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Archive for August, 2010

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Run for Recovery – Raising Money for Addiction Treatment

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

A man from Pasadena, California is raising money for addiction treatment by running. And running. The “Run for Recovery” will take Robin McGeough, 46, about 225 miles in ten days along the scenic Pacific coast. 

McGeough is a recovering alcoholic. Nineteen years ago, while drunk, McGeough was mugged in San Francisco and thrown out a window. The fall shattered both his feet.

“That’s when I bottomed out,” McGeough said. “My mother had to spoon-feed me during recovery, and doctors told me I’d probably never walk normally again, and that I’d have to use a cane. This is the miracle. Today I’m running. It’s a gift, and I want to give back to others.”

McGeough is now the program director for the 12-bed Charter Oak Recovery Center, a residential treatment center in Covina, California.

“I got involved in running to develop calm and spiritual healing, and I worked my way up to where I could do marathon runs. It got me to thinking, how can I do something extra to help?” 

Last year, McGeough did his first fundraising run and raising $4,800 for local addiction treatment programs.

This run is the equivalent of one marathon a day for 10 days.

McGeough said he likes stopping and talking with people about the importance of addiction treatment.

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Drug and Alcohol Addiction Considered “Dirty” and “Evil”

Monday, August 30th, 2010

A new study published by the UK Drug Policy Commission discovered that 87 percent of people aged 16 to 19 had “expressed negative views about drug addiction.” This is compared to 64 percent of people over 65 years old who had a negative view about drug addiction.

The study brought attention to the stigmatizing attitude that prevails about drug addiction. A survey of 23 recreational drug users aged 16 to 19 in London found that 21 of them used words like “dirty” “evil” and “disgusting” to describe heroin use around them.

A Canadian research study had found that decreasing the stigmatization of drug addiction could have both positive and negative effects. 

“The Canadian researchers concluded that while it would be beneficial for problem users in reducing barriers to treatment, there is the possibility that it could lead to greater drug user among young people,” said the UK Drug Policy Commission review.

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Lindsay Lohan Completes 23 of 90 Day Alcohol Rehab

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Lindsay Lohan was released Tuesday night from court-ordered rehabilitation at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after only 23 days of treatment for addiction. Judge Marsha Revel ordered Lohan to complete 90 days in rehabilitation. Physicians at UCLA Medical Center, however, believed that Lohan should be released from treatment. The physicians did not specify why they believed an early release would be beneficial to Lohan. 

Lohan entered treatment after spending two weeks in jail in July for a probation violation for a 2007 drug case.

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Kennedy’s Wife Arrested and Charged with DUI

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s wife has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence of drugs. This arrest comes one month after Mary Richardson Kennedy’s license was suspended after her guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol.

New York state police said Kennedy was initially pulling over Saturday for speeding on the Taconic State Parkway. Kennedy had told the police she was on her way to a yoga class. Kennedy was allegedly going 82 miles an hour. At the time, the police suspected Kennedy was using prescription medication. 

Last month, Kennedy pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in her May DUI case. As a result, Kennedy avoided any jail time.

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Prescription Drugs Biggest Drug-Related Threat to Health and Safety

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Abuse of prescription drugs is the biggest drug-related threat to the health and safety of Floridians. The 2009 Florida Medical Examiner’s Report revealed that overdoses from prescription drugs kill seven Floridians each day. This is five times greater than deaths from all illegal drugs combined.

The explosion of pain clinics in Florida has contributed to the problem. Many of these are “pill mills” where drugs are traded for money. Florida has become popular for drug-seekers from other states to come and get a supply of prescription drugs. 

According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 70 percent of people who abuse prescription drugs get their supply from their friends and family. Other patients receive their prescription drugs from one physician. Many others “doctor shop” to receive their prescriptions for pain medication. Stolen, forged or counterfeit prescriptions are a common way addicts get their supply of prescription drugs.

