bone damage, and reduces the chance of joint deformity and disability.

Studies have shown that because of gold treatments, arthritis usually improves in about 50% of all people treated early in the course of the disease. In fact, it works best in the early stages of arthritis. However, many late starters may also benefit from gold. About 2 - 3 out of every 10 people do not benefit from gold. Another 2 - 3 stop aking it for other reasons. It is impossible to say for sure who will benefit and who will not.

Gold treatment is not the first treatment tried. Due to some adverse events (some of which can be serious), gold treatment can is tried after other eary stage therapies have failed. It is also important to keep in mind that the treatment effect is not seen right away. It may take up to 6 months to begin seeing some clinical benefit. In addition, gold treatment might become less effective after several years, and there is no way to predict how long gold treatments will continue to benefit patients.

It is typically given via injection in the muscles of the buttocks or arms (sodium thiomalate or aurothioglucose). It can also be taken orally (auranofin).

Some common side effects include skin rashes, metallic taste, sores in mouth, thinning of hair, diarrhea, and allergy-like reactions. More serious but rare side effects include, bone marrow, kidnes, lung, intestine, or liver damage.

I promise, my next post will be more interesting. This post was just to give some background about this therepy. There's something pretty cool about gold treatment which you'll have to wait till tomorrow to read.

A cholesterol reminder

2007-03-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

Cholesterol is a big deal. Many people have high cholesterol but just don't realize that they do. If you're young, its rare that you'll feel the physical effects of high cholesterol, but it will certainly catch up to you when you're older. A lot of people know that cholesterol is a big deal, but just don't care to learn what their cholesterol score is. Trust me...it's important. Find out your score!

Some of the components of cholesterol include the following:
- LDL: Low Density Lipoprotein (Bad)
- HDL: High Density Lipoprotein (Good)
- TG: Triglycerides (Bad)

And then there's also components like VLDL (very low density lipoprotein) and others which aren't as popular or important.

NCEP (National Cholesterol Education Program) is the main source to get all the latest on cholesterol guidelines. Here is an executive summary of the Third Report of the NCEP Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults, (ATP III is also another good search term to get all the cholesterol goals/guidelines.

Briefly, your cholesterol panel should be like this:
- Total cholesterol: < 200 mg/dL
- LDL: < 100 mg/dL (ideal); <130 mg/dL (at the very least)
- HDL: > 40 mg/dL (the higher the better)
- TG: < 150 mg/dL

Again, I can't emphasize this enough. It's important to get your cholesterol levels checked. Just because you feel fine, doesn't mean you don't have high cholesterol. First of all, everyone has cholesterol. From the moment you are born, you have cholesterol and it just gets worse unless you do something about it. It's a silent disease and is very detrimental to your overall cardiovascular health.

So, after you get your cholesterol checked and you realize that its high...you need to do something about it. What to do? There are lots of drug therapies right now that treat cholesterol...but you can't jump into those right away. They cost a lot of money, they have a lot of side effects, and depending on your specific cholesterol levels, you may be able to lower your cholesterol and get back to goal without drug therapy.

Lifestyle changes is the best therapy for high cholesterol. Start an exercise program and start eating right. On average, changes in lifestyle can cause a 14% reduction in LDL (the main thing you want to reduce). That's a huge change, and it might make a difference in your life.

What's with pseudophedrine

2007-02-28T16:48:00.000-05:00

Pseudophed or products containing pseudoephedrine are great for relieving nasal congenstion. Its a shame they had to be moved from OTC to behind the counter. You can still get products containing pseudophedrine, but now you have to ask the pharmacists for it, and the pharmacist is supposed to check your ID, log how much you buy, and make sure you don't buy more htan 5 bottles at a time.

All this because it is relatively easy to make speed (methamphetamine) out of pseudophederine. In fact you can make one gram of pure speed from one pack (30 tablets) of OTC Pseudophed, which is valued aorund $2,000 on the street.

I tried to do a search for the recipe for this, and I couldn't find it. I found one recipe but it doesn't seem to be the right one. How do I know its not the right one? Because its different from the recipe we learned in pharmacy school. Which makes me wonder why we even needed to study and learn the recipe and steps involved in the conversion of pseudoephedrine into methamphetamine.

Well, in anycase...pseudoephedrine is a relatively safe product when taken according to its approved labeling. The only side effect one needs to worry about it dryness...which of course can lead to constipation. But that occurs most often for people who take the maximum allowable dose.

On a side note...this new law about having the pharmacist manually record every sale for products containing even the slightest bit of pseudoephedrine is pretty pointless, since the people most likely to abuse them can still go pharmacy hopping and pick up 5 bottles/packets from random pharmacies. Its just more work for the pharmacist who should be spending his/her time counseling or something else valuable.

Flatland the movie

2007-02-27T11:33:00.000-05:00

This is great. They're coming out with a movie for one of my all-time favorite books, Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbott. You can read the book online if you want.

The book is a little mathematical, but very easy to understand. It's supposed to get you to think about the 4th dimension (not time...but an actual dimension [direction] beyond the 3rd). Interesting concept.

The sequel to this book is Sphereland. More recently, there was another sequel called Flatterland.

I want some snow

2007-01-16T10:22:00.000-05:00

I'm really missing the snow right now. I don't really care for the shoveling and brown slush in my car as a result of snow, but I do want it to snow so I can go skiing again. Mountain Creek has been closed this season and is expected to open back up this Friday. They're starting to make snow again, and hopefully it'll be cold enough for it to last till I get a chance to go there.

