tagged w/ Bipolar Disorder
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Marijuana has been shown to benefit a number of physical health problems, ranging from multiple sclerosis to type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer pain. But what about mental disorders? A new study found that use of cannabis (marijuana) could be helpful in improving certain neurocognitive functions in people who have bipolar disorder, a condition diagnosed in such notable individuals as Jesse Jackson Jr., Jane Pauley, and Sinead O'Connor.
How marijuana could help bipolar disorder:
There's a tendency to believe that use of marijuana leads to mental health problems, and indeed there have been studies indicating that cannabis can trigger bipolar disorder in susceptible individuals or lead to early psychosis. On the other hand, research has also shown marijuana to be helpful in managing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia.
In this new study, a collaborative effort between researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Long Island, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, investigators explored the impact of marijuana on the cognitive performance of 50 individuals with bipolar disorder I who had a history of cannabis use compared with 150 people with the mental disorder and no history of cannabis use. All the participants were similar in racial background, age, and educational level, as well as when bipolar disorder was diagnosed.
Individuals who had a history of marijuana use showed "significantly better neurocognitive performance, particularly on measures of attention, processing speed, and working memory" than did the study participants who did not use marijuana, according to the researchers.
http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/could-marijuana-help-bipolar-disorderMarijuana has been shown to benefit a number of physical health problems, ranging from... more
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Recreational drug users call it “Special K.” Large, frequent doses of the anesthetic ketamine can give users vivid hallucinations, but a recently published study hints that the drug may have a medicinal use: temporarily treating depression brought on by bipolar disorder.
The small, proof-of-concept study appears in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. National Institutes of Health researchers randomly gave 18 depressed patients ketamine or a placebo on two different days, two weeks apart. They used a much smaller dose of the drug than the amount used for recreation or anesthesia, but within 40 minutes 71 percent of the patients who received ketamine showed a significant improvement in mood, which lasted for three days, as measured using a psychiatric depression rating scale.
The quick response time is unusual for the drugs typically used to treat bipolar disorder’s depression, such as lithium or antidepressants like Prozac, and many of the study’s patients had failed to respond to other treatments. On average, the study participants had tried seven antidepressants and 55 percent of participants had failed to respond positively to the extreme measures of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)–seizures brought on by electrical current. Ketamine’s apparent success may have to do with the neurotransmitter, glutamate:
Does the unconventional drug ketamine work better? The best answer is that it works differently. Many antidepressants relieve depression by altering levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Ketamine dissociates patients from negative thoughts and feelings by preventing another neurotransmitter, glutamate, from interacting with a receptor in the brain that usually processes it. Brain autopsies have suggested that glutamate activity is associated with bipolar disorder, and past studies have shown that severing the glutamate-receptor link can rapidly lift symptoms in people with major depression within two hours.
Though ketamine’s therapeutic effects were only temporary, scientists hope that with more research they may be able to incorporate the drug into treatments.
Ketamine could improve treatment of bipolar illness and depression in a variety of ways, [coauthor Carlos A.] Zarate said; for example, as a means to jump-start standard drug treatment, or as an anesthetic before ECT. “It’s opened the floodgate of many different directions of research, and all of them are quite encouraging,” said Zarate, who along with a co-author has filed for a patent on the use of ketamine in depression. Those rights would be assigned to his employer, the National Institutes of Health.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/08/04/can-a-party-drug-mitigate-bipolar-disorders-depression/
http://www.metrohealthanesthesia.com/images/ketamine_3d.jpgRecreational drug users call it “Special K.” Large, frequent doses of the... more
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A leading researcher believes a single MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan may soon provide individuals and health professionals with a faster and more accurate diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Professor Mary Phillips, professor of psychiatry and director of the Clinical and Translational Affective Neurosicence Program at the University of Pittsburgh, comments that missed and delayed diagnosis are a major problem with bipolar disorder.
She said: “Only one in five sufferers are correctly diagnosed at first presentation to a doctor and it can take up to ten years before suffers receive a correct diagnosis.”
(more at link)A leading researcher believes a single MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan may soon... more
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by Tom Henderson (Subscribe to Tom Henderson's posts) Jan 21st 2010 10:30AM
They are called "The Terrible Twos" for a reason.
Any parent can tell you about the emotional roller coaster of having a 2-year-old in the house. So given ordinary 2-year-old behavior, how can any child that age to be realistically and accurately diagnosed with bipolar disorder?
That's the question at the heart of a controversy among psychiatrists and physicians.
