Tag Archives: Substance dependence

Lung Cancer

July 18, 2014

Lung Cancer – Your Risk factors

Lung cancer

Lung cancer treatment start with quitting smoking because smoking contributes to 85% of all reported lung cancer problems

I know that at the mere mention of the name cancer when the doctor is examining your health condition you are likely to frown even if the doctor was not referring to your case. This is because cancer is a disease that scares people both the sick and the other family. When a member of the family is down with cancer everybody is concern. Many will wonder that if cancer is in the family and it is hereditary who is going to be the next victim or casualty? These concerns are justified and therefore it is only important that we do all we can to reduce the risk factors as much as we can. What can be avoided should and must be avoided so that we do not find ourselves in this state of panic. A risk factor for lung cancer is anything capable of increasing ones chances of getting lung cancer. It is important on the onset to understand that having one or more of the risk factors is not a conclusion that one is definitely going to contract lung cancer it is not always the case. There are just indications of risks and not finality, as a matter of fact one may portray a number of these factors but is still free from cancer while one who did not have any of the risk factors end up being diagnosed with lung cancer. I am put a lot of emphasis on this so that you are not scared in anyway.

Lung Cancer – Smoking

Cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors of lung cancer and allow me to repeat once more that it is not automatic that if you are smoking then you will definitely get lung cancer no, you only have higher risk but not definite. Back to the discussion, as a risk factor it is estimated that out of a total of 100, 85 lung cancers are directly related to cigarette smoking be it cigars or pipe smoking all increases ones risk for lung cancer. As a smoker it is important that you are aware of the dangers of smoking because your risk of getting lung cancer increases depending on the quantity and the duration of smoking.

Quitting smoking however lowers your risk for getting cancer the good news about all this is that your risk will go down even if you partially stop for example if you are used to smoking one packet of 40 sticks of cigarette daily and you reduce it by half this reduction will go a long way in reducing your risk of getting lung cancer. Even though there will be reduction even on partial quitting it will be much better if you quit completely.

The risk associated to cigarette smoking is also extended to secondhand smokers. That is to say people who do not smoke at all but stays around smokers. Because of the nicotine emanating from the smoke of cigarette burns, if these are inhaled by these none smokers then they are equally in danger of contracting lung cancer as a result of this simple action.

Lung Cancer – Other risks

It is not all about cigarette smoking that increases the risk factors of lung cancers, we have other risks as well. The exposure to some addictive substances may increase your risk for lung cancer and such substances may include:

  • Marijuana – This is a very powerful substance whose effect is very significant. Smoking just one marijuana cigarette, or a joint, has the capability of affecting the lungs to the tune of smoking a whole pack of cigarettes.
  • Certain chemicals – These include arsenic and asbestos they are equally able to increase the risk.
  • Radiation – This come a result of exposures from your work place, medical tests, or from the environment (such as radioactive dust).
  • Radon gas – This includes exposure from your home or work place.
  • Air pollution – Living where the air is polluted can increase your risk for lung cancer due to the inhalation of contaminated oxygen.

Risk of lung cancer may also come due to changes in gene mutations. These gene changes often occur as one approaches old age. As precautionary measure it is important to seek for medical attention immediately if you:

  • Experience unexpected onset of chest pain which is characterized by crushing or squeezing and is progressing in intensity, or appears with symptoms associated to heart attack like shortness of breath and nausea.
  • Experiencing sudden difficulty in breathing.
  • If you are coughing up a lot of blood (not just streaks of blood or a small amount of blood mixed with a lot of mucus) from your lungs.
  • Have been vomiting and feeling that you are likely to pass out when you sit up or stand for some time.

