Tag Archives: Alcohol abuse

ted-cruz

Addiction In The Family Of Senator Ted Cruz

March 22, 2016

Addiction In Senator Cruz Family: Ted Cruz Shares Story Of His Sister’s Addiction

Ted CruzThe Republican presidential nominee candidate  Ted Cruz was thought to be a bright boy even during his early childhood, so it doesn’t come as strange that he grew up to become a person his family could be proud of. Cruz has great intellect and a decisive personality, which led him to one success after another – Harvard Law, the Senate of the United States and now a presidential candidate. Unfortunately, life is not always pink, which is something Ted Cruz learned the hard way in 2011 when his half-sister Miriam passed away from a drug overdose.

The senator shared this sad story at the forum on heroin epidemic an addiction held in New Hampshire this February. Miriam, the daughter from the first marriage of the senator’s father, Rafael Cruz, was nine years older than him.

‘We used to spend summers together when we were kids. Even though she was older than me, we often played together. She let me pull on her hair and I would to that nonstop. She was a very charming and beautiful woman’, said Cruz.

However, Miriam didn’t handle their fat their parents are divorced easily.

‘I remember her always being angry at everyone. She was mad at my dad for divorcing her mom and often turned her rage to everyone. She was mad at the world, at God’.

This caused Miriam to go through some rather turbulent teenage years. As Cruz stated, she partied and she partied hard. It wasn’t even uncommon to steal his allowance in order to buy alcohol and drugs. It got worse when she married a man who had violence issues and was constantly in and out of jail. Not even having a son, who was named Joseph, was motivating enough for her to battle the addiction.

‘She became a single mom a couple of years after Joey was born. Unfortunately, she got into a car accident, after which she got addicted to painkillers. Not long has passed until she moved on to even worse drugs’, the Senator continued his story.

A ‘helping hand’ on her path to hard addiction was Michael Gunning, Miriam’s boyfriend at the time. They met in a rehab center in Philadelphia. The moment they got out, they started using various drugs. In order to get the money to buy them, Miriam started shoplifting, which got her behind bars more than a couple of times.  These are just some of the troubles addiction can get people into. They will be widely covered at Awaremed Network’s Integrative Addiction Conference for which you can register HERE.

In the meantime, everything was going well for Ted Cruz. In 1997, he managed to join a respectable law firm in Washington D.C. and was on his way to success. However, he always found time to keep tabs on his sister and her son. This is why he and his father decided to drive to Philadelphia one day to try to make an intervention, leaving all their valuable stuff back at Washington in order to avoid any potential bad stuff happening at the shady motel Miriam was living in.

Unfortunately, the talk didn’t help too much, so the senator knew what he had to do. He decided to max out his credit hard to help his nephew and soon Joey was sent to a military boarding school. Cruz believed this will help Joey get some order in his life and set him on the right path.

In the senator’s book ‘A time for truth’, it was mentioned that Miriam was aware she was not in a great situation to support her son and was thankful that Ted is getting him through school. Although he left the school only after a year, Joey and his mom reconciled their differences and started living together again. Miriam showed some real signs of wanting to progress and battle with addiction prior to this happening. She even decided to go into a rehab center. Everything had seemed back on its course, it was Joey that found Miriam dead one day in January 2011.

‘We just got a call one day, telling us that Miriam is gone’, remembers Mr. Cruz.

The Republican president candidate is very aware of this problem, which is exactly why he chose to share his experience in New Hampshire, place famous for its drug problems. There’s another addiction story in Mr. Cruz’s family, this one with a different outcome than Miriam.

Rafael Cruz was an abusive drinker and this was the reason behind him leaving Miriam’s mother, as well as leaving Ted and his mom for some time. Religion is what helped Rafael turn his life around and make this a happy story.

“My father hasn’t had a drink for 40 years now. There are addiction stories with happy endings”, stated Cruz.

