Asthma and Smoking

July 18, 2014

Asthma and Smoking – Drug Addiction

It is never fan smoking your life into destruction. cigarette smoking has no place in human life

Have you ever heard someone speak about smoking in total praise of good result they get from smoking? When you listen to cigarette being marketed through the media do they scare you with their remarks of dangers of smoking? Do the cigarette packets communicate good nutrition to you? Will you be healthy after smoking? Get the answers to these questions for yourself and follow me on this article and I believe that together we can be of help to many people addicted to cigarette smoking. I want to believe that this is not the first time you are hearing of poor relationship between asthma and cigarette smoking. You may not have appreciated that abstinence or quitting smoking when diagnose with asthma is the most important way you can take to protecting your lungs, facilitating treatment and preventing of asthma symptoms. To be honest with you if you’re suffering from asthma yet you’re still smoking you are doing your health a lot of injustice.

Reasons for Quitting Smoking

I am persuaded that you have heard the effects of smoking to you or to individuals diagnosed with asthma and to the general health of smokers and to those around them. It is a pity that some of our actions make us cause injuries to the innocent people around us. It is because of the great dangers and our desire to help you get the best life can offer that I write passionately about addiction and possible solutions. If you are smoking or you know of a friend or somebody smoking you can be of help to them by sharing this link to them so that they can get the following tips to help them enjoy the benefits of quitting smoking which include the following:

Because of reduced health risks your life will be prolonged.
Attainment of good health; Smoking is associated with several increase of health risk like lung cancer, throat cancer, a lung disease called emphysema (also known as COPD), heart disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, gum disease quitting reduces these risks significantly.
Feeling healthier; quitting smoking will reduce and eventually eliminates coughing, poor athletic ability, and sore throats.
Good looking appearance; smoking can cause face wrinkles, stained teeth, and dull skin which will go away by quitting smoking?
Improve your sense of taste and smell
You will be saving money by quitting since you will no longer spend on cigarette.

Possibilities of Quitting Smoking

Cigarette smoking is an addiction that is not east to recover from, because of this it becomes a problem since there is not particular formula applicable in quitting smoking particularly to those suffering from asthma however a smoking cessation program may be helpful with the help of your doctor taking you through smoking cessation programs in your community. Before you choose to quit all at once (“cold turkey”) it is important that you set a plan which will help progress. The plan may incorporate the following:

Settle on a date to stop smoking, and work toward achieving it.
Document when and why you smoke this is helpful in identification of some of your triggers.
Have in record what you do when smoking and try doing the opposite like smoking at different times and different places to break the connections between your smoking habit and certain activities.
List down all your reasons for quitting and memorize them before and after you quit.
Engage in positive activities to take the place of smoking.
Always consult your doctor concerning using nicotine replacement products such as gum, lozenges, and patches. Some people find these aids very helpful.

Asthma and Smoking – Quitting Time

On your choice day of quitting, begin that morning without a cigarette. Then follow the following tips:

Never concentrate on what you are longing for instead think about what you are gaining.
Encourage yourself that you are a great person for quitting.
When you are tempted to smoke take a deep breath and hold it for about 10 seconds and then release it slowly.
Disengage from activities that were connected to smoking like taking a walk or read a book instead of taking a cigarette break.
Don’t carry a lighter, matches, or cigarettes.
Go to places that don’t allow smoking, such as museums and libraries.
Eat low-calorie, healthful foods when the urge to smoke strikes. Carrot and celery sticks, fresh fruits, and fat-free snacks are good choices. Avoid sugary or spicy foods that may lead to cigarette craving.
Drink a lot of fluids. Avoid alcoholic drinks. They can make you want to smoke. Select water, herbal teas, caffeine-free soft drinks, and juices.
Exercise. It will help you to relax.
Hang out with non-smokers.
Seek support for quitting. Tell others about your milestones with pride.

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

After twenty minutes stopping smoking: Your blood pressure and pulse rate begin to decrease. Circulation and the temperature of your hands and feet begin to increase.
After twelve hours of not smoking: The carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal.
After two weeks to three months of not smoking: Your chance of heart attack decreases and your lungs function better
After one to nine months of not smoking: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease
After one year of not smoking: Your risk of heart disease decreases to half that of a smoker’s risk
After five to fifteen years of not smoking: Your risk of getting mouth, throat, or esophagus cancer drops to half that of a smoker.
After ten years of quitting smoking: Your risk of dying from lung cancer drops to almost half that of a smoker and your risk of other cancers, such as cancer of the bladder, larynx, kidney, and pancreas decreases
After fifteen years of quitting smoking: Your risk of heart disease decreases to that of a nonsmoker.

