Happy April Fool’s Day!
This email (reproduced below) was an April Fool’s Day prank!
Here were some clues:
– The date, April 1, 2022, was at the top of the email.
– Colohal is an anagram for “alcohol”
– HO-5h2c is C2H5OH backwards.
– “Professor” A. Busch’s name was a play on Anheuser-Busch, the manufacturer of Budweiser and several other beers.
– The “treatment” was described as being “a social lubricant”.
– Adverse events including disinhibition, impaired coordination, flushing of the face, and slurred speech.
Hope I “got” you? Please do post your comments at the bottom of this page (under “Leave a Reply”)
April 1, 2022
A pilot clinical trial published this month suggested that HO-5h2c, also called colohal, a treatment being developed by Scotland-based Glen Pharmaceuticals may be the most effective intervention yet for social anxiety disorder.
In this study, presented at the International Conference of Anxiety Disorders held in Glasgow, Scotland, earlier this month, adults with social anxiety disorder were randomized to receive up to 5 standard units of HO-5h2c or placebo before being exposed to a social situation.
Subjects who received HO-5h2c had statistically significantly less social anxiety than those who received placebo (p < 0.001). In fact, patients reported a feeling of pleasant well-being.
Professor A. Busch, a leading expert on the treatment of social anxiety disorder commented that the findings were exciting and promised relief for millions of patients who suffer from social anxiety. He called on insurance companies to cover payment for this treatment.
Colohal was generally well-tolerated and subjects described it as “a social lubricant” and rated it as “high acceptable”. Adverse events that occurred more often on HO-5h2c than on placebo included disinhibition, impaired coordination, flushing of the face, and slurred speech.
Previous April Fool’s Day pranks
Which of these studies were real and which ones are fakes?
Mental health clinicians are at higher risk of ischial bursitis and other medical conditions
New FDA guideline on the naming of approved drugs
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Danielle says
I almost sent to a friend and said, does this not sound like alcohol? lol… Def believed for a second there!
Rajnish Mago, MD says
Ha, ha!
Kelli says
Disinhibition indeed! Hahaha. Love your humor.
Kim Walker-Daniels PMHNP-BC says
Your sense of humor is one of the many, many reasons I look forward to S&P in my email box every day.
Kim Best says
Good one! I recognized what I thought was an alcohol element in the chemical name, but didn’t get suspicious until I got to social lubricant and side effects. Very clever!
Jessica Lee Lebrun says
Great! Lol