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Triggers and Addiction Recovery

October 22, 2014

Tips for Managing Triggers during Addiction Recovery

TriggerOvercoming addiction is one of the resolutions that addicts have every New Year but then fail to accomplish and live by. Not once I have heard of political fanatics speak of their favorite candidates and the things they will when their preferred candidates win. One of the major promises that most people make is to stop using drugs of abuse and stay free from these drugs but that just remains there or at least they try but they fail again and again. Overcoming addiction has since remained to be one of the hardest goals to achieve especially if you think of going through it all alone without seeking professional advice. In reality it is close to impossible overcoming an addiction without seeking professional help. However getting professional help does not mean that somebody else is now doing it in your place, no. you are the person that has the sole responsibility of overcoming addiction and without your commitment all the resources; time and money spent in taking you through the addiction recovery program will be a waste. But still with your commitment it is good to note that most people fail to go through the addiction recovery to its end because of the triggers that they may encounter in their environment and that is why most doctors will prefer an addict be attended to in a rehab where such triggers are not present. In some cases a person who has gone through the drug addiction recovery successfully may be overwhelmed by the triggers in his environments until he gives in and go back right into the mess. Therefore it is really important to know situations where you might encounter triggers and avoid them but if you can’t avoid them then you should learn how to cope with them.

What are Triggers?

In layman terms, when we talk of triggers in relation to addiction recovery, we refer to those factors in your environment that may lure you back to your past habit of using drugs of abuse. The triggers may include spots in your environment which brings you memories of your drug abuse habit. It may be an event especially where you will meet people who you used to share drugs with but are still using them.

This therefore means that even after completing treatment for alcohol and other addictive substances is not yet a won fight. There is still much to fight with while you are out of the rehab and it will take much more than mere commitment to abstain from alcohol and the drugs. You will encounter cravings for your drug of choice, and for any escape, an opportunity to numb out, and perhaps, sometimes, an overall desire to not feel what you are feeling. The bigger question is what will you do when you encounter these triggers that maybe in the form of events and people?

Here are some of the few tips that could save you from falling for your drugs of choice when cravings persist.

Know your triggers– just like people begin using drugs for different reasons, addicts have different triggers. Your trigger may be as a result of an unhealthy conversation that you got into with a person and has left you depressed. Another person’s trigger maybe his past photos while another person’s trigger maybe to see someone drunk.

Prepare yourself psychologically to counter your triggers– it would be a fallacy to assume that your triggers will just disappear in thin air. Instead prepare yourself to deal with your triggers. Appreciate that triggers are part and parcel of addiction recovery and equip yourself to deal with it.

Put in practice how you would overcome before it comes– try to lay strategies to deal with the triggers you have identified before you encounter them. You may role play with yourself in trying to find the most effective strategies to help you overcome.

Adopt a healthy lifestyle– eat well and have a good sleep. Without good sleep and good nutrition you r body will be deprived of rest and vital nutritional components making it hard for you to overcome the triggers. You should also avoid being lonely as loneliness may make you slip into your past habit in search of company. The major problem is in the H.A.L.T meaning hungry, angry, lonely and tired. By eating well and having good sleep you will be free from hunger and tiredness. As for lonely and anger you need help of family and friends to help you cope.

TriggersDo not test yourself– this is even well written in the bible (don’t ask about the verse) who is unto him who sees temptation ahead but continues to commit it. If you know your triggers do not try to test yourself. If you know your triggers are your past photos holding a bottle of beer, burning the photos will be worth it. If you know passing by a certain bar will trigger you then avoid that route. This way you will be able to avoid the temptation and keep yourself far from drugs of abuse.

These are some of the tips that you could employ to help deal with triggers. Like I said triggers are part of addiction recovery and it is therefore necessary that you prepare yourself psychological, practice how you would overcome your triggers of course after knowing them and adopt a healthy lifestyle that will enable you to overcome your triggers during addiction recovery. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is dedicated in helping all addicts. Visit her at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for help.