The senator is right. In order for people to fight the problems with any kind of addiction, they will need a strong will and motivation, as well as great help from family and friends. Awaremed Network is organizing Integrative Addiction Conference. You can find more details and sign up for the conference here.

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Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction

February 7, 2016

Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction: Coping with craving of cocaine (part two)

Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction

In our part one of this series of articles about the cognitive behavioral approach of treating addiction, we had highlighted some of the areas to focus on as listed below and we were able to explore on the first one i.e. understanding craving. You can actually make reference on that as we progress but for the purpose of this article we want to continue from where we left and see how best we can describe craving which is one of the biggest elements when it comes to solving the problem of addiction. Our team of experts from the home of addiction solutions (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury who is also the founder of the facility, we want to explore on the possibilities of dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction with a view of finding lasting solutions to the scourge of addiction.

Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction: Describing craving

Having understood what cravings is our next point would be to get the essential sense of the patients’ experience of craving. This can be very broad and may include having the knowledge about the following information.

What is craving like for you? – Doctor Akoury says that cravings or urges as it is commonly known is experienced in many different of ways by different patients. Like for instance an individual could say, the experience is primarily somatic that is to say, a patient would just get a feeling in the stomach or the heart races or just start smelling the element being craved for. For others, craving is experienced more cognitively; like for example one would say that “I need it now” or “I can’t get it out of my head” or “It calls on me.” Or it may be experienced effectively; for example, “I get nervous” or “I’m bored.” Depending on your individual experience, it is important that when seeking for help, you let your therapist know your experience with craving, this way they will be able to get to the roots of the problem and offer solutions effectively.

Are you bothered by craving? – There is tremendous variability in the level and intensity of craving reported by patients. For some, achieving and maintaining control over craving will be a principal treatment goal and take several weeks to achieve. Other patients deny they experience any craving. Gentle exploration with patients who deny any craving especially those who continue to use cocaine often reveals that they misinterpret a variety of experiences or simply ignore craving when it occurs until they suddenly find themselves using. Other, abstinent patients, who deny they experience any craving often, when asked, admit to intense fears about relapsing.

How long does craving last for you? – In this journey doctor Akoury says that to make the point about the duration and nature of craving, it is often very important for professionals to point out to their patients that they have rarely let themselves experience an episode of craving without giving in to it.

How do you try to cope with it? – Getting a sense of the coping strategies used by patients will help the therapist identify their characteristic coping styles and select appropriate coping strategies.

Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction: Identifying triggers

The next point to focus on would be the identification of the triggers to the substance of abuse. It is important that therapists should work very closely with their patients to develop a comprehensive list of their own triggers. Some patients become overwhelmed when asked to identify cues. From experience doctor Akoury says that when handling addicts, you will notice that someone may even associate breathing with cocaine use. Again, it may be most helpful therefore to concentrate on identifying the craving and cues that have been most problematic to the patient in recent weeks. This should commence immediately during the therapy session and this should include self-monitoring of craving so that patients can begin to identify new and more subtle cues as they arise.

Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction: Avoiding cues

When considering the avoidance of cues it is always advisable that you keep in mind the general strategy of “recognize, avoid, and cope.” These strategies are particularly applicable to craving for all substances and not necessarily cocaine. Doctor Akoury says that real experts would first identify the patients’ most problematic cues then make an exploration of the degree to which some of those could be avoided. This will come with certain sacrifices including breaking ties or reducing contact with individuals who use or supply you with cocaine, getting rid of paraphernalia, staying out of bars or other places where cocaine is used, or no longer carrying money, as in the following example:

Finally in dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction one needs not to let any stone unturned. I am saying this because we are all aware that cocaine is an illegal substance but other substances like alcohol which are legal can form a perfect avenue for the consumption of cocaine without being noticed. Besides that the ability to pay for the substance is another point of consideration. When the financial strength allows users to access cocaine could easily form a solution in an alcoholic drink. Therefore experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center recommends that for any meaningful treatment to be realized, therapists and other professionals in the line of substance abuse must spend considerable time exploring the relationship between alcohol and cocaine with patients who use them together to such an extent that alcohol becomes a powerful cocaine cue. Specific strategies to reduce, or preferably, stop alcohol use should be explored. We appreciate that doing this may not be easy for many people and that is why doctor Akoury will be readily available on call for you to schedule for an appointment so that any pending or unclear issues relating to addiction can be attended to professionally.

