Improving public health by quitting alcoholism

May 30, 2015

Improving public health by quitting alcoholism: Tackling alcohol misuse

Improving public health by quitting alcoholism is very important. By seeking for professional help the addictiveness of alcohol will not be a problem any more

I have a question for you as we begin this discussion and the question is “do you drink alcohol? How do you categorize your drinking, is it moderate, binge or heavy drinking? As you soul search in response to that I want to introduce to us a topic of discussion torching on the improving public health by quitting alcoholism. You and I form the public meaning that what we do will impact to the public (us) either negatively or positively. While appreciating that we are liberalized and that we enjoy lots of freedom including freedom to choose, an epidemic is looming if something is not done in good time to address the problems emerging as a result of alcohol use. I know that alcohol is not an illegal substance and its consumption is very much supported by different laws of the land of course with some measures to control its usage, but depending on your response to the questions raised above are the measures put in place working for you?

We are going to make general comments on this introductory article about the effects of alcoholism in our societies and subsequently in the coming article we will be dealing with specifics of what misuse of alcohol is doing to people’s lives. We will be talking to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center to help us bring clarity in many issues as possible. Therefore I want to request you to stay on the link and if you know of any of your friend or loved ones that is struggling with alcoholism, then you can be of help to them as well. As we progress into the discussion, I will urge you to make health appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury the M.D and also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center and she will be of great help to you on all your concerns.

Improving public health by quitting alcoholism: Misuse of alcohol a burden to the economy

The trend with which alcohol is being misuses is not a secrete anymore and no one can bury his head under the sun and still hope for things to improve on their own. As a matter of fact this has brought with it extremely serious problems to the public health in most states across the globe. The burden of caring for alcoholics and the cost of rehabilitating them is not just hurting to the individual families, but also to the whole societies globally. It must be understood that alcohol is one of the most bused drug and it is also directly linked to a series of health complications including high blood pressure, mental ill-health, accidental injury, violence, liver disease and sexually transmitted infection. Despite the information available to the public about the dangers of misuse of alcohol the public and even the authorities will still support this killer drug. You may be wondering why I am saying all, but the magnitude of the problem is very big. Like for instance I recently visited one of the towns in one of the nations and I was surprised that the number of bars and liquor shops were more than all schools, hospitals, churches and mosques put together. What does that one communicates to you? It simply means that our children are getting into this mess at very tender age.

Improving public health by quitting alcoholism: The impact of alcoholism to the societies

If we allow our daughters and wives to be highly intoxicated with alcohol what products do you think we will get on conception? Children are literally being introduced into the world of alcohol taking at that very initial stage of their lives. It is all about freedom of choice and right to social around. Does it mean that in the process of exercising your right of choice you now have a permit to violate the right of that unborn child who has not chosen to be feed on alcoholic substances through the mother? This is the most disturbing thing and one that is very difficult for me to understand. But since am not able to understand why such things are allowed to happen to the un born children, I will advise that if this article is describing any of your habits and you have just realized that something is not right and some fixing needs to be done, all is not lost for you. And it is never too late for anyone to make a decision of changing with an aim of quitting the bondage of alcoholism. All you need to do is to ensure that you consult well before settling on the health provider. You must only go for the best with good truck result oriented records. One in which professionalism is the virtue and the experience is above board.

I know that getting the right rehabilitation facility may be very difficult for some of you and why we recommend that you talk to your physician to help you in the identification of the right institution. Remember that no mistakes should be done either in the beginning, middle or at the end. It has to be right all through says doctor Akoury. In the meantime it will interest you to note that because of the magnitude and the great suffering of people both young and old with very little help being given to them, doctor Dalal Akoury made a decision to create a medical center (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) whose main objective is to transform each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Dr. Akoury’s practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. Now that you know a bit of what alcohol addiction does to your health and with the sound foundation that doctor Dalal Akoury will deliver to you up on scheduling for an appointment with her, I want to encourage you to take to first step of calling her today so that no time is wasted. Your quick recovery is our priority and we will deliver that to with a lot of dedication, commitment and professionalism while treating all issues with great confidentiality.

Improving public health by quitting alcoholism: Tackling alcohol misuse

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction

April 6, 2015

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction: Heroin and Other Opiates

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction will eventually make you have an addiction free life.

The problem of drug addiction has stolen the dignity of our societies and we are all in one way or another affected or infected by this problem. Most societies are ruin by the use of drugs and families have not known peace because a member is an addict of a given drug. Heroin has become one of the most abused drugs thanks to its easy accessibility and affordability. The enormity of this problem is getting out of hand and prisons blocks alone are not enough to offer the much need solution. Even though this problem is of this magnitude, the good news is that it is treatable. There are very good treatment procedures for drug addiction today and that is going to be our point of focus in this discussion. We spoke to doctor Dalal Akoury who is the MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center and she will be helping us understand the treatment procedures available.