I can't wait till the Meadowlands Xanadu Project is finally completed. Part of it will be an all-year indoor ski park like they have in Dubai.

Pencil sculptures

2007-01-15T15:35:00.000-05:00

This is interesting. From what I've seen and read, there are three types of pencil sculptures.

1. Sculpting the graphite tip of the pencil into some shape
2. Carving the wood part of the pencil into a cool design
3. Using pencil tips or whole pencils to make some shape

Pretty cool stuff.

iPhone

2007-01-12T12:42:00.000-05:00

The new iPhone looks amazing. Too bad Sprint is not contracting with them. Reviews however say that the iPhone looks great but still does not have the features of Sprint's phone. Who care about features...looks go a long way. Sprint has nothing close to this.

Hand smoking

2007-01-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

So there is a new product out called nicogel which is basically cigarettes for the hand. It was created for people to use when they can't stick a cigarette in their mouth. They basically just apply this gel on their hands and rub it on like lotion and get the same satisfaction as smoking. Here's what it says on the website:

"Whenever you find yourself in a place you are not permitted to smoke make sure you have Nicogel with you.

Nicogel is a tobacco gel you rub into your hands, is absorbed in a minute and gives hours of cigarette satisfaction, without annoying non-smokers around you.

In these days of ever-increasing restrictions on smoking in public places you can turn to Nicogel next time you find yourself on a flight, in a bar, restaurant, cinema or in the work place."

The sad part is that it's not like Nicorette Gum or Nicoderm CQ which help quit the addiction to cigarettes/smoking. This new product just replaces the addiction with something else. However, it does not have the same carcinogenic effects as cigarettes. I'm not sure what to make of this yet.

Keep your water cold

2006-11-01T09:29:00.000-05:00

This is a great idea. I got this yesterday, and it's the perfect solution to keeping water bottles cold. Usually I ended up taking cubed ice out of the tray, melting it under hot water just enough so it fits into the opening of the bottle. It's annoying, and I end up having to use an entire tray of ice cubes just to get a little bit of ice into the bottle. With this perfectly designed narrow ice cube tray, I can just use two narrow ice cubes which easily fit in the opening. You can pick these up anywhere. They're around 5 bucks for 2 trays.

Turn off your cell phones

2006-08-30T10:47:00.000-05:00

So like…I’m chilling at the Masjid waiting for Salah to begin, and notice that ICPC has a lot of youth there all the time. It’s amazing, and such a contrast from a lot of other Masjids. I think it’s because ICPC is a community center and creates an environment where youth actually like to be there. I think that’s awesome. ICPC is definitely my favorite Masjid to go to.

So this kid, who’s probably around 16 years old, gave an amazing athan, and then salah begins. The Imam’s recitation was so amazing as well. The Imam read a surah that I knew, so I was able to sync with his recitation, which was nice.

All of a sudden I lost all my focus, because someone’s cell phone began to ring. It wasn’t the standard ring tone. It wasn’t even those symphony tones. It was something different. The phone used different tones to make it sound like an athan. It was interesting, but unfortunately it did take my focus away from salah.

Less than a minute later, while we’re in sajdah, another cell phone starts ringing. It was the bumblebee tone. I recognized that one immediately because it’s the most irritating and annoying one.

Anyway, I was frustrated to later find out that there were “PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES AND PAGERS” signs everywhere in the Masjid. I then recalled previous prayers in different Masjids, and realized that this is a problem everywhere. During almost every prayer in a Masjid, someone’s phone rings. Isn’t that strange, especially considering all Masjid’s have signs instructing people to turn them off?

I wish people were addicted to prayers like they’re addicted to cigarettes. This way they would learn to obey signs better that at first might seem to be minor inconveniences, but in the end would still allow everyone to enjoy their addictions.

No harm, no foul

2006-08-23T09:22:00.000-05:00

The point of my previous post was to demonstrate that people are generally accepting of rules which may interfere with some of their freedoms. So in that example I gave (which was not made up) the smokers saw the no smoking sign, and obeyed it. They did not fuss and argue about it. They understood that it may have had a purpose, and decided to cross the street and smoke without feeling guilty of not following the rules. If I had put a sign across the street as well (as Fawad recommended), I’m sure they would have walked around a little more to find another spot to smoke. The point is, they did not make a big deal out of it, and every single person respected the no smoking sign. At the end of the day they all knew that not smoking on that side of the street would not hurt them, so they didn’t need to break any rules.

No smoking

2006-08-17T10:50:00.000-05:00

At Rutgers-Newark, I took a psychology class with a professor who was a heavy smoker. She was truly addicted to cigarettes. She smoked so much, that during the 45-minute class, she always took a break half way through so that she could go outside and smoke another cigarette just to get her through the rest of the class. She was the nicest lady, but she had a serious problem.

Everyday, she would take a break and half the class joined her outside the building for a smoke. I watched this happen every day for a whole semester, and again the following semester for psychology 102. I was bored one time, so I decided to try something. I made very professional looking NO SMOKING signs, and decided to post them up in the regular spots where everyone smoked during the break. So, 5 minutes into the class, I stepped outside and posted the signs up.

As expected, the professor told the class to take a break, and the usual half of the class followed the professor outside to smoke. This time, I followed them. When they went outside, they all took notice of the no smoking signs. The signs looked really good, and I congratulated myself in my head for doing such a great job with making the signs look authentic.

