Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation

June 16, 2014

Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation-Drug Addiction

Malnourishment is a serious factor in addiction and proper nutrition is necessary for rehabilitation. Vitamins are very essential.

The debate on addiction is endless and experts are beginning to believe that nearly everything can be addictive depending on how you use the element before you. And that is why careful attention needs to be taken in the prevention and treatment to bring the problem of addiction to manageable levels. In an effort to do this we will be discussing the use of vitamin therapy in rehabilitating the drug addicts. Generally food is a very key component in ensuring the proper functionality of the body. We all need food to give us the energy we need to function. The absence of food is disaster in the waiting and so good nutritious food is very instrumental in rehabilitating drug addicts.

Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation-Malnourishment and Drug Abuse

It is important that we define the word malnutrition for us to have a better understanding of what we are talking about. It is a serious condition that occurs when a person’s diet does not contain the right amount of food nutrients and it is a common side effect among alcoholics and substance abusers. Malnourishment occurs majorly among drug abusers due to the decreased food ingestion and in some cases impaired metabolism and absorption processes. Besides this it is also lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies which can cause many serious health problems. Drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamine are known to cause loss of appetite because of this drug abusers may stay up for days at a time on a binge and suffer dehydration and electrolyte imbalances as a result.

Malnourishment leads to a breakdown of basic bodily function and vitamin deficiencies. Vitamins are essential to maintaining growth and normal metabolism because they regulate many physiological processes. Fatigue, digestive problems, menstruation issues, tooth decay, aches and pains are often experienced by people who are malnourished. Additionally, people who suffer from malnutrition are vulnerable to infection. The nutrients from food are essential to the functioning of the effectiveness of the immune system. Without a properly functioning immune system one is easily susceptible to disease.

Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation-Vitamin Deficiencies and Drug Abuse

Alcohol consumers or those who take drugs are usually faced with vitamin deficiencies and in some cases are malnourished. These deficiencies usually occur as result of poor nutrition and a lack of good health. Long term, and in some case, irreversible health problems can occur when someone has a deficiency in an essential vitamin or mineral.
Thiamine deficiency is a very serious disorder that occurs as a consequence of poor nutrition and a lack of thiamine, or vitamin B1.

Individuals who suffer from chronic alcoholism are at risk of suffering from a very serious health condition known as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, or Wet Brain Syndrome. Vitamin B1 is essential for brain function and the nervous system, flow of electrolytes in and out of cells, digestion and carbohydrate metabolism. Thiamine is found in many foods such as:

Beef
Wheat
Milk
Oranges
Seeds and cereals

Majority of people today get the sufficiency of food nutrients they need from the good and adequate food they consume. Since we get these nutrients from food drug abusers may not get this benefit because they tend to neglect their diet and health, with this they are at risk of causing a deficiency in thiamine.

Liver disease is another consequence of poor health and inadequate consumption of essential vitamins. The luck of vitamin A and E in the body is as a result of poor nutrition and this can cause great damage to the functions of the body. The metabolism of vitamin A is affected by alcohol consumption which may end up in the damage to the liver.

Alcohol also affects the amount or quantity of calcium in the body and if this goes for a long time may lead to osteoporosis and other bodily health conditions. Calcium is an important nutrient for many body functions including among other uses:

Vascular contraction and vasodilation
Muscle function
Nerve transmission
Intracellular signaling
Hormonal secretion along with bone strength

Research has established that chronic alcoholism interferes with vitamin D metabolism and this can result in inadequate absorption of dietary calcium and loss in bone mass and density.

Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation-Vitamin Therapy in Drug Abuse Treatment

Vitamin therapy is the use of high doses of vitamins to treat diseases and conditions. This alternative approach to health care has been found to provide impressive results in some cases for many different diseases, including alcoholism and substance abuse. Evidence has shown that vitamin therapy can aid in reducing withdrawal symptoms, increase the treatment retention rates and improve mental health. This may be because of the chronic deficiencies that some people have as a result of their long term drug or alcohol use and because of the healing properties that specific vitamins, such as vitamin C, have been found to induce.

Chronic depletion of vitamins and minerals should be considered in any health treatment for substance abuse. For alcoholics and drug addicts, nutrients commonly used in vitamin treatment include niacin; B complex vitamins especially B1, B5 and B6; antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E; calcium and magnesium. Each of these vitamins has been found to facilitate a large number of metabolic processes and their deficiencies can be associated with mental disturbances and chronic health problems.

Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation-Adverse Reactions to Vitamins

Experts through various studies have established that adverse effects from vitamin and mineral supplements are incredibly rare and levels of supplementing vitamins required to evoke a reaction are far higher than would be considered practical. Safety studies indicate that adverse effects from short-term use of high dose vitamins used during withdrawal or rehabilitation are negligible. With the exception of synthetic vitamin A, it is most likely that adverse events associated with high doses of a single vitamin are actually caused by resulting nutrient imbalances.

Finally we have been discussing vitamin therapy for rehabilitation drug addicts and it is clear that food nutrition plays an enormous role and so this must be encouraged by all means. While doing this it is also necessary that we seek the services of experts who have been in this discipline for in death understanding. Dr. Dalal Akoury who is the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is an expert of over two decades and has been offering her exclusive NER Recovery Treatment to other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. With experts like doctor Akoury you will not only recover nutritionally but also physically you will regain yourself completely and live a life full of hope, satisfaction and free from any form of addiction.

Vitamin Therapy for Rehabilitation-Drug Addiction

Neurons and Neurotransmitters

June 12, 2014

Neurons and Neurotransmitters-The Brains of the Nervous System

Neurotransmitters neuron is a specialized nerve cell that receives, processes, and transmits information to other cells in the body.

The body of a human being is presumed dead when the brain stops functioning. This is because all the functions of the body are controlled by the various segments of the brain. Majorly the nervous system is responsible for the body’s control and communication network. While discharging this function in humans, they do so in three ways and that is to say that they:

Senses changes both in and outside the body-the sensory function.
Interprets and explains the changes-the integrative function.
Responds to the interpretation by making muscles interact and glands secrete hormones or other chemicals into the bloodstream-the motor function.

The nervous system itself has two main parts:

The central nervous system includes the brain and spinal cord which acts as a control center.

The peripheral nervous system includes all other nerve elements. All these elements connect the brain and spinal cord to muscles and glands.

Neurons power their functions

It is important to note that the body of a human being is made up of billions of cells which are ordinarily the basic unit of all living things. This also applies to the single-celled organisms like the bacteria which can perform the basic functions needed to sustain life. These basic functions may include gathering energy from food, reproducing and producing waste materials. Looking at the cells, nearly all of them have three parts which are:

An outer wall also known as membrane
A nucleus that contains essential chemicals
A body of clear fluid called the cytoplasm

Plants, animals and human beings are multicellular meaning creatures with many-cells. Of these cells billions of them are specialize in certain specific functions. For example, some cells would become:

Part of muscle tissue and help us to move.
Other cells make up organs, glands, blood, veins, arteries, and bones.

Neurotransmitters cross the gaps between neurons

For it to effectively serve its three functions, the nervous systems which includes the vast circuits of delicate cells which are very much elaborately interconnected and in fact the brain, spinal cord and nerves all over the body are all made up of one kind of cell. These are the nerves cells and they are also known as neurons and as had been indicated that the brain of human beings has billions of neurons. Now the question you need to ask yourselves is does your spinal cord and all the nerves that fan out from the spinal cord to your glands, organs, and muscles.

The specific functions of the neurons are to allow your brain to learn reason and be able to remember things. Through these activities the body responds and adjusts to changes in the environment. These changes are also called stimuli, they will set off impulses in our sense organs like: the eye, the ear and other organs of taste and smell and sensory receptors located in the skin joins, muscles and other parts of the body. Now having listened to all these it is important to note that every time you feel something including the effects of a drug, know that millions of neurons are firing messages to form one another.

Each neuron may have thousands of branches that connect it to other neurons and these branches are called dendrites or axons. Dendrites carry messages towards the cell body while axons carry messages away from the cell body to another neuron. Axons can extend as long as four feet in humans and in some animals even longer.

In the beginning it was believed that axons and dendrites simply run through the body continuously like a wire but letter on a space was discovered between each axon and dendrite. This space in known as a synaptic gap or synapse and it is the space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite of the next neuron in a nerve pathway. This gap is negligibly small and it is about one millionth of an inch, it is that small.

Research finding originally believed that electrical impulses jumped these gaps like electricity does across the gap in spark plug but this theory has been ruled out as it is now known that this was never true. It is the chemicals which travel across the gap and not electrical impulses and these chemicals are also neurotransmitters.

A number of chemical building blocks for neurotransmitters such as amino acids come from the kinds of food we eat meaning that our bodies have the ability to manufacture or produce neurotransmitters. Neurons offer a storage package for neurotransmitters known as vesicles which are located very close to the endings of each axon. They (neurons) synthesize some neurotransmitters right in the vesicle while other neurotransmitters are synthesized in the body of the cell and transported to the vesicle. Most of the addictive substances have the ability to change the effects of neurotransmitters on neurons. We will be able to better comprehend how these substances work when we get to know about neurotransmitters and how they act as chemical messengers

Neurotransmitters meet three criteria

Neurotransmitters are molecules-groups of atoms joined by a chemical bond which act as a unit. For them to be called neurotransmitters a molecule must meet the following three criteria:

The molecule must be present and evenly distributed in the brain meaning that the molecules must not just concentrate in one segment but must spread out among different types of neurons and across all segments of the brain that have different functions.
Chemical criteria that is to say the enzymes which help in creating the neurotransmitter must be available in the brain. An enzyme is a catalyst protein which speeds up chemical reactions within the body. It is also important that these enzymes be available in areas where the neurotransmitters are found.
The criterion of mimicry assuming that we inject directly a neurotransmitter into a section of the brain known to contain certain neurons, this injection should be able to imitate the effects of electrically stimulating the same neurons.

Neurons and Neurotransmitters-The Brains of the Nervous System

Major effects of Addiction

June 9, 2014

Major effects of Addiction-Psychological and Physical

Don’t let drug addiction break your family. The effects can be very painful not just for you but to the children as well.

Like many problems people go through addiction is one that has been associated to humanity for as long as you can imagine. It is interesting to note that addiction has no limit on whom it affects and does not choose when to strike. Anytime can be said to be appropriate for one to be addicted to anything that is addictive, because of this untimeliness of addiction we must make efforts to be ready when it comes and most importantly prevent its effects on us. We will be discussing the major effects of addiction in this article and for this reason we will categorize then into two segments:

Psychological effects of drug addiction
Physical effects of drug addiction

Major effects of Addiction-Psychological effects of drug addiction

While it is true that in both cases the specific physical and psychological effects of drug abuse and addiction is not consistent and varies based on the particular addictive substance involved, the general effects of drug abuse or addiction to any drug can be devastating.

Psychologically, intoxication with or withdrawal from a substance can cause everything from euphoria as with alcohol, Ecstasy, or inhalant intoxication, to paranoia with marijuana or steroid intoxication, to severe depression or suicidal thoughts with cocaine or amphetamine withdrawal. An individual who has been living with a condition of drug addiction for some period of time may begin to experience a number of serious psychological problems as a result of their dependence on the drugs. As mention these conditions can range from mild to serious but the common denominator is that all of them will impact to the life of the addicted person in a negative manner. Let us now take a look at some of the most common long-term psychological effects of drug addictions as mention above:

Depression

As an individual develops a tolerance to drugs, it will take ever-increasing amounts of the substance to get high. When the individual is unable to achieve their desired state of euphoria, they may become depressed. Chronic depression also occurs as the drug addict feels shame and remorse about their condition. This creates a cycle of addiction; the more depressed they feel, the more likely they are to continue using drugs.

Paranoia

People suffering from a cocaine or marijuana addiction often report a feeling of paranoia over the course of their dependence. The feeling that “everyone is out to get them” is heightened by the fact that buying or using drugs is illegal and the belief that law enforcement is waiting around every corner. Over time, drug addicts tend to get more and more paranoid.

Anxiety

Drug addicts get their supply from time to time and the waiting period of the next dose of supply causes many of the addicts to begin feeling anxious or unsettled. During this moment of anxiety it will be noticeable to the society that these people have a problem and do not stay focus to their activities. When one is not focused a lot of people are affected for instance the family members will feel neglected. The negative effects on their relationship can be very devastating because it can break a family. Besides this drug induced anxieties and lack of focus can cause them to fail in their employment responsibilities and become less productive which can cause them to lose their source of livelihood. The effects of anxiety can be many and these are just but a few.

Major effects of Addiction-Physical effects of Drug addiction

In terms of effects on the body, intoxication with a substance can cause physical effects that range from marked sleepiness and slowed breathing as with intoxication with heroin or sedative hypnotic drugs, to the rapid heart rate of cocaine intoxication, or the tremors to seizures of alcohol withdrawal. In addition to the numerous mental health issues that spring up as a result of long-term drug addiction, there are also a number of issues affecting the physical health of the person who is has been living with a dependence problem for many years. Some of the known physical effects include:

The kidneys

The human kidney can be damaged by habitual drug use over a period of time. Several studies have established that kidney failure is very much associated with long-time of drug abuse. Users of crystal meth, heroin and other dangerous drugs are a common testimony of this.

The liver

Liver failure is a well-known consequence of alcoholism but it can also be triggered by other substances like using vicodin and OxyContin over a period of time possibly years.

The heart

Drug addicts and in particular Cocaine addicts and stimulant users are doing causing damage to their heart each time they use these drugs. The most common conditions among drug addicts are heart disease and heart failure.

The lungs

Any individual who smokes the drug to which they are addicted is putting the proper functionality of their lungs in jeopardy. Smoking crack cocaine or crystal meth causes great damages to the lungs with a ferocity that rivals or resembles long-term nicotine habits. Besides all these regular use of marijuana also causes damage to the lungs. When one uses drugs over a long period of time they not only become drug addicts but will also begin to build a tolerance to drugs they use. Tolerance is dangerous as it causes the individual to use more and more of the drug in order to achieve the desired euphoric or stimulated state. This puts the individual at a constant risk for overdose and even death.

Major effects of Addiction-Conclusion

In conclusion we are privileged to live this life and we can only do so once. What you do with your life can either make you see many years ahead or shorten them. You need not to be in dilemma on this there is help around you and all you need is to get in touch with doctor Dalal Akoury who is an expert in addiction and has helped many people globally over the past decades is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center where addiction and obesity are treated in a friendly way by focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. This is what you need my dear reader like I said we live this life only once take that step and call and live life to the fullest.

Major effects of Addiction-Psychological and Physical

Drug Addiction at work place

June 8, 2014

Drug Addiction at work place-Dangers discussed

Addiction does not spear people in the employment either

In the beginning when God first created man he planned and put everything in place for man to be comfortable in the first Garden of Eden. Man was to live like a king with plenty around him all he needed to do was to manage and care for what had been given to him. This is not so in today’s life where one has to work to earn a living. Ironically the most of the work we do are not our own we work in other people establishments be it the public sector or the private sector, in other words we are employees of somebody.

Drug Addiction at work place-Statistics of addiction

There are various challenges we go through at various work places ranging from positive to negative challenges. It is in this respect that we want to discuss one of the most challenging occurrences at work place in today’s society. Dear readers remain in the link because we want to talk about drug addiction at our work stations or places. But before we embark on this journey let us look at some of the statistics according to the American Council for Drug Education. According to this body sixty percent of the world’s illegal drugs are consumed by American drug users. Two million Americans use heroin, six million use cocaine, 18 million have alcohol abuse problems and an estimated 23 million people use marijuana at least four times in a week interesting.

Of all drug users, 74.8 percent are employed and active in the workplace. This means that 12.9 million individuals actively use drugs in the workforce, according to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Using drugs impairs decision-making abilities as well as physically impairs people. This is a deadly concoction when on the job. In fact, between 10 and 20 percent of American workers who die at work have a positive result when tested for drugs or alcohol a study by OSHA states that the most dangerous occupations, such as mining and construction, also have the highest rates of drug use by their employees.

Drug Addiction at work place-Addiction causes financial losses

With that background of addiction and statistics you will notice that addiction is not just a problem of the less fortunate in the society or illiterate individuals but a problem for all people alike. When employees abuse drugs at their work stations or elsewhere they cause their employers great losses and by extension the national treasurer’s kitty. The kinds of losses employers’ incur are not just monetary but also on the best performing work force. Such employees are said to be poor quality employees because of some of the following:

They have poor work performance and are not reliable in their deliverables.
They are never at work place in time and lose a lot of production hours in the process.
Because of the risk associated with drug addiction they tend to involve in accidents and filing workers compensation claims and benefits which pull down the organization profitability.

Drug Addiction at work place-Prevention of drug addiction at work place

The organization must put testing mechanism for employees at the point of admission.
The testing program should be continuous and must be known to the employees that the organization will be doing this say twice every year. Offenders of drugs addiction will be punished according to the company’s regulations.
Employers must also put systems in place that work toward staff motivation a well-motivated employee may not have the time to indulge in drugs.
The work place must be free from accident risk factors, for example efforts should be made to ensure that floors are not sleeper at all cost.
Financial systems must be in place to ensure that cash is not used in making payments. Other non-cash payments methods should be adopted to discourage theft of cash for the purpose of purchase of drugs.
Luck of knowledge is a serious threat to well-being of employees therefore periodic staff training on drug addiction prevention and treatment would be necessary in an organization.

The cost of maintaining an addicted employee would be too costly than implementing the preventive measures. When proper preventive measures are in then they provide a safer environment for employers as well as increase the productivity of existing employees, which boosts revenue and profit margin.

Drug Addiction at work place-How to know if someone is abusing Drugs

Drugs affect people differently and keen measures must be in place to ensure that signs of common illnesses are not confused with addiction.
Employees who frequently have accidents, exhibit erratic behavior, and have dilated pupils or slurred speech may be exhibiting signs of intoxication.
Extreme mood swings, paranoia, glassy eyes and noticeable exhaustion are also signs of drug abuse.
Frequent absenteeism is another sign of drug use.

Drug Addiction at work place-What to Do if You Suspect Someone Is Using Illegal Substances

If you feel that someone in your workplace is using illegal substances you must report this to your superiors immediately e.g. manager, supervisor, a security officer or human resource officer.
You can do this privately or outside of work if it makes you more comfortable.
Never feel that you are risking a coworker’s job by reporting doing this is the biggest reason that employees withhold their suspicious, and this is a deadly mistake.
By not telling someone, you are contributing to the likelihood that an accident will occur.
Reporting your suspicions could also force the addict to seek treatment.

Finally we need everybody on board in the fight of drug addiction at work place to effectively do this we will need the involvement of experience experts like Dr. Dalal Akoury who is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. The opinion of such professionals is very important as they will help your employees stay away from drugs. Doctor Dalal and her team of experts will help your employees realize their lives back by offering then exclusive NER Recovery Treatment which will ensure that your productivity is restored and profit margins increased when you finally have a sober work force.

Drug Addiction at work place-Dangers discussed

Types of Addictions

June 6, 2014

Types of Addictions-Drug Addiction

Because addiction is not a respecter of anyone you must take the bold step of getting help.

When you mention the word addiction to anyone they will probably and definitely think of drugs abuse because addiction has been time immemorial been associated with drug abuse. This notion is well guided due to the fact that abused drug may lead to addiction and so this theory is just right. However it is not just the drugs that one can be addicted to there are a whole range of things that we can become addicted to as a society. Some of these may include gambling, exercise, ‘retail therapy’ (shopping), sex, food, alcohol, the Internet, and the list goes on and on. Those many elements of addiction will form our discussion in the coming articles but for the purposes of this article we are focusing the obvious one in many people’s mind that is drug addiction which majorly includes the following:

Alcohol
Nicotine (smoking)
Drugs (cocaine, heroin, amphetamines etc.)
Caffeine (coffee, chocolate etc.)

Addiction has been associated with crime, untidiness and reckless behavior among many other behaviors. This school of thought portray drug addicts as people with mental problems and a picture of a pale, skinny individual with needle marks down their arms who lives in the streets and commits crime to feed their habit. This description may be a stereotype but like all stereotypes, it contains an element of truth because for sure there are addicts who look and behave in this way, but then a gain there are also a great many addicts who do not. There are good populations of people who hide their addiction signs so well that no one would notice or detect that they have addiction problem. In our previous postings we have repeatedly stated that addiction is respecter of person. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do whether you are working class or middle class; young or old; male or female, or married or single, rich or poor addiction can affect anyone of us and the way they do varies between individuals.

Types of Addictions-Alcohol addiction

The substance alcohol is one which legally allowed in the society and besides its addictive nature it is majorly used socially. Many people enjoy a drink and are able to control how much they consume. These are the group that may be referred to as responsible alcohol consumers but the opposite of this are those who will find that alcohol become more than a pleasant social activity and take it excessively these are the group we call addicts who suffer alcoholism and are addicted to alcohol.

Types of Addictions-Nicotine addiction

Nicotine which is present in cigarette smoke is a highly addictive substance and is very difficult to break away from. There are many people who have confessed that they became addicted after their first cigarette puff although smoking experts tend to disprove this. It may take only a few cigarettes for someone to become addicted to the ‘high’ experienced as nicotine affects every area of your body and brain.

The moment you are addicted automatically your body will craves more and more nicotine and that is why there is no such thing as ‘social smoking’. Your body adjusts to a certain level but then requires ever increasing amounts of this to satisfy the urges which mean that you smoke more and more cigarettes.

Types of Addictions-Drug addiction

This includes addiction of both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ drugs, and examples of these include marijuana, ecstasy, crack cocaine and heroin. There are also hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, solvents such as glue or ‘poppers’ and prescription drugs such as anti-depressants or tranquillisers.

Another category of drugs are those which are often used to improve athletic performance anabolic steroids. Dear reader this is a wide ranging subject so in order to help our understanding we will have discussions of the individual drugs in our subsequent postings so you don’t want to miss this stay tuned for more information on these drugs on an individual basis.

Types of Addictions-Caffeine addiction

This is very interesting because many of us are ignorant of its effects on our life. I can almost be sure that this morning you took a quick cup of coffee before you left for work and since we are almost using it daily you may be surprise to know that it causing an addiction, caffeine is a powerful stimulant and can cause more problems than you can ever imagine. We know that caffeine is commonly present in tea and coffee but it is also found in cola, chocolate and some types of medication. Caffeine is useful a ‘pick me up’ but like many things in life, if used to excess then it can damage your health.

In conclusion as I said in the introduction of this article addiction is wide and covers a lot but we only dwelt on the drug addiction as a segment and the four forms the greater titles in drug addiction. It is the nature of addiction to negatively re-arrange one’s life, adequate information about addiction is very necessary for you to help you make informed decisions and timely. If you ever notice any of these types of addiction in your life, family member, friend or colleague then you can be of help to them by referring them to doctor Dalal Akoury who is an expert on this and has administered treatment for over two decades now. She is also the founder and the chief executive of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. Visiting this facility will be the best thing you can do for yourself when in problems of addiction, her team of experts will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE and your life will positively change forever.

Types of Addictions-Drug Addiction

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