Prospects for US politics in 2022

Subject Prospects for US politics in 2022. Significance After a mixed first year in office, President Joe Biden faces a series of challenges in 2022. Despite a strong start in the first half of 2021, the persistence of the pandemic, an inability to pass key aspects of his agenda, the abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan and rising concerns about inflation have combined to diminish confidence in Biden’s claim to bring competence to government. Republicans are set to take advantage.

Irreversible effects of anticholinergic withdrawal in the elderly: a case report

Anticholinergics, such as benztropine and trihexyphenidyl, are a class of medications that have been used to treat several different conditions including antipsychotic-induced extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) that are most often associated with first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs), such as haloperidol and fluphenazine. Many other medications, including antimuscarinics, antipsychotics, and antidepressants, also have anticholinergic effects. In this report, we review the case of an 80-year-old male who experiences irreversible anticholinergic withdrawal effects following the discontinuation of trihexyphenidyl and trospium secondary to side effects. Discontinuation of anticholinergics must be approached with care as abrupt withdrawal can lead to cholinergic rebound and muscular rigidity, and in some cases can lead to acute hospitalization and an inability to return to baseline functioning, as seen in our elderly patient. Keywords: Anticholinergic withdrawal, trihexyphenidyl, trihexyphenidyl withdrawal, trospium, anticholinergic drugs, cholinergic rebound

Decolonization in South Asia

There are compelling reasons for giving decolonization in South Asia special attention in this volume. India was the first colony to achieve independence, albeit as two separate nation states, India and Pakistan. Britain’s abrupt withdrawal from India after the Second World War—so swift that many have denounced it as a scuttle—raised questions that have helped frame the debate about decolonization, not just in India but elsewhere. Straddling the themes of colonial collapse and imperial legacies that inform the volume as a whole, this chapter focuses on the origins, impact, and aftermath of Indian partition. It considers South Asia’s experience of decolonization from the perspective of the populations most directly affected, notably in the Punjab and Bengal.