The students and professor moved around a little and found that there were 3 no smoking signs in total. They realized they had no place to smoke on that side of the street. The looked a bit confused, and I could tell they definitely realized that these signs had to have been put up that day, because they could not have missed them every day before that. After about 5 minutes of searching for a safe place to smoke on that side of the street they realized that it just was not a possibility. Afterall, I had covered the smoking area pretty well with those signs.

So what did the professor and 30+ students do? They respectfully acknowledged the sign and went across the street to smoke. After they were done, they crossed the street again and went back to class.

Really large shrimp

2006-08-12T14:12:00.000-05:00

I went to a thai restuarant and order shrimp. When the waiter brought it over, the plate had two shrimp on it. The picture is of one of them. It was enormous. I told the waiter that I did not order lobster, and that I wanted shrimp instead. He told me that this was shrimp. It's from the prahyo river in Thailand. They grow them huge up there.

It tasted horrible, but I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was disgusted by the way it looked. I think I don't like Thai food anymore.

Talking prescription bottles

2006-08-09T08:36:00.000-05:00

I suppose this is a good idea.

California Wizzard Software and MedivoxRx Tech, announced that Kaiser Permanente pharmacies in northern California will offer Rex-The Talking Prescription Bottle at no cost to patients. Recorded instructions can be applied to the prescription bottles, and patients listen to them by pressing a button on the side of the bottle. The innovation will aid the elderly, the visually impaired and anyone else who needs help in managing their medications.

Interestingly, the Department of Health and Human Services reports that fewer than 30% of older adults take medications properly. So just another reminder, make sure you all check to see if your parents know what medication they are taking, how to take their medication, and why they are taking their medication.

Post removed

2006-07-21T14:24:00.001-05:00

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New halal chicken place

2006-07-12T14:06:00.000-05:00

They opened up a Halal Kennedy Fried Chicken near where I live. The address is:
451 Passaic St.
Hackensack, NJ
(t): 201.342.5004

I've been there twice already and the food was great both times. The chicken is above average. The lamb is excellent. If you like the taste of the lamb at platters, then you'll love it here. It has the same taste, the same tenderness, but it comes in lamb cubes rather than shredded/sliced pieces of lamb.

Don't order their chicken and lamb platters. Just order the lamb platter. The chicken in the platters is not as good.

The fried chicken however is very good. Their popcorn chicken is good too. Their hot and mild wings are great. They're not saucy, but they taste great.

Oh, I should probably mention that this place does not serve halal/zabihah beef. But the lamb and chicken are halal/zabihah. They showed me the packaging, and they let me take the sticker on the packaging which read: "Packed according to Islamic Law - Halal"

I'll definetly be going their often since it's so close to where I live.

What happened to Pop Rocks?

2006-07-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

Why aren't Pop Rocks that popular. I recently had them and they tasted great, and they were fun to eat. Maleeha has never had Pop Rocks before, and I didn't tell her what happens when put in the mouth. She wanted to spit them out. She said they hurt. But that's why they're so fun to eat. It's literally like a party in my mouth. But alas, they're really hard to find around here.

Eric's photoblog

2006-07-06T09:36:00.001-05:00

There's not much here yet, but it's going to be great when it's done. A friend of mine from Bimark started a photo blog. He's a very talented web designer. This is his website where you can see some of the stuff he's done. There's some interesting pictures in there. Enjoy.

Huge Jesus statue?

2006-07-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

So, I was in Ohio for the 4th of July weekend. And while coming back from Cincinnati, we noticed this huge statue that was coming out of the water. It was enormous. It's in front of Solid Rock Church. The masjid on the other side of the high way (about 10 miles west) was far more impressive though.

Google Quest winner

2006-06-30T08:39:00.000-05:00

It's been 1 month and 10 days since the final challenge of the google quest. Usman, Alex, Moustafa, and I spent 4 hours trying to get the best time for the final challenge. We were so excited about this. We even decided on how we would split the winnings in the event that we had the best time. Our fastest time was 8 minutes and 44 seconds. Shortly after, there were numerous reports that people were completing it in less than 7 minutes. We even saw a video of someone completing it in less than 5 minutes. Soon, we started hearing about people who hacked the final challenge and completed it in under 10 seconds.

The winner was supposed to be announced a week later. But we still have not heard anything, which is kind of dissapointing.

Some people are speculating that a guy by the name of Wei-Hwa is the winner. The name sounds familiar? Well it shout...he's that asian kid that does the puzzle challenges on the google search page (personalized settings). Wei-Hwa is an employee of google. Some think that google setup the entire quest in an effort to find someone really smart that they could hire. They would then make use of this puzzle guru somehow. However, I'm sure this is not the case, and that there is something going on at google where they screwed up and are now trying to figure out how they can resolve the issue of people cheating. Afterall, the final challenge was supposed to be random so that it would reduce the chances of people cheating.

Well, It doesn't matter...I still feel like I'm a winner. I got my die-cast metal cryptex and that's all that matters. A friend of mine got nothing even though he was one of the finalists. Unfortunately he was in a hurry and typed in an incorrect username.

Let's go to the moon

2006-06-29T10:59:00.000-05:00

I hope NASA starts sending people to the moon again. I think technology has improved so much since the 60's. Even a regular home camcorder, or a digital camera would be able to take unbelievably sharp pictures of the moon now. All we have are really old video's of poor quality. It would be nice to get a very clear look of what the moon looks likes. Going to the moon would be awesome now.

