"Why I Paint" - Taylor Negron at Laemmle Royal

Renowned actor, comedian and storyteller Taylor Negron (Fast Time At Ridgemont High, The Last Boy Scout, Seinfeld) is opening an exhibit of original paintings at the Laemmle Royal in West L.A. The exhibit will be up from April 24 - July 25, 2014.

Taylor, who has been a key supporter of History of Cool, is the first in a series of History of Cool profiles.

Here is the link to the Event:

Tameeka Henry: Valerie June, Love and Education

Tameeka Henry tells us about an artist she had just discovered, Valerie June. She discusses the over-use of love and the importance of educational opportunities.

How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?

by Greg Dorn

In History of Cool’s most recent interview, assemblage artist Matjames Metson tells us how he found comfort in friendship and art after losing everything to Hurricane Katrina. His very survival depended on the daunting and courageous task of creating new work to make sense of the incomprehensible. Matjames intuitively set out to cope through unprecedented tragedy by immerging himself in passionate reflection.

The song “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” surfaced in post-production of Metson’s extraordinary tale. The discovery of the tune came in large part to Bruce Springsteen’s rendition following the historical aftermath of Katrina. But it was American folk singer, Blind Alfred Reed, who first penned the song in 1929 in response to the Great Depression.  Clearly, the same song that touched nerves in the 1920s still resonated with folks nearly 80 years later.  This stands as a testament to the power of art to comfort the human spirit. Separated by decades and an immeasurable amount of misfortunes, we still can find ease through creative expression. That in itself is a comforting thought.

Check out the original Blind Alfred Reed recording:

And here is Bruce Springsteen’s version:

Greg Dorn is a freelance writer and a member of the History of Cool team. He lives in Chicago. He is also a contributing Writer at Chicago Tribune Media Group. Follow him on twitter: @GregoryDorn

Valerie June’s song ‘Raindance’ is the Coolest song I’ve ever heard

by Shabrena Barnard
I must admit, I almost feel guilty for how much fun I’m having editing interviews here at History of Cool. Allowing myself to flow with the tides of life has led me directly to a passionate group of dedicated folks whose pure intention is to build a platform for positive discussion worldwide. I’ve found a place where I am consistently inspired, and am in direct access with Cool people who lead me to the waters of creative life. And oh how refreshing those waters are…

One upcoming Cool interviewee, the sparkly and charming Tameeka Henry, led me to a singer who is expanding my knowledge of human potential.

Her name is Valerie June. Born and raised in Tennessee, Valerie’s look and voice are striking as the most brilliant iris. A true artist, her songs are a hopeful reflection of longing not only for personal freedom, but for the liberation of love in all of our hearts.  I am going to go on record and declare “Raindance” as one of the most powerful songs to ever travel the sonic gateway to my soul.

Here are two gorgeous live versions of “Raindance”; one from the cozy studio of Seattle’s KEXP, and a slightly more damp forest performance in Holland.

Highly recommended - Valerie June: Manifest

This short documentary gives a glimpse into the delicately complex relationship Valerie has with her family, as well as insight into the determination it took to create her own life built on the principles of simplicity and loving acceptance.

Watch for more Valerie June in our interview with Tameeka Henry:

Shabrena Barnard is an editor, writer, and a member of the History of Cool team. Follow her on twitter: @shabsoasis

Assemblage artist Matjames Metson shows us his studio, talks about his friend and writer Henry Cherry, surviving the worst displacement of people since the dustbowl, and imagines how wearing Victorian clothes would change our perspective on the luxuries of today.

Someone once said, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” Hence the reason why so few people, primarily athletes, make it to the top of their profession. How did they get there? In most cases, at some point, they won.

We then receive an even rarer breed, the cream of the already exclusive crop. These are the great ones, the very elite. They’ve achieved such greatness at what they do, we expect nothing short of victory. While scores of aspiring athletes yearn to reach that level, it also comes with a heavy burden. Even the great ones, every now and then, must lose. It’s the people who do so with class and dignity that separates them from the pack.

Cool Quotes, Misquoted.

imageMore often than we might think, the most memorable movie lines are not remembered correctly. The films that resonate with us usually encompass a moment, phrase or theme that endures well after the lights come up. Some of these moments have transcended the movie world and firmly engrained themselves in everyday life. Who hasn’t uttered the timeless expression, “There’s no place like home?” Try looking into a mirror without asking yourself, “You talking to me?”

These lines, and many others, have taken on a life of their own beyond the context in which we first heard them. History of Cool had the good fortunate of speaking with long-time producer Brian Frankish. Among his many accomplishments includes working on the film, Field of Dreams. Frankish recalled the majestic moment when Ray Kinsella’s persistent beliefs allowed for the rare opportunity to reconcile with his father. The quote that set him on his spiritual journey stacks up with the best of them: “If you build it, they will come.” We then realized this wasn’t the line at all. The correct wording turned out to be, “If you build it, he will come.” The “He” of course refers to Ray’s dad, the man who served as a metaphor for the regrets we carry throughout our lives.

If the wrong words can so easily roll off of our tongues, what else have we gotten wrong? The answer is a lot.

See these lists of misquotes in movies on Buzzfeed, WhatCulture.com, and  TotalFilm.com. Can you think of more examples?

It’s not limited to entertainment. Here is Listverse's Famous Historic Misquotes.

But perhaps the question is not what, but why?

Imagine the children’s game, telephone. A group of kids sit in a circle, whispering a phrase to one another. Usually, once the words arrive at the last person, they come out differently than originated. Hence, history, is one big game of telephone. Words get passed down from generation to generation, often distorted from the initial phrasing.

Is this a bad thing? Not really. We remember things in a certain way for a reason. A line from a movie or a lyric from a song can mean something completely different to one person than it does to another. People hear what they want. And if someone can find some sort of comfort or personal revelation once the words reach their ears, the art has done its job.

"The Book Was Better"

We’ve all heard it before: “The movie was good, but the book was better.” In many cases, this phrase comes from the mouth of a pretentious antagonist: someone who would go on to describe how said movie “spoiled” the book’s integrity.

 But if a treasured piece of literature gained integrity in the first place, can anything -including a bad movie - really do it damage?

The Chicago Eight

by Greg Dorn

What is cool? Who is cool? These questions will no-doubt yield an array of different answers, thoughts, feelings and emotions. In fact, the very interpretation of these quandaries can often guide the conversation. When History of Cool sat down with L.A. Weekly founder Jay Levin, cool to him meant friend and activist Abbie Hoffman.

Although vocal up until his death in 1989, Hoffman is perhaps best known as a member of “The Chicago 8” (later renamed “The Chicago 7”), a group of protestors arrested and tried for conspiracy and inciting to riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The opposition for U.S. involvement in Vietnam had reached a boiling point by ’68. Hoffman set his sights on the Chicago convention, as the Democratic-led White House embodied the establishment responsible for the war.

Founder of LA Weekly on Abbie Hoffman and Radical Sanity

LA Weekly founder Jay Levin came to the History of Cool studios to discuss what he thought was cool. He talked about Radical Sanity and answered our Three Question Interview. The video was published today on our YouTube channel

When asked what Levin thought was cool, he mentioned his friend Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989). Hoffman, a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party (“Yippies”), was one of the Chicago Seven convicted of inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Hoffman’s conviction was later overturned.

Sid Caesar 1922 – 2014

If Milton Berle served as Mr. Television and Jack Benny embodied comedic timing, Sid Caesar was the resident goofball. Welcome to the golden age of television, when talk shows, variety hours and sitcoms still ruled the airwaves.

Caesar first set out to become a jazz musician, choosing the saxophone as his axe. His commanding officer in the army witnessed him cracking up his troops, and the rest is history. Perhaps not as celebrated as other TV stars, Sid Caesar set the standard for organized insanity. His first writing team for the groundbreaking Your Show of Shows can be described as the “Dream Team” of comedy: Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Mel Tolkin and Neil Simon. Although short lived, Your Show made way to Caesar’s Hour, championed by an unknown, neurotic funnyman, Woody Allen. As the variety hour concept became more prevalent and crowded, Caesar’s star diminished.

It was 50 Years Ago Today

by Greg Dorn

February 9, 2014 marks 50 years since The Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan Show to an estimated 73 million viewers.

A mere ten weeks earlier, the nation went into mourning after an assassin’s bullet killed our beloved President. John F. Kennedy stands as the closest thing this country has ever had to royalty. His youthful essence and charismatic charm infused a sense of hope and optimism for a better tomorrow. After the untimely passing, the idiom known as the “60s” began to take shape. The mysterious murder fueled a distrust in our government that still exists today. A mostly unknown war gained significant steam in Southeast Asia. People started to see children and young adults as their own entity, rather than just a pathway to adulthood. Although in its infant stages, rock and roll had already began to shake the foundation of what music could be. The so called “jungle music” created a divide between kids and their parents. The world was on the brink of a cultural and political revolution. And The Beatles arrived at the exact right place, at the exact right time.

These odd-looking lads from Liverpool not only embodied the ready-to-explode youth culture, they became a voice for their cause. Teenagers were tired of hearing records from The Singing Nun or Andy Williams. They needed something fun, exciting, dangerous and different. The Beatles were a breath of fresh air, and exactly what we were looking for.

