An 8-week mindfulness meditation training program for healthy employees increased left-sided anterior brain activation, a pattern linked to positive emotion, and boosted antibody titers after an influenza vaccine compared with a wait-list control group. The magnitude of the brain activation increase predicted the size of the antibody response. These results indicate that a brief meditation intervention can measurably alter brain and immune function.
Methoxphenidine, a novel dissociative designer drug of the diarylethylamine class with structural features similar to phencyclidine (PCP), produced PCP-like adverse effects in a 53-year-old man found on the street in a somnolent and confusional state. Observed signs included tachycardia (112 bpm), hypertension (220/125 mmHg), echolalia, confusion, agitation, opisthotonus, nystagmus, and amnesia. Temperature and oxygen saturation were normal. Laboratory findings showed elevated creatine kinase (max 865 U/L), alanine aminotransferase (72 U/L), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (123 U/L). Methoxphenidine was confirmed in plasma and urine via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The patient recovered with symptomatic treatment.
Methoxetamine, a chemical relative of ketamine, is a new recreational drug not yet tightly regulated in most countries. This report describes the first confirmed case of intravenous methoxetamine abuse, in a 19-year-old man. His symptoms—rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, confusion, agitation, stupor, poor coordination, dilated pupils, and involuntary eye movements—matched known ketamine effects and resolved with supportive treatment. Based on this case, user reports, and the drug's structure, methoxetamine produces ketamine-like effects, and full recovery is expected with medical care.