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Drug addiction during Seasons; Celebration Time

May 6, 2014

Drug addiction during Seasons-Celebrations times

Drug addiction during Seasons

While having fun during holiday seasons remember alcohol and drugs can intrude in your holiday schedule and this can be devastating.

People all over the world have one single common denominator, everywhere you go people of all life status like to have moments of celebrations and spend some time enjoying the plenty life can offer. This undisputed interest however come at a cost and many revelers have open specific accounts to save money to finance this season of celebration which normally comes during Christmas and new year eve. I am in total agreement with everyone that some free time away from the hectic and busy schedules of life is necessary in once life because I am equally doing the same. My purpose of this article will dwell on some of the negative things which do happen during this season. In particular we will be discussing the indulgence of drug abuse when marry making. As indicate holiday season is a time where school going students are out, shopping malls are packed to capacity, entertainment joints entrepreneurs are doing good business because of the increase number of clients visiting their joints. Today the celebration time (Christmas and New Year eve) are around the corner and everyone is looking forward to presents, parties, food and booze. For many, the holiday season is a time of joy and happiness, but for some the holiday brings out a lot of stress.

Drug addiction during Seasons-Stress and celebrations

  • The holiday season triggers both good and bad forms of stress and emotions almost in equal measure.
  • Some people will cope with stress by turning to food. They will indulge in large amounts of food that can result in weight gain and eventually obesity.
  • Stress can also trigger negative behaviors like alcohol consumption and drug use. For sure alcohol and drug use are often exacerbated during the holidays, especially on Christmas and New Year eve.
  • Stress is also one of the leading causes of alcohol and drug relapse.

Much as it is a time of relaxation, the holiday season may be a distraction and overwhelming for individuals who are recently recovering from addiction.  Take for example the transport sector of any nation, rate of automobile accidents, drug overdoses, suicides and violence causing death increases tremendously during the holidays. Nearly all these incidents are connected to alcohol and drug abuse, typically by those who are trying to cope with the holiday stress. A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control found that suicide victims commonly tested positive for alcohol or illicit drugs and about 33% of the suicide victims tested positive for alcohol, 16% tested positive for opiates, 9% tested positive for cocaine and 8% tested positive for marijuana, worrying statistics indeed.

Drug addiction during Seasons-Alcohol the biggest cause of injuries

Of all the substances abused alcohol is the biggest contributor of causes of unintentional injuries, like those resulting from car accidents. It impairs and influences judgment and may place persons at higher risk of getting injured which can even result in death. Studies have also found that alcohol is more harmful than many illegal drugs, including marijuana, ecstasy, GHB and even amphetamines.  According to British Columbia studies in 2005, there were 25,194 alcohol-related injuries and illnesses that resulted in hospitalization, compared with 4,817 related to illicit drug use (Toast the season, 2007). Researchers have found that on New Year’s Eve students drink 10 more alcoholic drinks than non-alcoholic drinks something which is causing the authority great concern.

Drug addiction during Seasons-Illegalities at the entertainment joints

When young people visit social festivities such as those held at bars, parties or nights-clubs they tend to compete for recognition and find themselves falling to peer pressure. For instance the youth often involve in use of date rape drugs. It’s important that young people especially women need to be aware of these drugs. For better understanding a date rape drug is any drug that is used for the purpose of getting someone intoxicated, usually by slipping the drug into the an unsuspecting victim’s drink. When the victim drinks the contaminated drink she loose the vital senses to the point where forced or non-consensual sexual assault can take place more easily or with little resistance. Some of the well-known date rape drugs include rohypnol, GHB and ecstasy. These drugs have no color, taste or smell making the very convenient to their users to drug their unsuspecting victims who will not be able to tell if they are being drugged.

Drug addiction during Seasons-Precautions when drinking

When out celebrating, young people must take extra precautions when they are enjoying drinking in the company of their friends. Precautions will include:

  • Never accept drinks from strangers.
  • Always have you drink open before you.
  • When using drinking glasses never leave your glass or bottle half way when visiting the bathrooms and if you do order for fresh drink and dispose whatever you left halfway.
  • Drink responsively less you intoxicate yourself for your prey to have a field day.
  • Better still do not drink.