Tips for Managing Triggers during Addiction Recovery

 

 

 

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The Psychology of Addiction

October 22, 2014

The Psychology of Addiction: Key to Addiction Treatment

AddictionAddiction is a subject that up to now is still poorly understood. And researchers have different opinion to what causes addiction. To understand what a causes addiction and much more about addiction the researchers have developed two models. The first model of addiction is known as the disease model of addiction. This model describes an addiction as a disease with biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. The disease model of addiction has been criticized that it encourages stigmatization. The researchers opposed to this school of thought argue that when you label somebody as an addict he will lose self-control of the substance he uses and this will leave them withdrawn and stigmatized. The other model is known as the Choice model of addiction. The addiction is like the choice model with a disorder of genes, a reward, memory, stress, and choice. All these models of addiction result in compulsive behavior.

As known to you, psychology is a science devoted to understanding human behavior. By extension psychology tries to find out why people behave in a certain manner. Psychologists are very important people in the world today as they are devoted to improving the quality of people’s lives and their life satisfaction. Psychologists consider behaviors that promote people’s well-being and life satisfaction adaptive behaviors. Behaviors that serve to limit people’s functioning and diminish life satisfaction are termed maladaptive behaviors. These maladaptive behaviors are harmful not only in the people that possess them but to their environment as well and so should be curbed. Addiction is one of the common maladaptive behaviors that psychologists have put in place psychological models to help in understanding why people become addicted to some substances.

Typically, when an addict experiences pressures that comes with his daily life duties he will go for his drugs to help navigate through the hard time. There is something that triggers his memory and demands that he take his drugs of abuse to help him cope with the pressure. The addict feels that he must just use the drugs to be safe from the pressures. Most addictive drugs are taken for this purpose. Generally the psychology of addiction can be summarized in three crucial elements.

An addict gets a feeling of helplessness before indulging in the addictive act

Before someone goes for an addictive substance he will have a feeling of powerlessness. For example a father who is not able to cater for his family basic needs feels helpless and this feeling may overwhelm him. He therefore will go for a drink to help him view the situation more lightly. The person will feel empowered and in control of his situation after taking alcohol. Emotionally he will be at peace with himself when he is drunk. There are also other non-drug addictive substances that work in this same way. The use of drugs to reverse feelings of powerlessness is referred to as psychological purpose of addiction. However reasons that will make an addict helpless are different to every one of them. The bottom line is that addicts will attempt to solve problems by taking their addictive substances.

Feelings of overwhelming helplessness, such as the feelings that precipitate addictive acts result into a feeling of rage.

When an addict is in a helpless situation he will lose control of himself and the thought that he is out of control of his own life produces rage. The rage is a reaction to the feelings of loss of control and the emotional baggage that comes with the feeling of loss of control of oneself. This rage is the powerful drive behind addiction. The anger that a person gets when he feels helpless has the capacity to overwhelm his judgment while he is in the throes of the rage. It is precisely the presence of this rage at helplessness that gives to addiction its most defining characteristics which include the great intensity with loss of usual judgment and seemingly irrational destructive behavior that are common in addicts.

Addicts express their rage when helpless through substitute behavior

addictionPsychologists opine that if all addicts expressed the cause of their rage directly then there would be no addiction. In most cases addicts will not face their problems head on but will do something to substitute for the head on interaction with their problems. An example here is this. Suppose a man comes back home and his wife begin quarreling him over a past mistake, he ought to sit down and talk about the issue but in case of an addict he may respond by going out for a drink to ease himself. In this place the right act that is to face his wife and talk to her is replaced by an addictive act which is going out for a bottle of alcohol to get drunk and make him feel much more in control of his situation. If he continues to solve his problems through drinking the behavior might become too compulsive to him such that he will never ever solve even a single problem without the help of alcohol and so he becomes dependent on alcohol.

The treatment of addiction requires massive knowledge on the psychology of addiction. Every person has a unique addictive behavior and so it is better to understand an addict and why he is dependent on a particular. The past treatments on addiction have been poor because of the simple reason; poor understanding of psychology of addiction. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is dedicated in helping all addicts. Visit her at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for help.

The Psychology of Addiction: Key to Addiction Treatment

 

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Medicare Law and The Cost Of Chemotherapy

October 15, 2014

Medicare Law Has Little Impact On The Cost Of Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy in general

Chemotherapy is one of the many types of methods that are used to treat cancer. Depending on the particular type of cancer, its level of progression and other factors, this method has proven to be one of the most effective ones in reversing the effects of a tumor in the body by killing the cancer cells directly.