Making money

2006-06-28T10:30:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Very good book and an easy read. Muhammad Alshareef's AlMaghrib Class was the motivation to read that book. His Rizq Management class was amazing. An interesting thing I learned in the class was that every one of us should strive to make money so that we are in the position to pay zakah. If we we make a lot of money (having a lot of assets), we'll be able to give more zakah and help the community more.

Another interesting thing I learned is that many people do not succeed because of their fear of losing money. Instead, they should be driven by the excitement of making money.

I also recommend this CD as well by Muhammad Alshareef.

Giants Stadium parking lot

2006-06-28T10:05:00.000-05:00

So, for the past 3 months, I've been bypassing the route 3 traffic (going from the turnpike to route 17 north) by going through the stadium parking lots. It saves me a lot of time. Anyway...that's not the point of this post...

As I was driving past one of the parking lots (specifically, the first one that come sont he right as you get off the turnpike into the stadium property), I noticed there were small orange cones that created a really swurvy road/coarse. And there wer cars that were speeding through that coarse at like 50+ mph. It looked like they were testing the handling of different vehicles on sharp turns. It was pretty cool. As I was driving, I saw three cars on the coarse at one time (although they were very far away from each other). One was a subaru, the other was an audi, and the other was a honda.

Two days later, I noticed they were doing the same thing. Next time I see it, I'll inquire more about what's going on.

Sand castles are cool

2006-06-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

I remember when I was at Bimark, I went to a pharmaceutical meeting in Florida, where the entertainment during the reception and dinner was 5 people creating a sand castle from scratch. The hotel was on the beach, and the dinner was outside that evening. The tables were setup a little weird in that there was a large table-less gap in the center of the reception area. Once everyone had arrived, 5 people went to the gap in the middle and started working on a sand castle.

It took them 4 hours to complete, and it was the size of a jeep. At the end, they also made something similar to the image above, where the company logo was displayed on it. That was the only time I really enjoyed the entertainment that was provided by the company during dinner.

Microsoft Word - Hijri Calendar

2006-06-20T15:26:00.000-05:00

Try this...

Go into MS Word
Under the "Insert" drop down menu, select "Field"
Under the "Categories" drop down menu, click on "Select Date"
Under "Field Properties" select the second option "Tuesday...."
Then look to your right and check "Use the Hijri/Lunar Calendar"
Click on "OK"

That's cool

I'm in too

2006-05-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'm just being lazy now...see Usman's blog.

Sudoku

2006-05-08T15:39:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been hooked to sudoku. They're actually very fun, and have nothing at all to do with math. Wikipedia has a pretty good description of what sudoku is and some very good tips on solving them. Here is the wikipedia site.

Also, I was researching sudoku and found this competition. The puzzles for this competition are sick. They are different variants of sudoku.

I started doing them two weeks ago. I am now able to do the easy ones in 3-4 minutes, the mediuum ones in 10 minutes, the difficult ones in 15 minutes, and the cahallenging ones in around 20-30 minutes. Normal complete time for easy is 15 minutes, medium is 30-60 minutes, difficult is 1-2 hours, and challenging is 1-2 days. I'm going to start to take a crack at the sudoku variants now. Hopefully they'll be just as fun.

Important: Warning for contact lens fluid users

2006-04-15T06:50:00.000-05:00

There is a recall on Bauch & Laumb and ReNu contact lens fluid. I don't wear contacts so I don't know what the right terminology is, but basically, their is a recall on certain contact lens solutions because of some sterility issues. They are causing conjunctivitis or perhaps some other infections in the eyes becuase of a fungus called Fusarium. Atif may be able to clarify on the clinical implications of this fungus.

Specifically, it's the Bauch & Laumb and ReNu products that have MOISTURE LOCK. It's not on all their brands, just the one with with moisture lock. Pass this info on to others who wear contacts.

The speech accent archive

2006-04-12T09:20:00.000-05:00

Everyone who speaks a language, speaks it with an accent. A particular accent essentially reflects a person's linguistic background. When people listen to someone speak with a different accent from their own, they notice the difference, and they may even make certain biased social judgments about the speaker.

The Speech Accent Archive is established to uniformly exhibit a large set of speech accents from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English all read the same English paragraph and are carefully recorded.1 The archive is constructed as a teaching tool and as a research tool. It is meant to be used by linguists as well as other people who simply wish to listen to and compare the accents of different english speakers.

This website allows users to compare the demographic and linguistic backgrounds of the speakers in order to determine which variables are key predictors of each accent. The speech accent archive demonstrates that accents are systematic rather than merely mistaken speech.

How to fold a shirt

2006-03-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

I certainly don't want to become like Samir, by making my blog strictly for google videos...so this will be the only time I post a video. Here's a pretty interesting way to fold a shirt. Thanks for Mansoor for pointing this out.

What will google think of next?

2006-03-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

Post removed.

Halal or not?

2006-03-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

Word on the street is that Outback servers halal lamb. This is from an email from Outback:

"All lamb served in the domestic Outback locations is from the country of New Zealand. The Halal accreditation certificates are from The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand."

I am still a little skeptical, but in talking to people, this information has been confirmed from 4 - 5 different sources. Interesting indeed.

Pear allergy

2006-03-02T11:48:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. I'm allergic to pears.

