Category Archives: Drug Rehab Certification

How Useful Are Amino Acids in Preparation for Phase 2 of Detoxification

August 31, 2014

What is detoxification?

This is a process through which toxins are removed from the body. These toxins are neutralized, transformed or gotten rid of from the body. The common sources of these toxins are the diets we take, the drugs we use, and exposure to the environment.

Why should I undergo detoxification?

As mentioned earlier, detoxification is the process of removing toxins (harmful substances) from the body. When these toxins are left to remain in your body, they result into many negative health effects. The benefits of detoxification are therefore many, and they are equal to ‘healthy’ living. Some of these benefits include the following:-

  • Detoxification results into increased energy levels. Energy is very important for our bodies to remain active. When detoxification is done, it helps how bodies much, by increasing the energy they get.

detoxification

  • Detoxification improves our immunity. Detoxification will help recovering drug addict regain immunity. When a person is recovering from addiction, the level of immunity determines how fast the person will recover. The increase in this immunity leads to quick recovery from addiction and improved resistance from illnesses. This improves the health standards of the person.
  • Addiction is known to have a negative effect on the mental focus. When a person is recovering from addiction, detoxification helps the person regain mental focus.

Which are the phases of detoxification?

There are two important phases of any successful detoxification. These phases are normally categorized as phase I and phase II. These two phases are biochemical processes which facilitate the body to get rid of toxins. These two phases are based on the ability of the body to gradually get rid of waste.

What happens at these phases?

The following is a brief description of what happens at each of the phases of detoxification.

  • Phase I of detoxification

In this first stage, it is all about solubility. All the chemicals which are not soluble to water are converted to comparatively electrically charged or polar fusions with the help of enzymes which append a reactive or a polar group. This occurs in a manner that little changes in molecules can occur during the second phase. This makes it possible for the body to naturally excrete them when they finally dissolve in water.

Most of the changes that occur during phase one involve oxidation and reduction.

This stage builds on the result of phase one. In this stage, different chemicals are either conjugated or added to the existing chemical. Consequently, the toxic chemical now changes to water soluble compound and therefore it can be excreted from the body. Sometimes xenobiotic possesses a cluster on the chemical from before. In such a scenario, detoxification is not necessary at phase I. The xenobiotic should therefore be directly decontaminated during the process of conjugation of the chemical in the phase.

Which are these essential amino acids helpful in phase II detoxification?

Amino acids are useful in the process of conjugation. This conjugation is sometimes referred to as acylation. Some of these amino acids include:-

  • Glycine – this amino acid offers secondary help. It supports glutathione synthesis. It also helps in reduction of toxicity of some substances like phenols or benzoic acid. This amino acid prepares the body early before addiction recovery by reducing the amount of toxins within the body.
  • Glutamine- this is another important amino acid, which is essential for phase II detoxification. The advantage of this amino acid is that; it helps to heal the GI track and also reduces craving for addictive drugs, a property which helps very much during drug addiction recovery.

detoxification

  • Taurine – this is a very important amino acid in detoxification phase II. It is known to enhance metabolism and play an important role in the detoxification of ethanol. It also prevents hepatic fibrosis.
  • Cysteine- this is regarded as a very special amino acid. It is a sulfur containing amino acid, which is synthesized in the liver. These amino acids are normally involved in many metabolic pathways. This amino acid has advantage over the other amino acids in that; it can be converted into many other forms. For instance, it can be converted into cysteine and taurine. Researchers have found that cysteine can form glutathione, which is a known powerful antioxidant and detoxifier that functions in many different enzymes systems.
  • Methionine- this is an essential amino acid, and our bodies cannot manufacture it. It must be taken with our diets to our bodies. This amino acid is known to be an important cartilage forming substance.
  • Tyrosine – this is an essential amino acid, which is used in the synthesis of structural protein. This amino acid has a key role when used in phase II of detoxification, since it is used in the production of neurotransmitter. This amino acid is involved in many important functions and it is sometimes considered to be all purpose amino acid. Another advantage of tyrosine is that it has been found to sharpen brain. This is a very helpful property for a person recovering from addiction, which in many cases paralyzes the functioning of the brain.

Detoxification process is a serious treatment procedure and should only be carried out by professional who are certified and really understand what they do. At Awaremed Wellness and Resource center, we understand all steps and phases of detoxification. If you need help with any addiction treatment, call in and keep reading our blog.

How Useful Are Amino Acids in Preparation for Phase Ii Detoxification

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Men, Addiction and Intimacy

August 19, 2014

Men, Addiction and Intimacy

Basically a substance use disorder is a form of disorder whereby the continuous use of a substance causes a profound deficiency or stress which requires medical attention.

