Category Archives: Drug Rehab Certification

Have Scientists Found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

July 18, 2014

What is cocaine addiction?

cocaine addictionA person is considered to have cocaine addiction when he/she is faced with a psychological desire to use cocaine regularly. This is also referred to as a stated of cocaine dependency. The risk of being in this state is that, overdose of cocaine may result to cardiovascular and brain damage such as constriction of blood vessels in the brain, which may result to stroke and if the constriction occurs in the arteries in the heart, it may cause heart attack especially in the central nervous system.

The problem of cocaine related addiction has been on the rise, even though cocaine is an illegal drug almost in every part of the world. This alarming problem has prompted researches to try to curb the problem.

Have Scientists finally found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

There has been some breakthrough in the search for the molecule that blocks the cocaine molecule, but the big question is, have the scientists really discovered a molecule that is capable of blocking the cocaine molecule? Or is it the beginning of the big discovery? This still debatable, but let’s look at what they have already achieved.

What scientist have already discovered

The recent researches reports show that scientist have been able to identify a molecule that they claim can block the cocaine molecule. This molecule is known as CGP3466B. In the recent study, this molecule was able to block cocaine addiction in mice. Does the molecule then block the cocaine molecules in human? Scientists have been testing the molecule or the compound CGP3466B on humans for the treatment of Parkson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but unfortunately it didn’t work. Fortunately, the researchers were able to know the pathway that cocaine works on, and knew CGP3466B was able to block that specific pathway.

How was the research conducted?

The study used mice, by giving them choice to choose two rooms for visiting freely. One of these rooms occasionally dispensed cocaine while the other didn’t. The point of interest was to let the mice eat the cocaine, until a point when they would be addicted. The mice were considered addicted when they remained in the cocaine dispensed room without bothering going to the other room. The addicted mice then received the CGP3466B dose. Let’s now see what the scientists observed after giving the addicted mice the CGP3466B molecule dose. The scientists found that the addicted mice resumed their normal time schedules by spending equal time in both rooms. This was a clear indication that they were no longer addicted.

The most exciting part is on how this drug works. This dose works at very low doses, and it looks to have no possibility of any side effect, since it works by blocking specific pathways and not affecting any other part. This study on CGP3466B was very vital since it helped in the confirmation of the details of cocaine’s action and potential treatment options.

How will you identify somebody addicted with cocaine?

Cocaine is one of the drugs which causes very powerful effects by acting upon the brain. The most common symptoms of addiction are:-

  • Loss of sense of smell
  • Increased libido
  • Isolation from friends and family members
  • Lying about drug use
  • Depression after long period of abuse
  • Feeling of superiority where one feels above the others
  • Mood swings
  • Increased energy and alertness
  • Engagement in risky sex
  • Violent behaviors
  • Damage in nasal passage
  • Dilated pupils
  • Vasoconstriction of blood vessels in the heart.
  • Chronic runny nose

It is important to note that some of these symptoms are similar to those shown by addiction from other substances, and you may not be able to conclude at once that a given person is addicted of cocaine because a given behavior like violence has been depicted. It could be addiction from marijuana, or even another factor not related to addiction. Just like with any other type of addiction, try to assemble sufficient evidence grounds for conclusion on addiction.

cocaine addiction

Effects of Cocaine Addiction to our bodies?

This is actually a knowledge that every person should have. The dangers of using cocaine are deadly. This is one of the worst illegal drug substances which despite their threat to healthy living many people are still abusing them. Let’s look at the dangers of cocaine abuse;

  • Cocaine is known to cause heart attack
  • It may lead to permanent damage of lungs
  • It may cause ulcers
  • It is also reported to cause decrease in sexual activity
  • It causes serious skin infections and abscesses
  • Perforation of the stomach is also a common problem
  • It also causes perforation of nasal activity
  • Seizures are also common when one is an addict of cocaine.
  • Strokes due to the blockage of blood vessels in the heart are also a threat.
  • Also something that is worth mentioning is that cocaine abuse can lead to death if un-attended in time.

Looking at all these effects of abusing cocaine, and when you turn to every corner of the world people are abusing this drug, every human being will always pray that the scientists researches on the treatment of this killer disease be successful. This is the only thing that will save the world but not illegalizing the drug.