A report to be released this week through the Journal of the Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry reveals that diagonses of bipolar disorder among children ages 2 to 5 have doubled over the past decade.
Many of these children are prescribed powerful psychiatric drugs.
That sets of serious alarms, psychiatrist Harry Tracy tells the Reuters news service. Tracy publishes of NeuroInvestment, a monthly publication specializing in central nervous system disorders.
Joseph Biederman, a Harvard University child psychiatrist, may have helped bipolar disorder top the charts..
The New York Times reports he has been an incredibly influential advocate of diagnosing bipoloar disorder in children as young as 2 and giving them antipsychotic drugs. However, his work is controversial -- to put it mildly.
According to the Times, his research has been underwritten by drug manufacturers for whom he works privately as a consultant.
The Times also reports that an inquiry last year by Sen Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed Biederman earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from pharmaceutical companies between 2000 and 2007. Congressional investigators found he failed to report all but about $200,000 of this income to university officials.
Read More: http://www.parentdish.com/2010/01/21/bipolar-diagnoses-among-young-children-soar/by Tom Henderson (Subscribe to Tom Henderson's posts) Jan 21st 2010 10:30AM... more
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Dr. Khan reviewed clinical trial data submitted to the FDA for nine SSRI antidepressant drugs approved by the FDA between 1985 and 2000. This included 10,030 depressed patients in 52 clinical trials. The Placebo (inert dummy pill) worked better than the SSRI antidepressant pill in more than half the studies. This is astounding information showing the power of the Placebo, or the lack of effectiveness of the SSRI antidepressant drugs.
Marijuana users have a less depressed mood than non-users:
“Over 4400 adult internet users completed The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and measures of marijuana use. We employed an internet survey in an effort to recruit the most depressed and marijuana-involved participants, including those who might prove unwilling to travel to the laboratory or discuss drug use on the phone or in person.
We compared those who consumed marijuana daily, once a week or less, or never in their lives. Despite comparable ranges of scores on all depression subscales, those who used once per week or less had less depressed mood, more positive affect, and fewer somatic complaints than non-users. Daily users reported less depressed mood and more positive affect than non-users.
The three groups did not differ on interpersonal symptoms. Separate analyses for medical vs. recreational users demonstrated that medical users reported more depressed mood and more somatic complaints than recreational users, suggesting that medical conditions clearly contribute to depression scores and should be considered in studies of marijuana and depression. These data suggest that adults apparently do not increase their risk for depression by using marijuana.”Dr. Khan reviewed clinical trial data submitted to the FDA for nine SSRI... more
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The Department of Defense is financing a $300,000 study that will pair dogs with soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that are trained to recognize when they are about to have a panic attack by nudging them or nuzzling them. Service dogs have been helping those with mental illnesses since the late 1990's.The Department of Defense is financing a $300,000 study that will pair dogs with... more
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White House officials admit Obama's extreme confidence and total euphoria over "hope" and "change" were symptoms of a prolonged manic episode. He has since recovered and now is depressed -- just like the rest of the country.White House officials admit Obama's extreme confidence and total euphoria over... more
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Harvard child psychiatrist Joseph Biederman has been advocating powerful medication for mental illnesses such as ADHD and bipolar disorder for decades. His methods are now coming under scrutiny.Harvard child psychiatrist Joseph Biederman has been advocating powerful medication... more
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I have heard over and over the amount of time it has taken for someone to stabilize this illness, and how many times people have recovered only to falter again, some have lost hope and have fallen victims to this illness, but still others have stood tall and found inside themselves the will to stay in the fight. We cannot say what it is from one to another what definitively causes this illness yet or how to treat it. This drives me to find the answers that will help us overcome this illness. To have answers that we can and will build on with the support and understanding of our peers. To pave the way for preventative care plans, and create treatments for the illness rather than masking the symptoms. Our children deserve that.
Michael CorbinI have heard over and over the amount of time it has taken for someone to stabilize... more
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The mood swings, mania, panic, and deep depression experienced by people with bipolar disorder are hard enough to bear. But according to a 1990 study, 56% of bipolar patients also have a substance abuse problem, which can make treatment even more difficult.
Experts say that some bipolar patients are known to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol—though it's not recommended. In fact, they say, it does more harm than good."Using drugs or alcohol is usually a complicating problem because it reduces medication compliance," says Bryan K. Tolliver, MD, PhD, an addiction psychiatrist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. "Bipolar patients who use [alcohol or drugs] have more frequent mood swings, more hospitalizations, longer hospitalizations, and higher rates of suicide attempts."