Their strange hair, quirky accents and unprecedented sound were intoxicating. Immediately put in front of the world’s stage, they handled it with class, wit and charm. The Beatles were a welcomed sign of change, and the kids ate it up.

This is why, 50 years later, The Beatles continue to mesmerize the masses. Their story has reached mythical heights, with Decca Records infamously stating, “guitar groups are on the way out.” They were no doubt kicking themselves when a then-record 73 million people watched The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show (roughly 38% of the U.S. populations).

From the first words out of Paul McCartney’s mouth, “Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you,” America knew they had found something special. This was largely in part due to older folks perceiving them as longhaired, inappropriate hooligans. What more would make a kid find something cool than if their mom or dad hated it? Much like a superhero needs a villain, The Beatles needed the naysayers.

It didn’t hurt that The Beatles had a very strategic and intentional branding plan. As each member’s name ran across the screen, kids instantly chose their “favorite Beatle.” Names like the cute one (Paul) or the quite one (George) became common phrases at school. If you didn’t have an answer to “who’s your favorite Beatle,” hip and cool you were not.

Now, we find ourselves in the year 2014, and The Beatles remain as relevant as ever. Perhaps it’s simply because they created the greatest body of work ever assembled from a rock and roll band. Maybe we still speak of them as cultural visionaries; a group who changed the world, and in turn, changed them. Needless to say The Beatles’ story continues into the 21st Century because they offered something, whether it was a song or a feeling, that we desperately needed in a confusing and turbulent time. If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

Dan Bern talks about the coolness of the E and C chords.

1 of 17


Nov 242008

It is no surprise that the Leafs have trade a defenseman since they had an abundance of them. What might be a surprise is they did so when they are suffer from several injuries on defense (Van Ryn, Frogren and Colaiacovo himself) and possibly just days before Brian Burke takes over as GM.

If you subscribe to the theory that the team who gets the best player wins the trade, you have to give the edge to the Leafs. But I am not convinced that the Blues didn’t do very well in this trade. Yes Colaiacovo had his health issues and it seemed apparent than new coach Ron Wilson wasn’t enamored with his conditioning but Colaiacovo is still highly talented and can play a physical brand of hockey. If the Blues can get him on the right track they could have a very good top 4 defenseman on their hands.

Also, Alex Steen is a very useful player. His offense hasn’t developed as many would have liked, and this year was definitely a step back when he had the opportunity to do so much more, but even if he only gets you 30-40 points he can still be a solid defensive player and penalty killer.

In Stempniak the Leafs get another skilled forward and although scoring hasn’t been a problem so far this year they do have a lack of (perceived or otherwise) young skilled top 6 level forwards. Stempniak is should fit that role and he has the speed and skill that Fletcher has been adding to this team ever since he took over from John Ferguson Jr.

Interestingly enough, likely incoming GM Brian Burke is more known for wanting to play a big physical game so who knows what he is going to think of guys like Grabovsky, Stempniak, etc.


Toronto Symphony serves up blazing birthday cake to Samuel Barber

Jon Kimura Parker, Gil Shaham
Toronto Star

By John Terauds

Superbly led by music director Peter Oundjian, this was our city’s flagship orchestra at its very best. It served up impeccably rendered interpretations of a representative sample of Barber’s work, spanning his early days as a composer in the 1930s, to the pinnacle of his success and popularity in the early 1960s. (He died in 1981, following a long creative dry spell.)

The evening’s program was given additional heft and interest by two spectacular soloists: Canadian Jon Kimura Parker, playing the Piano Concerto, and American Gil Shaham, in the Violin Concerto.

The concert began with an intensely luminous reading of Barber’s most famous piece: the Adagio for Strings, which he adapted out of the slow movement of his nearly forgotten String Quartet in 1935. This is one of those chestnuts that’s been played and heard so many times that its contours are often too slick and worn. Oundjian’s supremely focused direction gave it a shape so clear, that it felt like one could reach out and touch it.

The music sounded as fresh as if the ink were barely dry on each musician’s score.

The orchestra and its conductor were equally impressive in the Symphony No. 1, created a year later. Oundjian introduced it to the audience as a masterpiece, then proceeded to show us exactly why this is so. It is an architectural wonder clad in strands of gorgeously wrought melody.

The two concertos were equally captivating, thanks to magnetic performances from the two soloists. Parker tossed off the fierce piano part with panache and a big dollop of lyrical aplomb. Shaham used his bow as a light sabre, casting intense beams of sunshine on this already-luminous showpiece.

Simply put, neither a birthday celebration nor a concert could possibly get any better than this uplifting, energizing night at the symphony. Missing these performances is your loss.

Wednesday night’s concert was recorded by CBC Radio 2 for future broadcast. Oundjian and the TSO reprise the Symphony and the Adagio on Saturday night, in a program that also includes George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, played by Parker.


Supercomputing and Computation

Quantum Computing

In a quantum computer, where information is governed by the rules of quantum mechanics, phenomena such as superposition and quantum entanglement are employed to carry out certain computational tasks more efficiently than is possible with classically-limited machines.

Related Projects

1-2 of 2 Results

Quantum Computer Science
— Prior work in Quantum Computing (QC) has focused mostly on algorithms or hardware. Development of programming languages, compilers, operating systems, and architectures is an open field.

ASTEQC (Automated Software Tools for Engineering Quantum Computers)


U.S.: College students locked in TransCanada’s MA offices over Tar Sands

Our Civil Disobedience Today

In November 2011, the International Energy Agency published a report stating that we would be “locked in” to irreversible global warming within five years unless we dramatically changed the rate at which we were constructing new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Fourteen months have gone by since that five year deadline was set, but still Transcanada presses forward with attempts to build the Keystone XL pipeline. Transcanada’s efforts to build fossil fuel infrastructure—when society’s resources should be invested in safe renewable energy—are dangerous and immoral. The urgency of the IEA report should be enough of a warning, but we also know that full combustion of the Canadian tar sands deposits delivered by Transcanada’s pipeline would be “game over” for the climate.

The Keystone XL pipeline thus represents an intolerable threat to our future. It represents the crippling burdens of disease borne by thousands of Americans, Canadians, and others across the planet who live near sites of fossil fuel extraction, transportation, and combustion, so we stand in solidarity with our friends in Texas who blockade construction to protect communities threatened by the pipeline. It represents the extreme destruction of the climate crisis to which countless millions have already lost their homes, their jobs and their lives, so we stand in solidarity with our friends in New York and New Jersey still suffering from the effects of Superstorm Sandy. It represents the threat of even greater destruction that is still to come from an unabated climate crisis, so we stand in solidarity with all humanity.

Our actions today aim to raise awareness and build momentum to halt the destruction that fossil fuel corporations knowingly cause. Science, and economics and logic provide an obvious imperative for action. However, even overwhelming factual evidence has not compelled our political leaders to stand up to these corporations. Our elected representatives have not yet found the courage to draw a clear line in the sand and prevent the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Today, we hope to present our political leaders with an example of the courage needed to confront the climate crisis by putting our bodies in the way of corporations whose activities threaten our society. Today, we add our peaceful civil disobedience to an accelerating tidal wave of actions, from the farmlands of rural Texasto the steps of the White House, as people across the nation rise up together.

[Also see: http://ecowatch.org/2013/protesters-keystone-xl-transcanada/


Color Therapy - Chromotherapy

Color Specrum - Color Prism

We know that when all colors join the result is white light. Therefore working with White Light brings about completeness, oneness, union of all complementary parts.

How Colors Affect Us

  • Color is one of the languages of the soul, just look at inspired or meditative paintings.
  • They influence our mood and emotions.
  • They have their impact on our sense of well-being or un-easiness.
  • Using and avoiding certain colors is a way of self-expression; it sheds light on our personality.
  • They influence the flow and amount of energy in our bodies.
  • Colors tell something about biological attraction and sexual availability.

Before examining color and its healing implications, we must address a very important concept: that of cause and effect. True healing comes about when the cause of the condition or illness is addressed and transformed. If healing goes no further than a mere relief or masking of the symptoms, then, eventually, that which brought about the need for healing, in the first place, will resurface and manifest itself within the body in one form or another.

Body is an outward expression of that which is taking place within the mind, the soul (subconscious) , and the spirit (superconscious) of the individual. Thus, any healing technique which deals only with the physical body and the energy field of the individual tends to accomplish one thing: it jump starts the individual, so to speak, and gives him or her an added boost of energy. That energy boost then allows that person's own internal healing mechanism to become mobilized into greater activity.

Keeping this in mind, let us look at how color can help jump-start the tired or diseased body. Color healing, known as Chromotherapy, can be implemented in a number of ways. The ancients built great halls of color healing, where individuals entered and were bathed in light that was filtered through various colored glass panels or windows.

Energy (spiritual) healers often supplement their healing work with color healing. As they lay their hands on the patient, they mentally direct specific color rays into the patient's aura and body. Oftentimes, the color used is inspired by the superconscious.

Color Chart

A preference for certain colors can point at two things:

An aversion against certain colors gives information as well. Possible explanations are given in the chart.

Healing properties: Brings warmth, energy and stimulation, therefore good for energy, fatigue, colds, chilly and passive people. Red energizes heart and blood circulation, it builds up the blood and heightens a low blood pressure. Energizes all organs and the senses hearing, smell, taste, vision and touch. Increases sexual desire and activity. Stimulates ovulation and menstruation. Never treat cancer with red, because this color will stimulate cell growth!

