AUTHOR: Eric DATE: 5/10/2007 08:27:00 AM ----- BODY:
Researchers and scientists in the drug rehab field have been trying to focus most of their time and efforts into developing drugs to overcome addiction, but treating a chemical problem with more chemicals has never produced long-lasting, stable results in a drug rehab program. One recent push is the use of extended-release injectable naltrexone for alcoholism. However, Naltrexone is an opiate blocker and no one really knows how, or if, it will work with alcohol. This guessing game – let’s try this and see if it works - is another reason why giving addicts replacement drugs doesn’t work for long-term recovery. Other problems with Naltrexone include side effects such as nausea, vomiting, decreased appetite, drowsiness, fatigue, headache, dizziness, anxiety and, in some cases, suicidal thoughts and behavior. Also, the recommended dose of 380 mg., injected intra-muscularly, hasn’t been tested to find out what affect it will have on the liver – it could result in toxicity. Who would want to subject themselves to that? Alcohol and drug rehab programs are supposed to detoxify, not introduce more toxins. A successful alcohol or drug rehab program works by finding alternative solutions to problems in life that caused the person to turn to drugs or alcohol in the first place, and thereby reducing the desire to drink. The results of Naltrexone speak for themselves - a six-month study showed only limited reduction in the number of heavy drinking days, and little effect on abstinence. That doesn’t effective to me. Really successful alcohol and drug rehab programs fix the body, get the person in better shape physically, and address the underlying issues that got them there in the first place.

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-------- AUTHOR: Eric DATE: 4/24/2007 06:04:00 PM ----- BODY:
Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers has checked into a rehab facility to keep up with his recovery from alcohol abuse. Meyers, star of the current Showtime series The Tudors, recently finished shooting his upcoming flick 'August Rush' opposite Terrence Howard and Robin Williams in New York. Rhys has scheduled his next project to start after he completes the alcohol rehab treatment program. Seems drug and alcohol rehab is becoming quite the celebrity trend - others who recently checked into rehab include Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss and Desperate Housewives heartthrob Jesse Metcalfe.

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-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 4/05/2007 10:39:00 AM ----- BODY:
Most people’s definition of detoxification is simply just withdrawing from the drug. In most cases, a medically-supervised withdrawal is not necessary, especially with most stimulants and even painkillers and heroin, although it is often preferred with the latter two. Even though a common aide is to have someone ‘sleep it off,’ alcohol and some other drugs can be very difficult to withdraw from when a person is consuming large quantities. Medical detoxification helps someone to systematically withdraw from alcohol or drugs by reducing the amount and/or using other medicines to ease the process and eliminate the risk of seizure and other severe drug withdrawal symptoms. People most often wanting or needing a medically-supervised detoxification before beginning addiction treatment include those on benzodiazapines (Xanax, Valium), opiates (prescription painkillers, heroin, methadone), barbiturates (Phenobarbital) and heavy amounts of alcohol. One main problem with this is, though, that many drug users will try to stop their treatment after detox thinking that their problem is solved, but in actual fact they are much better off statistically to go into a longer-term drug-free residential rehabilitation program after detoxification. In recent years there have also been other classes of prescribed drugs that require medical detox to step down from. These drugs include antipsychotics (Zyprexa, Risperdol, Seroquel), antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, etc.) and other mind-altering prescriptions. Given that more information and side effects of these drugs are discovered each year, more and more people are deciding to not take them and are seeking alternative treatments. These types of drugs have very severe withdrawal symptoms and people coming down from them often experience sudden psychotic episodes, so stepping down gradually in a medically-supervised environment is a good approach rather than weaning down at home. Have you known anyone or heard stories of someone trying to withdraw from some of these drugs on their own? What was the result? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | Spurl

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-------- AUTHOR: Eric DATE: 3/30/2007 03:54:00 PM ----- BODY:
In today’s day and age, beer is still considered the drink of choice for many Czechs. According to the UK-based Society for the Study of Addiction, in 2003, Czechs drank an average of 162 liters of beer per person. This is more than any other nation on earth. That's one bottle of beer for every man, woman, and child in the Czech Republic every day. In this nation, the pub has been and will remain a key place for many to gather after work. In fact the above trend is not recent and drinking beer has been apart of Czech history for at least 1,000 years. Beers like Budweis and Pilsner beers were born and remain popular, both in the Czech Republic and around the globe. What’s even more odd is that scientists in the United Kingdom just did a study and reported that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than Ecstasy, marijuana and LSD as alcohol is involved in half of all emergency room visits in the country. The study went on to say that tobacco causes 40 percent of all illnesses that require hospitalization. Scientists doing the study feel that alcohol and tobacco cause more economical and societal problems than the use of many of these illegal drugs. Will these new findings cut down on the amount of alcohol use and abuse in the country? Will many who abuse alcohol now turn to abusing drugs because these drugs are reported as being less dangerous than alcohol? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | Spurl