The drug of choice for most bipolar patients is alcohol, although cocaine, opioids, marijuana, and methamphetamines are also widely used, sometimes in combination with alcohol. Besides the self-medication hypothesis, research suggests that the impulsivity and poor judgment demonstrated by bipolar patients may predispose them to substance abuse. There is even evidence that drug or alcohol use can "unmask" bipolar symptoms in genetically vulnerable people. The mood swings, mania, panic, and deep depression experienced by people with bipolar... more
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Diagnosing bipolar disorder is a notoriously inexact science. The disorder’s characteristic combination of symptoms—bouts of depression interspersed with periods of an abnormally elevated mood known as mania—is easy to miss or misread, even for trained experts. People with bipolar disorder, who often receive an initial diagnosis of unipolar (or major) depression, can struggle with their symptoms for years before the disorder is recognized and treated. By some estimates, as many as half of all bipolar cases are not identified.
Women with bipolar disorder may be especially susceptible to misdiagnoses. A recent study estimated that the odds that a woman with bipolar disorder will fail to be correctly diagnosed are roughly three times the odds for a man. This disparity may be explained in part by the fact that bipolar disorder tends to look different in women than it does in men—in the same way that physicians sometimes fail to catch heart disease in women because they are effectively looking for the male version of the disease, mental health professionals may not always be aware of the distinctive signs of bipolar disorder in women.
"Women are more demonstrative—they have more of what’s known as 'affective loading'—so it's not surprising that bipolar disorder might be under diagnosed in women compared to men," says Vivien Burt, MD, PhD, director of the Women’s Life Center at UCLA’s Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.
Less intense manic phases
Jil, a 29-year-old from Mississippi, first experienced symptoms of bipolar disorder (depressed mood, insomnia, excess energy) in high school. When she was 16, her doctor diagnosed her with major depression and prescribed the antidepressant sertraline (then known by its brand name, Zoloft). The medication made Jil "completely manic"—which antidepressants are believed to do in some people with bipolar disorder—and a year later, a different doctor finally diagnosed her as bipolar.
"I've always had more severe depression than mania," Jil explains. "My depression is debilitating. When I’m manic I don’t sleep and sometimes spend money when I know I shouldn’t, but mainly I am very productive and mean as a hornet. I used to cycle rapidly, but medications have slowed things down a lot, so I don’t have ups and downs as frequently as I did before."
Compared to the average woman with bipolar disorder, Jil’s experience is unusual in some ways. The age at which she was diagnosed, for instance: Most people with bipolar disorder have their first manic episodes in their 20s or 30s, and research suggests that women tend to develop symptoms of the disorder three to five years later than men, on average.Diagnosing bipolar disorder is a notoriously inexact science. The disorder’s... more
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When Claire, a pixie-faced 6-year-old in a school uniform, heard her older brother, James, enter the family’s Manhattan apartment, she shut her bedroom door and began barricading it so swiftly and methodically that at first I didn’t understand what she was doing. She slid a basket of toys in front of the closed door, then added a wagon and a stroller laden with dolls. She hugged a small stuffed Pegasus to her chest. “Pega always protects me,” she said softly. “Pega, guard the door.”
James, then 10, had been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder two years earlier. He was attending a therapeutic day school in another borough and riding more than an hour each way on a school bus, so he came home after Claire. Until James’s arrival that April afternoon, Claire was showing me sketches she had drawn of her Uglydolls and chatting about the Web site JibJab, where she likes to watch goofy videos. At the sound of James’s footsteps outside her bedroom door, she flattened herself behind the barricade. There was a sharp knock. After a few seconds, James’s angry, wounded voice barked, “Forget it,” and the steps retreated.
“If it’s my brother, I don’t open it,” Claire said. “I don’t care if I’m being mean. . . . I never trust him. James always jumps out and scares me. He surprises me in a bad way.”
I left Claire’s bedroom and found James with his mother, Mary, in their spacious living room, which has a sidelong view of the Hudson River. James is a fair, athletic-looking boy with a commanding voice and a restless, edgy gait. He began reading aloud a story he wrote at school called “The Mystery of My Little Sister.” It involved James discovering Claire almost dead, rescuing her and forming a detective agency to track down her assailant. He read haltingly, often interrupting himself. When his mother asked a question, the roil of frustration that nearly always seethes just under James’s surface, even when he is happy, sloshed over.