Stress is a big impediment to drug free society and our young people are very delicate during the holiday period. Parents and guardians must not exact unnecessary pressures to the youths during the holiday season. Personal issues, family conflicts and financial matters may impact negatively to the health and well-being of an individual and because of these pressures youths tend to turn to drugs and alcohol to let loose and forget their problems. The temptation to go to parties, where alcohol and drugs are frequently offered, is high. When an individual is stressed it is important that they get a healthy amount of rest and sleep and take part in activities that can help decrease stress levels like exercise, yoga, meditation, listening to music or getting a massage.

Finally as I conclude this article, I want to address the young people passionately on what to do when face with the discussed circumstances.

  • Youths should understand that there are fun alternatives to using drugs over the holidays.
  • Instead of resorting to drugs they can use friendly non-alcoholic drinks, such as smoothies or non-alcoholic cocktails.
  • When they are invited to a party they should go with a friend who does not drink.
  • At the party, they should engage in healthy conversation, dancing and enjoying the music.
  • Eating is always a good way to distract the need of having a drink in your hand.
  • Food can also make you full, thereby avoiding the need to drink.
  • Most importantly, if they feel overwhelmed, they should ask for help.
  • They should take the time to connect with other people who are willing to support them positively.

With all these information you will still need professional guidance in the event you are overwhelmed. If this is the case then you need the services of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury who will care for you and together with her team of experts administer treatment to you while focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. Passing through doctor Akoury will give you an opportunity to get your life back in record time and live it to the fullest.

Drug addiction during Seasons-Celebrations times

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Drug Addiction

May 4, 2014

Drug Addiction-Common Signs and Symptoms

Drug

It doesn’t matter how it gets into your system but one common denominator is that drugs and drug addiction is harmful to you.

Most drug addictions start with casual or social use of a drug. For some people, using the drug becomes a habit, and its use becomes more and more frequent. As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it becomes increasingly difficult to go without the drug. Stopping may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill (withdrawal symptoms).

Drug addiction symptoms or behaviors include:

  • Feeling that you have to use the drug regularly this can be daily or even several times a day
  • Failing in your attempts to stop using the drug
  • Making certain that you maintain a supply of the drug
  • Spending money on the drug, even though you can’t afford it
  • Doing things to obtain the drug that you normally wouldn’t do, such as stealing
  • Feeling that you need the drug to deal with your problems
  • Driving or doing other risky activities when you’re under the influence of the drug
  • Focusing more and more time and energy on getting and using the drug

Drug Addiction-Recognizing drug abuse in teenagers

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish normal teenage moodiness or angst from signs of drug use. Possible indications that your teenager is using drugs include:

  • Problems at school. Frequently missing classes or missing school, a sudden disinterest in school or school activities, or a drop in grades may be indicators of drug use.
  • Physical health issues. Lack of energy and motivation may indicate your child is using certain drugs.
  • Neglected appearance. Teenagers are generally concerned about how they look. A lack of interest in clothing, grooming or looks may be a warning sign of drug use.
  • Changes in behavior. Teenagers enjoy privacy, but exaggerated efforts to bar family members from entering their rooms or knowing where they go with their friends might indicate drug use. Also, drastic changes in behavior and in relationships with family and friends may be linked to drug use.
  • Spending money. Sudden requests for money without a reasonable explanation for its use may be a sign of drug use. You may also discover money stolen from previously safe places at home. Items may disappear from your home because they’re being sold to support a drug habit.

Drug Addiction-Recognizing signs of drug use and dependence

The particular signs and symptoms of drug use and dependence vary depending on the type of drug. You might be able to tell that a family member or a friend is using or abusing a drug based on the physical and behavioral signs and symptoms associated with the drug.

Drug Addiction-Marijuana and hashish

It’s possible to develop a psychological addiction to cannabis compounds including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) found in marijuana and hashish. People who have a marijuana addiction generally use the drug on a daily basis. They don’t actually have a chemical dependence on the drug but rather feel the need to regularly use the drug.

