Privacy please....

Over on Clinical Psychiatry News, I have a an article up on medical privacy, HIPAA, electronic medical records, routine dental care, compliance and regulation, and yes, fish.  Surf on over if you get a chance.

Is This Fish Happy or Toxic?

Thank you to Anon who sent us a clip to this interesting article in the Montreal Gazette about all the fish in the St. Lawrence River who are being exposed to anti-depressants though human waste.

William Marsden writes in "Antidepressants Found in Fish":

"It's very hard," Sauve said. "The question itself is quite interesting. You can't ask a fish whether it is happier or not. One of things they can do is use cameras to look at the male behaviour. Will it have the same behaviour in mating or feeding? Then you have to go back and look at its normal behaviour. It's quite tedious work and difficult."

Quebecers purchase about 555 million antidepressants a year. That works out to about one in four Quebecers taking one pill a day. That does not include the amount prescribed by psychiatric hospitals.

Hmm... I'm not sure what to say. Should we be more alarmed about what the meds are doing to the fish (and just how happy should a fish be?) or the idea that Quebecers average a one in four rate of taking anti-depressants?

Cure for Fish Phobia?

Hmm, seems we zipped past our 800th post with Dinah's Dear Fat Doctor.  

So, you've heard of our Sex with Fish post.  And Sex with Fish, Revisited (of course).

Now comes Sex with Feet Feet with Fish. A Virginia salon is pioneering the use of little bitty carp to nibble away your worries... and your dry, flaking skin.

Just dip your tired dogs in the warm water and a hundred puny, puckering, piscine podiatrists suck your feet clean of dead skin.  AP writer Matthew Barakat writes about the tiny "doctor fish", also known as garra rufa, in the Baltimore Sun:

Customers were quickly hooked.

Tracy Roberts, 33, of Rockville, Md., heard about it on a local radio show. She said it was "the best pedicure I ever had" and has spread the word to friends and co-workers.

"I'd been an athlete all my life, so I've always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely," she said.

First time customer KaNin Reese, 32, of Washington, described the tingling sensation created by the toothless fish: "It kind of feels like your foot's asleep," she said.

It seems that Turkey has used these dermophilic fish for some time to treat psoriasis. For those of you with fish phobias, this might be an excellent way to use exposure therapy ("immersion" therapy, even) to desensitize you to fish.  But can you charge it to your health savings account?