Have Scientists Found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

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Opioid Epidemic: Veterans Remain At High Risk

July 17, 2014

Stay Away From Opioids, They Are Addictive!

OpioidsOpioid addiction is an ugly state, as we have always written about in this blog. Over the years, we have heard of celebrities who have succumbed to opioid addictions and we wonder, where is the problem? Addiction is a gradual process, and so are its effects in the body. Let’s discuss this topic in this post.

What are opioids?

These are drugs that are known to be relievers of pain. They work by lowering the number of pain signals your body sends to your brain and also changing how your brain responds to these pains. There drugs normally they are safe, but when they are misused they are very addictive.

What is Opioid addiction?

This refers to the pleasurable desire created in your body by the misuse of opioids which makes you want to use them every time.

Which are the examples of these opioid drugs?

The opioid drugs include:- opium, fentanyl, codeine, heroine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, oxycodone, tramadol paregoric just to mention a few.

What is opioid drug tolerance?

Tolerance to drug refers to when your body over time gets used to the effects of the drug. When this happens, you may have to take a higher drug to attain the effect you used to attain before. When you use opioids for a long time, especially when abused, a time will be reached when your body gets used to the drug and it cannot have any reasonable effect to your body. If this becomes the case, if you want to use opioids to cure pains, it won’t be possible.

What about opioid dependence?

This refers to a point reached when the person has used a drug for a long time, such that his/her body works changes because they have taken drugs. Withdrawal effects are a common thing in this case, and the victim cannot stop taking the drug. The withdrawal effects prevent the person from stopping taking the drugs and therefore in everyday life, the person will need to take these drugs for survival.

How to spot addiction?

  • Craving for drug is a common way of knowing that you are addicted to a drug. In this case, you will feel like you cannot control your urge for the drug. The opioid addicted person will every minute want to take the drug not as a matter of choice but forced by the body urges.
  • If you find that you keep using the drug every without doctor’s prescription, even if the drugs are causing harmful effect on you, you may be addicted. This taking of drugs in most cases will not be a personal choice but you just find yourself taking them.
  • An increased tolerance for the drug is normally an indicator that the drug has gotten used to your body and consequently resulting to addiction. For instance, if the opioid addict has some pain and takes the drug that used to previously help in similar situation, It may not have any significant impact. This will require usage of a more powerful drug than the one the person used to previously take.
  • If you find that you are spending excess in terms of time and money on drugs, this could be an indicator of addiction. Since the addicted person will not be able to do without the drugs, it is common that the person will be a regular visitor to the drug dealers to purchase the drug every now and then. This will translate to the person spending too much money and time to acquire the drugs.
  • Addiction to opioids is also known to cause excess weight gain or weight loss. If you find that you are gaining weight or losing weight abruptly and you healthy status is good, then the reason could be that you have been addicted in opioids.
  • Another indicator of addiction in opioid that we cannot overlook is the act of turning to crime to pay for more opiates. This is a common case in places where people are not economically developed. This person will need money to purchase the drugs but since the money is not there, the person may end up in criminal activities while sourcing money for the purchases of the drugs. This will commonly result in pretty crime activities.

How is opioid addiction treated?

The treatment of opioid addiction is never an easy task, since opioid addiction is a complex disease which has physical, mental, social and emotional factors associated. For any successful treatment therefore, all these factors must be addressed. This treatment may be administered as outpatient program but in some cases in patient is the only option. This is normally the cases when it has caused mental problems to the addict.

opioids

The following are some of the key treatment methods:-

  • Detoxification – this is often the first attempt at treatment. This involves supervised withdrawal from the drugs. This is normally supported with medication to help the patient withstand the withdrawal effects.
  • Medication – here the addicts are sometimes introduced to milder opioids, whose quantities are drastically reduced during the medication period. This is normally helpful in helping the addict slowly withdraw from the drug usage.
  • Treatment facilities – this is a method of treatment in which the patient may be referred to a self-help group which helps the person in the recovery time.
  • Therapies – these are therapies which may be prescribed to the patient. This could be an activity like exercise. This will help the patient emotionally by not thinking about the drug every time.

