1995 Heartfelt

It's cool how science finds new uses for old things. Especially when it comes to drugs. Especially when drug companies spend billions on research for new drugs every year.
So when it was found that a low dose of non-patent protected generic aspirin every day was good for your heart, and more side effect free than any of the blockbuster expensive drugs, I'm sure the drug companies felt their blood pressure go up accordingly.
That's why the story I read recently about Tylenol struck a nerve. Seems acetaminophen, the chemical name for Tylenol, also available in generic non-patent protected form, has another use. It can treat depression. At least depression related to pain and dread.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia had subjects watch disturbing scenes from a movie or write several paragraphs about what they thought would happen to their bodies when they died. Turns out those who were given acetaminophen before engaging in those depressing acts were significantly less upset than those given a placebo.
The study author Daniel Randles said, "We think that Tylenol is blocking existential unease in the same way it prevents pain, because a similar neurological process is responsible for both types of distress." A region of the brain known as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex processes both physical pain and certain kinds of psychological pain.
So good news. To the extent depression is caused by pain, a couple of cheap Tylenol may help. Bye-bye Prozac. And hello Big Pharma freaking out and having a coronary.
You can take cheap aspirin to keep your heart from stopping and inexpensive Tylenol to ease the pain of it breaking. "Broken heart? Take two of these and call me in the morning."
A one-pill solution for headache and heartache.
My heart is bursting with joy.
America, ya gotta love it.