Signs of use and dependence can include:

  • A heightened sense of visual, auditory and taste perception
  • Poor memory
  • Increased blood pressure and heart rate
  • Red eyes
  • Decreased coordination
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Increased appetite
  • Slowed reaction time
  • Paranoid thinking
Drug Addiction-Barbiturates and benzodiazepines

Barbiturates and benzodiazepines are prescription central nervous system depressants. Phenobarbital, amobarbital (Amytal) and secobarbital (Seconal) are examples of barbiturates. Benzodiazepines include tranquilizers, such as diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax), lorazepam (Ativan), clonazepam (Klonopin) and chlordiazepoxide (Librium). If you’re prescribed these drugs, take them exactly as ordered. If you feel your need for these medications is increasing, talk to your doctor.

Signs of use and dependence can include:

  • Drowsiness
  • Slurred speech
  • Lack of coordination
  • Memory problems
  • Confusion
  • Slowed breathing and decreased blood pressure
  • Dizziness
  • Depression
Methamphetamine, cocaine and other stimulants

This class of drugs includes amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine and methylphenidate (Ritalin).

Signs of use and dependence can include:

  • Euphoria
  • Decreased appetite
  • Rapid speech
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Depression as the drug wears off
  • Nasal congestion and damage to the mucous membrane of the nose in users who snort drugs
  • Insomnia
  • Weight loss
  • Increased heart rate, blood pressure and temperature
  • Paranoia

Methamphetamine, also known as “meth,” is a particularly dangerous drug. It’s highly addictive and causes a number of short-term and long-term health consequences. Methamphetamine is relatively inexpensive and widely available.

Drug Addiction-Hallucinogens

Use of hallucinogens produces different signs and symptoms depending on the drug. The most common hallucinogens are LSD and phencyclidine (PCP).

Signs of LSD use include:

  • Hallucinations
  • Greatly reduced perception of reality, for example, interpreting input from one of your senses as another, such as hearing colors
  • Permanent mental changes in perception
  • Rapid heart rate
  • High blood pressure
  • Tremors
  • Flashbacks, a re-experience of the hallucinations — even years later

Signs of PCP use include:

  • Hallucinations
  • Euphoria
  • Delusions
  • Panic
  • Loss of appetite
  • Depression
  • Aggressive, possibly violent behavior

Drug Addiction-Inhalants

The signs and symptoms of inhalant use vary depending on what substance is inhaled. Some commonly inhaled substances include glue, paint thinners, correction fluid, felt tip marker fluid, gasoline, cleaning fluids and household aerosol products.

When inhaled, these products can cause brief intoxication and a decreased feeling of inhibition. Long-term use may cause seizures and damage to the brain, liver and kidneys. Inhalant use can also cause death.

Drug Addiction-Narcotic painkillers

Opioids are narcotic, painkilling drugs produced naturally from opium or made synthetically. This class of drugs includes heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone and oxycodone (OxyContin). If you’re prescribed these medications by a doctor, take them exactly as directed. Don’t increase your dose without first talking to your doctor.

Signs of narcotic use and dependence can include:

  • Reduced sense of pain
  • Sedation
  • Depression
  • Confusion
  • Constipation
  • Slowed breathing
  • Needle marks (if injecting drugs)

Drug Addiction-When to see a doctor

If you think your drug use is out of control or is causing problems, get help. The sooner you seek help, the greater your chances are for a long-term recovery. Your family doctor may be a good place to start and also seek help from line professionals, for instance Dr. Dalal Akoury, Founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, is an expert offering her exclusive NER Recovery Treatment to other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. Your condition will be safe in her care and you will in very short time limit get well and live your life to the fullest.

Drug Addiction-Common Signs and Symptoms

 

 

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Drug addiction and the brain

April 25, 2014

Drug addiction and the brain-Effects of dopamine on addiction

Dopamine

why dopamine-producing drugs are so addictive is that they have the ability to constantly fill a need for more dopamine.

In the previous article we stated that dopamine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, meaning that when it finds its way to its receptor sites, it blocks the tendency of that neuron to fire. We also noted that it is strongly associated with reward mechanisms in the brain. That aside new research on the brain is showing that addiction is a matter of memories, and recovery is a slow process in which the influence of those memories is diminished.