I ate a pear earlier this week, and all of a sudden I felt a weird sensation on my upper pallet (the roof of the mouth where my tongue touches). All of a sudden, I realized that the skin texture on the upper pallet was changing. It started to swell up..sort of like the swelling that happens when you get burned and your skin collects pus underneath the skin.

So I started feeling that swollen upper pallet with my tongue, and the skin just shredded up. Next thing i know my entire upper pallet skin was on my tongue, which I just picked off with my finger (looked like snake hide, but really soft). So then I touched the upper pallet again with my tongue and there was this burning, tingly sensation.

I called my mom to tell her what happened, and she told me that this allergy runs in the family. My brother and youngers sister get the same thing as well. All in all, it was a gross experience. The strnage thing is that when i woke up the morning, the skin had regrown and was not tingly anymore.

Star Trek inspired Nissan

2006-02-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty nice looking car. Actually, I take that back...it's a pretty nice looking car from the inside, but the outside is fugly. You can check out some more pictures of this concept Nissan for trekies on this blog.

The 360 degrees swivel chair in the picture above is actually the back seat of the car. Too bad they messed up on the exterior design. Thanks to Omar for sending this to me.

I wish I never sent that email

2006-02-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

Have you ever sent an email and then wish you never did. Well, till today I never knew that you could recall a message that you sent to someone as long as they didn't opened it. This can be done using Microsoft Outlook. Here's how:

1. Go to the Sent Items folder
2. Double click (open) the message you want recalled
3. Click on Actions in the toolbar
4. Then click on Recall This Message

The screen shot above is what you'll see.

WTC no more

2006-02-15T11:23:00.000-05:00

Post removed by Zafar...

King Abdullah Economic City

2006-02-01T09:48:00.000-05:00

Saudi's have crazy money. Salim sent me this link. I thought only Dubai was into outrageous developments, but Saudi is getting in on this too. Click on the link to learn more about the new development in Saudi.

It will span over 55 million square meters, and will be the largest private sector investment in the world. It's going to be located in between Mekkah and Medina. Here's some more info about this place.

I love this phone

2006-01-30T10:37:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows I can't stand buying new cell phones. Once I like a phone I like I stick with it for years. In fact, I bought this phone about 2 years ago, and it got lost while going through the continental security checkpoint in chicago, and I ended up buying the exact same one again because I liked it so much.

I know Bassim has the same phone and Moustafa is also looking to buy the same one. I've never really had a problem with it, and I've told myself that I cannot buy another cell phone anytime soon unless it gets lost or it breaks.

Well, let me tell you why I love this phone. My parents and my wife's parents came over for dinner this weekend, and I was cleaning the balcony because one of the plants had died and the leaves were all over the balcony floor. So I was sweeping the balcony when my wife told me that I have a phone call and handed me my cell phone. I had the broom in my hands and was holding the phone securely (well, I thought I was holding it securely), between my ear and shoulder. I look over the balcony to make sure no one was was standing downstairs becasue I was sweeping the leaves and dirt over the edge of the balcony. When doing so, the phone slips and falls 3 stories down. My mom (who I was speaking with at the time) also realized that I dropped the phone. I quickly ran downstairs to get the phone and realized that it's still in excellent condition. Nothing happened to the frame of the phone and everything works just fine. I thought the camera would at least be ruined, but it works fine as well.

So besides being a slick looking phone, it's very durable as well...I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for an all around great phone.

I'll be there in 10 minutes

2006-01-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

While driving to pick up Bassim on Friday, Usman told Bassim that we would be at the bus stop in 10 minutes, when he clearly knew that there was no chance of reaching Paramus Park Mall from Clifton Commons during rush hour in less than 30 minutes. Shoaib and I accused Usman of overestimating the time it would take to get there. We then realized that overestimating was not the correct word and neither was underestimating. After discussing this, we compromised and came up with the phrase "optimistic estimation."

Optimistic estimation is the reason why I have to wait an extra 30 minutes for people to come to my house and the reason why I buffer the meeting time for group activities.

From now on, when someone tells me how long it will take to get somewhere, I will always ask if that is an optimistic estimate.

It's about time...

2006-01-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Governer Cody signed the legislation making it illegal to smoke cigarettes indoors (with the exception of Casino's) starting this past Sunday. New Jersey is the 11th state to make it illegal to smoke indoors.

Some of my friends don't agree with this, saying that people should be allowed to do whatever they want, and the government shouldn't get involved. WHATEVER!!! If you want to smoke then do it outside. Don't destroy my lungs along with yours. Besides being harmful for the smoker and for people who breathe in the smoke as well, it is a major drag on the economy, with $76,000 healthcare dollars being spent per person per year to take care of complications of smoking. Although we'll never get to a point where smoking will be completely illegal, I'm glad this is a step in the right directions.

I'm sure this also applies to doing sheesha as well...and you know I've got no problem reporting sheesha establishments in New Jersey to the right authorities if they are allowing it to be smoked in middle eastern restaurants...

Hispanic or latino? No loan for you...

2006-01-09T15:50:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that on ALL applications that have to do with loans, there is a section next to "Race" asking the borrower's "Ethnicity?"

Strange thing is that under "Ethnicity" the borrower has the option of selecting one of the following:
1. Hispanic or Latino
2. Not Hispanic or Latino

That's pretty bold...and I'm surprised some national hispanic or latino associations haven't said anything about this. Just google the following words: ethnicity hispanic latino not loan application

It's seems to be a universal loan application question under ethnicity.