So now we have seen all the consequences and solutions of opioid addiction. Are you ready to recovery from this addiction? All you need is to call or visit AWAREmed and you will be helped out by highly experienced professionals.

Stay Away From Opioids, They Are Addictive!

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Homeopathy Treatment and Addiction

July 16, 2014

Homeopathy Treatment for Addiction

This is a natural method of treatment which is based on the philosophy that body has ability to heal itself. It is one of the oldest methods of natural treatment dating back to the late 1700s when it was founded in Germany. This medicine views symptoms of the illness as normal response of the body while it is in the process of healing itself. An interesting principle of this medicine is that, “like heals like” which means if a substance can cause symptoms when given to someone, it means the substance can be used to cure the illness if given small amount.

How does it work?

Since this medicine believes that giving a small amount of a symptom causing substance can heal the illness, it uses small substances which are diluted in water. These substances are diluted until no part of the original substance remains undiluted.

This kind of medicine is used to treat extremely wide range of conditions, which include physical conditions like asthma and psychological conditions like depression.

Is this medicine safe?

Yes. Homeopathic remedies are generally safe and they have no history of residual effects. The risks and side effects which may arise from the usage of these methods are clinically thought to be negligible.

Homeopathy Treatment

When is homeopathy useful?

If we look at history, homeopathy has been used in the maintenance of long-term illnesses such as:-irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis among others. They have also been used in the treatment of minor injuries including cuts and strains. This medicine is still useful in those areas, but it has been cautioned that homeopathy is not appropriate for treatment of illnesses such as heart diseases, cancer, major infections and emergency. This is for obvious reason that these kinds of illnesses require urgent treatment and failure to which they are known to pose life threat and one may die.

Where do I get these medicines?

As a matter of fact, homeopathy is not commonly available in most of the hospitals in the world. This is because homeopathy is normally practiced privately. However, there are hospitals and therapeutic health care centers which offer this important medicine. Are you now wondering where they are located? AWAREmed is your solution! We have homeopathy medicines in our store and professionals who will help you out. All you need to do is to visit us all call us for details.

How is the medication process?

The process or procedure which will be used when you visit a health facility for medication will vary, but a few things will always be common.

When you visit a homeopath for the first time, a point of interest will be to first grasp your health status and pointing out any specific health condition. Therefore, they will most likely ask you about any specific health condition, but also more importantly your general wellbeing, lifestyle, emotional state and even diet.

What happens next? Based on the information collected above, the homeopath will be able to decide on your course of medication. This treatment in most cases will take the form of homeopathy remedies given as pills, capsules or sometimes tincture.

It is important to note that the course of treatment will depend on the individuals and the homeopath’s assessment of your condition. It is also vital noting that, just like many other treatment and recovery methods, the results are always not instant especially in the view that this method that will rely on the body to heal itself after ensuring necessary conditions for recovery are maintained. Regular assessments by the homeopath may be consequently important to know the progress. Ensure that you keep in touch with your homeopath regularly for assessment of your progress.

What Can We Conclude About Homeopathy?

Homeopathy TreatmentThere are a few thing that we can conclude from this treatment, one of the outstanding ones being that there is no enough evidence to the believe that substances can that induce certain symptoms can be used to treat them. Also the idea of shaking those substances into water has not been proven whether it can produce a reliable medicine though it has in many cases healed patients.

It can be argued that, since the substances which are used in the shake to produce the medicine are usually diluted with water up to a point where the original substance parts are not available, it is likely that in the final medicine there will be no single molecule of the substance. What does this imply? It is possible for us to conclude that homeopathic remedies are nothing but water. Thus the argument of them being able to treat becomes questionable.

It is also possible that the people who use homeopath remedies see improvements in their health due to the phenomenon known as the placebo effect which is the power of the mind to influence the body. This is also referred to as “having faith”, something which will make you believe the medicine will heal you even if the medicine doesn’t have any capability to make any noticeable change. It is always important for us to be aware of the placebo effects before we judge the medication that we are undergoing.

Homeopathy Treatment for Addiction

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Understanding Depression

July 16, 2014

What is depression?

