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Posts Tagged ‘Alcohol addiction’

Social, Economic and Educational Factors and pregnant Women

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Research continues to reinforce the fact the drinking a large amount of alcohol during pregnancy is harmful to the unborn child. Recent studies indicate little or no effects of occasional or light drinking during pregnancy. The studies show how social, economic, educational and other lifestyle factors of the pregnant woman influence the health of the unborn baby and child.

A new study from England discovered that at the age of 5, the children of women who drank no more than one or two units of alcohol each time, did not show any damage in their behavioral, emotional or cognitive functions. There was a tendency for the male children of women who drank heavily during pregnancy to have lower behavioral scores, but this was not the case with female children.

A second study based on a population in western Australia looked at the associations between dose, pattern and timing of prenatal alcohol use and found that there was no association between low to moderate prenatal alcohol use and birth defects.

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Oregon Treatment Center Forced to Put Addicts on Waiting List

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

A drug treatment center in Oregon is feeling the strain of addicts needing government help and relying on its services.

“There are a lot of people on the wait list and there are not enough resources in the state to help people. We are trying but everything is very, very stretched,” said Colleen Smith of Willamette Family Inc., the drug treatment center in Eugene.

Willamette Family’s women and children drug treatment center serves about 60 people in the community. Since last year, the waitlist has increased to about a six month period. Smith said that the significant increase in requests for government help for treatment services has strained the system. There has also been a marked increase in pregnant women needing drug treatment in the area.

“We get referrals from out-of-county people all the time, being put on the waitlist. A lot of times you’ll have people calling multiple treatment centers having their names put on waitlists,” Smith said.

The drug treatment center is now taking action to help people in dire need of treatment. Willamette Family is pooling resources with other drug treatment centers in the area and adding more beds to their center.

“It’s really important so that they don’t give up hope, because with the shame and guilt there’s also a lot of hopelessness, and in turn that can also lead them to go back out and use more drugs and alcohol,” Smith said.

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Stomach Ulcers Related to Addiction

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

New research finds that people with a personality disorder are up to five times more likely to develop stomach ulcers.

 ”Manifestations of peptic ulcer disease are influenced by mind-body interactions,” said Jean-Pierre Schuster, who led the study at Descartes University in Paris and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.

 Although stress has been previously linked to the risk of ulcers, the discovery of connections with Helicobacter Pylori infection led to less attention being given to psychological factors for the disease. The H. pylori bacteria causes stomach ulcers by damaging the mucous lining that protects the stomach and duodenum.

 It is unclear how personality traits could increase the risk of developing a stomach ulcer. One theory is that certain personality types, like those who have a dependent or addictive personality, may be more prone to be engaging in risky behavior like smoking, sleeplessness and poor nutrition. One other theory is that some personality factors trigger a stress response from hormones that damage the immune system.

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Scottish Dying of Alcohol Related Diseases

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

People in Scotland are dying from alcohol-related diseases at double the rate of the previous generation. According to Dr. Peter Rice, a psychiatrist who runs the Tayside Alcohol Problems Service, adults in Scotland now drink twice as much alcohol as their parents. Dr. Rice expressed concern that cancer resulting from alcohol use is increasing in the country.

 ”There is a considerable amount of health harm through alcohol,” said Dr. Rice. “Death rates have doubled over the last generation. For younger people, alcohol-related harm is a considerable risk. This current generation probably drinks twice what their parents did and we’ve seen rates of harm and alcohol death go up.”

Scotland has one of the fastest growing rates of liver disease and cirrhosis in the world. Excessive alcohol intake also contributes to strokes, high blood pressure, heart disease and weight gain.

“Cancer rates are falling in Scotland but not those related to alcohol,” said Rice. “Mouth and liver cancer are probably the two best examples.”

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Perception of “The Glass”

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

Is the glass half empty or half full? I can tell you in my active addiction the glass was always half empty! My family didn’t care about me enough or they were to meddling. My job didn’t realize how important I was. The women in my life were not appreciative or way to clingy. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all. Why does he get all the breaks. And on and on and on…

I not only needed to be detoxed from the substances in my body, I needed to be detoxed from the toxic thought patterns I had developed in my life. I could clean myself up physically and did numerous times. Yet my negative thoughts always stayed.

In the Big Book it states we will be rocketed into a 4th dimension. For me that 4th dimension has been the change in my attitude and perceptions of life, not only is my glass half full but most days my cup runneth over. As I worked thru the steps and cleaned up my side of the street the other side of the street started to look brighter. As I allowed people to care about me and help me, my relationships with others became significant not bothersome. When I honestly looked inside and saw my part in the spilling of the glass, it became possible even in the most tring days to see the goodness in a day.

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The Level of Cortisol Plays a Factor in Recovery

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Researchers at the University of Liverpool in England have showed that high levels of cortisol in recovering alcoholics plays a role in successful treatment. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal gland in response to stress in the body. Cortisol is found in high levels in chronic alcoholics and those in recovery. The researchers in England learned that these high levels of cortisol could result in impaired memory, attention and decision-making. This could ultimately decrease the patient’s ability to be successful in treatment.

Cortisol plays an important role in the regulation of emotion, learning, attention, energy utilization and the immune system. High cortisol levels are present in alcoholic patients and continue to be elevated during withdrawal and after long periods of abstinence from alcohol.

“Both drinking and withdrawal from alcohol can affect cortisol function in humans,” said Dr. Abi Rose, lead author of the study. “Cortisol dysfunction, including the high levels of cortisol observed during alcohol withdrawal, may contribute to the high rates of relapse reported in alcohol dependence, even after many months of abstinence. Drugs targeting the effects of cortisol in the brain might reduce the chances of relapse and reduce the cognitive impairments that interfere with treatment.”

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Legal Limit Might Still Be Too High

Monday, October 4th, 2010

New research has indicated that blood alcohol levels below the current legal limit for driving have a significant negative effect on a person’s dexterity. The study was published in the open access journal called BMC Research Notes. It found that only two single vodka and orange drinks were enough to make senior volunteers struggle at an obstacle avoidance test while they were walking.

The test was conducted by Judith Hegeman and a team of researchers from Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, with 13 male and female senior citizens.

“The results clearly show that even with low blood alcohol concentrations, reactions to sudden gait perturbations are seriously affected. After ingestion of two alcoholic drinks, obstacles were hit twice as often, response times were delayed and response amplitudes were reduced. These changes were most obvious in situations with little available response time,” said Hegeman.

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My Recovery

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Actress and author Jamie Lee Curtis is most proud of her recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

“My recovery is the single greatest accomplishment of my life. And without that, the rest of my life would have fallen apart,” Curtis said.

“Some people get it. Robert Downey Jr. was in prison for a year. And he is not only the greatest movie star in the world, he’s a fantastic representative of someone who can repair the damage of their life. Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in a shambles and you have to change it. I was lucky. I didn’t have to lose anything.”

Curtis became addicted to prescription painkillers at the age of 35. Now 51, Curtis has been sober for more than 10 years.

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Drinking Affects Sleeping and Other Bodily Functions

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Chronic drinking can disrupt a good night’s sleep and disrupt other circadian clock functions. Researchers from Taipei Medical University found that patients struggling with an addiction to alcohol had lower levels of the messenger ribonucleic acid molecule in circadian clock genes.

This finding supports the relationship between dysregulation of these key genes and drinking in humans.

Alcohol dependency is related to circadian rhythm dysfunction such as sleep problems and mood changes. This study is important because the (study) authors used a clinical sample, instead of animal models, to look into circadian dysregulation in alcohol dependency patients.

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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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