Although effective, chemotherapy has been described as one of the most expensive forms of treatment for cancer. The type and amount of drugs that are used in the course of the treatment usually amount to a substantial amount. Yet cancer is a disease whose adverse effect on the population is well documented.

Therefore, the need to develop programs that reduce the cost of undergoing chemotherapy has dominated academic and public debate for long. That is why the government developed a comprehensive medical law to help in bringing down the costs of chemotherapy.

How the chemotherapy costs are covered in the Medicare law

Generally, the law seeks to reduce the financial burden of undergoing chemotherapy by following four main strategies designated as plan A, B, C and D. every one of these plans covers different aspects of the overall cost and vary from the rest in terms of the amounts that are covered for every component of the treatment.

Chemotherapy

For Plan A, cover for the costs of chemotherapy is extended to patients who are admitted to a hospital. The hospitals that are taken into consideration when this plan is applied are the usual public ones as well as the specialized medical facilities that offer cancer treatment and care to patients. This plan is different from Plan C under which care is extended to outpatient clients only.

For Plan C, all the provisions under plan A and B are included but there are other additional advantages that are provided to individuals. What this implies is that a person who is subscribed to Plan C of the Medicare policy is able to enjoy a range of advantages in terms of reduced costs for undergoing chemotherapy. The advantages apply to any hospital or cancer treatment facility.

Then there is the last plan which is referred to as Plan D. under this plan, an individual is able to enjoy reductions in the cost of buying the drugs that are used for chemotherapy. Although this plan covers all the prescription drugs that one may use in the course of undergoing chemotherapy, it is worth noting that the plan only covers outpatient services. This implies that it is not applicable to the drugs used by inpatients.

How the Medicare law sought to reduce the cost of chemotherapy

Passed back in 2003 and 2005, the Medicare law sought to help reduce the costs of chemotherapy for cancer patients. Generally, the law pursued several approaches. The first one was reducing the usage of highly priced drugs for treating cancer. since a large portion of the costs of undergoing chemotherapy are consumed by buying highly priced drugs, the law sought to reverse this by introducing special reimbursements to clinics that charge clients a fee for their service. The idea was that by reimbursing such service providers, the manner in which they recommend drugs for cancer treatment would be controlled.

Therefore, under the legislation, different types of drugs were accorded different levels of reimbursements to the service providers. The law sought to reduce the high dependence that service providers show on such expensive drugs by reducing the amount of reimbursements that is offered to them. This way, it was thought that service providers would find selling such drugs not as profitable as it was before and consequently reduce the frequency with which they prescribe them to their patients.

Impact of the Medicare law on the cost of chemotherapy

Although the Medicare law that was developed and passed sought to bring down the costs of chemotherapy to individuals who are registered in the plan, this has not been the case. So far, things have turned out quite differently from what the drafters of the policy and laws intended. Increasing academic opinion indicates that the policy itself has failed, apart from the relevant legislations that were passed as a way of implementing it. There are several ways in which this failure in the law and policy has been seen. These are described in the sections that follow.

First, it has now become obvious that the law has failed to limit the extent to which doctors prescribe the most expensive drugs to patients. When developed, the law sought to limit the number of highly expensive drugs that doctors recommend to their patients by reducing the amount of reimbursements that are offered to doctors on such drugs. The idea was that by reducing the amount of reimbursement that is offered to doctors on such drugs, doctors would definitely avoid recommending them to their patients because of the financial implications involved.

However, this has not been the case. Over the course of time, doctors have continued to prescribe to their patients the most expensive drugs. This only means one thing; that the policy has failed to achieve this objective.

Another way that the Medicare law can be said to have failed in achieving its objectives can be seen in the relationship between the overall cost and rate of cancer. Research studies have indicated that cancer rates have fallen slightly over the years. However, the overall cost of cancer has been rising over the years. Yet the overriding objective of the Medicare law was to reduce the costs of chemotherapy. What this implies is that the law has failed to curb the rising costs of chemotherapy for patients and other stakeholders in the healthcare industry.

It is because of this situation that the need for comprehensive cancer treatment and management is on the rise. AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a leading institution in provision of integrated cancer treatment therapies. We believe that an integrated approach has an important role to play in overall cancer treatment and management practices.