Depression is one of the common symptoms of addiction from drugs. It refers to a condition or illness that causes a constant feeling of sadness and lack of interest. The depressed person will in most cases stay isolated and doesn’t like talking to other people around. Although it is common that any human being will at one time feel moody and not willing to talk with people around, this happens for some time then it disappears. In the case of depressed persons this state doesn’t seem to go away.

What causes this depression?

depressionDepression mostly is caused by chemical compounds which lower neurotransmission levels, which in turn depresses or reduces arousal or simulation in various areas of the brain. These drugs which contain this compound known to cause depression are widely being used all over the world either as prescription medicines or illicit substances. These drugs are used for their effects which are initially friendly e.g. pain relief, sedation etc. but in the long run or abuse, they result into depression.

Which are the indicators of depression?

Depression symptoms can be identified through behavior of the depressed person, or through the feeling of the depressed. Some of the common symptoms of depression may include;

  • Concentration difficulties, difficulties in remembering details of something and even decision making difficulties. The depressed person can be observed to possess at least one all even all of these challenges.
  • Loss of interest in activities. The person may loss interest in activities that he/she liked previously. For instance, a person who liked playing chess, may no longer show any interest in playing it and his/her friends may be able to observe this abrupt change in taste.
  • The depressed person may show signs of chronic headaches, cramps, pains etc.
  • Sometimes the depressed person will possess intense sadness, anxiety and “feeling” towards the people around.
  • The person may look restless. In many cases, a depressed person will not seem to settle and often he/she looks disturbed by something unknown.
  • Some victims of depression are faced with fatigue and decrease in energy that they initially possessed.
  • A depressed person may feel worthless and helpless. This can be observed when the person possessed indicators of low esteem.
  • A depressed person will either miss sleep or oversleep. In terms of sleeping they do it to the extremes.
  • Another symptom worthy mentioning is that a depressed person possesses thoughts of suicide or sometimes attempt to commit suicide.

Note: The depressed person may possess several of these symptoms at the same time and thus, do not over rely on one indicator to judgment. Also note that sometimes, what you see as a symptom may actually not be. For instance, not all the times being moody will be considered a symptom of depression!

Diagnosis of depression

The detection of depression and determination of its type and intensity requires a professional person. Are you wondering where you will get these professionals? Then you don’t have to worry anymore! At AWAREmed, we have professionals who will diagnose you and if diagnosed with depression, you will be given the appropriate treatment for you to recover completely.

How we diagnose

It is a fact that we had for long been accustomed to doctors using specialized blood tests or some other expensive lab tests which helped them in making a conclusive diagnosis. This is no longer helpful when it comes to depression. One of the most powerful tool which has been proven effective is talking to the patient, as you try to analyze the situation and identify symptoms. This is the tool that we mainly use to ensure that we give you the most appropriate and effective treatment which will lead you to a very fast recovery from depression. The importance of it is to give you a sustained recovery. It has been common that depression as a mental problem in many cases may have some other underlying factors, which not unless they are addressed, the result may not be sustained for long and thus lapse may occur.

depression

How do we treat depression?

Just like any other disease, treatment of depression begins with diagnosis. Once you have been diagnosed with depression, you can now proceed to the step of treatment. Here, the doctor will discuss various depression options with you. The appropriate treatment for depression will depend on the type of depression you have. For example, based on the type of depression that you have, the doctor will decide which of either antidepressants, psychotherapy or both will work best for you. The appropriate treatment will then be administered.

Sometimes, a person may be subjected to a given treatment and then he/she doesn’t respond to the standard depression treatment. In this case, the doctor may opt you train your brain via simulation techniques. Whatever treatment the doctor prescribes to you, it is importat to note that there is no instant solution. You must be patient to heal slowly and finally be fully depression free. You must remember that you should not give up in the race of addiction recovery.

What is depression?

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Pain Management without Addiction

July 15, 2014

Addiction-Free Pain Management

Pain management refers to the process through which we reduce or control pain in our bodies. One of the common methods of doing this has been prescription medication. While this method has proven to work well to some extent, in some cases it may result to addiction by the drug prescribed. If this happens, it makes it impossible for the patient to stay without taking the drugs since once one fails to take them pain returns and only reduced or ends once the drugs are taken. This is a common case when opioids are used for pain treatment.