Further studies have also shown that addictive drugs stimulate a reward circuit in the brain. The circuit provides incentives for action by registering the value of important experiences. Rewarding experiences trigger the release of the brain chemical dopamine, telling the brain “do it again.” What makes permanent recovery difficult is drug-induced change that creates lasting memories linking the drug to a pleasurable reward.

Drug addiction and the brain-Brain circuits

Addiction involves many of the same brain circuits that govern learning and memory. Long-term memories are formed by the activity of brain substances called transcription factors. All perceived rewards, including drugs, increase the concentration of transcription factors. So repeatedly taking drugs can change the brain cells and make the memory of the pleasurable effects very strong. Even after transcription factor levels return to normal, addicts may remain hypersensitive to the drug and the cues that predict its presence. This can heighten the risk of relapse in addicts long after they stop taking the drug.

Knowing more about how addiction works in the brain has not yet given us any effective new treatments, but it has suggested new possibilities while providing a better understanding of how the available treatments work. The hardest job will be finding substances that lower the risk of addiction but do not interfere with responses to natural rewards. So far there is little evidence that any one type of therapy works better for addiction than another.

Drug addiction and the brain-Brain Chemistry

It has been demonstrated times and again that drug addiction is a powerful force that can take control of the lives of users. In the past, addiction was thought to be a weakness of character or just misbehavior, but in recent decades research has increasingly found that addiction to drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine is a matter of brain chemistry.

Experts at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, says that the way a brain becomes addicted to a drug is related to how a drug increases levels of the naturally-occurring neurotransmitter dopamine, which modulates the brain’s ability to perceive reward reinforcement. The pleasure sensation that the brain gets when dopamine levels are elevated creates the motivation for us to proactively perform actions that are indispensable to our survival for example eating or procreation. Dopamine is what conditions us to do the things we need to do.

Drug addiction and the brain-Neurochemical reward

Using addictive drugs floods the limbic brain with dopamine taking it up to as much as five or 10 times the normal level. With these levels elevated, the user’s brain begins to associate the drug with an outsize neurochemical reward. Over time, by artificially raising the amount of dopamine our brains think is normal, the drugs create a need that only they can meet.

For instance, when a drug produce increases in dopamine in these limbic areas of the brain, then your brain is going to understand that signal as something that is very reinforcing, and will learn it very fast so that the next time you get exposed to that stimuli, your brain already has learned that reinforcing instantly. Over time, the consistently high levels of dopamine create plastic changes to the brain, desensitizing neurons so that they are less affected by it, and decreasing the number of receptors. That leads to the process of addiction, wherein a person loses control and is left with an intense drive to compulsively take the drug.

According to experts the reason why dopamine-producing drugs are so addictive is that they have the ability to constantly fill a need for more dopamine. So a person may take a hit of cocaine, snort it, it increases dopamine, takes a second, it increases dopamine, third, fourth, fifth, sixth. So there’s never that decrease that ultimately leads to the satiety. Addiction has to do with the brain’s expectations. An emerging idea is that drugs basically hijack the brain’s normal computational enjoyment and reward mechanisms.

For example let’s say you’re happy about a great chocolate ice cream and over time you learn to expect that the chocolate ice cream is really great and you have no more dopamine released in expectation of that when you receive it. Nevertheless if you take an addictive drug you can never learn to expect it because the drug itself will release an extra kick of dopamine. And when that happens, the value of that drug keeps increasing because now you’re learning that wow my expectations were violated, therefore this must be much more valuable than what I thought before. So what ends up happening is that dopamine system gets hijacked by these drugs.

It must be noted that there are other components to addiction like genetics and age of exposure which is why not everyone who takes drugs becomes an addict. Approximately 50% of the vulnerability of a person to become addicted is genetically determined, and research indicates that if a person is exposed to drugs in early adolescence they are much more likely to become addicted than if they were exposed to the same drugs as an adult.