It is important noting that the temptation of smoking again (relapse) will always come. If they do be encouraged that you are not alone many people who have successfully quitted relapsed three times before the success. It is because of these challenges that you will need to be in constant touch with addiction professionals all the way and therefore being at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care you will be professionally assisted overcome all your challenges by focusing on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. This way you will live a health life free from all elements of addiction.

Asthma and Smoking – Drug Addiction

Opioid Epidemic: Veterans Remain At High Risk

July 17, 2014

Stay Away From Opioids, They Are Addictive!

Opioids Opioid addiction is an ugly state, as we have always written about in this blog. Over the years, we have heard of celebrities who have succumbed to opioid addictions and we wonder, where is the problem? Addiction is a gradual process, and so are its effects in the body. Let’s discuss this topic in this post.

What are opioids?

These are drugs that are known to be relievers of pain. They work by lowering the number of pain signals your body sends to your brain and also changing how your brain responds to these pains. There drugs normally they are safe, but when they are misused they are very addictive.

What is Opioid addiction?

This refers to the pleasurable desire created in your body by the misuse of opioids which makes you want to use them every time.

Which are the examples of these opioid drugs?

The opioid drugs include:- opium, fentanyl, codeine, heroine, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, methadone, oxycodone, tramadol paregoric just to mention a few.

What is opioid drug tolerance?

Tolerance to drug refers to when your body over time gets used to the effects of the drug. When this happens, you may have to take a higher drug to attain the effect you used to attain before. When you use opioids for a long time, especially when abused, a time will be reached when your body gets used to the drug and it cannot have any reasonable effect to your body. If this becomes the case, if you want to use opioids to cure pains, it won’t be possible.

What about opioid dependence?

This refers to a point reached when the person has used a drug for a long time, such that his/her body works changes because they have taken drugs. Withdrawal effects are a common thing in this case, and the victim cannot stop taking the drug. The withdrawal effects prevent the person from stopping taking the drugs and therefore in everyday life, the person will need to take these drugs for survival.

How to spot addiction?

Craving for drug is a common way of knowing that you are addicted to a drug. In this case, you will feel like you cannot control your urge for the drug. The opioid addicted person will every minute want to take the drug not as a matter of choice but forced by the body urges.
If you find that you keep using the drug every without doctor’s prescription, even if the drugs are causing harmful effect on you, you may be addicted. This taking of drugs in most cases will not be a personal choice but you just find yourself taking them.
An increased tolerance for the drug is normally an indicator that the drug has gotten used to your body and consequently resulting to addiction. For instance, if the opioid addict has some pain and takes the drug that used to previously help in similar situation, It may not have any significant impact. This will require usage of a more powerful drug than the one the person used to previously take.
If you find that you are spending excess in terms of time and money on drugs, this could be an indicator of addiction. Since the addicted person will not be able to do without the drugs, it is common that the person will be a regular visitor to the drug dealers to purchase the drug every now and then. This will translate to the person spending too much money and time to acquire the drugs.
Addiction to opioids is also known to cause excess weight gain or weight loss. If you find that you are gaining weight or losing weight abruptly and you healthy status is good, then the reason could be that you have been addicted in opioids.
Another indicator of addiction in opioid that we cannot overlook is the act of turning to crime to pay for more opiates. This is a common case in places where people are not economically developed. This person will need money to purchase the drugs but since the money is not there, the person may end up in criminal activities while sourcing money for the purchases of the drugs. This will commonly result in pretty crime activities.

How is opioid addiction treated?

The treatment of opioid addiction is never an easy task, since opioid addiction is a complex disease which has physical, mental, social and emotional factors associated. For any successful treatment therefore, all these factors must be addressed. This treatment may be administered as outpatient program but in some cases in patient is the only option. This is normally the cases when it has caused mental problems to the addict.

opioids

The following are some of the key treatment methods:-

Detoxification – this is often the first attempt at treatment. This involves supervised withdrawal from the drugs. This is normally supported with medication to help the patient withstand the withdrawal effects.

Medication – here the addicts are sometimes introduced to milder opioids, whose quantities are drastically reduced during the medication period. This is normally helpful in helping the addict slowly withdraw from the drug usage.

Treatment facilities – this is a method of treatment in which the patient may be referred to a self-help group which helps the person in the recovery time.

Therapies – these are therapies which may be prescribed to the patient. This could be an activity like exercise. This will help the patient emotionally by not thinking about the drug every time.

So now we have seen all the consequences and solutions of opioid addiction. Are you ready to recovery from this addiction? All you need is to call or visit AWAREmed and you will be helped out by highly experienced professionals.