Red links with and stimulates the root chakra, at the base of the spine, causing the adrenal glands to release adrenalin. This results in greater strength. Red causes hemoglobin to multiply, thus increasing energy and raising body temperature. It is excellent for anemia and blood-related conditions. It loosens, opens up clogs, releases stiffness and constrictions. It is excellent for areas that have become stiffened or constricted.

Esoteric/magickal: Deities of love, passion, sexuality and war (to stimulate a healthy portion of assertiveness). Great energy, courage, will-power, determination, speed, assertiveness, aggression, masculinity, independence, physical strength, sports, competition, conflicts, health, sexual attraction and potency, love and passion, fertility.

Preference for red: Red is associated with passionate love, sex, great energy, impulse, action and stimulation, assertiveness and aggression, courage, strength and power, adventure, danger, warnings, revolt and revolution. Temperamental and ambitious people with a need for personal freedom.

Healing properties: Orange is warm, cheering, non-constricting. Orange has a freeing action upon the body and mind, relieving repressions. Orange shows new possibilities and other options in life. Stimulates creative thinking and enthusiasm, and helps assimilate new ideas.It is also helpful in dealing with excess sexual expression.

Orange stimulates the lungs, the respiration and the digestion. Increases the activity of the thyroid. Reliefs muscle cramps and spasms. Increases the amount of mother milk.

Finally, orange links very strongly with the sacral chakra.

Esoteric/magickal: Deities of good luck and fortune. Attraction, charm, kindness, encouragement, stimulation, optimism, success, abundance, prosperity, feast and celebration, energy, achieving business-goals, investments, success in legal matters.

Preference for orange: Orange represents the warmth of the fire. It brings even more energy than yellow, celebration and great abundance, comfort, enjoyment of the senses. Warm, sociable, dynamic and independent people who dedicate themselves to whatever they do.

Healing properties: Yellow helps strengthen the nerves and the mind. It helps awaken mental inspiration and stimulates higher mentality. Thus, it is an excellent color for nervous or nerve-related conditions or ailments. It also energizes the muscles. Dark yellow soothes pains in the nerves (shooting pains)

Yellow can be used for conditions of the stomach, liver, and intestines. Speeds up the digestion and assimilation, and the stool.

Yellow links with and stimulates the solar plexus, or psychic center. It can be used for psychic burnout or other psychic-related conditions or ailments. Activates and cheers up depressed and melancholic people. Gives lust for life.

Esoteric/magical: Elemental air. Deities for trade, travel, knowledge and magick. Life-force, vitality, change, progress, contact, communication, trade, commerce, to persuade with confidence, joy, cheerfulness, learning, knowledge, mental clarity, concentration, memorizing, tests, speaking and writing, traveling, affirmation, visualization.

Preference for yellow: The color of the sun, life-force, vividity, vitality and energy. The color of cheerfulness, curiosity, alternation, flexibility, progress, amusement, contact through traveling and communication, learning and practical knowledge. A feeling for writing and speaking.

Aversion to yellow: A person who has aversion to yellow may be emotionally disappointed and bitter.May have tendency to rationalize feelings, or to avoid the depth of life by often changing relationships, many superficial relationships and/or constant changing activities.

Healing properties: Green is the color of Nature and the earth. It is balance and harmony in essence and possesses a soothing influence upon both mind and body. It is neither relaxing nor astringent in its impact.Green can be used for just about any condition in need of healing.

Green rings psychological and emotional harmony and balance.

Green links with and stimulates the heart chakra.Green affects blood pressure and all conditions of the heart. It has both an energizing effect and a moderating or soothing effect.

It cures hormonal imbalances. Stimulates growth hormone and rejuvenation. Cleans and purifies from germs, bacteria and rotting material. Harmonizes the digestion, stomach, liver, gall. Has a healing effect on kidneys. Increases immunity. Builds up muscles, bones and tissues. Stimulates inner peace. Strengthens the nervous system.

Esoteric/magickal: Elemental earth (dark green) and elemental water (blue-green). Nature, fertility, growth, rejuvenation, recovering, healing, harvest and abundance, prosperity, harmony, balance, peace, hope, mother earth, home, herbal magick, plants and animals, counteract greed and jealousy.

Cools down inflammations (don't forget rheumatic inflammations), fever, high blood pressure, stops bleedings, reliefs the bursting headaches, calms strong emotions like anger, aggression or hysteria. Brings tranquility. Anti-itching. Anti-irritation (for instance redness of the skin), anti-stress. Soothes suffering.

Blue can be used for any type of ailments associated with speech, communication, or the throat. Excellent forlaryngitis or inflammation of the larynx.

Blue links with and stimulates the throat chakra. The throat chakra is often referenced as the "power center" and "the greatest center in the body" because it is the primary center of expression and communication, through speech.

Esoteric/magickal: Elemental water and elemental air. Deities of the sea, truth and wisdom. Peace and tranquility, calmness, truth, wisdom, justice, counsel, guidance, understanding, patience, loyalty and honor, sincerity, devotion, healing, femininity, prophetic dreams, protection during sleep, astral projection.

Preference for blue: Cool and soothing, dreamy and magical. Peace and rest. For people who keep a certain distance, but give calm and practical help; they are faithful and loyal, have a sense for order, logic and rational thinking. Flying in day-dreaming, ideals or nostalgia when felt mis-understood. Dark blue is more severe and can be melancholic. Blue is also the color of truth.

Healing properties: Indigo is a great purifier of the bloodstream and also benefits mental problems. It is a freeing and purifying agent.

Indigo links with and stimulates the brow chakra (third eye) and controls the pineal gland. It governs both physical and spiritual perception.It can be of great assistance in dealing with ailments of the eyes and ears.

Violet / Purple

Leonardo da Vinci proclaimed that you can increase the power of meditation ten-fold by meditating under the gentle rays of Violet, as found in Church windows.

Esoteric/magickal: Elemental spirit. Divination and prophecy. Angels. Psychic abilities, divination, counter-acting negativity/black magick, reversing curses, psychic healing, psychic power, inspiration, meditation, spirituality, spiritual power, astral projection, third eye, compassion, counter-acting depression.

Preference for violet/purple: Colors for meditation, contemplation, mysticism, spirituality and religion power. A longing to ascend and dissolve polarities (purple consists of the active red and passive blue), to improve the world. Reservation, mystery and dignity. Soft, sensitive people with often paranormal abilities.

Healing properties: White is the perfect color; for it is all colors, in perfect balance and harmony. It is the color of the awakened Spirit; the light of perfection; the light of the Cosmic Consciousness,the Divine Light.

Just about everyone has heard of surrounding people with the "White Light of Healing and Protection." White light raises the vibration of one's consciousness and the body, bringing harmony in all aspects of one's life. Directing white into to a part of the body that needs healing is one of the fastest ways to bring about healing.

Esoteric/magickal: Purification and cleaning on all levels, contact with higher self and spiritual helpers, (inner) peace, aura-healing, truth seeking, consecration, spiritual enlightenment, protection against negativity by raising your vibration, breaking curses, exorcism, meditation, divination, inspiration, clairvoyance, invoking spirits White can be a replacement for any other color your magick requires.

Aversion to white: A person who has an aversion to white color isforemost or solely interested in 'realistic' and tangible things, not in illusions or things that are beyond seeing or understanding. Knows and accepts the own imperfection and does not wish to achieve perfection.

Healing properties: Strengthens contact with your life purpose. Stimulates adrenalineand heart activity.

Esoteric/magickal: Scorpio-energy. Magnetism, to attract or speed up things, extra power, when immediate action and great spiritual power are needed, life purpose, life path.

Healing properties: Heals grief and sadness. Restores youthfulness. Brings you in contact with your feelings.

Esoteric/magickal: Softness and tenderness, romance, caring, nurturing, for children, youth, peace, friendship, femininity, emotional love, emotional healing.

Preference for pink: Regarded as a feminine color. Pink symbolizes softness, sweetness, innocence, youthfulness and tenderness. Soft and kind people.

Aversion to pink: A person who has an aversion to pink may have a challenge with expressingsoft, tender, female side.

Healing properties: Increases intuition and sensitivity. Works disinfecting and antiseptic. Tones the general system. Builds the skin. Relaxes sensations of stress.

Esoteric/magickal: Alterations, intellectual and intuitive insights, technique, inventions, originality, renewal, brotherhood, humanism.

Preference for turquoise: Just like the wide turquoise sea you don't want to feel restricted and you don't immediately bring to the surface what goes on in you; emotions can remain hidden. A color for non-triviality, renewal, innovation and inventions, progressive technics, alternative ways of living together, humanity.

Esoteric/magickal: Elemental earth. The planet-spirit Saturn. Stability, grounding, conservation, protection of household, family and pets, healing animals, finding lost objects, material constructions (buildings etc.), material increase, to make relationships solid, to increase decisiveness and concentration, attracting help in financial crisis.

Esoteric/magickal: Neutralizing negative influences, erasing or cancelling situations, causing stalemates

Esoteric/magickal: Elemental earth. Deities of the underworld. Repel/banish evil and negativity, protection, banishing, binding, breaking free from bad habits/addictions, deep meditation, opens up deep unconscious levels.