Drug addiction and the brain-Take away

One of the key functions of the neurotransmitter dopamine is to create feelings of pleasure that our brains associate with necessary physiological actions like eating and procreating. We are driven to perform these vital functions because our brains are conditioned to expect the dopamine rush that accompanies them.

Addictive drugs flood the brain with dopamine and condition us to expect artificially high levels of the neurotransmitter. Over time, the user’s brain requires more dopamine than it can naturally produce, and it becomes dependent on the drug, which never actually satisfies the need it, has created.

AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury is a facility run by experts headed by doctor Akoury, for proper care and healing of whatever kind of addiction and whatever the level of addiction you need caring experts who will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome. This kind of treatment can only be found at AWAREmed. Reach out for help and get your life back with real professionals.

Drug addiction and the brain-Effects of dopamine on addiction

 

 

 

 

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Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)

April 18, 2014

Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)-Addiction Recovery using Intravenous NAD & amino acids

Neurotransmitter

Besides Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR), Addiction Recovery can be achieved by physical activities.

The first step in addiction recovery is a functional medical investigation targeting the conditions in the body that facilitates fatigue, anxiety, depression, reduced pain tolerance, poor focus and the likes. These common underlying conditions include food sensitivities, gluten intolerance, adrenal and thyroid imbalances, malabsorption, neurotransmitter deficiency and NAD deficiency. Since these issues are treatable, normally with nutritional supplements and diet, the patient receives intravenous NAD and amino acids based in individually designed protocols for a 10 day period of time. The IV NAD and amino acids improves brain function based on higher levels of cellular energy production along with increased neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. There could be some withdrawal symptoms for a period of two or three days which is easily manageable and so should not worry you much. After three to five days as withdrawal symptoms disappear, craving subsides and clarity of thinking is restored.

It should be noted that this treatment is not a substitute for recovery, but it is the beginning of the process of healing. The moment the brain and body are functioning better, the patient has the energy, clarity and focus to engage in the recovery process. The patient will be able to understand the reasons for compulsive behavior and with better health and motivation they can stop compulsive behaviors and make informed choices that are self-supportive rather than self-destructive.

Some studies done in the past five decades reveals the efficacy and safety of IV NAD in detoxifying patients from alcohol, opiates, tranquilizers and stimulants.  Like the early studies, our experience with the protocol over the past five years substantiates its benefits in greatly reducing withdrawal symptoms, as well as reducing, and often eliminating the cravings.

At AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s there are tailor made programs provided to individual, family and group therapy. Patients are provided with continued integrative care for their underlying medical problems, which helps them to timely feel better physically and mentally. This way they are more likely to continue healing psychologically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Depending on case by case at least two year commitment to after care treatment is critical because the underlying psychological issues which often lead to substance abuse must be resolved for long lasting recovery.

Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)-Addiction

It is a disease in the body and the mind and successful therapy depends on treating both.  Mind-Body medicine is based on the unity of mind and body and focuses on promoting health and balance in the mind-body, thereby providing highly effective therapy for addiction.  If you detoxify, or withdraw, from alcohol or a drug, but do not address the conditions in the body that create fatigue, depression, and anxiety, then relapse is more likely and therapy has been incomplete. Similarly, if you withdraw from a substance and do not understand the psychological and spiritual issues that promoted the need for it, then relapse is likely and the “lessons of disease” have not been learned.

Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)-The body

Integrative, or, functional medicine provides the tools to assess and treat the conditions in the body that contribute to fatigue, depression, and anxiety, thereby increasing the likelihood of chemical dependency.  These include:

  • Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) deficiency
  • Neurotransmitter deficiency (serotonin, GABA, adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, etc)
  • Metabolic cofactor deficiency
  • Pyroluria
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Adrenal fatigue
  • Intestinal yeast overgrowth
  • Delayed onset food sensitivities
  • Gluten intolerance

These “terrain issues” in the body need to be properly treated in order to make detoxification easier and to prevent relapse.

Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)-The mind and spirit

However, addiction is also disease in the mind. The fact that the mind rules the body is, in spite of its neglect by biology and medicine, the most fundamental fact which we know about the process of life.