In January, Florida convened a Statewide Prescription Drug Task Force made up of several state agencies and charged them with finding solutions to the problem. In conjunction with federal agencies, the Task Force has accelerated their attack on the criminal activity that often surround prescription drug use. 

A law, SB 2272, was passed that granted greater authority for health officials to regulate the pain clinics in Florida. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program will begin in December. It will allow physicians to look at their patient’s prescription history. As a result, potential “doctor shoppers” will be discouraged.

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Natural Cures to Alcoholism

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

An extract of the kudzu vine being developed to treat alcoholism may also help to treat cocaine addiction. Tests on rats showed the drug could stop them from giving themselves cocaine. Kudzu is an old remedy for alcoholism. The vine is native to Asia and has spread across the southeastern United States after being imported to control soil erosion.

The extract can also prevent relapse after rats are weaned off cocaine. Researchers found that it works by raising levels of a compound called tetrahydropapaveroline or THP. Cocaine cravings make levels of the brain chemical dopamine increase and THP interferes with this increase.

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Addiction to Pain Medication – Or Dependency for Relief?

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Thirty-one of 75 patients hospitalized for opioid detoxification told physicians they first became addicted to drugs legitimately prescribed for pain. Another 24 patients started their addiction with prescription pills from a friend or a parent’s medicine cabinet. The remaining 20 patients said they became addicted on street drugs.

This information was reported to physicians at the University of Buffalo. Ninety two percent of the patients in the study said they eventually purchased drugs off the street, primarily heroin, because it is cheaper and more effective than prescription drugs.

They told the physicians that they continued using drugs because they “helped to take away my emotional pain and stress,” “to feel normal,” or “to feel like a better person.”

The information will be used to train medical students and residents at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and practicing physicians to screen for potential addiction among their patients, and to direct patients to a treatment program if necessary.

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College Alcohol Abuse Continues to Grow

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

College alcohol abuse is a growing problem. The number of alcohol-related deaths among college students was 1,800 in 2005, up from 1,400 in 1998, according to a report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The report also found that college students are driving drunk and binge drinking.

Mark Wolfson, a professor of social sciences and health policy at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said that although the number of students abstaining from alcohol has grown, binge drinking among college students is increasing.

“It’s clear a lot of them are now drinking to get trashed,” Wolfson said. “I think a lot of people in the field feel there’s been a cultural change where now, students drink to get loaded. It really is a serious public health program.”

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Doctors Questions Alcohol Energy Drinks

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Alcoholic energy drinks are popular among high school and college students. The drinks create problems since the alcohol impairs decision making, while the caffeine makes one alert, but not quick to react.

“It destroys your coordination and judgment,” said Dr. Dave Roberts, an emergency room physician at North Florida Regional Medical Center. Many are asking why these drinks are even on the market.

“I don’t – and my colleague don’t – believe there’s any place for an alcohol-energy drink, especially because they’re marketed toward younger people,” said Dr. Bruce Goldberger, professor and director of toxicology at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine.

Goldberger and four other medical professionals have sent a letter to Florida’s attorney general to say the “consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages has been associated with increased risk of serious injury to oneself and to others as the result of driving while intoxicated, sexual assault and other dangerous behavior”, including alcohol poisoning.

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Is the Addiction Disease Curable?

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

A new study has identified a protein that may act as the trigger controlling the addictive pull in the brain. The hope is that this will result in new addiction therapies. 

The results from the study strongly suggest that methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) interacts with microRNA to control a person’s drive to use cocaine. 

“The study shows that MeCP2 blunts the amount by which microRNA 212 is increased in response to cocaine,” said Paul Kenny, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at The Scripps Research Institute in Florida.

“We have previously shown that mR-212 is very protective against cocaine addiction. Therefore, the conclusion is that MeCP2 may regulate vulnerability to addiction in some people through its inhibitory influence on mR-212. Without this influence. The expression of mR-212 would be far greater in response to cocaine use, and the risk of addiction would likely be lower.”

One of the primary goals of drug abuse research is to understand why certain people turn from casual to addictive drug use.

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