There are various factors which are associated with substance use in people and specifically to men. We can subdivide these factors into neurobiological and psychosocial factors.

What Are These Neurobiological Factors That Are Associated With Substance Use Disorders?

Men, Addiction and IntimacyNeurobiology is basically referred as the branch of biology that deals with the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the nervous system. From these basic definition we can define neurobiological factors as those factors that relate to the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the nervous system.

  • Genetic factors

Most scholars believe that the inclination to a particular addictive disorder is greatly influenced by the collaboration of various genes. For instance the risk for alcohol addiction is dependent on the same genes that increase the risk for problem gambling.

  • Parental gestational trauma

The amount and kind of trauma a mother undergoes during her pregnancy greatly affects the developing foetal brain, since all the neurons we have were developed during the gestation period. Recent studies have shown that the maternal traumatic experiences have a negative impact on the growth and development of a child whether male or female.one study in particular has shown that the level of a mother’s apprehension during pregnancy is proportional to the youngster’s awakening cortisol level at a later age, consequentially affects their susceptibility to these disorders.

  • Insufficient affection to the newborn

Most of the mental growth in a newborn occurs in the first few years of life and as expected is greatly influenced by the physical conditions surrounding the child. A boy who has grown in a place where affection is little tends to find a hobby that fills the emotional hole created. In most cases, the hobby is related to use of harmful substances such as marijuana and alcohol.

  • Traumatic experiences in childhood

It has been clearly proved that teen victimization in males has affected thousands of lives in their adulthood. The development of alcoholism is acute in men who have had prior exposure to either sexual or mental abuse.

What are these psychosocial factors related to substance use disorder?

Social factors are those factors relating to the social structure and processes that in some way influence a person while Psychological factors tend to deal with mental states of individuals. Psychosocial factors is then defined to be those factors relating to the interaction between an individual and the society at large.

  • Gender

It is evident from different cultural backgrounds of the world that women in general are allowed to express their emotional anguish without a problem while in men it is seen has a sign of weakness. Hence men over the years have found the use of substances such as alcohol to be an acceptable way to relieve stress.

  • The prevailing economic situations

During economic recession when employment is scarce, the likelihood of a youngster to engage in criminal activities such as the illicit sale of drugs, alcohol and other substances is intensified.

  • Physical environment

Male teenagers tend to associate with groups in order to fit in and feel accepted.in group dynamics or in any natural order there exists a stage in which there is some form of initiation passage done for a new member. The passage may include continuous consumption of drugs.

  • Religion

In certain religious groups, the use of substances such as alcohol and drugs is considered to be part of the spiritual growth. Although such practices cannot be ruled out as unethical to some level but there is always that possibility of addictive disorders associated with constant intake.

How These Factors Tend To Affect the Development of Healthy Relationships in Men

A male child who grows up in a home where there is little or no affection tends to have a difficult time forming relationships. One reason for such a behavior may be the fear of intimacy as it appears new to him.

When it comes to marriage this lack of affection may work out in two scenarios whereby he might either have a difficult time emotionally bonding with his spouse and children or he might try to compensate for what he lacked through extra attention to his family.

A young man who had been victimized earlier in life tends to have self-esteem issues which can manifest through compulsive behaviors such as bullying others in relationships in an effort to take back power.

Men, Addiction and Intimacy

The effects of early childhood trauma such as violence between parents negatively influences a man’s response to commitment in a relationship as he becomes afraid of repeating his parents’ mistakes and having to live a horrible life afterwards.

The physical environment in a young man’s life influences his response to both the political and social environments. We can take an example of a case whereby a man in his early years of growth found himself on the wrong side of the law is bound to be rebellious and tends to have little or no respect to the rule of law.

In recent times we have been experiencing a form of cultural erosion to the fundamental networks our ancestors used to practice. The challenges that men have to face in life have tremendously increased with rising causes of suicides due to pressure to provide for his family.

In essence male children vary in the extent to which early attachments influence their future, it may happen that irrespective of the challenges faced by a youngster in his growth he actually manages to live a fulfilling life.

The worldwide site which has proven professionals who can help you recover from any addiction is the www.awaremednetwork.com. If you need help on recovery you just need to call or visit Awaremed Wellness And Resource Center

Neurobiological Factors That Are Associated With Substance Use Disorders?

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Changing Self-Destructive Habits

August 18, 2014

Understanding Self-Destructive Habits

Changing Self-Destructive HabitsSelf-destructive habits are those actions and tendencies that individuals, organizations or groups engage in that are against their self-interest for one reason or another. Let’s look at some of these actions in details:

  1. Eating Disorder

An eating disorder is a psychiatric disorder evidenced by a great desire to be thin and a deep fear for weight increment .Examples of such disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a denial to sustain a fixed body weight such as the restricting type, the binge-eating and purging type.