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-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 3/14/2007 10:42:00 AM ----- BODY:
The American Medical Association (AMA) has been placing targeted ads in college publications asking them to "Stop the Madness" with regards to taking money from the alcohol beverage industry for ads during college athletics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) responded to the ad by saying that reports show the age of people watching events such as the NCAA basketball tournament are largely adults, and they are limited to only one commercial per hour. Is this a true enough statement to ignore the issue, or is it simply a justification for the money these schools get in return, which can range from the thousands to the millions, for alcohol-related sponsors? The AMA maintains that alcohol ads undermine efforts to prevent campus binge drinking and alcohol-related deaths, accidents and sexual assaults. "Universities have finally gotten past the `bad apple' theory -- that it's just a few students," said Laurie Leiber, spokeswoman for the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog group in California. "They're trying to get away from an alcohol-saturated environment." The new mood comes as public awareness of binge drinking on campuses has heightened in recent years. Colleges have come under fire for largely turning a blind eye to abusive drinking on their campuses, often by underage students. Statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health report that over 7 million young people under the age of 21 are current binge drinkers, which is defined as having five or more drinks on the same occasion in the past month. In addition, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) concluded that 30 percent of Americans aged 18-20 were binge drinkers in the past month. Frequent binge drinkers were eight times more likely than non-binge drinkers to miss a class, fall behind in schoolwork, get hurt or injured, and damage property. College campuses have been notorious for heavy alcohol consumption, and in recent years several schools made national headlines because of deaths on campus due to alcohol poisoning. Does it really have to come to a point where kids are dying before colleges take a stand? Article by Eric Digg It | Reddit | Newsvine Seed Add to your bookmarks in: del.icio.us | Yahoo! | Google | Furl | ma.gnolia | Spurl

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-------- AUTHOR: Romie DATE: 2/20/2007 01:09:00 PM ----- BODY:
Approximately 5,000 young people under 21 die each year due to underage drinking. Recent occurrences in several states have lawmakers working to figure out something they can do to help save lives and prevent teenagers and young adults from causing more damage to themselves and others. Some areas have resorted to local ordinances that include heavy fines for adults whose houses are used for underage drinking parties – whether they’re home or not. Other laws include keg registration, where the purchaser of the alcohol is the one punished if it is found to be consumed by people underage. Part of the problem is that some parents adopt the attitude of "at least it’s at my house where I know they’re safe," which may have its merits, but also fosters the idea that consuming alcohol to the point of getting buzzed or drunk is okay. According to a recent national survey, about 10.8 million people ages 12-20 (28.2 percent) reported past month alcohol use in 2005. Nearly 7.2 million of these underage drinkers (18.8 percent) were binge drinkers and 2.3 million (6.0) were heavy drinkers. These figures have remained essentially the same since 2002. Along with the immediate problems caused by underage drinking, there are residual effects on society as well. For example, those who begin drinking in their early teens are at greater risk of developing alcohol dependence at some point in their lives. This means additional costs for rehabilitation programs, increased risk of future DUI/DWI, increased risk of accidents caused at work, etc. However, with about half of the adult population being current drinkers, other people feel that if someone is old enough to die for our country in the military, then they’re old enough for have a drink. That may be true, but if consuming alcoholic beverages at a young age is going to continue to be prevalent in this society, then someone has to teach young people how to be responsible with such a dangerous substance, if that is at all possible. It’s actually a shame that we have to develop laws with fines and penalties to try and correct a situation when more focus should be placed on effective education and prevention. Article by Eric

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-------- AUTHOR: Eric DATE: 2/09/2007 02:06:00 PM ----- BODY:
Original posted on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 Alcohol is probably one of the strangest drugs out there. It is legal, but it costs Americans more in terms of damage to society and lives lost than basically all of the illegal drugs combined. Approximately half of the adult population of the United States consumes alcohol at least once a month. The fine line between social drinking and a drinking problem defines the powerful grip that toxins have on our culture. Prohibition didn't work, but this also gives a glimpse as to what might happen if more drugs were made legal today. Statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that more than one fifth (22.7 percent or about 55 million) people ages 12 and older participated in binge drinking in 2005 within the past month. The binge drinking rate among young adults ages 18-25 was 41.9 percent, and the heavy drinking rate was 15.3 percent. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more alcoholic beverages on one occasion. Heavy drinking is defined as binging at least five days out of the last month. In 2005, 6.6 percent of the population ages 12 and older (16 million people) engaged in heavy drinking. This rate is similar to the reported rate of 6.9 percent in 2004. Overall, about 10.8 million persons ages 12-20 (28.2 percent) reported past month alcohol use in 2005. Nearly 7.2 million of these underage drinkers (18.8 percent) were binge drinkers and 2.3 million (6.0) were heavy drinkers. Binge and heavy drinking among adolescents and younger adults appears to be an expected behavior in many circumstances, such as college parties. The problem with this acceptance is that it is actually not okay. In fact, the results of this behavior, according to the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) is: - 1,700 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes, and there are an additional 599,000 injuries. - More than 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, and more than 97,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape. - 400,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 had unprotected sex and more than 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 report having been too intoxicated to know if they consented to having sex. - 2.1 million students between the ages of 18 and 24 drove under the influence of alcohol last year. - The NIAAA also says that 31 percent of college students met criteria for a diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 6 percent for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the past 12 months, according to questionnaire-based self-reports about their drinking. So, parents, this is what some of your money is really going to when you send your kids off to college. If not closely monitored, your child could become one of these statistics too, and possibly more than one category. Your money could also be diverted to paying for treatment instead of tuition and living expenses for a year. As for people in substance abuse treatment, two thirds (66 percent) of the number of clients seeking help had a problem with alcohol (19 percent alcohol only and 47 percent alcohol and other drugs). The survey of substance abuse treatment services was performed at the end of March in 2005 and found there were 1.08 people currently in treatment, which was up 8 percent in five years. Article by Eric Mitchell

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