Doctor Akoury says that this problem of drug addiction is a treatable disorder. Prevention would have been the best option but because it is already with us we are going to look at the mechanisms of treating this disorder and consider prevention in the next article. Now because of many different conditions in drug addiction, it is important that the specific treatment must be tailored to suits the individual’s needs. This is necessary because many drug addicts have a compound of other problems that hinders proper treatment like mental health, occupational, health, or social problems.

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction: Types of Treatments for Patients

The success of this campaign would be realized when treatment procedures for drug addiction is adhered to. And treatments often include behavioral therapy, mediations and sometimes a combination of both. The most important thing is that when patients are duly treated for their addiction, they will be able to have some control over their lives and be productive to the society. That is why all over the world the campaign is to have as many people as possible for treatment. Therefore if you or anyone you know is suffering from any form of addiction, then you can be of help to them by scheduling for an appointment with the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury today and you will have your life back in the most professional and dignified way.

One of the biggest hindrances to treatment is that many addicted people often make an assumption that they can quit using drugs all by themselves without treatment. Actually many have tried but they have failed consistently resulting in long term abstinence. And that is why according to the NIDA Research has shown that long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These drug-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences, including the compulsion to use drugs despite adverse consequences which is the defining characteristic of addiction. And that is why achieving abstinence without treatment is so difficult if not impossible.

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction: Mechanisms Essential for a Successful Treatment

Recognition – For any meaningful treatment to yield results, the victim must first come to the point of recognizing and accepting that they have a problem which needs to be fixed. Denial is one of the greatest impediments when it comes to drug abuse treatment. Anyone in denial will not seek for help even if that help is presented to them by their concerned relatives. In many cases patients who are in denial will consent to treatment not because they have accepted but out of pressure from their loved ones

Detoxification – Treatment begins with detoxification, which is the gradual withdrawal of an abused substance under a controlled environment. In some cases a drug that is similar to the abused drug (e.g. methadone for heroin) is substituted during withdrawal to lessen the miserable symptoms and health risks associated with the withdrawal process. Depending on the drug that the person is addicted to, the withdrawal process can be handled through either an inpatient or an outpatient basis.

Rehabilitation – This is necessary to prevent the recurrence of drug abuse. Rehabilitation involved behavioral therapies such as counseling, psychotherapy, support groups, or family therapy. Behavior therapy helps people to cope with their drug cravings and it teaches them ways to avoid drugs, prevent relapse, and what to do if a relapse occurs. It has been established that merging a behavior therapy program with treatment medications, such as methadone, helps to suppress the withdrawal syndrome, the drug craving, and in blocking the effects of other drugs (caffeine). Studies have shown that using methadone at adequate dosage levels in treating heroin addiction along with behavioral therapies reduces death rates and many health problems.

Abstinence – Following rehabilitation, the abuser must have a lifelong abstinence from drug abuse. Relapses from this drug abstinence may occur and lead to recurrent dependence.

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction: Types of Treatment Methods

The treatment program duration could either be short term or long term depending on the patient’s condition.

Short-term methods – last less than 6 months, include residential therapy, medication therapy, and drug free outpatient therapy
Long-term methods – may include medication therapy such as methadone maintenance outpatient treatment for opiate addicts and residential therapeutic treatment

Outpatient and Inpatient

Outpatient drug free treatment– does not include medication and encompasses a wide variety of programs for patients that visit a clinic at regular intervals. It actually involves individual or group counseling. Normally patients registering for this type of program do not abuse opiates, or are opiate abusers for whom maintenance therapy is needed. Generally these patients have stable lives and only brief histories of drug dependence
Therapeutic Communities – highly structured communities where patients stay for 6-12 months. Patients generally have long histories of drug dependence, involvement in serious criminal activities, and seriously impaired social functioning. This type of program focuses on the re-socialization of the patient to a drug free and crime free lifestyle.
Short-term residential programs – chemical dependency units,” based on the “Minnesota Model” of treatment for alcoholism. Involve 3- to 6-week inpatient treatment phase followed by an extended outpatient therapy in a 12-step self-help group such as Narcotics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous.

Finally doctor Akoury recommends that if you are able to avoid using drugs the better. Treatment is more tasking than preventing which is the most ideal for good health. It would be the best thing you can do for yourself and to the whole society. But you are un able to all is not lost you can still get help from the experts up on scheduling for an appointment with doctor Akoury today.