Medicare Law Has Little Impact On The Cost Of Chemotherapy

 

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Effect of Obesity on Heart Function

October 14, 2014

Effect of Obesity on Heart Function – Overweight and Obesity

Obesity

Effect of Obesity on Heart Function among other sensitive body organs is a very key health factor to subject to immediate treatment.

Like in any other good thing under the earth, when it is used in excess it becomes dangerous and poisoners. In the same way as human beings we must have certain degree of weight form all the good reason however when weight is in excess, it becomes a problem to the human body and hence the saying “too much of something is dangerous”. For the purpose of this article we want to discuss the effect of too much weight in relation to the proper functionalities of the heart. The heart is such an important organ in the body and its functions must be perfectly regular and consistent all the times. Let’s therefore acquaint ourselves with the definitions of certain terms for a better understanding of our point of discussion. The terms “overweight” and “obesity” refer to body weight that’s beyond what is considered healthy for a given height. It is believed that in America alone, more than two-thirds of adult population is overweight with about one-third of these adults being obese. Overweight and obesity are measured by the use of body mass index (BMI). For adult the normal weight is a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 anything 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight while a BMI of 30 and more is obese.

Health Risk involved

Being overweight or obese can raise your risk of CHD and heart attack. This is mainly because when it comes to the relationship between obesity and heart failure it’s always very complicated. Obesity is intimately interwoven with multiple health conditions that underlie cardiovascular disease including:

  • High blood pressure
  • Diabetes and
  • Abnormal blood cholesterol

Besides this, being overweight is a common consequence of heart-damaging lifestyle choices such as lack of exercise and a fat-laden diet. For some time now, scientists have suspected that excess fat tissue, especially around the waist, has a direct effect on heart structure and function, even without the association of other heart disease risks. In pursuing this philosophy, researchers evaluated some 950 older individuals of different weights for signs of left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction a condition characterized by changes to the structure of the heart’s main pumping chamber (left ventricle), which prevent it from filling sufficiently between beats. Although LV diastolic dysfunction can often be symptomless, it reliably predicts future heart failure. (Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle weakens and/or stiffens to the extent that it can no longer meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen.) In this study, the subjects were separated into three weight groups that are normal, overweight, and obese based on their body mass index (BMI).  Each subject underwent a noninvasive echocardiogram exam to measure the dimensions of the heart, muscle thickness, and filling capacity of the left ventricle. Upon analyzing the results, it was established that the overweight and obese participants were more prone to abnormal diastolic function than the normal weight individuals. Nonetheless when the researchers controlled for the effects of the other risks, the overweight and obese subject still had up to a 60% higher chance of having LV diastolic dysfunction. It also made a difference how much extra body fat the person carried. The risk of abnormal heart function went up 4% for each point increase in BMI measurement. With this study, researchers are to add one more dot to the line between surplus poundage and cardiovascular disease. The understanding that excess fat tissue can directly damage the heart muscle even before symptoms are evident reinforces the case for weight control as a key step in preserving heart health. It is therefore very important that you keep distance with elements which could trigger heart complications. We will be looking at some of them as we progress in our subsequent articles so stay on the link and get the full information you need to protect yourself, but now that you are aware of the consequences of obesity and weight gain vis a vis to the heart functions, it is important that you take immediate precaution in correcting this situation. You will definitely need to look for the services of weight lose professional to take you through the recovery process. I understand that this could be very difficult but if you could visit AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care, you will certainly have this load off your shoulder. Doctor Dalal Akoury founded this facility to help people like you regain their lost glory due to weight gain. She has been in this practice for more than two decades making her to be very experienced in her undertakings. While at this facility, doctor Akoury together with her team of experienced professional will focus on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE, all you need to do on your part is call her today and being the worthy journey of total recovery from being obese. Finally many will be very concern with what to do next having known the implications of weight gain. Probably you are asking yourself that “Can weight loss improve my health?” this is a very good concern and doctor Akoury will tell you that even a relatively modest weight loss of say 5 to 10% of your body weight can produce health benefits tremendously such as:

  • Lower blood pressure
  • Lower blood sugar and
  • Improved cholesterol levels

It is also very important to appreciate that studies have established that weight loss has significantly helped people with asthma have reduced attacks and use less medicine, and improve the quality of sleep in people with obstructive sleep apnea. These are just some of the few among many benefits you will get when you call doctor Akoury for an appointment concerning your weight condition. Take note that we live this life once and we must ensure that we make every bit of it enjoyable. Therefore conditions relating to weight gain, obesity should and must not be a hindrance with the services offered by doctor Akoury. Call her now.