Preference for black: Symbolizes seriousness, darkness, depression, death, mourning, mystery, secrecy, occultism, a standing apart from or revolting against triviality, provocation, underground, underworld, things that have to remain hidden, nothingness as the great source of all creation, the need to keep your energy with you. Black is a color for extremes, everything and nothing. People who foremost trust themselves.

Aversion to black: A person who has an aversion to black may have fear for the unknown, or fear for the abuse of power. Desires to become free from all kinds of dependency, blockages, hindrances; to throw off shackles.

Esoteric/magickal: Female energy, cycles, rebirth, reincarnation, healing of hormonal imbalances, emotional stability, remove or neutralize negativity, intuition, dreams, psychic abilities and psychic workings.

Esoteric/magickal: Love and passion, for positive relationships in love, friendship and business, career promotions, negotiations.

The point to remember concerning color therapy -is that complete healing generally comes about through some type of internal transformation. Heal the mind and the body will, surely, follow suit.

Recommended Books About Color Therapy

Light Years Ahead : The Illustrated Guide to Full Spectrum and Colored Light in Mindbody Healing
by Brian Brailing
This is an eye opening book. In this book clinicians illustrate the important role of light in the emerging fields of mind-body healing and subtle energy medicine. Working with light is a life-altering experience.You use the light until you see the light, and when you see the light you have the opportunity to become that light.

Advanced Pranic Healing : A Practical Manual for Color Pranic Healing
by Choa Kok Sui
This is a textbook filled with techniques and methods for using ch'i and color prana to produce very rapid healing. Master Choa explains his use of the eleven basic chakras, color prana, and preventive healing techniques. He provides information about advanced pranic treatments, including specific treatments for various ailments.

Principles of Esoteric Healing
by Dion Fortune
The text combines a logical metaphysical structure with specific intuitive exercises that help to make spiritual healing a less random and unconscious process. In these pages you will discover how to employ intuitive and clairvoyant techniques as an aid to diagnosis and healing.


Edition: U.S. / Global

ART REVIEW;2 Copley Shows: Split in Work, City and Approach

Published: November 10, 1995

A pair of exhibitions, "John Singleton Copley in America" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and "John Singleton Copley in England" at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, reopen one of the perennial questions of American art: how to fit together the two halves of this remarkable painter's career. Even in his own lifetime, it was widely considered that the portraits Copley painted before his 1774 departure for Europe were superior to his later work. His 19th-century critics saw the hardness and plainness of his early pictures as reflecting the blunt, forthright character of his American subjects; they condemned the more painterly portraits he did in England as a betrayal of his native American genius.

Not until the mid-20th century did critical opinion relent, granting Copley's English paintings rough parity with his American ones. The cultural inferiority complex that led earlier scholars to insist on the moral superiority of American art could be abandoned after the United States outstripped England in military and political power.

In the late 1960's, scholars once again began to focus on what was seen as the peculiarly American quality of Copley's early work. In an influential reinterpretation of American art, Barbara Novak presented Copley as the successor to a long tradition of Colonial "limners," who depicted their subjects conceptually, translating their figures into two-dimensional surface patterns characterized by strong outlines and an equal emphasis on every part of the picture.

More recently, scholars have gone back to interpreting Copley as an exemplar of late 18th-century American society. The catalogue essays and the copious wall-labels of "John Singleton Copley in America" at the Metropolitan hammer away relentlessly at the idea that the props in his portraits -- elegant costumes, luxurious fabrics and Chippendale furniture -- were meant to flaunt the affluence of his sitters. Copley's meticulous descriptions of clothes and objects are presented as a visual counterpart to the nickel-and-dime accounting of the merchants he painted.

It's a soft-core Marxist argument that only an academic would consider news. Nor does it do much to explain what is perhaps Copley's best-known image: his 1768 portrait of Paul Revere, depicting the not-yet-famous silversmith as a simple artisan in shirtsleeves and without the wig required of a gentleman. Copley's portrait of the revolutionary firebrand Samuel Adams poses a similar conundrum: despite the artist's Loyalist (i.e. pro-British) opinions, he depicted Adams with visible sympathy. It seems obvious that Copley responded to strength of character whatever the social status or opinions of his subjects. But character does not seem to be of any interest to the curators of "Copley in America" (Carrie Rebora, Paul Staiti, Erica H. Hirshler, Theodore E. Stebbins Jr. and Carol Troyen).

The enduring fascination of Copley's portraits derives both from the character of his subjects and from the formal qualities of his pictures. His chief talent lay in his uncanny ability to capture the living, breathing likeness of a face. But this is not enough to make a painting -- even a portrait painting. Growing up in 18th-century Boston, Copley learned about art primarily from aquatints and engravings. Right up until he arrived in Europe, he continued to think about form in terms of smoothly flowing areas of light and shadow, bordered by firm outlines.

You can call this an American style, but it's really just provincial. What little Copley knew about color, he learned from paintings by third-rate English portraitists who had come out to the colonies in the hope of redeeming their fortunes. He had no inkling of the flickering atmospheric envelope, the subtle chromatic harmonies and the delicate dissolution of form found in the work of his English contemporaries Reynolds, Gainsborough, Raeburn, Hoppner and Romney.

In the best of Copley's American paintings, he makes virtues out of his vices. The brilliantly observed faces are set into a sculptural framework of curving, interlocking draperies. Color is strictly subordinated to the play of light and shade. I would guess that Copley's greatest portraits -- like those of Revere, Nicholas Boylston, Elizabeth Oliver and the Verplanck brothers -- were done in their entirety from the living model. Mr. Stebbins, in the catalogue of "Copley in America," suggests that the artist himself played a large role in choosing his subjects' poses and costumes; and it may well be that his strongest portraits were also, in this sense, his most imaginative. His 1767 portrait of Boylston as an effete Oriental potentate doesn't tell us much about Colonial society, but it's a wonderful fantasy, equivalent, in its way, to Rembrandt's depictions of Amsterdam beggars as Old Testament kings.

Unfortunately, in many other canvases by Copley only the face seems to have been done from life, while the bodies and draperies were copied from English prints. Here the modeling loses all conviction: instead of evoking three-dimensional form, it seems to describe an abstract pattern of smoothly modulated lights and darks. If your tastes lean toward camp, this might be considered a virtue rather than a defect: Copley's depictions of silk and satin seem at times to anticipate the metallic surfaces of objects in 1960's canvases by Pop artists like Richard Lindner and Konrad Klapheck.

After he settled in England, Copley continued to support himself as a portraitist while embarking on a series of large history paintings. Emily Ballew Neff, the curator of "John Singleton Copley in England," at the National Gallery, takes a less programmatic approach to the artist than do the curators of "Copley in America," but she is faced with the challenge of dealing with a much more diverse group of pictures.

Copley's biblical illustrations are mere pastiches of paintings he had seen on his European tour, but his representations of contemporary history represent a valiant attempt to forge a new narrative idiom to replace the hackneyed allegories of Baroque art. His 1782-84 canvas "The Death of Major Peirson," on view in Washington, is organized around a contrast between the dying and fighting soldiers at center and a group of terrified women and children at right. The composition doesn't quite hang together: to figure out what the picture is about, you have to read it bit by bit. Nonetheless, it's interesting to see how Copley anticipates the contrast between stern male figures and grieving women in later, better history paintings like Jacques-Louis David's "Oath of the Horatii."

Copley never quite figured out how the great English portraitists used color and brushwork to hold together complex compositions. The flowing draperies, turbulent skies and pale colors of his 1784 portrait of Abigail Bromfield are clearly meant as a homage to Gainsborough, but the result is a garish parody. Ambitious group portraits like "The Three Youngest Daughters of George III" of 1785 fall apart into a series of disconnected pieces.

But Copley did succeed in reinventing his approach to the human face. In close-up views, the loosened brushwork and intensified colors of his English portraits work brilliantly. His circular self-portrait of 1780-84, his 1777-78 "Head of a Negro" and his 1796 portrait of John Quincy Adams are equal in quality to all but two or three of his American paintings. His portrait of the aged Earl Howe, done in 1791-94, combines soft, evocative brushwork in the face with a dry, summary indication of the admiral's brass buttons and gilt buttonholes: the result is a brilliant contrast between the pathos of age and the stoicism of duty.

Together, "Copley in America" and "Copley in England" tell the fascinating tale of a provincial talent fighting against all odds to become a sophisticated, metropolitan artist without losing the provincial qualities that originally made his work distinctive. (This is one of the great themes of 19th-century literature: think of Balzac's "Lost Illusions.") It's absurd that the two exhibitions should be divided between two cities. Fortunately, they will be shown together in Houston early next year.

"John Singleton Copley in America" remains at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fifth Avenue at 82d Street in Manhattan, through Jan. 7; it will travel to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts (Feb. 4 through April 28). "John Singleton Copley in England" remains at the National Gallery of Art in Washington through Jan. 7; it will travel to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts (Feb. 4 through April 28) and the Milwaukee Art Museum (May 22 through Aug. 25).

Photos: A detail from Copley's 1768 portrait of Paul Revere, at theMet. (Metropolitan Museum of Art); A detail from Copley's portrait of Earl Howe (1791-94), at the National Gallery in Washington. (National Gallery of Art)


Richard M. Nixon - The vietnam war

The priorities of the Nixon presidency lay not in domestic social or economic policies—which were simply the means to the end—but in reelection through creation of a majority coalition. What really interested Nixon was statecraft, the application of American power and diplomatic influence to regional and global problems.

