Addiction Treatment Strategies – Part 17

The number of overdose deaths from powerful painkillers more than tripled over a decade, the government reported Tuesday – a trend that a U.S. health official called an epidemic, but one that can be stopped.
 
Prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and methadone led to the deaths of almost 15,000 people in 2008, including actor Heath Ledger. That’s more than three times the 4,000 deaths from narcotics in 1999.
 
Such painkillers “are meant to help people who have severe pain,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which issued the report….

DrugScope has responded to a joint report on new drugs published by Europol, the European law enforcement agency, and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. The two agencies state that a total of 41 new psychoactive substances were officially reported across Europe in 2010. This is almost double the 24 reported in 2009.
Most new drugs are slight modifications of the chemical structures of known substances such as ecstasy or amphetamine. While ‘designer’ drugs are not a new concept, the report suggests there is now an ever greater interaction between the illicit and non-illicit pharmaceutical markets….

Relapse, relapse, relapse. Every day you read about someone with an addiction who has relapsed. Given the chaos and misery this causes for addicts and their families, I sought out Dr. Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D., C.E.D.S., founder of The Center, A Place of Hope, and posed this challenge to him: can you name the top 10 cracks that crack addicts (and other addicts) fall through?
Here is a list based on his ideas, and I’d recommend that anyone who struggles with addiction print it up and keep in a place you can see it, “one day at a time”:
Failure to develop new and healthy relationships.An addiction is a routine, and old and…

The death toll from overdoses of prescription painkillers has more than tripled in the past decade, according to an analysis in the CDC Vital Signs report released today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This new finding shows that more than 40 people die every day from overdoses involving narcotic pain relievers like hydrocodone (Vicodin), methadone, oxycodone (OxyContin), and oxymorphone (Opana).
 
“Overdoses involving prescription painkillers are at epidemic levels and now kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined, ” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “States, health insurers, health…

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says doctors should routinely screen their teenage patients for drug and alcohol use at every visit, and look for signs of dependence or addiction.
In a new policy statement, the group provides a guide to help doctors ask adolescents about substance abuse issues. Dr. Sharon Levy, co-author of the statement and Director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, told Reuters the guide is needed because doctors don’t feel comfortable talking about drugs and alcohol with their teenage patients.
Whenever doctors see adolescent patients, they should inquire whether the…

If you find it hard to concentrate, controlling mood swings can help. There are also some tips you can use to reduce stress, get more sleep, and stay organized.
Lack of concentration is a common symptom of bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder find they are easily distracted or feel lost and confused whether they are at home, at work, or in school.
Being unable to concentrate can be a problem because it makes it hard for people with bipolar disorder to perform tasks such as grocery shopping or preparing meals, or to enjoy activities such as playing a game or watching television. Young people with bipolar disorder may have…

What drives addicts to repeatedly choose drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, overeating, gambling or kleptomania, despite the risks involved? Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have pinpointed the exact locations in the brain where calculations are made that can result in addictive and compulsive behavior.
 
UC Berkeley researchers have found how neural activity in the brain’s orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex regulates our choices. These astonishing new findings could pave the way for more targeted treatments for everything from drug and alcohol abuse to obsessive-compulsive…

‘Never Again’ The scenario has been played over and over many times. After a particularly damaging or embarrassing binge, the hungover person will make an oath to himself and others to drink “never again” and quite often is sincere about quitting. But with the onset of withdrawal symptoms, also comes the “craving” for more alcohol. The body is telling the drinker that it “needs” alcohol. As the physical symptoms of withdrawal begin to increase, taking another drink simply becomes less painful than not taking one — or so it seems at the time.
For those who have committed themselves to not…

Doctors who drink more themselves are more liberal in their advice to patients on alcohol consumption. They set higher thresholds for what is harmful, and while men who are heavy drinkers get to continue drinking, women are often advised to stop altogether, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
 
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy have for the first time looked into how family doctors’ own drinking habits affect their advice to patients. The study, which took the form of a questionnaire for doctors in the county of Skaraborg, revealed that those…

Schoolchildren in England are becoming less tolerant of alcohol use among their peers, according to an NHS survey published today, Thursday 28 July, that also reveals fewer schoolkids are using alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.
The NHS Information Centre report, which gives the results of a 2010 survey on smoking, drinking and drug use by young people in England, shows a decline in all three areas, namely that:
32% of 11 to 15-year-old schoolkids surveyed in 2010 said it was OK for someone their age to drink alcohol once a week.
This compares to 46% who said the same in 2003, the first year the question was asked.
11% of those surveyed in 2010…