Effect of Obesity on Heart Function – Overweight and Obesity

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Lung Cancer Screening

October 14, 2014

What Is Lung Cancer Screening?

Generally screening is a process that is used to detect early development of a particular disease among the general population. The procedure is usually carried out using a simple and effective test. The simplicity of the test should be reflected in the fact that it has been standardized and can be used widely to produce consistent results. The effectiveness of the test is usually reflected in its ability to provide accurate results consistently over the course of time.

When applied to lung cancer, screening means the use of a simple and effective test to detect early development of lung cancer among members of the population. The need for early detection of different forms of cancers has been shown to be a determining factor on how successful the treatments that are used to treat the cancer are.

Therefore, when applied to the general population, screening can reduce the mortality rates of lung cancer by allowing early detection and implementation of specific intervention measures.

Lung Cancer Screening

Current methods of detecting cancer

Currently, the sole method that is relied upon to detect cancer is the use of x-rays. X-ray pictures of the chest of a patient are usually taken and subjected to expert analysis for detection of the presence of cancerous cells within the lung tissues of the patient. It is after this has been confirmed that use of specific types of cancer therapies is recommended.

However, this method has several potential disadvantages. To begin with, use of x-rays to detect cancer cells only succeeds in cases where the cancer is at an advanced stage. When used on patients in whom the cancer is at an early stage, the method may not be reliable. Therefore, by only showing cases of advanced cancer in patients, use of the method denies doctors the chance to detect the cancer early enough and tackle it using appropriate therapies.

The second disadvantage of the current form of cancer detection is that is cannot be used over the entire population to detect early forms of lung cancer among individuals. Its use heavily relies on patients showing signs of lung cancer. And since the signs of lung cancer are usually varied in terms of form and intensity, x-rays can only serve the function of detecting lung cancer in individual patients in whom the disease has greatly progressed.

Thirdly, use of x-rays alone as a method for detecting lung cancer may not be completely effective. This is so because a patient may be required to undergo further complicated medical tests such as examination of the tissue of the lungs to detect the presence of cancer cells. As much as this is a costly procedure, it presents a number of dangers to the health of a patient.

The Need For Lung Cancer Screening

The need for lung cancer screening program arises from several factors. First, it has been repeatedly shown that when a universal screening program is used for a particular type of chronic disease, it results into a decrease in the rate of mortalities arising from the disease. Therefore, an effective screening program for lung cancer is necessary to reduce the social and economic burden of the disease.

Second, a screening program is usually used on individuals within a population who are at a high risk of developing the disease for which the screening is done. What this means is that the screening program is used concurrently with information about specific risk factors for a particular type of disease. For lung cancer, several factors have been identified as predisposing individuals to its development. The first one is the practice of smoking. Lung cancer has been detected in patients who are heavy smokers. Also, the problem has been associated with past heavy smoking in some patients.

Second, the relationship between lung cancer and age has been established. Although this largely depends on whether or not the individual in question is a heavy smoker, there tends to be a positive correlation between age and development of lung cancer. Therefore, past and current heavy smokers face a high risk of developing lung cancer as they advance in age.

Therefore, these factors make it necessary for a simple and effective test for lung cancer to be developed. This way, lung cancer shall be easily detected among individuals who belong to high-risk groups in the population. This will be an effective step in combating the disease in general.

Lung CancerRendering

The Future Of Lung Cancer Screening

The future of lung cancer screening is defined by a number of factors. The first one is the extent to which research is carried out. With intense research being carried out on how to develop an effective program for screening people for lung cancer, there is hope that this will help solve the complex problems that arise from the issue.

Second, the future of lung cancer screening lies in discovery and development of new and simple tests for the disease. It is only when a simple and effective test has been developed that a sound screening program can be designed and implemented.

AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is a medical institution that is devoted to helping cancer patients overcome the ravaging effects of the disease. We hold the belief that the successful treatment and overall management of cancer is a complicated process that requires multiple intervention strategies. That is why we have focused our energies on using alternative treatment therapies to complement conventional therapies that are used by our cancer patients.

Lung Cancer Screening

 

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