The origins of most physical disease are within consciousness – the body is the messenger of the conflicts, sustained fears, suppressed emotional traumas, disturbed patterns of thinking, and other imbalances that lie within the conscious and unconscious mind.  Many people have painful childhood experiences, including patterns of neglect, smothering control, abandonment, and emotional, physical and sexual abuse. Later on there can be failed relationships, years of marital conflict, and the pain of loneliness. Many experience decades of unfulfilling employment, foiled personal creativity and the quiet desperation of a slowly dying spirit. These life experiences contribute to relentless anxiety, depression, denied emotions, destructive beliefs, hopelessness, helplessness, “giving up”, and an endless variety of recurrent stresses.

Disease of any kind is the body’s way of getting your attention and inviting this self-exploration, thereby offering true healing.

Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)-Brain disease Reward Deficiency Syndrome
  • Neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that help to control states of consciousness, including moods.
  • Serotonin and GABA down-regulate electrical activity in the brain, thereby contributing to calm, peacefulness, or less anxiety.
  • Adrenaline and nor-adrenaline up-regulate electrical activity thereby promoting excitement, motivation, or, reducing depression and apathy.
  • Dopamine is the “feel good” brain chemical. It is the dance of these electro-chemicals that produce emotional balance and feelings of well-being.

When the proper flow, or cascade, of these neurochemicals is impaired, or, the brain’s receptors are blocked, then a variety of problems can develop, including:

  • Mood instability
  • Irritability
  • Agitation
  • Hypersensitivity
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Apathy
  • Impaired concentration
  • Trouble focusing
  • Despair

A host of medical and lifestyle issues can disturb the healthy flow of neurotransmitters, including chronic stress, alcohol, drug abuse, genetics, poor diet, digestive disturbances and malabsorption, micronutrient deficiency and more.  The result can be Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS), a term primarily used for hereditary chemical imbalances wherein the pleasure centers, which regulate feelings of well-being in the brain, fail to receive appropriate neural signals.  As a result, the brain sends out urgent messages of craving. In the brains of addicts, various neurotransmissions are affected, depending upon the drug or drugs that have been used. As a result addicts experience difficulty concentrating and have mood swings, for example, as well as having other physical symptoms. Collectively, these symptoms are called cravings and withdrawals. Craving and withdrawal symptoms are a result of a neurochemical imbalance in the brain.

It is the Reward Deficiency Syndrome that causes the compulsive use of alcohol and drugs that help to feel good, at least temporarily. In addition to alcohol, people use nicotine, other stimulants, illicit drugs, junk foods, sugars, or thrill-seeking behaviors such as gambling, sex and Internet porn. Unfortunately, this only provides temporary relief while bringing with it the possibility of more long-term problems. For lasting solution to addiction, only experts in the same line will liberate you from this problem. Doctor Dalal Akoury is an expert you can rely on for whatever addiction you are going through.

Neurotransmitter Restoration (NTR)-Addiction Recovery using Intravenous NAD & amino acids

 

 

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The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin

March 17, 2014

The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin-Drug Scourge

Heroin

There is evidence of heroin and cocaine deaths in male than female according to studies conducted

The society and the world over are weeping in great anguish of endless death thanks to the renewed vigor in drug usage. You take a walk in the streets and parks of our beautiful nations and you are saddened with what you see, young and old together drinking and smoking publicly and secretly. Our governments have legalized the use of some of these drugs and are making millions and millions of money inform of taxes all in the name of revenue for development, security and wellbeing of its citizens.

When you take a keen observation on majority of illness keeping patients in hospitals for weeks, months and even years are 90 percent related to the drug consumption. It does not matter the intensity of the consumption, whether one is an addict or not the common denominator is that both are using drugs. Legal or illegal, cheap or expensive whatever the adjective you choose to describe the noun drug we have patients in hospitals, at homes and learning institutions suffering from different illnesses associated with drug use.

Researches are working round the clock trying to find remedies for drug related problems and the authorities/governments are spending a big percentage of the revenue they collect from firms associated with drugs in treatment research and creating awareness of what they themselves are promoting in some way. Anyway there are numerous types of drugs being abused today and it is all important that we talk about them openly and without any shame. I beseech all of us to face the society with the real truth about the abuse of drugs but for the purpose of this article I want to zero in to two killer drugs in our society (especially in Europe) today that is Cocaine and Heroin.