The key problem for his presidency clearly would be the Vietnam War. It had driven his predecessor from office, and if it were not resolved in a way that could be turned to political advantage, it would drive him from office as well. Two months after Nixon assumed the presidency, American combat deaths exceeded thirty-six hundred, and there seemed no end in sight. Nixon was in a dilemma, for during the campaign he had said that he had a "secret plan" to end the war but could not divulge it because it might upset the Paris peace negotiations. If his plan involved escalation, Democrats could charge that he was abandoning attempts to reach a peaceful solution and could point to mounting American casualties and prisoners of war. If he negotiated a solution that led to the fall of the government in Saigon, Democrats could charge that he had abandoned an ally. Nixon had to find a way to cut American commitments while preserving the non-Communist government in South Vietnam—at least for a "decent interval" so that the overthrow of the regime could not be blamed on the United States.

Nixon, his national security adviser Henry Kissinger, and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird settled on an approach with several elements. First, the Laird policy for "Vietnamization" was adopted. Responsibility for fighting would be turned over to the Vietnamese, in order to reduce American casualties. Gradually American forces would be withdrawn. This would buy time on the home front. Second, a variant of the "madman" approach in international relations would be adopted. The administration would warn the North Vietnamese that unless they settled soon they would be subjected to carpet bombing of cities, mining of harbors, and even the spread of radioactive debris to halt infiltration of the South. Irrigation dikes would be destroyed and forests defoliated. Third, Nixon and Kissinger would apply the principle of "linkage" in dealing with the Soviet Union: the arms and trade agreements to be proposed to the Soviets (see below) would require a quid pro quo—Moscow would have to pressure Hanoi to agree to a settlement.

The Vietnam policy failed. Nixon announced the withdrawal of a half million troops, and by May 1972 no American forces were on combat missions. By January 1973, only twenty-five thousand American troops remained in Vietnam. The level of fatalities and injuries dropped. But the combat effectiveness of the South Vietnamese did not improve. The invasion of Laos by South Vietnamese forces not only was ineffective but turned into a rout, leaving little doubt that they would be no match for the North Vietnamese.

The escalation of the air war also failed. In mid-March 1969 a secret bombing campaign against Cambodia began; it was kept secret from Congress and the American people for two years. The Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, which supplied the Communists in the south (Vietcong), was also bombed, and the number of targets in South Vietnam was increased. In the spring of 1970 bombing was renewed over North Vietnam (reversing a halt ordered by President Johnson in 1968) in the industrial complex between Hanoi and Haiphong.

Ground actions were also stepped up. Incursions into Laos doubled in 1969. South Vietnamese and American troops made incursions into Cambodia in April and May 1970 to clear out enemy units and headquarters in the "Parrot's Beak" salient, which was dangerously close to Saigon. The main effect of the intervention was to drive Cambodian Communist units to the west, into the heart of Cambodia, where together with their North Vietnamese allies they prepared for the overthrow of the existing pro-American regime. Not only was this policy unsuccessful militarily, but it triggered renewed antiwar protests at home. At a demonstration on 4 May at Kent State University, National Guardsmen killed four protesters. A huge antiwar demonstration was then held in Washington, D.C., between 6 and 9 May, at which Richard Nixon, in the middle of the night, visited the Lincoln Memorial to talk with some of the protesters about college football, campus life, and other trivialities, not reaching their concerns about the war and the direction of American foreign policy.

North Vietnam meanwhile had its own plans. It prepared for a general offensive in 1972, timed to put pressure on the Nixon administration to settle the war on Hanoi's terms prior to the presidential elections. In view of the failure of Vietnamization, neither the Soviet Union nor North Vietnam had any intention of giving to American negotiators in Paris what the South Vietnamese could not win on the battle-field. The linkage tactic would not work.

Nixon fared better in the home-front battle for public opinion. Although there were large antiwar demonstrations, including the November 1969 "March on Washington," the May 1970 Cambodia protests, and the April 1971 "Mobilization Against the War," there was rising support for Nixon's policies. Escalation of the bombing and the withdrawal of American combat forces resulted in a significant increase in presidential-approval ratings.

Peace negotiations dragged on throughout Nixon's first term. Even before entering office, Nixon had passed word to the South Vietnamese that he could probably get better peace terms for them than the Johnson administration. But in 1969 and 1970, each side rejected the other's eight-point peace plan. In November 1971 peace talks were suspended by Washington, and in 1972 each side in turn temporarily suspended its participation in the talks.

Talks resumed on 19 July 1972, and by the end of the summer two things had become clear to the negotiators: American escalation of the bombing could not induce the North Vietnamese to settle for terms that would require their withdrawal from the South, and no pressure from either the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China could induce the North Vietnamese to settle. But although the North Vietnamese had made major gains with their spring offensive, they had not achieved all their objectives, and they had been dislodged from several of the cities they had taken. Both sides, having played their hands, were now ready for a settlement.

Henry Kissinger and his North Vietnamese counterpart, Foreign Minister Le Duc Tho, reached an agreement on terms on 12 October 1972, and two weeks later Kissinger announced, "Peace is at hand." But when the South Vietnamese objected to the terms (chief of which involved a cease-fire in place, recognition of the territory controlled by each side, and preparation for a political settlement involving sharing of power), Nixon held up the agreement. Instead, he ordered massive bombing of North Vietnam after his reelection. The purpose seems to have been twofold: to convince the North Vietnamese that the United States would not allow the regime in Saigon to be overthrown and to convince the South Vietnamese that secret commitments (made in an exchange of letters between Nixon and President Nguyen Van Thieu) would be honored after American forces withdrew under terms of the proposed agreement. After more negotiations, an agreement was concluded on 27 January 1973, paving the way for an end to American participation in the war and an exchange of prisoners.

Nixon's commitments to Thieu could not be kept. Congress had imposed restrictions on presidential war-making powers in Southeast Asia, beginning in 1970 with the Cooper Amendment, which provided that no combat troops could be sent to Laos or Thailand, followed by the Cooper-Church Amendment (1970), which prohibited the reintroduction of ground forces into Cambodia, and culminating with passage of the Eagleton Amendment, which called for a halt in all American land, sea, and air military operations in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam after 15 August 1973. Any attempt by Nixon or his successors to use American armed forces to guarantee the survival of the Saigon regime would be illegal. Moreover, the War Powers Resolution, passed by Congress over Nixon's veto in 1973, required any American president to obtain congressional approval within sixty days for any military action; this presented yet another problem in shoring up the South Vietnamese government. The Nixon commitments to Thieu were therefore not honored by the Ford administration in 1975, which resulted in the reunification of North and South Vietnam under Communist rule.

User Contributions:

Report this comment as inappropriate
Aug 23, 2011 @ 2:14 pm
Hi my name is Tim Cloete. I'm a 4th year Bmus student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and I am writing a dissertation on music and politics during the war in Vietnam and I would like to know who wrote this article for reference purposes and if there are any other interesting articles that you can think of that I may be able to use.

Thanks very much
Report this comment as inappropriate
Feb 5, 2013 @ 2:14 pm
richard nixon cunducted a plan called vietnamization . . . .

Richard M. Nixon forum


Frank Ocean has been named Man of The Year by MTV U with Malala Yousafzai named Woman of The Year as MTV dubbed them “two millennials, who showed unbelievable strength so that their voices could be heard.”

This year Frank Ocean went from the musical genius behind the scenes to a Grammy nominated artist. Not only has his debut album “Channel Orange” won over critics and fans alike, but his brave admission of loving another man has broken boundaries within the hip-hop and R&B community, gaining Ocean overwhelming support for his honesty.

If all the album of the year recognition and Grammy nominations wasn’t up this is just another reminder of how special this year has been for Frank Ocean and the power of Channel ORANGE.


Pengaruh Kecerdasan Emosional Pemimpin terhadap Kinerja dan Loyalitas Karyawan di PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper Bisnis Unit Riau Fiber

Rio Marpaung, Maria Krisna

Abstract: Becoming a leader is never an easy task. A leader is requied to take charge of his organization
and help it reach it’s goals. There are many ways that a leader could use to improve his subordinates’
perfomance and to get their loyalties. One of the characteristics that a leader must have is a high Emotional
intelligence, comprised of Emotional Awareness, Self-management, Motivation, Empathy, and Social skill.
This Emotional Intellegence could help a leader be more productive and more successful towards his goals
and help his subordinates to be more productive as well. This research is an analytical survey to analyze the
infuence of Emotional Intellegence of leadertowards the job perfomance and loyalty of employees in PT.
Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper, Riaufiber Business Unit. The population of this research is 141 employeesfrom
various levels, sexes, positions, ages, educational backgrounds and length of services. Questionnaire is
used as a method to gain the data for this research and SPSS 19 is used to analyze the data. The conclusion
of this research shows that the Emotional Intellegence of a leader do infuence the Job Perfomance (a=0,044),
the Emotional Intellegence of a leader do influence the Loyalty (a=0,356), and the Job Perfomance influences
the Loyalty (a=0,288). It is recommende that a leader should improve his leadership by improving his
Emotional Intellegence so that the Job Perfomance and Loyalty Of his subordinates could also be improved.
Keywords: emotional intellegence, job perfomance, loyalty, leader, employee

Full Text:

  • There are currently no refbacks.


SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

vol.4 número3Evaluación de una intervención de farmacia clínica sobre el control de la presión arterial índice de autoresíndice de materiabúsqueda de artículos
Home Pagelista alfabética de revistas

Servicios Personalizados

Links relacionados

  • En proceso de indezaciónCitado por Google
  • No hay articulos similaresSimilares en SciELO
  • En proceso de indezaciónSimilares en Google

Pharmacy Practice (Granada)

versión On-line ISSN 1885-642X

Pharmacy Pract (Granada) vol.4 no.3  jul./sep. 2006

The effects of pharmacist interventions on patients with polypharmacy

Efectos de las intervenciones del farmacéutico en pacientes polimedicados

Elinor C. CHUMNEY, Leslie C. ROBINSON.

Polypharmacy, the state of being prescribed or taking more medications than clinically appropriate, can result in a variety of negative outcomes for both patients and healthcare facilities. These include negative outcomes such as adverse drug effects, hospitalizations, and poor patient health, as well as economic outcomes such as increased drug cost and costs associated with increased utilization of health services. Available data suggests pharmacists have the potential to have a large effect in combating this problem through a variety of interventions such as reducing the number of medications taken, reducing the number of doses taken, increasing patient adherence, preventing adverse drug reactions (ADRs), improving patient quality of life and decreasing facility and drug costs. A small number of studies have been performed on the pharmacists role in addressing the problem of polypharmacy; however, they include various populations, settings, and measured outcomes. Furthermore, some of the results are conflicting. Nonetheless, this review of the available literature concludes that pharmacist interventions can improve patient outcomes. With the ever-increasing costs of healthcare, the substantial cost savings for patients as well as institutions provided by these interventions are further justification for widespread implementation of pharmacist interventions at healthcare institutions.

Key words: Pharmacists. Polypharmacy, Drug Therapy.

La polimedicación, estado de tener prescrito o estar tomando más medicamentos de los clínicamente apropiados, puede producir diversidad de resultados negativos tanto para los pacientes como para los centros sanitarios. Estos incluyen resultados negativos como efectos adversos de los medicamentos, hospitalizaciones y mala salud de los pacientes, así como resultados económicos como coste aumentado de medicamentos y costes asociados con el aumento de la utilización de servicios. Los datos disponibles sugieren que los farmacéuticos tienen la posibilidad de tener un gran efecto para combatir este problema a través de una variedad e intervenciones, tales como reducir el número de medicamentos usado, aumentar el cumplimiento del paciente, prevenir las reacciones adversas medicamentosas (RAM), mejorar la calidad de vida de los pacientes y disminuir los costes de medicamentos del centro sanitario. Se han realizado algunos estudios sobre el papel del farmacéutico afrontando el problema de la polimedicación; sin embargo incluyen diversas poblaciones, ámbitos, y resultados medidos. Incluso, algunos de los resultados son contradictorios. Esta revisión de la literatura concluye que las intervenciones del farmacéutico pueden mejorar los resultados de los pacientes. Con los costes de sanidad permanentemente al alza, los ahorros conseguidos por estas intervenciones para los pacientes y para las instituciones son una justificación adicional para la implantación masiva de las intervenciones de farmacéutico en las instituciones sanitarias.

Palabras clave: Farmacéuticos. Polimedicación. Farmacoterapia.

Elinor C. CHUMNEY. PhD, MSc. Department of Pharmacy Practice. South Carolina College of Pharmacy. Charleston, South Carolina (USA).
Leslie C. ROBINSON. PharmD Candidate. Department of Pharmacy Practice. College of Pharmacy. Medical University of South Carolina. Charleston, South Carolina (USA).

Although the term polypharmacy has evolved over time and is often used to mean many different things in different situations, its basic definition is quite simple - more drugs are prescribed or taken than are clinically appropriate.1 The specific number of drugs taken is not itself indicative of polypharmacy as all of the drugs may be clinically necessary and appropriate for the patient; however, as the number of prescribed drugs increases, so do the chances of polypharmacy. A 2002 national survey indicated that 25% of the overall population takes 5 or more medications per week. When specifically considering the population 65 years of age and older, this percentage increases to about 50%, with 44% of men and 57% of women taking 5 or more medications per week and 12% of both sexes taking 10 or more prescriptions per week.2 The most worrisome consequence of polypharmacy is the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), but increased drug costs and patient quality of life are also significant issues.

Due the fact that people are living longer, the elderly population, which often suffers from multiple chronic diseases requiring multiple medications, continues to increase. These patients are much more likely to experience polypharmacy and its negative consequences, especially adverse drug reactions (ADRs). ADRs are one of the most troubling issues surrounding medication use in the elderly, as this patient population is more likely to have poor outcomes than others.3 They affect approximately 10-20% of hospitalized patients and around 7% of the general population; this number increases when the population of interest is limited to the elderly.4 Because the elderly are much more likely than other populations to have poor outcomes as a result of polypharmacy due to their generally poorer overall health status, it is crucial to consider any intervention that has the potential to reduce this problem  a role that pharmacists are well trained to fill.

Historically physicians have been entirely responsible for management of their patients chronic diseases and complex medication regimens. Today pharmacists are increasingly responsible more managing patients medication regimens by providing comprehensive medication reviews and educational services for both patients and physicians. A number of studies have examined pharmacist interventions to reduce polypharmacy and the outcomes that these interventions have upon humanistic and clinical factors. Specifically, studies have considered the number of medications and doses taken, patient adherence, social and functional abilities, and ADRs, in addition to economic factors such as costs to the patient and the institution. Many of these studies show positive findings when examining patient outcomes which could indicate publication bias. As well, several have also been published that show a null effect of pharmacist interventions. This leads us to conclude that the risk of publication bias is minimized.

When researching the literature on patient outcomes of pharmacist interventions in polypharmacy, it was noteworthy that there is no available synthesis of data examining multiple patient outcomes. This lack of data may be hampering the widespread implementation of pharmacist interventions. It was therefore important to examine the available literature to determine and evaluate the effects of pharmacist interventions in polypharmacy on humanistic, clinical, and economic outcomes. A meta-analysis was not possible because none of the published studies considered common measures of effect; however, a critical review of available literature was performed and the varied outcomes were assessed to highlight any potential benefits.

A search was performed using Ovid Medline to identify articles that discussed the effects that pharmacist consults have on patient outcomes and polypharmacy. The keywords that were used were polypharmacy in combination with either pharmacist or drug therapy. Of the 49 originally retrieved studies 38 were excluded because they did not specifically look at pharmacist interventions or did not focus on polypharmacy. Review of the references used in the 11 identified articles led to the identification of 6 additional articles. Of the included studies, 10 were performed in a primary care or ambulatory outpatient setting,1,5-13 3 examined patients in a nursing home or long-term care facility,14-16 1 involved hospital inpatients,17 and 2 considered patients in a community setting.18,19 The outcomes examined by the included studies are humanistic, clinical, and economic (see Table 1).

In all of the included studies, a pharmacist medication review to identify drug related problems was the cornerstone of the pharmacotherapy consult or intervention.1,5-19 The medication reviews included factors such as patient interviews by a pharmacist to evaluate medication use and adherence,5-9,11,12,14,16,18 patient use of health and human services,5 a quality of life survey,5,8,9 or other physical and mental assessments,6,8,14 the cost of the patients medications,5,7,8,12 and any patient reported problems with medications.7,9,11,12,14 In addition to medication reviews, the pharmacist interventions in four of the studies were more extensive.6,10,16,17 In one study the pharmacist made rounds with the medical team5 and in others the pharmacist was available was available for consult to the physicians and nursing staff throughout the day and provided educational sessions for other healthcare professionals.6,10,16,17

From the information obtained through the medication reviews and patient interviews, pharmacists developed pharmaceutical care plans and medication recommendations that were submitted to the patients physician.5-19 In some interventions pharmacists counselled patients on any accepted changes5-9,11-13,16 in addition to other important issues such as adherence and medication safety.7-9,11,12,16,18

Clinical Outcomes: Decreased number of medications or doses

Elderly patients afflicted with multiple chronic conditions usually see many different physicians for treatment and require multiple medications to manage. Polypharmacy is a common result with duplicate or interacting medications. Inappropriate drug therapy can result in poor outcomes for patients and adverse reactions, which is especially true for elderly patients due to poorer health status overall. Comprehensive medication therapy management services provided by pharmacists for patients taking multiple medications for chronic disease states may improve overall drug therapy.11 Pharmacist interventions have been shown to help decrease the total number of drugs taken in addition to the number of doses taken per day.1,6,7,11,14,18,19 Some researchers have concluded that an intervention of any kind by a pharmacist can reduce the number of drugs that a patient is taking.6,18 Seven studies found a decrease in the number of prescriptions taken by patients as a result of pharmacist intervention.1,6,7,11,14,18,19 These studies showed a range of 17.6% to 52.2% decrease in the average number of prescriptions per patient. Four studies examined the change in daily doses taken and found decreases of 21.5% to 29.8% after the pharmacist interventions.1,6,7,19 For contrast, two studies found that there was no change in either the number of prescriptions taken or the number of doses taken per day.10,12