As mention earlier cancer is a very devastating illness and it will be advisable that you are always in constant touch with your doctor to find out when an evaluation is needed resulting from your health experiences like if you:

  • Have new chest pain (more than just discomfort when you cough) that lasts a long time and deteriorate when you take a deep breathe.
  • Develop symptoms of pneumonia like shortness of breath, cough, and fever.
  • Have a cough that produces a small amount of bloody (bright red or rust-colored) mucus.
  • Frequently cough up yellow or green mucus from your lungs (not postnasal drainage) for longer than 2 days.
  • Vomit regularly when coughing.
  • Have a prolonged cough that goes for four weeks or even more.
  • When you breathe normally when you resting but lucks breathe after undertaking on a physical activity.
  • Experience increasing fatigue for no good reason.
  • Have suddenly begun losing weight.

Finally it is very costly treating cancer than preventing it. We have discussed some of the risk factors involved with smoking taking being the key in relation to lung cancer. We have a duty to defend our self and our loved ones from the frustration of lung cancer by ensuring that what we can prevent in prevented. Drug addictions of any kind must be treated soonest and to do this experts and only known experts must be engaged at all levels. At AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility founded by Doctor Akoury to help people addicted to various substances get solutions to their addiction. She has been in administering addiction treatment to patient around the globe in a very special and unique way that leave patients well and sound in record time. I encourage you to visit this facility and doctor Akoury together with her team of experts will ensure total focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. Your well-being is our priority and your decision to visiting us is the best for it will give you your life back and reduce and possibly eliminate your risk of lung cancer.

Lung Cancer – Your Risk factors

 

 

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Have Scientists Found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

July 18, 2014

What is cocaine addiction?

cocaine addictionA person is considered to have cocaine addiction when he/she is faced with a psychological desire to use cocaine regularly. This is also referred to as a stated of cocaine dependency. The risk of being in this state is that, overdose of cocaine may result to cardiovascular and brain damage such as constriction of blood vessels in the brain, which may result to stroke and if the constriction occurs in the arteries in the heart, it may cause heart attack especially in the central nervous system.

The problem of cocaine related addiction has been on the rise, even though cocaine is an illegal drug almost in every part of the world. This alarming problem has prompted researches to try to curb the problem.

Have Scientists finally found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

There has been some breakthrough in the search for the molecule that blocks the cocaine molecule, but the big question is, have the scientists really discovered a molecule that is capable of blocking the cocaine molecule? Or is it the beginning of the big discovery? This still debatable, but let’s look at what they have already achieved.

What scientist have already discovered

The recent researches reports show that scientist have been able to identify a molecule that they claim can block the cocaine molecule. This molecule is known as CGP3466B. In the recent study, this molecule was able to block cocaine addiction in mice. Does the molecule then block the cocaine molecules in human? Scientists have been testing the molecule or the compound CGP3466B on humans for the treatment of Parkson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but unfortunately it didn’t work. Fortunately, the researchers were able to know the pathway that cocaine works on, and knew CGP3466B was able to block that specific pathway.

How was the research conducted?

The study used mice, by giving them choice to choose two rooms for visiting freely. One of these rooms occasionally dispensed cocaine while the other didn’t. The point of interest was to let the mice eat the cocaine, until a point when they would be addicted. The mice were considered addicted when they remained in the cocaine dispensed room without bothering going to the other room. The addicted mice then received the CGP3466B dose. Let’s now see what the scientists observed after giving the addicted mice the CGP3466B molecule dose. The scientists found that the addicted mice resumed their normal time schedules by spending equal time in both rooms. This was a clear indication that they were no longer addicted.

The most exciting part is on how this drug works. This dose works at very low doses, and it looks to have no possibility of any side effect, since it works by blocking specific pathways and not affecting any other part. This study on CGP3466B was very vital since it helped in the confirmation of the details of cocaine’s action and potential treatment options.

How will you identify somebody addicted with cocaine?