What does your name mean?

2006-01-05T14:55:00.000-05:00

Find out what your first or last name means by typing your name here.

If it doesn't work, try plugging your first name in the last name field and vice versa. Sometimes it'll work. Like my first name isn't recognized unless I plug it in as a last name:

zafar
Muslim: from a personal name based on Arabic. zafar: ‘victory’. It is sometimes found in compound names such as, Zafarullah ‘victory of Allah’.

You may also want to try different spellings of your name if it doesn't work.

Strange gmail message

2005-12-27T11:22:00.000-05:00

I occasionally get the google error message that beings with "oops...," but this is a first. The message read the following:

"Our system indicates unusual usage of your account. In order to protect Gmail users from potentially harmful use of Gmail, this account has been disabled for up to 24 hours.

If you are using any third party software that interacts with your Gmail account, please disable it or adjust it so that its use complies with the Gmail Terms of Use. If you feel that you have been using your Gmail account according to the Terms of Use or otherwise normally, please contact us at gmail-lockdown@google.com to report this problem."

Interesting. Does it have to do with the fact that I send out around 150 emails a day on gmail? Not sure if that's the reason, as I know others do the same as well. Anyone else experience this?

Common antibiotic side effect

2005-12-16T14:22:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has taken a full course of antibiotics certainly knows that a common side effect is diarrhea. Diarrhea is one of those side effects that pharmacists instinctively tell patients as being liketly to occur. But when it comes to antibiotics, it is extremely likely. I promise this post isn't going to be disgusting at all, but will just discuss why we get diarrhea from antibiotics.

OK...so here goes. In your body you have bacteria in your stomach known as "normal flora". They are normally there to help you digest your food. When you get sick and have a bacterial infection, the doctor will prescribe an antibiotic. Besides killing the bacteria causing the sickness, the bacteria (when taken orally) will also go through the digestive tract and kill the normal flora which is supposed to help digest your food. So basically, now you've lost the good bacteria in your stomach as well while trying to kill the bad bacteria. This is the reason why the most common side effect of antibiotics is diarrhea.

However, there is a solution. You can eat some yogurt along with your antibiotic, because yogurt will help to replenish the normal flora in your digestive tract. So keep that in mind next time you take antibiotics. Also, please keep in mind that there are certain antibiotics which should not be taken with food. Please talk to your pharmacist about when they should or should not be taken with food.

By the way...diarrhea comes from the two latin words "dia" meaning through, and "rhea" meaning flow.

Peeling glue off your handsI

2005-12-14T15:55:00.000-05:00

Did anyone else used to put Elmer's glue on your hands and then wait for it to dry so that you could peel it off. I remember it being so fun. We used to use so much Elmer's glue when we were kids. Why? Why did our classes require glue? What was the point of those classes? Art has thought me nothing. The only valuable thing about art was that it was the second most fun class we had all day (gym being first).

Anyway...peeling glue of my hands was very enjoyable, and I feel like going to Kmart and buying some Elmer's glue so I can have that feeling of peeling of the dried up layer of glue...ahhh the good ol days...

bor·bo·ryg·mus

2005-12-14T14:30:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder what that sound your stomach makes is that totally embarasses you in a meeting, during an exam, or even worse...during an interview? It's called borborygmus. The plural is Borborygmi. It's the rumbling noise produced by the movement of gas through the intestines. A lot of people try to cover it up by shuffling paper while it happens, or pretending to cough, or moving the chair so it makes a scraping noise on the floor. Other who get caught with try to excuse themselves and then take a sip of water or eat something, and are convinced that doing so will get rid of the borborygmus. Sorry to break it to you, but eating something, or drinking water won't make it go away. You're better off just admitting you have it. Just say excuse me and stop thinking about it.

Interesting idea for an alarm clock

2005-12-12T13:51:00.000-05:00

Check out this alarm clock concept. Well, it's no longer a concept, it's already available, thanks to our friends at MIT. Apparently, this alarm clock as a helicopter like component which is activated at the desired time and begins to hover around the room while making an annoying sound. This forces the user to get up off the bed, retrieve the hovering piece and place it back on its base in order for the annoying sound to turn off. Interesting...and the design isn't that bad either. Oh...and it's called the blowfly alarm clock.

E-ZPass inconsitency

2005-12-12T13:12:00.000-05:00

Ever notice how sometimes when you drive through the toll both with E-ZPass, it says "EZ PASS PAID" and other times it says "GO EZ PASS" and other times it just says "GO."

Anyone know what the difference is? I'm about to call E-ZPASS and find out.

KA - Cirque du Soleil

2005-12-09T13:50:00.000-05:00

I went to go watch KA, one of the newer Cirque du Soleil shows. It was pretty impressive. I didn't care too much for the story, but acrobatics and martial arts were amazing. The stage constantly keeps moving, and spinning slowly, and at one point, the stage actually turned vertical. So all the acrobats did a fight scene on a vertical stage. Again...it was visually amazing, but but probably not worth spending money on because the story line was cheezy. Guy likes girl. Girl is already promised to someone else who is evil. Evil guy gets his butt kicked by lots of people.