“If you listened on the first page, it says it!” he scolded her, then collapsed hopelessly beside the coffee table. “You don’t get anything. Now I lost my place. Forget it. I give up.” He crossed his arms on the table and rested his head in them. Mary waited quietly in her chair. Sure enough, a minute or two later James began reading us a list he had concocted of 50 ways to get rich. The next time his mother spoke, he bellowed: “I wasn’t talking to you! I’m not reading it now!” He threw the paper down and stalked out of the room.
The baby-sitter arrived, a 27-year-old preschool teacher whom Mary hired to come in a few hours each week and help maintain harmony when both her children were home. It wasn’t easy. There was a basic rhythmic pattern to the afternoon: James reached out, craving attention and engagement, then stormed away in roaring frustration only to return, penitent and eager to connect, cuddling and hanging on to his mother in a way unusual for a boy his age.
(click link for more)When Claire, a pixie-faced 6-year-old in a school uniform, heard her older brother,... more
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Children born to older fathers face a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder, according to one of the largest studies linking mental illness with advanced paternal age.
Previous research has connected schizophrenia and autism with older dads, and a Danish study published last year added bipolar disorder to the list. The new study led by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute strengthens the evidence.
The leading theory is that older men's sperm may be more likely to develop mutations. Even so, the odds of a person becoming bipolar are so low that the study's authors said it shouldn't dissuade older men from becoming fathers.
Researchers analyzed Swedish national registry data from more than 80,000 people, including 13,428 with bipolar disorder who were born between 1932 and 1991.
The risks started increasing around age 40 but were strongest among those 55 and older. Children born to these dads were 37 percent more likely to develop bipolar disorder than those born to men in their 20s.
They also faced more than double the risk of developing bipolar disorder before age 20. Scientists call that early onset disease, and while they have long known that bipolar disorder tends to run in families, early onset disease has been thought to be most strongly linked with genetics.
The age of the mothers didn't appear to be much of a factor.
The study, released Monday, appears in September's Archives of General Psychiatry.
While the findings don't explain what might cause some older men to have bipolar children, it "reinforces the notion that there's a strong biological component to this," said Dr. Harold Pincus, vice chair of psychiatry at Columbia University.
Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings, from deep depression to manic highs. It affects more than 5 million Americans.
Lifetime risks for it have been estimated at roughly 1 percent to 4 percent. The study results suggest that having an older father might increase that slightly. The findings aren't definitive, but even if the link proves to be real, Pincus noted that still means most people with older fathers won't ever get bipolar disorder.
Factors involving mothers, including age and health, have long been thought to be most closely linked with birth defects and other abnormalities. But the new study adds to mounting evidence that paternal factors also play an important role, said New York University researcher Susan Harlap.
Sperm are produced throughout a man's lifetime, and scientists believe that as men age there is a greater chance for mutations that could contribute to disorders in their children.
Advanced paternal age also has been linked with birth defects, and some sperm banks have age limits for donors because of that.
While important for scientists, the study results shouldn't discourage older men from fathering children, said Emma Frans, the lead author.
She said the results suggest that similar mechanisms might contribute to risks for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism. Each of these disorders is thought to have many causes including biologic and outside factors.
Children born to older fathers face a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder,... more
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Strive For Happiness wins
2008 Silver Telly Award!!
Strive For Happiness won a 2008 (1st place) Silver Telly Award in the Television Documentary category.
A brief history of the Telly.
The Telly Awards was founded in 1978 to honor excellence in local, regional and cable TV commercials. Non-broadcast video and TV program categories were soon added. Today, the Telly is one of the most sought-after awards by industry leaders, from large international firms to local production companies and ad agencies. With over 200 categories, more organizations than ever are eligible to participate.
The 28th Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.
All judges are top advertising and production professionals, and past Telly Winners.
Judges evaluate entries to recognize distinction in creative work. Entries are judged against a high standard of merit. Judges score entries on a performance scale and winning entries are recognized and awarded as Silver or Bronze Winners based on the combined scoring of the judges who evaluate each entry. Empowered to uphold the historical standards of the Telly competition, judges may award top honors to more than one entry or no entries in a particular category. All decisions of judges are final.
Silver Winners are awarded a Silver Telly statuette, the highest honor. Bronze Winners are awarded a Bronze Telly statuette. Designed by the same firm that makes the Oscar and Emmy, the Telly statuette weighs more than 4 1/2 pounds.
Strive For Happiness wins
2008 Silver Telly Award!!
Strive For Happiness won a... more
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"A film about the lives of those who live with or care for loved ones who suffer from serious forms of mental illness."