Cocaine is one of the drugs which causes very powerful effects by acting upon the brain. The most common symptoms of addiction are:-

  • Loss of sense of smell
  • Increased libido
  • Isolation from friends and family members
  • Lying about drug use
  • Depression after long period of abuse
  • Feeling of superiority where one feels above the others
  • Mood swings
  • Increased energy and alertness
  • Engagement in risky sex
  • Violent behaviors
  • Damage in nasal passage
  • Dilated pupils
  • Vasoconstriction of blood vessels in the heart.
  • Chronic runny nose

It is important to note that some of these symptoms are similar to those shown by addiction from other substances, and you may not be able to conclude at once that a given person is addicted of cocaine because a given behavior like violence has been depicted. It could be addiction from marijuana, or even another factor not related to addiction. Just like with any other type of addiction, try to assemble sufficient evidence grounds for conclusion on addiction.

cocaine addiction

Effects of Cocaine Addiction to our bodies?

This is actually a knowledge that every person should have. The dangers of using cocaine are deadly. This is one of the worst illegal drug substances which despite their threat to healthy living many people are still abusing them. Let’s look at the dangers of cocaine abuse;

  • Cocaine is known to cause heart attack
  • It may lead to permanent damage of lungs
  • It may cause ulcers
  • It is also reported to cause decrease in sexual activity
  • It causes serious skin infections and abscesses
  • Perforation of the stomach is also a common problem
  • It also causes perforation of nasal activity
  • Seizures are also common when one is an addict of cocaine.
  • Strokes due to the blockage of blood vessels in the heart are also a threat.
  • Also something that is worth mentioning is that cocaine abuse can lead to death if un-attended in time.

Looking at all these effects of abusing cocaine, and when you turn to every corner of the world people are abusing this drug, every human being will always pray that the scientists researches on the treatment of this killer disease be successful. This is the only thing that will save the world but not illegalizing the drug.

Have Scientists Found a Molecule that Blocks Cocaine Addiction?

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Smoking and Heart Disease

July 18, 2014

Smoking and Heart Disease – Drug Addiction

Smoking

Smoking causes heart disease and the solution is to quit smoking it is fatal

Those who are addicted to cigarette smoking may not know that they are smoking their life out of their system. They are also not aware that by sticking to this habit of smoking they have deliberately chosen the first lane leading them to their early grave. I will make effort in this article to state things as they really are because it is more helpful to know the whole truth as they are. The objective is not to scare you in anyway but to give you the clear picture of what cigarette smoking can do to you and the people around you. Because there is no safe smoking I will put it that by choosing the highway of smoking you are quietly committing suicide you may not agree with that but if the end result is that fatal then you are truly on that high speed locomotive of death. Throughout this article we will be interrogating the human heart one of the most vital organs in the body and how smoking affects its functions.

It is true that many people link cigarette smoking with respiratory problems and lung cancer which is just one of the many negatives of smoking but what many do not know is that smoking is also a major cause of heart disease to both genders. It is estimated that about twenty percent of deaths reported in the U.S are related to heart diseases explaining the reason why smoking is a major cause of heart attack.

Heart (attack) Disease

Heart attack has it characteristics. The risks of those characteristics are significantly multiplied in the systems of smokers. For instance if you smoke on a daily basis  one pack of cigarette your risk of heart attack will twice more than non-smokers. This is the general effects to all genders but specifically to smoking women and are using birth control pills, such individuals will have their risk of heart attack, blood clot, stroke and peripheral vascular disease significantly increased.

The dangers of smoking cigarette do not only affect smokers but also people around them. Even though the people around smokers may not be smoking in their own right they will develop health problems related to the environmental tobacco smoke also known as secondhand smoking or passive smoking. Children are the most affected as a result of passive smoking but generally secondhand smoking causes chronic respiratory conditions, heart disease and cancer. Research has established that about 35,000 passive smokers die annually from heart disease. Now reflecting on the highway of death you can now begin to appreciate that indulgence in cigarette smoking is for sure suicidal.

Smoking Increase Heart Disease Risk

The nicotine present in cigarettes is transported straight to the bloodstream and the result is:

  • Insufficient oxygen to the heart.
  • Undue blood pressure and heart rate.
  • Increase in blood clotting.
  • Mutilation to cells aligning coronary arteries and other blood vessels.

