Saturday 13 February 2021

It Has Long Been Known,

that drugs we take when winding up in a river system, lake or the sea,


can have detrimental effects on wild life, especially fish, as this article dated 2014, or this paper shows, if these were not bad enough it now appears that the drugs sold under the names of Prozac and Sarafem can change the behaviour of some fish, the drug that is in the antidepressant used to treat various disorders such as OCD and bulimia is fluoxetine, fish principally guppies raised in drug-free water displayed a wide range of behaviours, some darted about, whereas others were much “lazier.” But fish exposed to fluoxetine showed fewer differences; most were moderately active, making them all more like an average fish, the team reports today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The drugged guppies were like zombies who did “not have their individuality anymore,”, which begs the question, 'are we sure the same does not happen to us when prescribed Prozac or Sarafem?' you can read more about the study over at Science Magazine, image credit Benjah-bmm27/ Wikimedia Commons.


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