About the Filmmaker
Richard M. Patricia is a graduate of Wilkes University with an MS in Science with an emphasis on Classroom Technology, William Paterson University with a B.S. in Communications and Northampton Community College with an Associates degree in Radio/Television. He is certified to teach in five areas of the communications field. He worked for CNBC, Twin County Cable, RCN, Comcast Cable, and a variety of radio stations. For six years, he produced daily segments for RCN's broadcast of the Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp. Rich produced a video entitled "The Lehigh Valley's Best Kept Secret" which was submitted to become a nominee for an Emmy Award. He is currently employed as a Television, Radio & Digital Media Teacher at Warren County Technical School in Washington, NJ. Rich has been involved in wedding and event videography business for over 21 years and exclusively with D-Vision Video for the last fifteen years where his work has won several awards through WEVA (Wedding Event & Videographer's Association) and the NJVA (New Jersey Videographer's Association). His film, "Strive For Happiness" was recently awarded a 2008 Silver Telly Award (1st place award).
"A film about the lives of those who live with or care for loved ones who suffer... more
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As 1-800-SUICIDE marks its tenth anniversary this year, the hotline needs your help. It was founded in 1998 by Reese Butler in memory of his wife, Kristin who had committed suicide. The Kristin Brooks Hope Center has helped almost three million callers connect to help and hope.
As they enter their second decade of service to the public, continued support is needed to ensure that the confidentiality of every caller is protected. Because they are totally privately funded, they need to prove to the government that they are capable of supporting 1-800-SUICIDE to keep control of the line from being taken over by the federal government.
The money you donate will not only be used to pay the phone bill that connects about 50,000 callers each month to the Hopeline Network, but will also be used to pay for training of online crisis counselors who will provide the same support via online counseling. This is where the young people of today reach out for help. The success of 1-800-SUICIDE is based on individuals in crisis knowing that any personal identifiable information is kept strictly confidential.
The Hope Center’s volunteer staff and Board remain committed to preserving confidential suicide prevention programs. Your action today assures their sustainability!
The Kristin Brooks Hope Center and its national 1-800-SUICIDE hotline is a great asset to our society – one of those private-sector initiatives called a “point of light.” For reasons of their own, certain officials within the government tried to snuff that light. With your help and support together we can prevent that tragedy from occurring and help the Hopeline achieve success in liberating 1-800-SUICIDE from government control permanently.
As 1-800-SUICIDE marks its tenth anniversary this year, the hotline needs your help.... more
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Woman who cursed MARTA rider now in special home
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2008/06/03/marta_video_cursing.html
The woman whose tirade against an elderly MARTA train passenger was caught on video has been released from jail and is living in a personal care home for the mentally ill.
Nafiza Ziyad, 25, must live at the facility in order to remain out of the DeKalb County jail on bond, defense attorney Derek Gage of the DeKalb County public defender's office said Tuesday
Woman who cursed MARTA rider now in special home... more
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The effects of this disease are uncontollable. Many people who have it, and have to take thier meds do not like the side effects of it. Just wanted to ask current.com about your feelings towards the subject at hand?
http://www.healthprofessor.com/landers/bipolar.php?keywords=bipolar+disorder&referrer=Yahoo&camp=HealthProfessor-BipolarDisorder&group=bipolar+disorder&keyword=stats+on+bipolar
Bipolar disorder affects men and women equally and usually appears between the ages of 15 and 25. The exact cause is unknown, but it occurs more often in relatives of people with bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder results from disturbances in the areas of the brain that regulate mood. During manic periods, a person with bipolar disorder may be overly impulsive and energetic, with an exaggerated sense of self. The depressed phase brings overwhelming feelings of anxiety, low self-worth, and suicidal thoughts.
There are two primary types of bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder I have had at least one fully manic episode with periods of major depression. In the past, bipolar disorder I was called manic depression.
People with bipolar disorder II seldom experience full-fledged mania. Instead they experience periods of hypomania (elevated levels of energy and impulsiveness that are not as extreme as the symptoms of mania). These hypomanic periods alternate with episodes of major depression.
A mild form of bipolar disorder called cyclothymia involves periods of hypomania and mild depression, with less-severe mood swings. People with bipolar disorder II or cyclothymia may be misdiagnosed as having depression alone.
If you, or anyone else in your family is suffering with this disease here are some suggested sites as so related to bipolar disorder:
http://www.bridgetoabrightertomorrow.com/
www.bipolarplanet.com
www.psychostats.net
www.RightHealth.com/bipolardisorder
or just goggle "BIPOLAR"The effects of this disease are uncontollable. Many people who have it, and have to... more
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HAVE U SEEN THIS ABILIFY-INGLY WIERD AD?
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