For one study, investigators assessed a group of patients before and after an intervention by a pharmacist and found that the average number of prescriptions taken decreased from 5.7 to 4.4 (22.8%).19 This study also showed that 35% of the intervention patients had a dosage reduction for at least 1 of their medications.19 A study that consisted of two waves of identical interventions separated by one year found that there was a decrease in the average number of prescriptions per patient per month (PPPM) from 4.6 to 2.2 (52.2%) during the first wave and a decrease from 4.5 to 4 (11.1%) during the second wave.1 Researchers believe that the smaller reduction that was seen in the second wave of the intervention was most likely due to the fact that 91% of these patients also participated in the first wave of the intervention, which indicates that appropriate drug therapy changes were probably already made.1 Although the number of drugs taken PPPM decreased after each intervention, it appears that the positive effects of an isolated intervention were not sustained over time as the number of drugs taken PPPM before the second intervention was almost identical to the number taken before the first intervention.1 This would suggest that pharmacist interventions are effective, but the their needs to be a sustained pharmacist presence. A study of nursing home residents found that pharmacist intervention resulted in a decrease in prescriptions from 5.1 to 4.2 (17.6%) versus a decrease from 4.9 to 4.4 (10.2%) in the control group. Similarly, pharmacist interventions were shown to decrease the average number of prescriptions from 10.4 to 8 per day (23.1%) and decrease the number of doses taken per day from 23.5 to 16.5 (29.8%) at a Veteran Affairs Medical Center (VAMC).6 A final study of the average number of prescriptions taken by patients after a pharmacist intervention found a 1.1 decrease in the average number of prescriptions taken per day from 6 to 4.9 (18.3%) and a decrease in the average number of doses per day of 2.15, from 10 to 7.85 (21.5%).7

It is important to take into consideration that it may not be appropriate to simply reduce the number of drugs a patient is taking as opposed to optimizing the drug therapy, as all of the drugs prescribed may be necessary and appropriate for the patient.7,20 It is also important to note that the optimization of therapy may include switching a patient to a more appropriate drug, so the number of drugs will not decrease, but the instance of polypharmacy will.7,20 Pharmacist interventions are able to target high risk patients for therapy alterations to prevent adverse drug reactions.8

While most studies have found a decrease in the overall number of drugs in the intervention group as compared to the usual care group, one study did find that there was no decrease in the number of drugs prescribed between groups; however, there was a decline in both groups compared to baseline.10 The limitation of this study was that not everyone in the experimental group received the full intervention so the result may not fully reflect the effects of the pharmacist intervention.10 A second study also found no change in the average number of prescriptions taken after an intervention by a pharmacist, but there were other positive outcomes such as increased adherence and medication knowledge.12

Clinical Outcomes: Increased Adherence

For patients with chronic diseases and multiple medications adherence is essential for effective treatment. By employing comprehensive pharmacist interventions that include patient education and follow up, patients could become more adherent and feel empowered to take their health into their own hands. Also, by simplifying the drug regimen, patients may be better able to understand their treatment and the importance of remembering to take their medications.7 Studies have shown that using pharmacist interventions and education can increase a patients adherence with his or her medication regimen.7,12 It is important for patients to understand why they are using their medications and how they work, as this can increase their involvement in their own healthcare and encourage them to learn about their condition and take charge of their disease.21 It can also help prevent therapeutic duplications by prescribers.

Pharmacist interventions have been shown to help improve patient medication knowledge as well as other important factors.7,12 One study found that 40% of patients who participated in a pharmacist intervention stated that they were more adherent as a result of simplification of their drug regimen, and 80% said they were more adherent as a result of their increased medication knowledge.19 Another study showed that the intervention group had a similar trend towards increased adherence; however, it was not statistically significant.12 A study at a VAMC found that the pharmacist clinic had the highest patient attendance rate out of any physician staffed clinic in the area.6

Pharmacists may be able to increase adherence and improve patient care simply through more frequent patient contact and follow up as patients may be more likely to go see their pharmacist than their doctor. Despite the many studies showing positive results there was one study which showed no difference in adherence between the intervention and control group. This may be due to that fact that patients in the control group received a higher level of attention from the nursing staff than would typically be seen in usual care.9 Because medication adherence is such an important factor in effectively treating patients to goal, any method used to increase adherence is worthy of continued research.

Humanistic Outcomes: Improved Quality of Life

While decreasing polypharmacy may have a variety of different health related benefits, it is also important to consider the effects on functional and social outcomes. One study reported that 66% of the older adults participating in the polypharmacy pharmacist intervention felt better.19 One in four felt that they had improved functioning, increased levels of independence, fewer adverse health effects, more energy, more peace of mind, and/or increased levels of exercise tolerance;19 however, some studies also suggested that there was no difference in patients perceptions of their health related quality of life after the intervention.5,9 In a study of elderly outpatients at a VAMC, no improvement in health related quality of life (HRQOL) was reported by patients.9 The researchers believe that the results were related to the fact that veterans seen at the VAMC appeared to have a greater disease burden than their non-veteran counterparts, the study only lasted a year whereas more time may have been necessary to see the results, and the questionnaire used may not be accurate as an evaluative instrument.9

While patients perception of their own health may not always be affected by pharmacist interventions, these interventions may improve their actual health. In one study, nursing home patients who received a pharmacist intervention were less likely to die over the course of the study, with a mortality rate of 2.5, than those who never received the intervention, who had a mortality rate of 8.1.14

Clinical Outcomes: Decreased Adverse Drug Reactions

The frequency of ADRs increases as the number of drugs taken increases. It has been estimated that the frequency of ADRs is 6% when a patient takes 2 drugs, 50% when a patient takes 5 drugs, and almost 100% when a patient takes 8 or more drugs.22 Due to the especially high number of medications that are required to effectively manage chronic diseases in the elderly, ADRs and other side effects of the drugs prescribed to these patients must be carefully monitored. As the prevalence of elderly patients continues to increase, ADRs must be monitored even more diligently as this population is at an even greater risk for poor outcomes as a result of these adverse reactions due their poorer overall health status.23-28 Recent research has shown that pharmacist interventions and pharmacotherapy consults can greatly reduce a patients risk of experiencing an ADR.7,8,11,12,17 In a before and after study it was found that instances of ADRs in patients was decreased from 10.4 to 3.5 ADRs per 1000 patient days as the result of an intervention.17 Another study found that there was a relative risk reduction of 9.8% following pharmacist interventions.5 A group of patients receiving a pharmacist consult was found to consist of a greater number of improved patients and fewer worsened patients when their adverse effect scores were compared to patient scores in the control group.8 The consult group showed 54% improved 24.2% unchanged, and 21.8% worsened, where as the control group had 40.2% improved, 34.7% unchanged, and 31.9% worsened.8 A final study showed that a pharmacist interventions resulted in a non-significant trend towards a decrease in ADRs.7

It is important to consider the prescribing practices of physicians and the instances of inappropriate prescribing or pharmaceutical care issues, as these can potentially lead to serious ADRs.13 The authors of one study concluded that pharmacist intervention increased the number of documented medication issues resolved, especially those related to patients information needs, dosage, prescription problems, and monitoring to prevent ADRs.5 This study showed that 70% of all pharmaceutical care issues were resolved in the intervention group compared to only 14% of issues resolved in the control group.5 Over half (52%) of the intervention patients had no remaining issues at the end of the study period, but only 0.6% of the control group were issue-free.5 A randomized controlled trial of elderly outpatients with polypharmacy showed a 23% reduction in inappropriate prescribing at 12 months as well as a significant decrease in the number of ADRs experienced by patients in the pharmacist intervention group as compared to the control group.9 The reduction in ADRs experienced by patients can lead to reduced patient morbidity and mortality, as well as substantial cost savings by preventing future hospitalizations and drug costs.6,8

Economic Outcomes: Facility Cost Savings

Pharmacist interventions not only result in positive clinical outcomes, but can also result in substantial cost savings to institutions. When patients are on multiple medications, there is a great potential for drug therapy problems. In patients that are on multiple drugs, pharmacist interventions have resulted in significant cost savings.6,8,17 While there are oftentimes medication cost savings it is important to take into consideration the costs of the intervention as well as the cost savings resulting from negative outcomes avoided.