Benefits of Quitting Smoking to your Heart and Lifestyle

Now that you are appreciating how smoking is harmful to your health and those around you, the following are some of the benefits of quitting smoking:

  • Extend your lifetime significantly.
  • Decreases your risk of contracting disease (including heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, lung cancer, throat cancer, emphysema, ulcers, gum disease, and other conditions).
  • Feel healthier. After quitting, you won’t cough as much, you’ll have fewer sore throats, and you will increase your stamina.
  • Look better. Quitting can help you prevent face wrinkles, get rid of stained teeth, and improve your skin.
  • Improve your sense of taste and smell.
  • Save money.
How to Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking is not an easy task however the first step is to have that self-conviction that you want to quit smoking and not to be motivated by the desire to please your friends or family. You must in the process be ready to all rounds emotionally and mentally this will helps in planning for your recovery. To get started you may choose from the following guidelines:

Put down all your reasons for quitting in writing and read them daily before, in the process and after quitting. You may want to consider these tips:

  • Remember to write down when you smoke, why you smoke, and what you do when you smoking. This will help you know your triggers and avoid them.
  • Choose to stop smoking in certain situations (such as during your work break or after dinner) before actually quitting.
  • Create a list of activities you can do instead of smoking. Be ready to do something else when you want to smoke.
  • Ask your doctor about using nicotine gum or patches. Some people find these aids helpful. There are also drugs to help you quit smoking, such as Chantix and Wellbutrin.
  • Join a smoking cessation support group or program. Call your local chapter of the American Lung Association to find one.
How Will I Feel When I Quit Smoking?

When you stop smoking, you may crave cigarettes, be irritable, feel very hungry, cough often, get headaches, or have difficulty concentrating. These symptoms of withdrawal occur because your body is used to nicotine, the active addicting agent within cigarettes.

When withdrawal symptoms occur within the first two weeks after quitting, stay in control. Think about your reasons for quitting. Remind yourself that these are signs that your body is healing and getting used to being without cigarettes.

The withdrawal symptoms are only temporary. They are strongest when you first quit but will usually ease within 10 to 14 days. Remember that withdrawal symptoms are easier to treat than the major diseases that smoking can cause.

You may still have the desire to smoke, since there are many strong associations with smoking. People may associate smoking with specific situations, with a variety of emotions, or with certain people in their lives. The best way to overcome these associations is to experience them without smoking. If you relapse do not lose hope. Seventy-five percent of those who quit smoke again. Most smokers quit three times before they are successful. If you relapse, don’t give up! Plan ahead and think about what you will do next time you get the urge to smoke.

The good news is your risk of a heart attack is cut in half within two weeks of quitting smoking. After 15 smoke free years, your risk is similar to that of a person who has never smoked. Dear reader listen to the good news in this last paragraph isn’t it what you want? You will get it at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, an addiction facility founded by Doctor Akoury who has a passion in helping addicts recover from their addiction irrespective of the magnitude. Doctor Akoury together with her team of experts of several decades will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. What an opportunity the ball of good health is in your coat.

Smoking and Heart Disease – Drug Addiction

 

 

 

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Opioid Epidemic: Veterans Remain At High Risk

July 17, 2014

Stay Away From Opioids, They Are Addictive!

OpioidsOpioid 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!

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Pain Management without Addiction

July 15, 2014

Addiction-Free Pain Management

Pain management refers to the process through which we reduce or control pain in our bodies. One of the common methods of doing this has been prescription medication. While this method has proven to work well to some extent, in some cases it may result to addiction by the drug prescribed. If this happens, it makes it impossible for the patient to stay without taking the drugs since once one fails to take them pain returns and only reduced or ends once the drugs are taken. This is a common case when opioids are used for pain treatment.

How do we curb this problem then? Just as the saying goes, if you don’t repair a crack, you may end up building the whole wall. The best way to prevent addiction from drugs while trying to cure pain is by ensuring that the treatment that you use is effective and has no history of addiction when used. This type of treatment which doesn’t lead you to addiction is the one we call addiction-free pain treatment/ management.

