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Posts Tagged ‘addiction’

Campaigns to Fight Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

A new nationwide campaign hopes to help fight the epidemic of prescription drug abuse. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the American College of Emergency Physicians, poison control centers, and law enforcement agencies are sponsoring the “American Medicine Chest Challenge” on Nov. 13. The day asks Americans to rid their medicine cabinets of old prescription drugs and make certain the prescriptions that are current are locked up.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse believes that a campaign like this one is critical because 70 percent of those who abuse prescription pain medications say they got their support from someone they know. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that more than 9 million people use prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. Seven of the top 11 drugs most often abused by high school seniors are either prescribed or purchased over the counter.

“Prescriptions can be very toxic if used in any way other than as prescribed,” said Dr. Steven Marcus, executive medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information & Education System. “Inadvertently, homes are havens for drug abuse due to the increasing number of controlled prescription medications on hand in the average home.”

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Just Turn It Over

Friday, September 17th, 2010

At times in the beginning I wanted to just turn something over all right, most likely their chair, Due to the fear and anger I had when I walked in these doors. I was incapable of comprehending this well repeated suggestion. No one was explaining the process, just sharing as everyone understood what turning it over meant. As in the first step understanding my powerlessness over my addiction, yet again I was faced with relinquishing the control I had fought all my life to hold on too, even to death and back. To make this process even harder the slim faith I had was based in a non Judeo Christian belief which I was afraid would alienate me from those who were my last chance at having a productive life.

Through my sponsor I began to ask, those questions, how do I turn something over?, how do I know I turned something over?, what do I do when I take it back?

As always he smiled, He said the next time something comes up, ask yourself, is there anything I can do now or in the near future that will make the situation better for everyone not just myself? If I do take action am I doing it to make my life more comfortable or to truly make a positive difference in the world? Not that this instantly fixed everything, but it ran inline with my faith which believes for every action there is a positive or negative reaction. If I do have faith in something, and if I realize my powerlessness in any given situation and no positive can come from me in the situation, turning over to my faith or Karma is just leaving the situation alone and believing at least I will not be making it worse. This has begun to lighten my load and allow me to be more productive in the positive change I can effect these days. The more I have stepped aside the more I have been able to witness how spiritual energy will guide and protect me as long as I am willing to Turn It Over

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Your Addiction Can Cure You

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Addictive drugs change the brain’s reward circuits that may underlie drug craving and relapse after long periods of abstinence. New research has found a specific neural mechanism that may be connected to persistent drug-seeking behavior and could help to guide strategies for the development of new therapies for cocaine addiction.

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a region of the brain that is activated when cocaine users have a craving for the drug after being exposed to cocaine-associated cues. The medial prefrontal cortex (Mpfc), which receives input from the VTA via circuits that use dopamine, has been connected to drug craving after cocaine withdrawal. Increases in the level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been seen in the VTA and mPFC in rats after withdrawal from repeated cocaine exposure.

“BDNF plays a key role in modulating the structure and function of synapses, the sites of communication between neurons. Therefore, increased BDNF after cocaine withdrawal may drive synaptic changes that contribute to compulsive drug seeking behavior,” said Dr. Mu-ming Poo, lead researcher at the University of California at Berkeley. “It has been shown that increased BDNF in the VTA after cocaine withdrawal in rats promotes the drug-dependent motivational state.”

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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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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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