Dealing with the minds perception about cocaine addiction: Coping with craving of cocaine (part two)

 

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Cigarette

Drug addiction problems must be solved medically

December 2, 2015

Drug addiction problems must be solved professionally: Consult with AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center

Drug addiction

Drug addiction problems must be solved professionally if we want to defeat this scourge from our lives and society.

The fight against alcohol and drug addiction is one campaign that is not about to end any time soon. Each day new developments come up for fighting the vice yet at the same time users of these drugs also get more rooted to their addictive habits. Even though a lot is being done to correct this problem, many people are still suffering in silence for various reasons including denial. As addiction professionals from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, we have made it a priority to help in finding lasting solutions about alcohol and drug addiction. And that is why we have consistently posted very informative blogs on this site to create more awareness and to educate the public of some of the actions they can take even before the get to us for help. Therefore “Drug addiction problems must be solved” is our choice topic for this article because it has come to our attention that despite the information available in the market about addiction recovery process and treatment, a majority of the societies are still ailing from this problem. Remember that AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is an establishment of doctor Dalal Akoury MD and also the President of the institution. Doctor Akoury is a veteran addiction expert who has dedicated several decades of her life in bringing hope to the hopeless drug addicts not just in the US but across the globe. Therefore if you think that you or someone you care about is addicted to drugs or alcohol, help is on the way if only you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury today because drug addiction problems must be solved professionally.

However doctor Akoury is encouraging that even as you consider making that appointment, it is very important to note that the genesis of this entire recovery journey begins with you recognizing that you have a problem. This is the first step in getting help. We know that many people often think that they can tame or kick out the problem all by themselves, but the reality is that rarely works and that explains why getting help to tame the scourge of addiction is very important. Having felt that there are some signs of addiction in you, there are very many approaches you can apply including talking to someone you trust to help you make the right and productive decisions. Therefore if this is the approach you are considering, then it may help to talk to a friend or someone of your own age group at first, nonetheless a supportive and understanding adult should be your best option for getting help. We also know that sometimes it may not be easy for you to share this with your parents and therefore if this be the case, then you might want to approach a school counselor, a relative, a doctor, your favorite teacher, or even a religious leader. You must have noticed that the very moment you recognize the problem, action plan takes root and this is surely a step in the right direction.

Just to bring you up to speed with what to expect, it is important to understand from the very beginning that, overcoming addiction is not easy. Great determination will be expected of you along the way. And probably you will realize that quitting drugs or drinking is going to be one of the hardest things you or your friend have ever done. Even though that is so but be encouraged that it’s not a sign of weakness if you need professional help from a trained drug counselor or therapist. Most people who try to kick a drug or alcohol problem need professional assistance or a treatment program to do so and so you are not alone, keep on fighting because the end result is worth the sacrifice. Now let me bring to your attention some of the tips you need to succeed in this fight.

Drug addiction problems must be solved professionally: Tips for recovery

Once you start a treatment program, you may want to consider trying the following tips to make the road to recovery less bumpy:

Share with your friends about your decision to stop using drugs. This is very important because going forward you will need only those friends who will be kind enough to support your recovery journey entirely and drop those that will pull you back.

Moral support is very important and therefore always asks your friends or family to be available whenever you need them. During this journey a time will come when it will necessary that you call for support even during very odd hours of the night. Your friends should be therefore you and remember that if you’re going through a tough time, don’t try to handle things on your own and accept the help your family and friends offer.

Be very selective on the invitations you receive and only accept that won’t involve drugs or alcohol. Going to the movies is probably safe, but you may want to skip a Friday night party until you’re feeling more secure.