Which are the Addiction-free pain management methods?

Many of effective treatments of pain methods which are addiction free will try to avoid usage prescription drugs or at least ensure they used a drug whose history doesn’t indicate signs of addiction. Let’s look at some methods which have proven to be effective in the management of pain and leaving the patient addiction free.

Pain management

What is provolone treatment? This is a form of muscular-skeletal and joint pain treatment technique. It uses the power of oxygen to cause the damaged tissues, ligaments, joints and even tendons to regenerate. This method of treatment causes a complete healing and a permanent pain relief.

How does it work?

Before we even look at the technique used by provolone to heal, it is important to remember the fact that most pains we experience in our daily life originate from injuries. These injuries may or not be physical. For a permanent pain relief to be realized, we must start by treating the injury itself and ensure it heals as well. For a damaged part of the body to regenerate and heal, it must have the critical elements necessary that only the blood can provide. These elements are: – Vitamins, minerals and oxygen. Of the three, by far the most important of them all is oxygen.

Prolozone works in three ways;

  • First, injection of homeopathic anti-inflammatory medication is done to prevent or reduce inflammation and swelling. This will increase circulation.
  • The second thing is to treat the area with vitamins that are critical for healing to occur.
  • Finally, the area is infiltrated with oxygen in the form of ozone.

What happens after this treatment?

The result of the treatment is that the tissues get what they need to heal, and consequently heal. Important to note is that circulation to the area is also established and therefore the treatment is complete.

Which are some of the conditions which can be treated with provolone?

The following are some of the conditions which can effectively be treated with ozone:

Can this treatment be addictive?

Not at all. We must note that this is a therapeutic treatment and thus it doesn’t use drug prescription which would in some cases result into addiction. The good thing also about this treatment over the other pain killing treatments is that it does not only kill the pain but also produce permanent healing of any injured area.

This is another addiction free treatment of pain which involves the treatment of autonomic nervous system. Autonomic system is the most fundamental system in our bodies and works as the control system. This system is responsible for controlling important body functions such as blood circulation, body temperatures, breathing, heart rate etc.

How does it work?

Neural therapy works by using procain injections to restore and heal stressed out and injured nerves, so as to ensure they work normally and in so doing, they sent the proper nerve impulses to the tissues and body organs that they innervate.

Pain managementIt refers to Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide which is a metabolic co-enzyme which continuously varies between NAD and NADH compounds in the body. Our bodies have two classes of enzymes, digestive and metabolic enzymes. Since healing requires structuring, repair, and modeling of every cell, metabolic enzymes become important since they do all those. Replenishment of these enzymes is important since they normally have a work load. NAD plays an important role in production of ATP, which is the energy molecule in the body and has over 100 metabolic functions in our human chemistry.

Is NAD therapy safe?

Yes. NAD therapy is a safe, natural supplement of cellular energy and also a generator of the same. It may also help to: act as a potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger Phagocytes use NADPH as a source of energy to destroy pathogens. It also increases mental clarity and alertness when applied to a given patient.

This is one of the pain relieve therapies which has proven to work effectively. It is a non-pharmacological, non-invasive technique for pain neutralization.

How does it work?

This technique works through gentle manipulation of tissue by altering the nerve based reflexes which a known to perpetuate trigger points and muscle pain. It is a very friendly method since it doesn’t use pressure like some of the other methods for treating trigger points and it instead uses finger massage of the points.

Magnesium is one of the known treatments of pain, which have proven effective and addiction free. Magnesium is known to relax muscles and hence it uses this principle to relief pain.

A remarkable principle in the mechanism of magnesium treatment is that of excessive stimulation of a brain chemical known as ‘NMDA.’

One of the advantages of magnesium as a treatment substance is that it is readily available since it can be found in supplement form at most of health food stores.

Addiction-Free Pain Management

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