Treatment Procedures for Drug Addiction: Heroin and Other Opiates

Treatment for Alcoholism

August 11, 2014

Treatment for Alcoholism – Drug Addiction

Alcoholism treatment can be done in various ways. group therapy and support from family and friends is also very essential

It has been established that alcohol is one of the most addictive and abused substance the world over and the most surprising point is that despite its known dangers to human life, it is not listed among the illegal drugs thereby allowing its consumption freely. All the efforts the authorities are putting in place to put control to the usage of alcohol has not yielded much because today alcohol still remains the number one abused drug globally. Because of the magnitude of health complications associated with alcohol consumption, we will be discussing in our subsequent articles about various effects of alcohol to human life but for the purpose of this article we will look at the possible treatment available to those who have been considered to be alcoholics. There are many medical options for treating alcohol use disorders which generally depends partly on the intensity and the duration of the patient has been drinking. The treatment options may include:

Behavioral therapy like individual sessions with a health professional and support groups
Medications

In administering treatment for alcoholism your doctor will do a brief intervention to help the patient to reduce or stop their drinking. During this process your doctor will give you an action plan for working on your drinking. The action plan may include:

Keeping a daily diary of how much alcohol you consume
Setting targeted goals for your drinking
If you’ve reached alcoholism stage then anti-craving or aversion medication may be recommended.

Treatment for Alcoholism – Overall Treatment Goals

The ultimate goal for goal for alcoholism treatment is to secure patients total abstinence. When this is achieved it offers a better survival rates, mental health and sound marriages. Patients who attain this often become good and responsible parents, employees or employers compared to those who keeps relapsing. Achieving this may not be an easy task and therefore the patient will need to avoid high-risk situations and interchange the addictive patterns with much more useful and satisfying activities and behaviors. Many professionals may choose to treat alcoholism as chronic disease where patients will be expected to accept relapse even as they purpose for a long remission period as possible. Every step taken is an achievement because even very small reduction of alcohol intake is significant enough to lower the risk for alcohol-related medical problems.

It is highly regarded that achieving total abstinence and a voiding high risk situations are the optimal goals for alcoholics. This should also be supplemented by involving family members and friends by way of educating them on how to offer social support to the addicts. When it is approached from different directions like that then some level of success will be achieved.

Treatment for Alcoholism – Inpatient and Outpatient Treatment

Inpatient Treatment – this is usually a reserved for patients whose conditions of alcoholism places them in danger normally this is done in a general or psychiatric hospital or in any other facility dedicated to treatment of alcohol and other substance abuse. Factors that indicate a need for this type of treatment include:

Coexisting medical or psychiatric disorder
Delirium tremens (a neurological condition associated with withdrawal that involves uncontrollable trembling, sweating, anxiety, and hallucinations or other symptoms of psychosis)
Potential harm to self or others
Failure to respond to conservative treatments
Disruptive home environment

A typical inpatient regimen may include the following stages:

A physical and psychiatric work-up for any physical or mental disorders
Detoxification – this phase involves initiating abstinence, managing withdrawal symptoms and complications, and ensuring that the patient remains in treatment
On-going treatment with medications in some cases
Psychotherapy, usually cognitive behavioral therapy
An introduction to AA

Some studies have established better success rates with inpatient treatment of patients with alcoholism. However resent studies strongly suggest that alcoholism can be effectively treated in outpatient settings as opposed to the inpatient.

Outpatient Treatment – People with mild-to-moderate withdrawal symptoms are usually treated as outpatients. Basically treatments methods are similar to those in inpatient situations and may include:

Psychotherapy or counseling
Medications that target brain chemicals involved in addiction
Social support groups such as AA
Cognitive therapies
Involvement of family and other significant people in patient’s life

The current approach to outpatient treatment uses medical management a disease management approach that is used for chronic illnesses such as diabetes. With medical management, patients receive regular 20-minute sessions with a health care provider. The provider monitors the patient’s medical condition, medication, and alcohol consumption.

After-Care and Work Therapy – this kind of care uses services to help maintain sobriety. For example, in some cities, sober-living houses provide residences for people who are trying to stay sober. They do not offer formal treatment services, but the people living there offer each other support and maintain an abstinent environment.

The treatment of alcoholism is a process that involves many stages and serious commitment to the recovery process. When an addict makes the first and most important step of seeking for help the journey will be along one and a difficult one for that matter. Like indicated earlier treatment process may be complicated and fall back or relapsing may be the order of the day. But in all this you must take courage because you have chosen a worthy course for your life and that of people around you. Seeking for professional help along the way would be a good idea. For instance you may visit AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a medical facility established by doctor Dalal Akoury who is a medical doctor of over two decades of practice. Doctor Akoury has been helping many people overcome their addiction problems across the state and the world over in the most natural and efficient way. Your addiction condition will be professionally handled in her care while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE and you will have your life back and live it to the fullest.