The temptation will always be there sometimes; therefore put in some strategies about what you’ll do should you find yourself in a place with drugs or alcohol. This may also mean planning with your parents, siblings, or other supportive friends so that if you call home using a specific code, they’ll know that your call is a signal to them that you need a ride out of there.

Moments of relapse; such times will always be there but always encourage yourself, that having an addiction doesn’t make a person bad or weak. If you fall back, talk to an adult as soon as possible and pick up the pieces and move on. There’s nothing to be ashamed about, however it’s important to get help soon so that all of the hard work you put into your recovery is not lost.

If you’re worried about a friend who has an addiction, you can use these tips to help him or her. For example, let your friend know that you are available to talk or offer your support. If you notice a friend backsliding, talk about it openly and ask what you can do to help.

If your friend is going back to drugs or drinking and won’t accept your help, don’t be afraid to talk to a nonthreatening, understanding adult, like your parent or school counselor. It may seem like you’re ratting your friend out, but it’s the best support you can offer.

And most importantly, offer a friend who’s struggling with addiction lots of encouragement and praise. It may seem funny, but hearing that you care is just the kind of motivation your friend needs.

Drug addictions must be solved professionally: Staying clean

Finally doctor Akoury is emphasizing that recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction doesn’t end with a 6-week or so treatment program you take in an institution. This is a lifelong process and we want to encourage you to consider calling us at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center for further direction. We will always be here for you and if you ever have a relapse, take immediate action because this can be very critical and getting help right away is advisable so that you don’t undo all the hard work you put into your initial recovery and remember don’t be a fried of relapse it is normal and not a failure on your part.

Drug addiction problems must be solved professionally: Consult with AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center

 

 

 

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Nutrition benefits

Nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts

November 23, 2015

Nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts: Doing the right thing to escape addiction

Nutritional benefits

What do you drink? and what flows in your glass? Whatever the answer remember that there are numerous nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts if you feed well.

Previously while we were exploring on the good nutrition and diet for recovering people with addiction we noted that there are applicable factors which when applied with the guidance of addiction experts, real time solutions can be realized. Those factors included exercise, relaxation, spirituality and adaptation of a balanced living. We were however able to discuss the exercise portion and now while focusing on the nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts, we are going to look at the remaining three, and with the help of professionals from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury who is also the MD founder and president of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, we are going to give to details all that you need to know about these three factors and so stay tuned and invite a friend to the link so that we move together as a committed team in the elimination of drug addiction by all means.

Nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts: Relaxation

Relaxation is very crucial and actually there are several things you can do to readily reduce or escape the stress you feel. Doctor Akoury is registering that when you are unable to change a situation or to better cope with the stress of everyday living some of the applicable solutions are very simple and very common such that people often ignore the power behind them. Take for example simple things like laughing, playing, listening to music, storytelling, fantasizing, reading and massage are some methods of natural stress reduction yet we often ignore them. Besides that deep relaxation can be a way of relaxing the body and mind. The objective of this is to reduce stress and produce a sense of well-being. Deep relaxation rebalances the body and reduces the production of stress hormones. What happens when you relax is the opposite of the “fight or flight” reaction. When you relax, your muscles become heavy, your body temperature rises and your breathing and heart rate slow down. Remember that tension hinders muscle relaxation and that is why it is impossible to maintain tension while physically relaxing. A visit to the home of solutions (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) will equip you with all the needed techniques which will allow your body to relax effectively. You can therefore schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury for further professional direction on the relaxation modalities. And even as you do that it is important to note that the distress resulting from thought process impairments, emotional process impairments, memory impairments, and stress sensitivity can be reduced or relieved through proper use of relaxation. There are a variety of relaxation exercises that you can use including:

  • You can get a book that will offer you a selection of exercises or you can purchase tape-recorded exercises.
  • You can close your eyes in a comfortable position and repeat a pleasant word over and over to yourself.
  • You can imagine yourself in a soothing environment such as by a quiet lake or in a green meadow.