Bulimia nervosa is whereby reoccurring episodes of binge eating is followed by such unfortunate behaviors as self-induced vomiting, fasting or too much exercising.

Ways of preventing eating disorders

  • In schools, students should be given a safe and conducive atmosphere
  • In places with many cases of such disorders, support groups should be established
  • Schools should incorporate life skills in their curriculum at an early age
  •  Carry out a regular checkup on students
  •  Physical education in education centers should focus in healthy lifestyles rather than weight management.

Five Crippling Habits That Lead To Self-Destruction

People have developed certain behaviors that tend to lead them backwards in any field of life whether in a social, economic or political setup.it becomes so severe that it can be related to the culture of an entire organization. These habits can be summed up into five headlines namely:

  • Lack of clear instructions. A person is required to have transparent and straightforward goals in an organization and in order for this to happen the goals should be easy to understand for anyone.
  • Deficiency in accountability in which people show lack of responsibility. This usually happens when the company’s reward mechanism isn’t connected to production outcome.
  • Justifying poor performance. Leaders tend to find some sensible excuses as to why they have had a bad business year instead of finding ways of improving the outcome.
  • Continuous rescheduling of plans. Some companies fail to adequately allocate enough resources and time to accomplish a set out goal.
  • Reluctance to change and risks involved. A new personnel may be employed to a company and happens to have some fantastic ideas but since he is new, he is ignored.
  • Having a positive attitude towards change and exploring any new viable idea
  • Taking time to make a clear and straight-forward objectives
  • Have a low tolerance to poor performance in a company
  • Instead of revising plans, one should allocate enough time and energy
  • Specifying the roles and duties of every member of the team.

How to curb Self-Destructive Habits

  1. Gambling:

Gambling is basically the act of wagering on money or any kind of valuable item. Problem gambling is an act in which a person’s gambling behavior negatively affects other parts of his or her life.

Signs of a gambling problem

  • Committing crimes to finance gambling
  • Money borrowing to finance gambling
  • Entertaining regular thoughts about gambling
  • Increasing the income allocated for gambling
  • Experiencing failed attempts to stop gambling
  • Denying that you have a problem
  • Taking certain things for guaranteed such as relationships, jobs or career opportunities
  • Using gambling as an escape from reality

How to Overcome Problem Gambling

  • One requires to find out what is the root cause of gambling in their life
  • Change their belief on the possibility of winning in a bet
  • Have a fixed amount of cash for gambling
  • Find another hobby
  • Find a self-support and counselling group
  1. Internet And Cyber-Sex Abuse

This is basically the deliberate action by an adult to create some form of uncomfortable atmosphere using internet and in most cases it affects minors, women or social groups such as the gay communities.

Changing Self-Destructive Habits

Ways of curbing internet sex abuse

Parents are required to monitor what their underage kids do in the internet to ensure that they are not exposed to say no form of abuse. Cyber cafes and educational instructions should block certain websites that promote pornographic behaviors in young people. The governments should establish and implement laws that severely punish offenders of such acts in order to curb any existing habits among people

Life skills on the use of the internet services for small kids should be part of the learning curriculum to spread awareness on how to handle cases of abuse.

  1. Self-Harm

Self-harm is a broad description of the things different people do that causes a negative impact on themselves such as pulling your hair, pouring hot water on yourself, cutting yourself, swallowing toxic liquids.

Ways of Curbing Self-Harm

A good way of solving this disorder is to provide optimum and adequate counseling sessions to affected people in schools, churches and other social centers.

Another way to avoid self-harm is to Substitute it with something that is in a way harmless. For example using a punching bag to release stress and other built up emotions. Sometimes you can hit pillows when you are alone, going for a nice morning walk to start off the day well or any other form of exercise, some people learn musical instruments and use them when stressed out, and one can also use a journal to write out your frustrations.

One can also train on how to create a strong mental health to cope with stress. This is done through eating well and healthily. A well balanced diet increases the amounts of serotonin in the brain which will give a person a great mood.

  1. Substance Abuse

Substance abuse is the inappropriate use of drugs and alcohol. This behavior has adverse impacts on the political, social and economic sectors.

Ways of curbing substance abuse include:

Restrictive rules on the areas that create a stimulus environment for drinking and smoking. Hence a person is limited to using in homes, garages or bathrooms which tend to discourage use

Avoiding to social with people who are also dependent on drugs and substance abuse. This includes not coming to bars, bowling alleys and associating with non-abusers in places like restaurants without liquor

Performing self-relaxation and meditation. This may include expressing anger by dictating them on paper and possibly seeking counseling and any other available advice from friends and community leaders.