Stay Away From Opioids, They Are Addictive!

Being Safe from Drugs

July 11, 2014

Being safe from drugs-Drug Addiction

Being free from drug addiction is practically possible only if you take it upon yourself to stop drugs and choose good friends.

We have just discussed in our last posting the consequences of an addiction and drug abuse noting several elements among them the legal, health, social and financial consequences. These are pertinent issues in addiction and I hope that you have had time to read through them so that we can together make progress from there. If you have then I strongly believe that you have made an informed decision to keep distance from anything that can trigger an addiction. In this article we will make progress from that and concentrate on elements which when done will help you and possibly guarantee your safety from drug abuse. Achieving this will largely depend on you and the efforts you make to realize this objective. To start you off, you will need to:

Be committed to knowing yourself better that is to say consciously be sober.
Visualize the bright future ahead of you.
Meditate on the positives of your lovely family, friends and the people who matter to you most.
Think of how people of your age are making good use of their talents in various aspects like music, arts, poetry, sports, dance, acting, comedy, writing informative articles to make a better society and many more.
Visualize how great professions are made and how young people are filling in those professional positions like teachers, financial experts, business entrepreneurs, investors, doctors, lawyers, scientists and many more.

Having these positive points at the back of your mind will help you look at situations in life differently and positively. All the people in your mind right now who have made it or who are making it in life all have a story to tell and you can and should be like one of them if not all of them. This is the spirit I want to encourage you to have as we progress in the discussion. You must desire to be and remain focus and shun all risky activities, behaviors and bad associations. All these are achievable and the following are some of the tips which if worked upon, then you shall have started the journey of your great dream, remember the wise saying a journey of great distance begins with a single step, your single step is focus. Now let us look at other tips:

Being safe from Drugs-Creativity

Wisdom tells us that “an idle mind is the devils workshop” can you imagine who the devil is let alone renting him your mind to be his place of residence! This is not just a statement it is true and any right thinking person must take heed of this. If you are not properly engaged there is the likelihood that you will spend your time doing unproductive and useless things. If you are a student in school you have several options like joining the school football team, drama, musical instrument play classes or basketball or engage in charitable organizations to help people even if you are doing it without pay remember the joy and satisfaction one get in offering a helping hand to people, this may not have the monetary element but I can assure you that it is worth it than destroying yourself physically and psychologically by indulging in drugs and bad company.

Being safe from Drugs-Depression

Being depressed is a serious problem in human life because a depressed person can easily resort to drugs to relieve them of this situation. It normally create a state of loneliness, sadness, alteration of senses and bad moods causing them to give in to anything good or bad so long as it can bring this to an end. Depression is a serious health condition and must be given immediate medical attention. The medication must be administered by a medical doctor and not self-medication or prescriptions suggested by your friends. If you are still under the care of your parents then you must notify them immediately for action to be taken before it is too late.

Being safe from Drugs-Discover your Talent

You may be wondering how would one identify their talents and how it may be helpful in matters addiction, what you do and is capable of doing may be that talent waiting to be unlocked. You can unlock that talent by for example taking time to write or play a poem, drawing, painting, getting involved in a science project, reading or taking time to watch documentaries on a TV channel, or better still take time and participate in competitions. Believe me if you engage yourself in things like this you will certainly find one that is your talent. Doing this is meant to provoke that sleeping talent and also to help you position your mind in the proper thinking lane and staying focused on good things as opposed to destructive elements.

Take the lead role in doing thing personally and encouraging yourself positively

It is important that when doing things, you take them upon yourself because no one will help you solve your problems, doing thing your way helps you take control and maintaining focus. It may not be easy to do thing all by yourself especially new things you have never done before for example if you have never be into sports people may tease and jeer at you in manner of ways but this should not make you change your course instead take them positively and have fun over them by being humorous. Remember not everyone is a great sportsman but everyone can have fun in playing sport. Doing things yourself and relaying on your body to adapt to a game will help you understand the impact of drugs and the harm associated with it.

Being safe from Drugs-Choose only good friends

Many people get into drugs because of wrong associations and so the choice of association is very crucial for one to remain in the right path. Careful attention must be taken in doing this because it is not an easy one. It is not always easy to choose friends however one should be guided by what their objective is, like in our case we are looking towards staying in a drug addiction free environment. Like we have mention above the best friend would that whom you can learn something positive from for example if you are weak in drama and shy then you can associate with the best in drama this way you will be able to learn from the most active drama participants. Making the wright choice of friends enables you to remain focus but choosing wrong ones like those who smoke, drink alcohol or do drugs will definitely lead you into turmoil of drug abuse and addiction.