A study examining the results of a pharmacist intervention in a nursing home found that there was a 12:1 cost-minimization ratio, with an estimated savings range for the implementation of a comprehensive pharmacist intervention of 218 US dollars to 335 US dollars per person per year when the savings on medications and the costs of the interventions were considered.16 This resulted in a savings of 1.4 to 2.1 million US dollars per year for the facility.16 The result of instituting a pharmacotherapy consult clinic run by pharmacists at the Houston VAMC found an almost 6 fold savings with a ratio of dollars saved to dollars spent of 5.8:1.6 The implementation of the clinic in this study estimated that the cost savings associated with the pharmacist intervention, not including cost savings of prescription drugs was 37,945 US dollars over the study period of one year with a total overall cost savings of 54,730 US dollars for the 336 patients involved in the study.6 The non-medication related estimated cost savings resulted from a reduction in ADR-related services such as physician visits and hospitalizations.6 A final study found that the inclusion of pharmacists as physicians rounded prevented 66% of ADRs which was estimated to save the hospital 270,000 US dollars per year.17 These studies support the idea that pharmacist interventions should be implemented based on cost-savings alone.6,16,17

Economic Outcomes: Drug Cost Savings

While many studies have shown overall cost savings, there are conflicting results as to whether pharmacist interventions truly decrease the total drug costs.7,8 There were seven studies that specifically examined the cost savings related to drug costs.1,6,7,12,15,16,19 These studies showed monthly cost savings that ranged from 1.53 US dollars per patient to 109 US dollars per patient. In a study at a VAMC, the implementation of a pharmacotherapy consult clinic was shown to have a cost avoidance for actual prescriptions of 16,786 US dollars over the one year period of the study, which is approximately 4.16 US dollars per patient per month (PPPM).6 In another study of ambulatory patients, the pharmacist intervention was found to decrease the overall drug costs by 293 US dollars over six months, which would be equivalent to 49 US dollars PPPM.7 It is important to note that while the drug costs decreased, it was not at the expense of good medical care, as patient outcomes were monitored and showed either no worsening or some non-significant beneficial effects.7

The North Carolina Polypharmacy initiative showed a relative cost reduction between the intervention and control groups of 19.04 US dollars PPPM for all patients receiving a medication review.15 This savings increased to 23.60 US dollars in the group that had pharmacist recommendations sent to the physicians and to 35.55 US dollars when drug therapy changes were made as a result of the recommendations.15 One of the studies estimated that a pharmacist intervention resulted in a cost savings of 387.38 US dollars over two months or 1.53 US dollars PPPM.12 Another study showed that actual drugs costs over two waves of identical pharmacist intervention periods were reduced by 4,777,077 US dollars for 6693 patients, or 109 US dollars PPPM, in the first intervention wave and 1,202,142 US dollars for 6039 patients, or 25 US dollars PPPM in the second intervention wave six months after each intervention took place.1 This study showed that a pharmacist intervention in a managed care setting resulted in a nearly four-fold (389%) return on investment over the course of two intervention periods; however, non-drug costs were not included so the effect on the total cost of care cannot be determined.1 A study of 46 patients who participated in a one-on-one pharmacist intervention found that 43% of patients reported spending less money per month on medications with an average savings of 30 US dollars PPPM.19 A final study found there was an average reduction in drug costs of 30.33 US dollars PPPM when nursing home residents received a medication profile review.16

While many studies have found a cost savings, there have been studies that found no significant difference in the average monthly cost of prescriptions per patient between the patients that received the intervention and those that did not.5 One study showed that there was no significant cost savings in the intervention group; however, this may be attributed to the high variability in drug costs from one year to the next for the included patients, as the standard deviation was 600 US dollars.8 The studies that have not shown a benefit in savings for overall drug costs have still shown benefits to the patient.

There have been a number of individual studies that have documented the effect that pharmacist interventions can have on both humanistic and clinical outcomes as well as economic outcomes. Despite this preponderance of positive evidence for the implementation of pharmacist interventions and pharmacotherapy consults, these interventions are still not widely utilized throughout the various healthcare settings. The presented studies have shown that pharmacist interventions can improve patient outcomes, and with the ever-increasing costs of healthcare, the substantial cost savings for patients as well as institutions provided by these interventions are justification enough for widespread implementation at healthcare institutions.

1. Zarowitz BJ, Stebelsky LA, Muma BK, Romain TM, Peterson EL. Reduction of high-risk polypharmacy drug combinations in patients in a managed care setting. Pharmacotherapy 2005;25(11):636-45.        [ Links ]

2. Kaufman DW, Kelly JP, Rosenberg L, Anderson TE, Mitchell AA. Recent patterns of medication use in the ambulatory adult population of the United States. The Slone Survey. JAMA 2002;287:337-44.        [ Links ]

3. Gurwitz JH, Field TS, Harrold LR. et al. Incidence and preventability of adverse drug events among older persons in the ambulatory setting. JAMA 2003;289(9):1107-16.        [ Links ]

4. Gomez ER, Demoly P. Epidemiology of hypersensitivity drug reactions. Cur Opin Allergy Clin Immunol 2005;5:309-16.        [ Links ]

5. Krska J, Cromarty JA, Arris F, et al. Pharmacist-led medication review in patients over 65: a randomized, controlled trial in primary care. Age Ageing 2001;30:205-11.        [ Links ]

6. Galt KA. Cost avoidance, acceptance, and outcomes associated with a pharmacotherapy consult clinic in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Pharmacotherapy 1998;18(5):1103-11.        [ Links ]

7. Jameson J, VanNoord G, Vanderwoud K. The impact of a pharmacotherapy consultation on the cost and outcome of medical therapy. J Fam Pract 1995;41(5):469-72.        [ Links ]

8. Jameson JP, VanNoord GR. Pharmacotherapy consultation on polypharmacy patients in ambulatory care. Ann Pharmacother 2001;35(7-8):835-40.        [ Links ]

9. Hanlon JT, Weinberger M, Samsa GP, et al. A randomized, controlled trial of a clinical pharmacist intervention to improve inappropriate prescribing in elderly outpatients with polypharmacy. Am J Med 1996;100(4):428-37.        [ Links ]

10. Allard J, Hebert R, Rioux M, Asselin J, Voyer L. Efficacy of a clinical medication review on the number of potentially inappropriate prescriptions prescribed for community-dwelling elderly people. CMAJ 2001;164(9):1291-6.        [ Links ]

11. Farrell VM, Hill VL, Hawkins JB, Newman LM, Learned RE Jr. Clinic for identifying and addressing polypharmacy. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2003; 60(18):1830-5.        [ Links ]

12. Lim WS, Low HN, Chan SP, Chen HN, Ding YY, Tan TL. Impact of a pharmacist consult clinic on a hospital-based geriatric outpatient clinic in Singapore. Ann Acad Med Singapore 2004;33(2):220-7.        [ Links ]

13. Hanlon JT, Landsman PB, Cowan K, et al. Physician agreement with pharmacist-suggested drug therapy changes for elderly outpatients. Am J Health Syst Pharm 1996;53:2735-7.        [ Links ]

14. Furniss L, Burns A, Craig SKL, Scobie S, Cooke J, Faragher B. Effects of a pharmacists medication review in nursing homes. Br J Psychiatry 2000;176:563-7.        [ Links ]

15. Trygstad TK, Christensen D, Garmis J, Sullivan R, Wegner SE. Pharmacist response to alerts generated from Medicaid pharmacy claims in a long-term care setting: results from the North Carolina polypharmacy initiative. JMCP. 2005;11(7):575-83.        [ Links ]

16. Christensen D, Trygstad T, Sullivan R, Garmise J, Wegner SE. A Pharmacy management intervention for optimizing drug therapy for nursing home patients. Am J Geriatr Pharmacother. 2004;2(4):248-56.        [ Links ]

17. Leape LL, Cullen DJ, Clapp MD, et al. Pharmacist participation on physician rounds and adverse drug events in the intensive care unit. JAMA. 1999;281(3):267-70.        [ Links ]

18. Doucette WR, McDonough RP, Klepser D, McCarthy R. Comprehensive medication therapy management: identifying and resolving drug-related issues in a community pharmacy. Clin Ther 2005;27(7):1104-11.        [ Links ]

19. Schrader SL, Dressing B, Blue R, Jensen G, Miller D, Zawada ET. The medication reduction project: combating polypharmacy in South Dakota elders through community-based interventions. S D J Med. 1996;49(12):441-8.        [ Links ]

20. Shaughnessy, AF. Common drug interactions in the elderly. Emerg Med. 1992;24:21-31.        [ Links ]

21. Rollason V, Vogt N. Reduction of polypharmacy in the elderly: a systematic review of the role of the pharmacist. Drugs Aging 2003;20(11):817-32.        [ Links ]

22. Garrett DG, Martin LA. The Asheville Project: participants perception of factors contributing to the success of a patient self-management diabetes program. J Am Pharm Assoc 2003;43(2):185-90.        [ Links ]

23. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Fact Sheet: General Information and National Estimates on Diabetes in the United States, 2005. Atlanta, GA: Division of Diabetes Translation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Dept of Health and Human Services; November 2005.        [ Links ]

24. Miller DR, Safford MM, Pogach LM. Who has diabetes? Best estimates of diabetes prevalence in the Department of Veterans Affairs based on computerized patient data. Diabetes Care 2004; 27(suppl 2):B10-B21.        [ Links ]

25. Pogach LM, Hawley G, Weinstock R, et al. Diabetes prevalence and pharmacy use in the Veterans Health Administration (1994): use of an ambulatory care pharmacy-derived database. Diabetes Care 1998;21:368-373.        [ Links ]

26. Maciejewski ML, Maynard C. Diabetes-related utilization and costs for inpatient and outpatient services in the Veterans Administration. Diabetes Care 2004;27(suppl 2):B69-B73.        [ Links ]

27. Kerr E, Gerzoff RB, Krein SL, et al. Diabetes care quality in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System and commercial managed care: the TRIAD study. Ann Intern Med. 2004; 141:272-281.        [ Links ]

28. McBean AM, Jung K, and Virnig BA. Improved care and outcomes among elderly Medicare managed care beneficiaries with diabetes. Am J Manag Care 2005;11(4):213-22.        [ Links ]