Another way to curb this behavior is through rewarding yourself for not using the particular drug and punishing yourself for abusing the substance. This creates an attitude that motivates one to move forward.

In case of alcohol one may decide to switch to brand they don’t enjoy taking in order to lose the taste for alcohol

Rehearsing inspiring thoughts such as every time I don’t smoke my lungs become healthier. Alcohol will damage my liver so I should not take them regularly.

The worldwide site which has proven professionals who can help you recover from any addiction is the www.awaremednetwork.com. If you need help on recovery you just need to call or visit Awaremed Wellness And Resource Center.

Understanding Self-Destructive Habits

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Addiction to Energy Drinks

August 17, 2014

Can there be an Energy Drinks Addiction?

What is an energy drink?

This is a kind of beverage containing ingredients are purported to boost the energy levels in the body. These drinks are marketed as providing both mental and physical stimulation due to its paramount ingredient, caffeine. It may sometimes be carbonated and also added sugar or other sweeteners. Herbs extracts and amino acids are also common ingredients to the energy drinks though in very small quantities.

Is energy drink addictive?

Addiction to Energy DrinksLooking at the ingredients that form the energy drink, it is beyond reasonable doubt that energy drinks can be addictive. The main addictive ingredient of the energy drink is the caffeine, though the sugar additives can also be addictive.

Caffeine is a stimulant and it acts by stimulating the central nervous system, which has effect on the brain and hence making you feel wonderfully alert though in the actual sense you are tired. This is so because the caffeine stimulated the nervous system and consequently blocking the message that tells your brain that you are tired. The effect induced by caffeine, is pleasant to many people, but to some it may result to anxiety, depression and other unpleasant side effects.

Energy drinks often contains caffeine or sugar which can affect the neurotransmitter causing temporal energy boost. These are the brain chemicals which regulate the human moods and behaviors, and if they can be stimulated, they can make our bodies have a feel of energy gain. This is the property that the energy drink manufacturers capitalize on. It simply works by blocking the messages which would otherwise trigger energy needs.

What are the side effects of energy drink?

The main cause of side effects in energy drinks is the high amounts of caffeine in them. Though some of the other ingredients can also have some side effects, the main side effects which are attributed to energy drinks are related to caffeine. Thus the side effects that we will look at here may be similar to those of caffeine addiction particularly.

The following are the main side effects of energy drinks:-

  • Risk of cardiac attack – caffeine which is an ingredient of energy drinks is known to cause heart diseases. Taking of energy drinks leaves a person under a very high risk of getting a cardiac arrest. For those with history of heart diseases, this cardiac arrest can occur just after a few energy drinks. Researches done on the effects of energy drugs on the human body have indicated that energy drinks causes forceful heart contractions, which could be very harmful to some with certain heart conditions.
  • Chronic headache – since caffeine is addictive, reduction or too much caffeine can cause severe headache due to the withdrawal symptoms of caffeine. Therefore taking too much energy drinks can lead to severe headaches.
  • May lead to insomnia – since energy drinks stimulate the rain to keep a person awake/alert, its abuse may cause someone to miss sleep. The lack of sleep can be very harmful to your body, since it affects your drive to perform other concentration heavy tasks.
  • Can lead to Type 2 Diabetes – this is a type of diabetes which results from too much sugar in the body. Since these energy drinks many of them have high levels of sugar, their consumption may lead to typpe2 diabetes.

Addiction to Energy Drinks

  • Addiction – another risk or side effect of taking energy drinks is addiction. The ingredients of the energy drinks such as caffeine and sugars are highly addictive. Addiction itself is a danger to your health, but the biggest problem is that the addiction will make you dependent on energy drinks and thus you cannot survive without taking them. This will even put you to a much bigger ganger of the side effects of the individual ingredients of the energy drink.
  • Jittering and nervousness – when caffeine is taken in high levels into the body, it causes some people to shake and be nervous. The energy drinks are high in caffeine and thus when frequently taken, they can lead to this side effect.
  • Interaction with prescription drugs – it has come to the knowledge of scientists that, some of the ingredients of energy drinks can interact with the prescription drugs, especially those meant for depression treatment.

Should energy drinks be made illegal?