Following all these steps will surely let you make great improvement towards realizing good and healthy lives however in the event that you are already suffering from drug addiction then you will need to be treated first then you can follow through these guides. Good addiction treatment can only come from addiction experts like doctor Dalal Akoury who is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center where treatment is not only done by the experts but in a more friendly way taking keen interest in ensuring that the patients get well fast. To achieve this Doctor Akoury together with her team of experts will focus 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 there after.

Being safe from drugs-Drug Addiction

The Consequences of Drug Abuse

July 11, 2014

The consequences of drug abuse-Drug Addiction

Drug addiction consequences. Drug addicts often find themselves in the wrong sides of the law. Being arrested and re-arrested can be avoided by avoiding drugs.

If you have been with us on this link for sometimes now you must have read a lot about addiction in several articles we have been posting and we want to continue informing you of the many consequences of indulging in drugs. The consequences are many but for the purpose of this article we will categorize them in to five segments as follows: Legal, health, social and finances consequences. We are going to be discussing each briefly giving the insight of the consequences in each category.

Legal consequences
humanity has from creation lived in strict observation of rules and regulations. This system has been passed from generation to generation and today all nations globally operate within certain perimeters of laws. These laws include laws governing drug abuse detailing the consequences of any infringements which may include a lifetime in the confinement in prison, hefty fine or both. When one if found on the wrong side of the law other things likely to follow will be:

Criminal Record: the affected person will have a criminal record on your file and this will tarnish your reputation with the authorities and the society.

Career and employment: -the affected person will lose many employment opportunities since most employers require certification of good conduct.

Licenses: – with criminal record on your head you are likely to miss certain opportunities in business like getting license to operate a liquor business or drive a taxi.

Travel: -with the advent of global terrorism having criminal record will restrict your travel and movement as many countries will not give you visa to set foot in their land.

Social Status: -people do not want to associate with criminals less they be branded criminals too birds of the same feathers flock together) this will injure your relationship not just with people but very close ones to you like those of your co-workers, neighbors and your relationships with your family and friends. In other words criminal records assassinate ones character completely.

Consequences Related to health
One of the greatest assets in human life if that of peace of mind and it is easily affected by drugs and addiction related problems. The effects are either physical or psychological.

Physical Health -Drug abuse can adversely affect every major system in the human body like alcohol and cigarette smoking may cause fatal illness like cancer.

Psychological Health – Mental health problems such as depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal, and other psychosocial dysfunctions frequently are linked to substance abuse among adolescents. Others include conduct problems, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, and suicide. For example marijuana use which is common among young people has been shown to interfere with short-term memory, learning and psychomotor skills.

Addiction – often people think they can never get addicted, but this is not true as addiction can knock on the doors of anyone at any time. Someone who is addicted normally suffers lose of control and sound judgment and when they stop using the substance, they are likely to suffer severe psychological or physical symptoms, such as anxiety, irritability, unhappiness and stress.

Social Consequences

Drugs affect the brain directly and the human brain is design in a way that it controls almost everything we do. This action of drug addiction will therefore affect:

Relationships: bad behavior associated with drug abuse will negatively affect your relationships with your loved ones.
Families: substance abuse affects the emotional, financial, and psychological well-being of the whole family. Normally teenagers who use drugs withdraw from their family members and family activities, their actions in the process set bad examples for any younger siblings this is because their judgment and decision-making ability becomes greatly impaired, they may become more hostile toward family members and even steal from them to get money for drugs.
Peers: Your peers will stay away from you. No one will like to have bad influence, and they will feel scared around you. You will lose worthy friends, and find yourself keeping bad ones.
School: Chances are that you will drop out of school because your brain is affected, and you are no longer in control of your school work. You may rebel and get a suspension and so you will be vulnerable to committing crime and the results of this is very clear.

Financial Consequences
It goes without saying that when one becomes addicted to dugs they will need money for supply and when there is no money they will begin to start selling their personal belongings, phones, music iPods, personal jewelry etc. to finance their addictive needs. It must be noted that as the small drug users struggle to maintain their supply it is the bigger drug dealer who is making money out of this situation and with this money they organize more sophisticated crimes and the whole community or nation suffers the consequences.

We can never get to conclusion when discussing the consequences of addiction in human life and so there will always be room for further discussions on this but for the purpose of bringing this article to an end we must make all necessary effort to ensure that we and our loved ones do not suffer these consequences. How to do this will greatly depend on individual will power to abstain from all addiction related substances. Therefore seeking lasting solutions will be very desirable and talking to the experts on matters relating to addiction will be the starting point. AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center will be very helpful to all people willing to distance themselves from the consequences of addiction. AWAREmed is a facility founded by doctor Dalal Akoury who is a medical doctor and has had experience over several decades in matters addiction. Visiting this facility under Doctor Akoury’s care will be the most valuable thing you can do to free yourself from these consequences. While receiving treatment here, doctor Akoury and her team of experts will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE making you to be safe and free from all these consequences.