Pick a method that is relaxing to you and use it often. The experience will be very productive since you will find it a helpful aid for reducing stress and creating peace of mind and serenity.

Nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts: Spirituality

Spirituality can be defined as “an active relationship with a power greater than yourself that gives your life meaning and purpose.” When you work a spiritual program, you consciously, actively attempt to become a part of something bigger, greater, and more powerful than yourself. The effectiveness of this is that believing in a Higher Power will take you out of the center of your universe and offers peace of mind and serenity by awareness that there is a power that is not restricted by your weaknesses and limitations. Through spiritual development you can develop new confidence in your own abilities and develop a new sense of hope. It is through a spiritual program that you can reach with hope and a positive attitude toward the future.

In working on your spirituality it is important for you to use the principles of the AA/NA program. AA/NA provides guidelines for “increasing your conscious contact with your higher power.” You do not have to have any one image of your higher power to increase your conscious contact. You do have to be open to the possibility of a Higher Power and be willing to experiment with communicating with that Power. It is important to structure your life in such a way as to spend time alone each day to interact with your Higher Power. It is important to examine your values and look within yourself to determine whether your life is in harmony with those values. And take note that spiritual discipline is a consciously chosen course of action. Discipline is uncomfortable for many recovering addicts. They have lived lives of immediate gratification, and discipline is the reverse of that. The purpose of spiritual discipline is freedom from the slavery of self-indulgence. Spiritual discipline includes prayer and meditation, spiritual fellowship, and regular inventory of your spiritual growth.

Nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts: Balanced living

Balanced living can be defined in several ways including:

  • Balanced living means that there is bio-psycho-social-spiritual harmony in your life.
  • It means that you are healthy physically and psychologically and that you have healthy relationships.
  • It means that you are spiritually whole.
  • It means that you are no longer focused on one aspect of your life.
  • It means you are living responsibly, giving yourself time for your job, your family, and your friends as well as time for your own growth and recovery.
  • It means allowing a Higher Power to work in your life. It means wholesome living.
  • It means having a balance between work and play, between fulfilling your responsibilities to other people and your need for self-fulfillment.
  • It means functioning as nearly as possible at your optimum stress level, maintaining enough stress to keep you functioning in a healthy way and not overloading yourself with stress so that it becomes counterproductive.

Finally a balanced living requires proper health care so that the body is functioning well. Nutrition, rest, and exercise all receive the proper focus in your life to provide energy, manage stress, allow freedom from illness and pain, combat fatigue, and rebuild a damaged body. Freedom from physical distress allows psychological growth. When you feel good it is easier to think about your attitudes and values and to work on eliminating denial, guilt, and anger. Balanced living requires doing things to develop self-confidence and self-esteem and learning to feel good about your-self. All these factors are geared towards ensuring total elimination of addiction by putting aside all triggers of addiction and you can get more information on this and other nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts by visiting AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center and all your concerns will be addressed professionally.

Nutritional benefits enjoyed by recovering addicts: Doing the right thing to escape addiction

 

 

 

 

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Oxycontin

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer of all ages

November 23, 2015

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer of all ages: What is oxycontin and why is it so addictive?

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer is often misused by its users to attain certain high which makes it quite addictive for health

The need to eradicate pain from our life has made us to be very innovative and a lot of drugs are being produced daily into the market. Some of these drugs are available across the counter while another set can only be issued on the doctor’s advice. However, the world is suffering from substance abuse, some of which are prescription drugs which have not helped either. When they are prescribed to us for use, sometimes we often miss use them thereby causing further addiction related complications to us. In that regard, we want to narrow this discussion to one of the drugs available in the market under the topic “Oxycontin the addictive pain killer of all ages.” Experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD and the president of the facility says that OxyContin is a type of medication that can actually relieve pain. It is commonly prescribed to patients by doctors and this prescription is not just to any patient but to those who have severe injuries, arthritis or cancer. Doctor Akoury registers that this is a morphine-like drug which is classified under schedule II controlled substance, which means that people need a prescription to obtain it. She adds that in relation to other painkillers, OxyContin has a long-acting formula and it works well for those who need round-the-clock relief.

The other problem with pain killer drugs like Aspirin and Tylenol is that they are not strong enough to help people who are suffering from moderate to severe pain and as a result of that users will often opt for opioids to make the pain more bearable. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of oxycontin is what makes it to be a popular street drug. Even though the allowed mode of administration of this drug is through oral consumption, miss use has always led to many people to abuse OxyContin by either crushing the tablets so that they can swallow or snort them or sometimes, they even dilute the tablets in water to for a solution which they then inject into their veins. These methods destroy the time-release mechanism, which allows the user to experience the drug’s full effect immediately.

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer of all ages: The dangers of oxycontin addiction

Like with other drugs, if the procedure is not followed dully on acquisition, it becomes a major problem to the drug enforcement officials. It therefore means that if this drug (oxycontin) is obtained illegally it will be a major issue for drug enforcement officials. This drug is commonly known in the street as Kicker, OC and Hillbilly Heroin. The danger of an addiction to OxyContin is that it will make its users feel like they can tolerate more. Remember that too much use of this drug can lead to respiratory failure and the drug can become even more dangerous when people combine it with alcohol or benzodiazepines. And besides that just like with other opiates users can develop a tolerance if they use OxyContin on a regular basis. And once they develop a tolerance for the drug, they will require larger doses to elicit the drug’s euphoric effects. Besides taking larger doses, the users also need to take the drug more often to stay high. Over time, users begin to develop a dangerous OxyContin prescription addiction which causes them to become more and more addicted each time they use the drug.

Doctor Dalal Akoury also registers that it is important to appreciate that OxyContin addiction also occurs when people use the drug in a way that the manufacturer did not intend. Like for example, those who snort or inject the drug are likely to become addicted since this is not the proper ways of administration of this drug. When people snort or inject the tablets, they feel an intense high right away. The high that people experience while abusing OxyContin is similar to the euphoria that heroin users also feel. Once they experience an intense high, their body starts to crave more of the drug. Those who abuse OxyContin regularly are likely to need to professional help.

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer of all ages: Who is vulnerable to oxycontin addiction?

When it comes to vulnerability, it is worth noting that anyone who uses OxyContin can develop an addiction indiscriminately however, in most cases it often affects those who are prone to addictive behaviors in their lifestyle. Doctor Akoury is reiterating that OxyContin drug addiction is particularly prevalent among young adults in the rural areas in relation to their counterparts in the urban centers. This is so because in some cases those who have a legal prescription often resell the tablets to other people for a profit thereby making the drug easily available to the wrong people. Alongside with that it is emerging that some people also acquire the drug by visiting multiple doctors to have more than one prescription written out so that they are in possession of enough to distribute to their illegal clients.

Many chronic pain patients worry when their doctor increases their dosage of OxyContin, but this worry need not to be there because they are under medical supervision. Nonetheless it is worth noting that the body can develop a tolerance for the drug over time. It is therefore necessary that all patients take OxyContin as directed by their physicians so that they do not get a high from using it. Finally we must also note that those who worry about becoming addicted can suffer needlessly if they refuse to take painkillers. That is why doctors always examine each patient’s history before implementing a treatment plan and if the patient has a history of drug abuse, then the doctor is likely to prescribe something other than OxyContin. Abuse of oxycontin is risky and users risk respiratory failure since the drug depresses the respiration which may lead to slowness of breath beside causing users to feel weak, tired and dizzy. In conclusion it is always very important that when it comes to addiction, everyone needs to be in close touch with addiction professionals so that any emerging problem can be addressed in good time. And for that reason, I want to encourage you that if you have any point that you need to be clarified, then you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury for a professional direction.

Oxycontin the addictive pain killer of all ages: What is oxycontin and why is it so addictive?

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