Blog rankings

2005-11-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Furqan said: "all your blogs are boring except for usman's"

Is that true? Does everyone ever log on to only check my blog or Bassim's blog? Do I? Actually, I don't either. Before even checking comments on my blog, I go to Usman's blog hoping he's updated it. So does Usman have the best blog? Who has the worst blog? Who has the funniest blog? Who has the most well written blog? Who has the most well designed blog?

Stapling made easier

2005-11-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

In previous jobs, I've always preferred paperclipping over stapling. But I got this new stapler at work which is amazing, and I've found myself stapling almost everything...even if it doesn't require stapling, like post-it notes or paper napkins. I've been going staple crazy recently.

This new stapler that I have is amazing. It's called the Staples® One-Touch™ Stapler with Staple Gun Power. I'm not sure how it staples so nicely, but it just does. It's so easy. I never thought stapling could be easier than it already was...but this stapler should did find a way. You should all go to Staples and at least try this stapler out.

Funny comment...makes you think

2005-11-17T09:39:00.000-05:00

Interesting comment by Omar. It does make you think. Are these word verification systems (captchas) completely random? If so, then there's a chance that it could ask you to type something vulgar or racially offensive...

Worst smelling coffee in the world

2005-11-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

Cuban coffee smells so bad, that I have to leave my office every day and hang out at the other end of our department. It actually has some sort of weird effect on my lungs. I have trouble breathing. It's too strong. It's like an espresso, but 100x stronger. The smell is unbearable...it also give me a headache...

Is Bassim Cuban or Puerto Rican?

Unbelievable weather...but not for long

2005-11-16T12:37:00.000-05:00

The weather is great outside. I stepped out to go to the bank, and I was the only person wearing a jacket, which I left in my car afterwards. It's windy, but an unbelievably comfortable temperature.

It does seem like it's going to get colder...MUCH colder....real soon. check out the lows for tomorrow and Friday.

I know Usman also has the same post on his blog, but he beat me to it by like a minute...so I still have the right to blog about the weather. But my post is better because I have an image. Usman is lazy...we'll see who gets more comments.

Geico Staff: the friendliest people on Earth

2005-11-15T13:32:00.000-05:00

I just cancelled my Geico insurance on the Acura, and I was thinking of what excuse I should give to the Geico representative when they start questioning me about cancelling insurance and convincing me to stay with Geico. I just wasn't in the mood to talk to the the representative and give them an explanation and go through 30 minutes of negotiations only to realize that they suckered me into buying extra insurance.

But the experience was quite pleasant. Actually it was more than pleasant. I felt really bad leaving Geico because they are truly the nicest people on Earth. I called and said I want to cancel my insurance, and she said: "No problem Mr. Toor, we'll have that taken care of right away and send you a prorated refund check with 7 business days. Will you be making any changes to the other vehicle on your policy?" I said no, and she said: "Well thank you very much Mr. Toor, I hope you have a wonderful day." No hastle, no questions, no problems. Once I get my other insurance contract done with, I'm switching back to Geico...they're convenient, cheap, and friendly. Go to the Geico website if you want to save 15% or more on your car insurance.

Superman Returns

2005-11-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

Ahhh...superman's coming back. I'm not thrilled about the cast. No trailer available yet either. Lex Luther is the only well casted person. The new Clark Kent is not cool at all.

My favorite time of year

2005-11-11T15:43:00.000-05:00

There are so many things I don't like about winter. I don't like wearing a jacket. I don't like the mess the snow makes in my car. I don't like shoveling. I don't like the traffic because of snow. I don't like all the extra layers of clothing. I don't like waiting for the car to heat up before driving. And the list goes on.

But winter has recently become my favorite time of year because it's skiing season. Only a few months to get all the skiing done. So far I've already planned to go to 3 trips, and I really would like to schedule more. I'm still not sure whether buying ski's is cost-effective. I guess I'll look up prices for ski equipment, but I'm sure it's ridiculously high.

Every desi should have this

2005-11-10T22:34:00.000-05:00

If you cook desi (indian/pakistani) food in your house, you should own this. A lot of desi's leave the house not knowing what they smell like. After some time your phasic receptors in your nose get used to smell of the food being cooked in your house and you no longer *think* you smell like the food. Little do you know...the odor starts seeping into your clothes and stays there. Febreze works awesomely. I know awesomely is not a word, but who cares. It comes in several different scents, and they come in these really slickly designed non-CFC cans.

So please...do everyone a favor and never leave home without spraying. And remember...smelling good so others don't have to smell your odors is sunnah.

New email address

2005-10-31T16:15:00.000-05:00

Here is my new email address. I no longer use my optonline.net or bimarkinc.com account. I still think it stinks that I couldn't get ztoor as my username for gmail. That stinks :(

Schering-Plough

2005-10-15T10:42:00.000-05:00

Insha'Allah I will be starting my new job at Schering-Plough Corp. on October 24, 2005. I'm really looking forward to it, and I think it's a good move for me. Although I lose my office, my game room, and don't get to travel to all the nice places as I did with Bimark, I'm excited about starting to work for a large company. I will be working in their global regulatory affairs, marketing and advertising department. My product will be Integrilin, which is a GPIIbIIIa inhibitor. I will be approving all marketing and advertising material for this product, and making sure that they do not violate any of the FDA guidelines (DDMAC).

