Increased demand will
follow increased access to addiction services
In Ohio—one of the most populated states in the country—the
prevalence of opioid addiction and abuse might be turning a corner, according
to Orman Hall, director of the Ohio governor’s Opiate Action Team, who
spoke at the groundbreaking for the Gelbman House in Youngstown, Ohio
yesterday. As more individuals gain access to healthcare coverage through
Affordable Care Act provisions, they are more likely to seek treatment for
their substance abuse issues. “We’re seeing significant demand, especially
around the issue of opiate and heroin addiction,” Hall says. “The Affordable
Care Act is really important, but the other piece is Medicaid expansion.” Ohio
joins 25 other states that have expanded Medicaid to include new populations
that typically have not been eligible for Medicaid before, such as adults who
do not have children. To
continue reading, please click here.
Thoughts on the future of peer-run services: Part 3
This three-part series started when Ron Manderscheid,
executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and
Developmental Disability Directors, wrote an article on the future of peers in
our workforce in a Behavioral Healthcare blog last December. Manderscheid
described the roles peers could play in integrated care under the Affordable
Care Act (ACA). He is often able to see a vision of the future that gives the
rest of us a glimpse of how things could be if we were courageous and behave
ourselves. The vision he imparts in that article does just that. For example,
he said an opportunity will exist for a peer to serve persons who have no
behavioral health conditions. To
continue reading, please click here.
Note: Part One is available here.
Part Two is available here.
Binge drinking among youth
concentrated among a small number of alcohol brands; vodka often binge drink of
choice
Youth who binge drink are often choosing spirits (“hard
alcohol”), particularly vodka, and their binge drinking is concentrated among a
relatively small number of brands, according to a new study. This is the first
study to document alcohol brands used for binge drinking (five or more drinks in
a row for males; four or more drinks in a row for females) by underage youth
(ages 13-20). To
continue reading, please click here.
Study reveals molecular
mechanism behind alcohol-related brain damage
It has been well documented that heavy alcohol use can cause
damage to the brain. But for the first time, researchers from the University of
the Basque Country in Spain and the University of Nottingham in the UK reveal
the structural brain damage alcohol abuse can cause at a molecular level. To continue reading,
please click here.
Twelve Step Recovery and
Medication Assisted Therapies
"You're not clean and sober if you keep taking that
medication from your doctor!"
"You're just substituting one drug for another."
"You are depressed because you are not grateful
enough."
These and other statements are often made to 12-step members
who are legitimately prescribed and taking FDA approved medications to treat
their addictions and other co-occurring illnesses. Unfortunately, this so-
called “advice” from well-intended but misinformed members is not founded in
scientific or 12-step philosophy and violates a long held 12- step policy of
“AA members should not give medical advice to each other." To
continue reading, please click here.
To Beat Heroin Addiction,
A Turn To Coaches
Two young men sit in a car outside a church or union hall
where they just attended a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Both men are addicted
to heroin. But they haven’t used the drug since they finished a residential
treatment program a week or so earlier. To continue
reading, please click here.
A Heroin User's Story:
Naloxone Gives a Mother Back Her Son, But Can't Cure Addiction
Peter Ruhry got what many other drug abusers never get: a
second chance. Mr. Ruhry grew up in Nassau County, in a home without drugs. He
started using drugs in April 2007; two years later, in May 2009, he overdosed
on heroin, said his mother, Angie Ruhry. He was 21 years old, taking summer
classes at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania. At some point between his home
and the hospital, first responders gave Mr. Ruhry a shot of naloxone, a
medication that is an antidote to opioids found in heroin and some prescription
drugs, his mother said. To
continue reading, please click here.
Is your doctor stoned?
Physicians with substance abuse problems continue to work
We trust doctors with our lives. They’re supposed to take
care of us. But physicians are only human. Government studies indicate at least
100,000 doctors — or about one in 10 currently working — is addicted to drugs
or alcohol. Some are performing surgeries while stoned, injuring and even
killing unsuspecting patients, according to TODAY national investigative
correspondent Jeff Rossen, who found numerous cases of doctors busted for
substance abuse. To
continue reading, please click here.
Young adult men not
forthright about their behaviors
A survey conducted for the Caron Texas treatment facility
found a disturbing discrepancy between young adult males' assessment of their
own substance-using behavior and their reporting of what their friends are
doing. Authorities suspect that this means these individuals in the 18-to-25
age range are under-reporting their own daily use. To
continue reading, please click here.
Shire to test its ADHD
drug in 4 to 5-year olds in U.S.
Shire Plc has agreed to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration
request to study its stimulant Vyvanse in preschool children as concern rises
over the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
the drugmaker said on Thursday. To
continue reading, please click here.
Psychotropic Drugs Affect
Men and Women Differently
Prescription painkillers, antidepressants and other brain
drugs have gender-specific effects. To
continue reading, please click here.
A Chinese Chemical Company
and A 'Bath Salts' Epidemic
There were times a few years back when the emergency room at
SUNY Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse looked like a scene from a zombie
movie. Dr. Ross Sullivan, a physician there, recalls one afternoon when staff
wheeled in a man with dilated pupils who was covered in sweat. To
continue reading, please click here.
Children use more drugs
when their parents are strict
Want to stop your children from smoking pot? Don't be a
tyrant, and pay attention. A recent study looked at how different parenting
styles affect different behaviors. By analyzing survey results, Spanish
researchers concluded that the strictest and most neglectful parenting styles
correlated with a lot more illicit drug use than balanced and indulgent styles.
In other words, the key to preventing drug use could be a kind and affectionate
approach to parenting. To
continue reading, please click here.
Feds Seek Ways to Expand
Use of Addiction Drug
The government's top drug abuse experts are struggling to
find ways to expand use of a medicine that is considered the best therapy for
treating heroin and painkiller addiction. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan on
Wednesday pressed officials from the White House, the National Institute of
Drug Abuse and other agencies to increase access to buprenorphine, a medication
which helps control drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It remains underused
a decade after its launch. To
continue reading, please click here.
6 Common Fears in
Addiction Recovery – and How to Face Them
Fear is normal at every stage of recovery. Everyone enters
rehab with some trepidation, even if they’ve been in and out of treatment for
years. Likewise, most people leave rehab full of worry. What will happen when
they leave the one place they know they can stay sober? How will they cope when
the feelings they’ve been medicating come flooding back? To
continue reading, please click here.
3 Surprising (and
Dangerous) Truths about Opiate Addiction
It’s been almost a month since the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control hosted the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Atlanta, GA. There, some
surprising truths about opiate addiction were unveiled. To
continue reading, please click here.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment