Category Archives: Detoxification

Career and drugs

Complementary treatment for drug abuse and mental health

Complementary treatment

Complementary treatment for drug abuse and mental health. Attaining addictions breakthrough professionally begins with the role of mental health in successful detox

Complementary treatment for drug abuse and mental health: Stay connected

We have already looked at some of the complimentary treatment for drug abuse previously, but for the benefit of your health, we want to explore more in this line to equip you with all the relevant health information as follows:

Get therapy or stay involved in a support group – Your chances of staying sober improve if you are participating in a social support group like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous or if you are getting therapy.

Follow doctor’s orders – Once you are sober and you feel better, you might think you no longer need medication or treatment. But arbitrarily stopping medication or treatment is a common reason for relapse in people with co-occurring disorders. Always talk with your doctor before making any changes to your medication or treatment routine.

Complementary treatment for drug abuse and mental health: Make healthy lifestyle changes

Practice relaxation techniques – When practiced regularly, relaxation techniques such as mindfulness meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing can reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, and increase feelings of relaxation and emotional well-being.

Healthy eating habits – Start the day right with breakfast, and continue with frequent small meals throughout the day. Going too long without eating leads to low blood sugar, which can make you feel more stressed or anxious.

Exercise regularly – Exercise is a natural way to bust stress, relieve anxiety, and improve your mood and outlook. To achieve the maximum benefit, aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise on most days.

Get enough sleep – People often ignore sleeping because of the pressures of work and economic hardship however lack of sleep can exacerbate stress, anxiety, and depression it is therefore prudent that you sleep for 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep a night.

Complementary treatment for drug abuse and mental health: Helping a loved one with a substance abuse and mental health problem

Helping a loved one with both a substance abuse and a mental health problem can be a roller coaster. Resistance to treatment is common and the road to recovery can be long. The best way to help someone is to accept what you can and cannot do. You cannot force someone to remain sober, nor can you make someone take their medication or keep appointments. What you can do is make positive choices for yourself, encourage your loved one to get help, and offer your support while making sure you doesn’t lose yourself in the process. You could take either of the following in helping your loved ones:

Seek support – Dealing with a loved one’s dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse can be painful and isolating. Make sure you’re getting the emotional support you need to cope. Talk to someone you trust about what you’re going through. It can also help to get your own therapy or join a support group yourself.

Set boundaries – Be realistic about the amount of care you’re able to provide without feeling overwhelmed and resentful. Set limits on disruptive behaviors, and stick to them. Letting the co-occurring disorders take over your life isn’t healthy for you or your loved one.

Educate yourself – Learn all you can about your loved one’s mental health problem, as well as substance abuse treatment and recovery. The more you understand what your loved one is going through, the better able you’ll be to support recovery.

Be patient – This is very important because recovering from a dual diagnosis doesn’t happen overnight. It is an ongoing process that can take some times may be months or years, and relapse is common. Ongoing support for both you and your loved one is crucial as you work toward recovery. All these are just some guidelines to help you offer better support to your loved ones. And even as follow these guidelines it is still very important that you seek for the services of the experts in this discipline. You can reach doctor Akoury on phone today to schedule for an appointment with her and she will be of great help to you and your loved ones as well.

Complementary treatment for drug abuse and mental health

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Facilitating cancer risk with alcohol abuse

Facilitating cancer risk

Facilitating cancer risk with alcohol abuse begins with a single drink

Facilitating cancer risk with alcohol abuse: Defining alcohol

Despite the risks that come with alcohol, it is one that is also abused globally. Surprisingly as addictive as it is, it is one of the biggest government source of revenue across the globe. Alcohol despite its effects in human health and the economies of the nations, it is legally acceptable and it finds its way in both the high and mighty and low places of our societies. So what exactly is this drug alcohol? It is the common term used ethanol or ethyl alcohol which is a chemical substance commonly found in beer, wine, liquor, some medicines, mouthwashes, household products and other essential oils scented liquids taken from plants. From the description of what this product is, we can confidently say that alcohol abuse is facilitating cancer risk as we will be discussing going forward.

Alcohol content

And for value addition, we spoke to experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. This facility was founded by doctor Dalal Akoury and currently she is also the MD of the establishment. Together with her team of experts, they are going to help us put to perspective some of the concerns we have in relation to our topic of discussion today which is “facilitating cancer risk with alcohol abuse”. Besides that it will interest you to note that alcohol is produced by the fermentation of sugars and starches by yeast, it is equally important that we are aware of the main types of alcoholic drinks and their alcohol content. This is going to be very helpful to us as we explore the primary effects of alcohol to cancer and cancer patients. The alcohol content in various alcoholic beverages is as follows:

  • Beers and hard ciders: 3-7 percent alcohol
  • Wines, including sake: 9-15 percent alcohol
  • Wines fortified with liquors, such as port: 16-20 percent alcohol
  • Liquor, or distilled spirits, such as gin, rum, vodka, and whiskey, which are produced by distilling the alcohol from fermented grains, fruits, or vegetables: usually 35-40 percent alcohol (70-80 proof), but can be higher

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a standard alcoholic drink in the United States for example contains 14.0 grams (0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol. Generally, this units of pure alcohol is found in

  • 12 ounces of beer
  • 8 ounces of malt liquor
  • 5 ounces of wine
  • 1.5 ounces or a “shot” of 80-proof liquor

Up to this point let me pose briefly and find out or justify why alcohol is the most abused drug globally besides facilitating cancer risks and other health problems. Take for instance according to the  federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 just five years ago, the federation position or definition of what should be considered to be moderate alcohol drinking is a maximum of one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Heavy alcohol drinking is defined as having more than three drinks on any day or more than seven drinks per week for women and more than four drinks on any day or more than 14 drinks per week for men. With that piece of information, you are now beginning to appreciate the realities of alcohol abuse. Ideally what is considered heavy drinking per week is equivalent to what most people consume in just two hours daily. If in just two hours one would take this much, translate that in to a day then to a week, a month and a year. It thus explains why this is the most abused drug in our societies and so the biggest facilitating cancer risks among other health problems. We are certainly going to continue with this discussion in the next article but in the meantime, you can call doctor Akoury for further professional direction about alcohol abuse.

Facilitating cancer risk with alcohol abuse: Defining alcohol

 

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Exposing heroin and opium effects

Exposing heroin

Here is the way out of exposing heroin and opium addiction effects to human health

Exposing heroin and opium effects: What is Heroin and Opium?

Before we can settle into the discussion of exposing heroine and opium effects, we want to first understand the definitions of the two substances. A lot has been said about heroin across the globe and one very important point is that heroin like all other substances of abuse has got nothing beneficial to human health. They can only be associated with disasters like poor health, suffering and death to the extreme further begging the question “what really are these dangerous and devastating substances?”

Heroin is derived from the morphine alkaloid found in opium and is roughly 2-3 times more potent. A highly addictive drug, heroin exhibits euphoric (“rush”), anxiolytic and analgesic central nervous system properties. Heroin is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and as such has no acceptable medical use in the United States. Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit heroin is sold as a white or brownish powder and is usually “cut” with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. It can also be cut with strychnine or other poisons. Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of overdose or death and that is why exposing heroin effects is very necessary. Another form of heroin known as “black tar” may be sticky, like roofing tar, or hard, like coal. Its color may vary from dark brown to black. Heroin has some funny street names include smack, H, skag, junk, brown sugar, horse, and black tar.

The opium definition

Opium is also a highly addictive narcotic drug which comes in dried latex form from the opium poppy seed pod. Customarily the pods which have not ripened are slit open and their sap seeds out and dries on the outer surface of the pod. The product realized will be yellow-brown latex, which is then scraped off of the pod; it is bitter in taste and contains varying amounts of alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, thebaine and papaverine.

And now back to exposing the effects of opium and heroin in both the short-term and the long-term, can be overwhelming in a number of different ways. The euphoria experienced in the short-term can overtake the senses, making the patient incoherent, unresponsive and unable to focus. In the long-term, the health effects can erode major organ systems and cause infections that can be life threatening. The good news is that when you schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, you will be attended to professionally in all your addiction related concerns.

Exposing heroin and opium effects: Short term effects

The short-term effects of opium and heroin are generally the reason why people use opiates in the first place. This is when you experience the high or euphoric rush associated with the drug.

  • Less than 10 seconds after intravenous injection, opiate users will feel a rush while an intramuscular injection provides a high in less than 10 minutes.
  • For those who snort or smoke the drug, the euphoria takes up to 15 minutes.
  • Other short-term effects of heroin and opium include dry mouth, a warm feeling, and heavy arms and legs.
  • When heroin is cut with poisons or dangerous drugs like Fentanyl or when too much heroin is taken, a short-term effect of the drug can be overdose or death.

Exposing heroin and opium effects: What is Heroin and Opium?

 

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Cancerous chronic nature and effect of cocaine

Cancerous chronic nature

Understanding Cancerous chronic nature and effect of cocaine.

Cancerous chronic nature and effect of cocaine: Long and short term effects

There is no doubt that cocaine is very addictive substance. Its power of addictiveness makes it to be very unpredictable and thus users may not be able to tell or control the extent to which they will continue to want or use the drug. Doctor Akoury says that with these characteristics, if one is to become addicted, the risk for relapse will be very high even after long periods of abstinence. Some studies have established that during periods of abstinence, the memory of the cocaine experience or exposure to cues associated with drug use can trigger tremendous craving and relapse to drug use. It is this craving element that will necessitate the long and short term effects of cocaine which is going to form the basis of this discussion.

Cocaine causes a short-lived, intense high that is immediately followed by the opposite intense depression, edginess and a craving for more of the drug. Users of cocaine often don’t eat or sleep properly. They can experience greatly increased heart rate, muscle spasms and convulsions. The drug can make them feel paranoid, angry, hostile and anxious even when they are just sober and not high. Doctor Akoury says that irrespective of the quantity of drugs used or frequency with which it is used, cocaine increases the vulnerability of addicts into contracting chronic diseases like heart attack, stroke, seizure or respiratory (breathing) failure. These conditions can be life threatening and any of them can result in sudden death.

Cancerous chronic nature and effect of cocaine: Long term effects

When people abuse cocaine over a period of time, a lot of things can happen in the lives of such individuals. Some of those health implications may include the following:

  • Permanent damage to blood vessels of the heart and the brain
  • High blood pressure that will occasionally leads to other chronic health conditions including heart attacks, strokes and even death
  • The damage of vital organs like the liver, kidney and the lungs
  • Damages of the nose tissues especially when sneezing
  • Respiratory failure if smoked
  • Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
  • Malnutrition, weight loss

The point we have highlighted may not be conclusive as far as the long term effects is concern. It would be better if you are up to date will all health information surrounding this substance abuse. Such information in their conclusiveness is available at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. All you need to do is to seek for help by scheduling for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury any your condition will be professionally addressed timely leaving you to enjoy life to the fullest.

Cancerous chronic nature and effect of cocaine: Short term effects

  • Loss of appetite causing the addict not to feed properly
  • Intense drug craving
  • Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behavior
  • Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time)
  • Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin
  • Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature
  • Contracted blood vessels
  • Dilated pupils
  • Disturbed sleep patterns

Finally it is not just enough to know the long and short term effects of cocaine but it is equally very important that you learn from the past people who had gone through the same experience. And I want to conclude this discussion with a testimony from one former addict who is now sober and he says “don’t touch cocaine. I had to spend four years behind bars just because of this drug (cocaine). And when I got out he continues, life was so hard and unbearable. I started taking the drug again. In this drug business, I have known 10 girls who were full of life but who became prostitutes because of cocaine. It’s much more extreme and degrading than we believe. At the time we don’t realize to what degree it destroys us he concludes.” Choose life and seek for help doctor Akoury will be waiting for your call.

Cancerous chronic nature and effect of cocaine: Long and short term effects

 

 

 

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Weight loss motivation is in the mindset

Weight loss motivation

The desire of having a lean weight is in the mind set and that is why experts say that “weight loss motivation is in the mindset.”

Weight loss motivation is in the mindset: The desire of lean weight

I ones spoke to the experts at AWAREmed Health and wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD about weight loss challenges. And my experience with this able team was very interesting. Doctor Akoury being an expert in this discipline was very categorical that weight loss motivation is in the mindset. That is to say before you reconcile your mind and erase from it the impossibility mentality, it may not be very easy to succeed in loosing. As a matter of fact being unable to come to this reality in your mind can in turn cause you to pack in more weight. Even with the mass rooming growth of the gym business in our neighborhood, there are still very many evidences that the demand for losing weight is becoming more than the supply.

What then is your reason for losing weight? What is your inspiration towards losing weight? What is your weight loss motivation? It is true that people lose weight for different reasons but the most important reason should be health. When the body is healthy the whole family is and by extension the society is. Production levels go up and a lot more development is bound to take place. The reason for your struggle in weight loss should be very realistic less you lose without plan and end up causing yourself more problems. Before you chose to enter into this weight loss program, you must ascertain the accuracy of your BMI. It will be pointless to do this if your BMI is below 25.

The challenges along the way in loosing weight

It must be noted that the exercise of losing weight is not an easy one. Many people have begun with a lot of enthusiasm but fell on the way sometimes even before the end of the second day of the program. How then do you ensure that your objectives in weight lose are met? On your own it may not be possible and discouragement and disappointments will come in handy. Therefore to overcome this you may want to speak to a professional in this discipline. This would be the starting point but even as you opt for this, you must be sure that the professional is a respected one. They must have what it takes to deliver to your desired expectations. For instance we offer tailored weight loss programs to all people and our specialist at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center are not just trained but are also experienced to hand both individual and group weight loss programs. Doctor Dalal Akoury who MD and also the founder of this facility will up on scheduling for your appointment carry out an evaluation on your individual situation case by case and administer the most appropriate treatment for you.

What is your inspiration towards losing weight?

Many people would highlight some of the following aS their primary reasons:

  • Due to the bullying by your peers you want to loss
  • You are looking towards fitting into your wedding gown
  • You are contesting to be the beauty queen in your territory
  • Your health is deteriorating and the doctor advices you to do so
  • You are finding it difficult to play around with your three year old son
  • Your sexual life is affected and your partner is not comfortable
  • You are not able to fit well in the public transport sector and you have to pay more because of your weight and size
  • Your weight is just making you look down up on yourself

Irrespective of your weight loss motivation, the common denominator when it comes to losing weight is to be healthy. It must be all about good health. This is because obesity and overweight are directly linked to life threatening health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and respiratory problems which needs to be prevented by ensuring that we all take the initiative to maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. Doctor Akoury can be of great help if only you can call her today.

Weight loss motivation is in the mindset: The desire of lean weight

 

 

 

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