Treatment for Alcoholism – Drug Addiction

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency

June 4, 2014

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency-Part Three

Surely our children can not be victims of alcohol abuse we can together do something

As I said in the last post effective treatment of alcoholism or alcohol addiction starts from within the addict. It is the most important step for the healing process to begin and it can only begin with the alcoholic acknowledging and admitting that they have a problem and that they need help. Once this is done then the next step is help and support and in this area we will bring onboard only real and experienced experts in this field of addiction. Doctor Akoury has been in this field for over three decades and will be very instrumental is helping you get better the natural way. But before that let us get back to alcohol addiction as a medical condition which requires experts’ attention. Defeating an alcohol addiction is not simple as it may appear, it is a long and painful process which require more than sheer willpower of the patient.

When administering treatment to the alcoholic, it requires the patient to make several adjustments in their lives in nearly every aspect which may not be very easy to many addicts. The good news is that even though these adjustments may not be easy but you can be rest assured that help and support is readily available at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care. We have to appreciate that treatments for alcohol addiction are quite varied because there are multiple perspectives for the condition itself. For instance those who approach alcoholism as a medical condition or disease recommend differing treatments than those who approach the condition as one of social choice.

Because alcoholism involves multiple factors which encourage victims to continue drinking, an all-inclusive approach must be put in place to address all the underlying factors in order to successfully prevent a relapse. For example detoxification is an ideal method of treatment followed by a combination of supportive therapy, attendance at self-help groups, and ongoing development of coping mechanisms. The treatment community for alcoholism typically supports an abstinence-based zero tolerance approach; however, there are some who promote a harm-reduction approach as well.

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency-Detoxification

Detoxification or ’detox’ for alcoholics is an abrupt stop of alcohol drinking coupled with the substitution of drugs that have similar effects to offset the withdrawal symptoms. Benzodiazepines are the most common family of drugs used for this, followed by barbiturates. Detoxes are performed in multiple ways some of which include:

The first takes into consideration the varying degrees of tolerance and in it, a standard dose of the benzodiazepine is given to the patient every half hour until light sedation is reached.
Once a baseline dose is determined, the medication is tapered over the ensuing 3-10 days.
Another option is to give a standard dose of benzodiazepine based on history and adjust based on withdrawal phenomenon.
A third option is to defer treatment until symptoms occur, which is safe only with relatively mild alcohol users.

It must be noted that detoxification only treats the physical effects of prolonged use of alcohol, but does not actually treat alcoholism. After the process of detox is complete, relapse is likely without further treatment. However detoxification may or may not be necessary depending on an individual’s age, medical status, and history of alcohol intake. For example, a young man who binge drinks and seeks treatment one week after his last use of alcohol may not require detoxification before beginning treatment for alcoholism.

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency-Group therapy and psychotherapy for alcohol addiction

The moment detoxification is done group therapy or psychotherapy can be used to deal with underlying psychological issues which are related to alcohol addiction, as well as to provide relapse prevention skills. The mutual-help group-counseling approach is one of the most common ways of helping alcoholics maintain sobriety.

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency-Rationing and moderation for alcohol addiction

Rationing and moderation programs do not mandate complete abstinence. Since one of the effects of alcohol is to reduce a person’s judgment, each drink makes it more difficult to decide that the next drink is a bad idea. Additionally, for those who are predisposed towards alcoholism, drinking in moderation can result in the strengthening of the endorphin-based addiction.

While most alcoholics are unable to limit their drinking in this way, moderate drinking works for some people, and it may avoid the physical, financial, and social costs of other treatments – particularly in the early phase of recovery. Professional help can be sought for rationing from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Akoury

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency-Nutritional therapy for alcohol addiction

Preventative treatment of alcohol complications includes long-term use of multivitamin as well as specific vitamins like B12 and folate.

While nutritional therapy is not a treatment of alcoholism itself, it treats the difficulties that can arise after years of heavy alcohol use. Many alcohol dependents have insulin resistance syndrome, a metabolic disorder where the body’s difficulty in processing sugars causes an unsteady supply to the blood stream. While the disorder can be diminished by a hypoglycemic diet, this can affect behavior and emotions, side-effects often seen among alcohol dependents in treatment. The metabolic aspects of such dependence are often overlooked, causing poor treatment outcomes.

So far we have been discussing the various treatments methods of alcohol addiction for a sober society. All that we have mention above are very essential for treating alcoholics however for they to be properly put into use we will need experts with vast experience in handling matters addiction and especially alcohol addiction. As mention in this article doctor Akoury is an expert who has been offering neuroendocrine restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of oneness of spirit, mind and body unifying the threesome into one. This is a working treatment method that has helped many people globally and your appointment with doctor Akoury will be the best you can do to yourself and loved ones because by the time she is done with you, you will be up on your feet again only that this time you will be sober and fully recovered.

Treatments for alcohol addiction, abuse and dependency-Part Three

Tag Archives: Alcoholism treatment