Salah during ultimate frisbee

2005-10-08T11:02:00.000-05:00

Problem: We're not praying salah while praying frisbee
Solution: Pray during the time right after one game ends and before teams are picked for the next game

We all know that we should not be missing Asr (or any other prayer for that matter). Frankly, I'm sick of hearing it from SOME (NOT ALL) of the youth accusing the ym "alumni" of being unreligious. I'm also sick of hearing SOME (NOT ALL) of them complaining that we are detached from the youth group and have "given up" on them. It's time to grow up. We did, and so can you...

Anyway...so, here's the deal. Everyone knows that we should be praying. Someone should KINDLY remind everyone to pray when there is a break in the game. If someone chooses not to pray after the reminder, then may Allah (swt) guide them, insha'Allah.

New information about Provigil (modafinil)

2005-09-29T11:49:00.000-05:00

I was just reading a journal article in The New Englad Journal of Medicine titled, Modafinil for Excessive Sleepiness Associated with Shift-Work Sleep Disorder. What I found troubling was the following statement in the article's conclusion:

"Treatment with 200 mg of modafinil reduced the extreme sleepiness that we observed in patients with shift-work sleep disorder and resulted in a small but significant improvement in performance as compared with placebo. However, the residual sleepiness that was observed in the treated patients underscores the need for the development of interventions that are even more effective."

This is the first time I'm reading about this products "residual sleepliness"...but then again, I haven't read up on this product in a while. I always thought this product was unique in that one could take it to stay awake and would return to their "normal" cycle once they stopped. I guess this isn't the case anymore. All of a sudden, this drug has lost its charm.

Last game of ultimate frisbee

2005-09-23T08:50:00.000-05:00

For most of you, ultimate frisbee will continue well into Ramadan. But for me, this sunday will be my last game because of work obligations and fasting. I hate last games, because I know the next time I will play will be some time in April - if we're lucky, March.

This is an post to remind everyone that we're playing frisbee at Van Saun Park this sunday (rain or shine) at 3:00 PM. I will bring PLENTY of water for everyone insha'Allah so we can play as many games possible. I'll see you all there.

Blog link removed

2005-09-22T15:03:00.000-05:00

Salim Patel's blog link has been temporarily removed till I get an official apology from him.

Leaving Bimark

2005-09-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

After a little over 2 years of working at Bimark Medical Communications, I am leaving. Giving notice is a very difficult thing to do...especially at a small company. I'm sad to be leaving, but glad to be moving to a very reputable pharmaceutical company...

Nilla wafers are awesome

2005-09-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

Haris brought in Nilla Wafers (mfg: Nabisco), and they taste great. I almost ate the whole box tonight. I wish I had milk, because the picture on the box has a nilla wafer being dunked into a glass of milk. They also have a recipe for a Peach Melba Ribbon Pie. If I wasn't working right now, I'd be getting the ingredients to make it.

Beta fish live forever

2005-09-15T11:55:00.000-05:00

I got a fish as a birthday gift from my boss last year. I wasn't very happy because I'm not the best person to take care of a fish. Not because I'm irresponsible, but simply because, I don't see what's so cool about having a fish.

So I complained to some coworkers within weeks of getting the fish, that I really didn't want to be responsible for it, so my coworkers decided to take care of it. Well, a lot of people have left the company since my last birthday, so the fish has circulated through a lot of offices till 2 days ago when it finally returned to my office.

So I took the fish home. I can't believe it's been alive all this time. When I first got the fish it was named Bluetooth, but when I handed to someone else, the name was changed. The following are what the fish owners called it in while in their posession:
Bluetooth
Blue Finger
Panchito
Bluie
Slippy
Gladiator
and now it's finally Bluetooth again.

So the fish is at home, and I'm thinking of just taking it to a fish store and telling them to keep it. Would anyone like it instead? It looks exactly like in the picture. It will come in a bowl/vase with marbles at the bottom. I will include a dechlorinator and the fish food.

Waking up a sleepwalker

2005-09-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if my wife was reading something online today when she told me about this, but she mentioned an article about sleepwalking, and there was stuff in there about waking up a sleepwalker. I know I've talked to lots of people about my sleepwalking. At one point I was a chronic somnombulist...I did it every day.

From time to time, I still do sleepwalk, and it's purely stress related, or if I'm uncomfortable. But the thing I want to point out in this post is something that a lot of people are confused about. Is it safe to wake up a sleepwalker?

The answer is YES! At one time, people thought that waking up a sleepwalker would cause the person to have a cardiovascular event like a heart attack. When people sleepwalk, they are in a very DEEP sleep, and their heart rate decreases tremendously. What people assumed was that if they woke up a sleepwalker, they would be so confused, that their heart rate would increase very quickly, and would cause them to have a cardiac event. This is NOT true at all.

It is safe to wake up a sleepwalker, but as someone who suffers from this, I would like you all to keep in mind that the sleepwalker does not have any control over what they are doing, so please be kind...

I need a bike

2005-09-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

My car is in the shop, and based on the amount of damage, the body shop said the car won't be done for 2 weeks. I was really bummed out at first, but then I remembered how high the gas prices were, so it was kind of a relief.

But thinking about it a little more, I realized that I still need to get to work. Does anyone have a bike that they are not using and can let me borrow for the next two weeks? My commute is a little less than 2 miles each way, and there are no hills. If someone can help me out, that would be really cool.

Flying disc throwing record

2005-09-02T13:30:00.000-05:00

I was curious to see what the record for distance was for a frisbee. Our group isn't even close. Actually, I don't know, I can't seem to visualize how far 800 feet is.

The record according to this site is 250 meters for an outdoor throw.