How do we curb this problem then? Just as the saying goes, if you don’t repair a crack, you may end up building the whole wall. The best way to prevent addiction from drugs while trying to cure pain is by ensuring that the treatment that you use is effective and has no history of addiction when used. This type of treatment which doesn’t lead you to addiction is the one we call addiction-free pain treatment/ management.

Which are the Addiction-free pain management methods?

Many of effective treatments of pain methods which are addiction free will try to avoid usage prescription drugs or at least ensure they used a drug whose history doesn’t indicate signs of addiction. Let’s look at some methods which have proven to be effective in the management of pain and leaving the patient addiction free.

Pain management

What is provolone treatment? This is a form of muscular-skeletal and joint pain treatment technique. It uses the power of oxygen to cause the damaged tissues, ligaments, joints and even tendons to regenerate. This method of treatment causes a complete healing and a permanent pain relief.

How does it work?

Before we even look at the technique used by provolone to heal, it is important to remember the fact that most pains we experience in our daily life originate from injuries. These injuries may or not be physical. For a permanent pain relief to be realized, we must start by treating the injury itself and ensure it heals as well. For a damaged part of the body to regenerate and heal, it must have the critical elements necessary that only the blood can provide. These elements are: – Vitamins, minerals and oxygen. Of the three, by far the most important of them all is oxygen.

Prolozone works in three ways;

  • First, injection of homeopathic anti-inflammatory medication is done to prevent or reduce inflammation and swelling. This will increase circulation.
  • The second thing is to treat the area with vitamins that are critical for healing to occur.
  • Finally, the area is infiltrated with oxygen in the form of ozone.

What happens after this treatment?

The result of the treatment is that the tissues get what they need to heal, and consequently heal. Important to note is that circulation to the area is also established and therefore the treatment is complete.

Which are some of the conditions which can be treated with provolone?

The following are some of the conditions which can effectively be treated with ozone:

Can this treatment be addictive?

Not at all. We must note that this is a therapeutic treatment and thus it doesn’t use drug prescription which would in some cases result into addiction. The good thing also about this treatment over the other pain killing treatments is that it does not only kill the pain but also produce permanent healing of any injured area.

This is another addiction free treatment of pain which involves the treatment of autonomic nervous system. Autonomic system is the most fundamental system in our bodies and works as the control system. This system is responsible for controlling important body functions such as blood circulation, body temperatures, breathing, heart rate etc.

How does it work?

Neural therapy works by using procain injections to restore and heal stressed out and injured nerves, so as to ensure they work normally and in so doing, they sent the proper nerve impulses to the tissues and body organs that they innervate.

Pain managementIt refers to Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide which is a metabolic co-enzyme which continuously varies between NAD and NADH compounds in the body. Our bodies have two classes of enzymes, digestive and metabolic enzymes. Since healing requires structuring, repair, and modeling of every cell, metabolic enzymes become important since they do all those. Replenishment of these enzymes is important since they normally have a work load. NAD plays an important role in production of ATP, which is the energy molecule in the body and has over 100 metabolic functions in our human chemistry.

Is NAD therapy safe?

Yes. NAD therapy is a safe, natural supplement of cellular energy and also a generator of the same. It may also help to: act as a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger Phagocytes use NADPH as a source of energy to destroy pathogens. It also increases mental clarity and alertness when applied to a given patient.

This is one of the pain relieve therapies which has proven to work effectively. It is a non-pharmacological, non-invasive technique for pain neutralization.

How does it work?

This technique works through gentle manipulation of tissue by altering the nerve based reflexes which a known to perpetuate trigger points and muscle pain. It is a very friendly method since it doesn’t use pressure like some of the other methods for treating trigger points and it instead uses finger massage of the points.

Magnesium is one of the known treatments of pain, which have proven effective and addiction free. Magnesium is known to relax muscles and hence it uses this principle to relief pain.

A remarkable principle in the mechanism of magnesium treatment is that of excessive stimulation of a brain chemical known as ‘NMDA.’

One of the advantages of magnesium as a treatment substance is that it is readily available since it can be found in supplement form at most of health food stores.

Addiction-Free Pain Management

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