The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin-Drug induced deaths

Much as there are many unreported cases, the number of reported drug-induced deaths today can be influenced by the prevalence and patterns of drug use (injection, polydrug use), the age and the co-morbidities of drug users, and the availability of treatment and emergency services, as well as by the quality of data collection and reporting. Improvements in the reliability of European data have allowed better descriptions of trends, and most countries have now adopted a case definition endorsed by the EMCDDA. Nevertheless, caution must be exercised when comparing countries because there are still differences in reporting methodology and data sources. But the common denominator is that drug induced deaths are skyrocketing.

The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin-Opioids

Opioids, mainly heroin or its metabolites, are present in the majority of drug-induced deaths reported in Europe. In the 22 countries providing data for 2008 or 2009, opioids accounted for the large majority of all cases: over 90 % in five countries, and between 80 % and 90 % in a further 12. Substances often found in addition to heroin include alcohol, benzodiazepines, other opioids and, in some countries, cocaine.

This suggests that a substantial proportion of all drug-induced fatalities occur in a context of polydrug use, as illustrated by a review of toxicology of drug-related deaths in Scotland in 2000-07. It showed that the presence of heroin and alcohol were positively associated, particularly among older males. Among men whose deaths were related to heroin, alcohol was present in 53 % of those aged 35 and more, compared to 36 % in cases under 35.

Men account for most overdose deaths reported in Europe at 81 %. Overall, there are around four males for each female case (with the ratio ranging from 1.4:1 in Poland to 31:1 in Romania). In the Member States that joined the EU more recently, reported drug-induced deaths are more likely in males and in younger people compared to the pre-2004 Member States and Norway. Patterns differ across Europe, with higher proportions of males reported in southern countries. Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway report higher proportions of older cases. In the majority of countries, the average age of those dying of heroin overdoses is in the mid-thirties, and in many countries it is increasing.

A number of factors are associated with fatal and non-fatal heroin overdoses. These include injection and simultaneous use of other substances, in particular alcohol, benzodiazepines and some antidepressants. Other factors linked with overdoses are binge drug use, co-morbidity, homelessness, poor mental health (e.g. depression and intentional poisoning), not being in drug treatment, previous experience of overdose, and being alone at the time of overdose. The time immediately after release from prison or discharge from drug treatment is a particularly risky period for overdoses, as illustrated by a number of longitudinal studies.

The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin-Trends in drug-induced deaths

Drug-induced deaths increased sharply in Europe during the 1980s and early 1990s, paralleling the increase in heroin use and drug injection, and thereafter remained at high levels. Between 2000 and 2003, most EU Member States reported a decrease, followed by a subsequent increase from 2003 until 2008. Preliminary data available for 2009 suggest an overall figure equal to or slightly below that for 2008. Where a comparison is possible, the numbers of deaths reported have decreased in some of the largest countries, including Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

The reasons for the sustained or increasing numbers of reported drug-induced deaths in some countries are difficult to explain, especially given the indications of decreases in injecting drug use and increases in the numbers of opioid users in contact with treatment and harm-reduction services. Possible explanations include: increased levels of polydrug use or high-risk behavior; increases in the numbers of relapsing opioid users leaving prison or treatment; and an ageing cohort of more vulnerable drug users.

The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin-Overall mortality related to drug use

Overall mortality related to drug use comprises drug-induced deaths and those caused indirectly through the use of drugs, such as through the transmission of infectious diseases, cardiovascular problems and accidents. Deaths indirectly related to drug use are difficult to quantify, but their impact on public health can be considerable. Such deaths are mainly concentrated among problem drug users, although some (e.g. traffic accidents) occur among occasional users.

Estimates of overall drug-related mortality can be derived in various ways, for example by combining information from mortality cohort studies with estimates of drug use prevalence. Another approach is to use existing general mortality statistics and estimate the proportion related to drug use.

The source of death in Cocaine and Heroin-Drug Scourge

 

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