The debate on whether energy drinks should be declared illegal has been ongoing in many areas of the world. Some countries are in the process of banning the sale of the drinks, especially to underage. Among the noticeable countries which have come out to show the world that energy drinks should be banned is Lithuania.
The recent reports are that, “Lithuania has banned the sale of energy drinks to anyone under 18 on the basis of health concerns. The ban will take effect in November 2014 after it was approved by parliament in May. Lithuania’s health
ministry said it was setting a precedent within the European Union.” The message from the state read, “According to our survey, a majority of other nations say that they only have recommendations in place, not bans,” ministry official Almantas Kranauskas said. “I think it will serve as an impetus for other countries. Many of them are still hesitating and might be influenced by the lucrative energy drinks industry.”

Can there be an Energy Drinks Addiction?

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Drugs, Sex Trade and the GDP Figures

August 17, 2014

Drug Market Already Adding To GDP Figures

What does GDP mean?

It stands for the Gross Domestic Product. It is an economic measure of any given country, and it is used to gauge the health of an economy of a country. It looks at the total value of all the goods and services produced by a given country for a specified period of time, mostly a period of one year.

Many illegal businesses have not been captured in these estimates in many countries. This is due to the fact that such businesses are considered illegal and are not seen to contribute to the economy of the country in question. Some of such businesses are prostitution and drug trafficking. Though it is still debatable on whether these businesses should or not be considered when estimating the gross domestic product of a given country, some countries have already turned out to include sex business and drugs trafficking in their gross domestic product. Some of the European countries have already boosted their economy by including prostitution and drugs in their GDP.

It is now official that it will be obligatory in September 2014 for all European Union countries to include drugs, prostitution, and other illegal and shadow economy businesses in their gross domestic product
calculations. The 2010 version of the European System of Accounts states that “illegal economic actions shall be considered as transactions when all units involved enter the actions by mutual
agreement. Thus, purchases, sales or barters of illegal drugs or stolen property are transactions, while theft is not.”  The goal is to make European Union countries’ economic data comparable. According to
the Guardian Britain’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) has estimated that illegal drugs and prostitution added £9.7bn to Britain’s economy, equal to 0.7% of gross domestic product, in 2009.

Is USA following the suit soon and include illegal business in the GDP?

Drugs, Sex Trade Every country will always want its GDP to grow by a factor every year, or at least remain at a high level. Any activity or inclusion to the GDP which is considered to boost the GDP will always be welcome as long as it acceptable. Following the acceptance and inclusion of illegal drugs and prostitution in the GDP of many European countries, the United States of America is also believed to be on the verge of following the suit. This idea has though been on a hold as they wait to analyze the result or impact of inclusion of the illegal business from the data from the countries which have already embraced it.

There is likelihood that USA will be including these illegal businesses in their GDP soon, especially looking at the statement given by one of the prominent personnel, who is the chief of public affairs and outreach at the United States Bureau of economic Analysis, Jeannine Aversa. Jeannine Aversa was quoted as saying, “The united states has no plans for now, to start counting illegal sex and drugs. We need to look at the issue closely to see what data are available before any decision could be made.” He also added, “We haven’t done any research yet, so we don’t know how much this would add to the U.S economy as measured by GDP.”

From these statements, there is a probability that U.S will be joining Europe in the inclusion of illegal sex and drugs in the GDP, but this remain to be seen in future. This is in the assumption that there will be a positive impact of the inclusion from the data that will be collected from the forerunners, European countries. This positive impact would be mouthwatering for U.S and hence consider including the illegal businesses in GDP also.

Can sex and drugs inclusion in GDP boost the economy of a country?

This question can be sufficiently answered based on the statistics from the countries which have already done it. A noticeable country which has already included sex and drugs in the GDP is Italy. Italy is one of the countries which were struggling with poor economy for years. Upon inclusion of black market in the GDP, it registered a growth in economy reported to be around 18%. This growth was taking it past UK to make it the fourth richest country in the world. Illegal sex and drug trafficking lie under black market squares and go untaxed. The taxation of these businesses would result to a remarkable boost in the economy by a factor.

It is estimated that in U.S for example, the sale of illegal marijuana business is worth between $10 billion and $100 billion each year. This is a very big figure which evades the government’s taxing and hence a big loss to the state. Just like illegal marijuana, illegal sex among many other illegal or black market businesses go untaxed and governments lose a lot of money which would otherwise contributed to the country’s economy.

Would inclusion of drugs and sex in GDP have benefit to the people involved?

If these businesses succeed to being included in the GDP, it will mean that they will be legalized. This will be a boost to the people involved in these businesses since it is no longer considered illegal by the states and thus transacting in such businesses is not punishable by the state. Likewise to the drugs user, it brings sense of responsibility, as the person can regulate one’s self on when to take the drug and the quantities to take at given times.

Drug Market Already Adding To GDP Figures

 

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