The consequences of drug abuse-Drug Addiction

Watch out for elements of an addiction

July 8, 2014

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is the number one enemy of relationships. It may not be long before you land in problems. Get to know the causes of addiction and act positively.

It is an open secret that the global world is under undue pressure of the effects of substance abuse and addiction. Effort is being made by all like-minded people to bring normalcy back to the society and live in an addiction free society. We are not left out either and because of that we want to discuss some of the elements that you need to look into to be able to distance yourself and family from the problems caused by addiction. If you have been on this link for some time before you must have noted that we have made effort informing the globe of the risk involved when addiction set foot into the family. This article is going to be a continuation of what we had started and we shall continue with unlimitedly because we are passionate about our resolve to eliminate the scourge of addiction. All we ask of you is to keep on the link and invite your friend on to get this honorable information about addiction.

There are many ways in which addiction finds its way into our society. The following causes of an addiction are just but a few we want to share with you briefly:

Genetic
Peer influence
Stress
Exploration
Addictive personality
Surrounding

Like I said these are just a small portion of what causes addiction and the do so differently. Some of these may be considered to be more provocative than others.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Genetic

There is indication to propose that some people are more vulnerable to developing an addiction looking at the history of their lives and relationships. The hereditary cause is not conclusive but gives all the indicators. This doesn’t suggest that the addiction is flowing in their family blood stream and so it is passed from one to the other that is not the case but that their biological make up is rooted in such a way that makes them more vulnerable to dependency.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Peer influence

This is leaning much on young people than adults due to their vulnerability to the influence of their surroundings. The youth would generally want to be identified with the new and current happenings and celebrities. For instance if one is keeping friends who are into drugs, alcohol or smokes then this individual is likely to give in to the pressure from their friends into their habits. We have discussed this in our addiction and peer pressure segment and you may have a look for more.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Stress

Stress can be very dangerous in one’s life. It is true that our ways of doing things is becoming increasingly demanding in nearly all sectors like we work longer hours trying to provide the best for our families and in the process fail to create time for relaxing and when we do we choose to relax the wrong way like going for a few drinks after work. This may look nice in the beginning as a way of coping with stress but if it graduates to being a habit then you will be in danger of being addicted and suffers an addiction. You can read for more in our article on the stress management segment.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Exploration

This is an element generally associated with the young people and particularly the teenagers. Teenagers in their desire to fit in would want to explore and be seen to be belonging to a given set up. If the teenagers are associated with a given group good or bad they would want to fit in and adopt the behavior of that group by doing what they do without proper judgment whether their actions is good or bad. The teenagers will want to experiment and in the process may become addicted to that practice. The sad fact is that this might happen with a different group of friends and in different circumstances and all for the wrong things.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Addictive personality

We have witnessed certain traits in some people that points towards addiction. Looking at the traits of these people it may be concluded that they have addictive personality meaning that they are more vulnerable to drugs, cigarettes or alcohol than other group of people. This may not be conclusive but there are all the indications of possibility though open for discussion.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Surrounding

The environment in which we reside and brought up in has a significant factor in addiction. Take for example if you were brought up in a family where all your grandparents, parents and senior siblings are all alcoholics, you may not have who to give you’re the right guidance that alcohol consumption is bad. You may believe that alcohol is a healthy drink after all it is all alcohol that you have been seeing all your life and the people to guide you are so much in it. In the holy book (Bible) it is written that “show a child the right way to go and when they grow up they will not depart from it” and so this kind of environment may not be good and anyone brought up this way is likely to be addicted. This may not be automatic since one can make a good choice not to mimic what they see and be free from addiction.

Like I had indicated above drug addiction is such a complex and devastating situation and involves more than one factor. The few we have discussed in this article are not conclusive we have discussed them in greater details in our previous individual addiction causes and you may want to read more from those detailed articles but for now I want to introduce you to the experts who will help you and your friends on the best ways of handing any matter related to addiction. Meet Dr. Dalal Akoury the best in addiction and all problems related to addiction. She is also the Founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility whose objective is to offer exclusive NER Recovery Treatment to everyone including other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. We welcome you to this facility and meet doctor Akoury together with her team of experts and get the best treatment ever on matters addiction.

Watch out for elements of an addiction-Drug Addiction

Tag Archives: Substance abuse