Drug Abuse by Ray Sahelian, M.D. Drug abuse treatment

Drug abuse can be defined as the use of drugs in such a manner or frequency that it begins to affect health, social relations, and work performance. Drug use by itself does not necessarily lead to harm. Throughout history many cultures have used drugs on a frequent basis with no apparent harm. However, when drug use reaches a frequency where it begins to affect one brain health and body health, then attention is needed to find a solution.
   People often turned to drugs and alcohol to set right an imbalance in their brain chemistry that often stems from a life of neglect and abuse. Drug abuse is also often due to people trying to self medicate themselves from chronic anxiety, depression, or loneliness.

Prescription drug abuse common
Prescription drug abuse is more common than people realize. Both doctors and patients bear responsibility. The well publicized death of Anna Nicole Smith provides a clear example. According to some reports, Anna Nicole Smith's Florida hotel room was like "walking into a pharmacist's shop" and that prescription medication found at the scene included the stimulant Provigil, the antidepressant Xanax, the powerful pain reliever Vicodin, and the morphine-like pain reliever Methadone.

Methamphetamine drug abuse
The synthetic drug methamphetamine has become a greater concern in the United States and other countries than heroin or cocaine. Sold on the street in various forms known as 'meth', 'speed' and 'ice', methamphetamine has spread from Southeast Asia to parts of the world where it was virtually unknown until recently, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has said. The spread to Africa and eastern Europe is fueled by the ability of traffickers to obtain legally two chemicals needed to make it, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. In the United States the use of cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy is falling. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lists brain damage and psychotic behavior as some of the possible effects of methamphetamine use. One way methamphetamine ingredients are shipped to labs is by post as unlicensed Internet pharmacies sell billions of doses of medicines illegally each year and deliver them by post. Besides drugs such as cocaine, heroin and ecstasy, legal pharmaceutical drugs, some stronger than morphine, are also shipped by post without prescriptions particularly in America. The value of such pharmaceutical drugs smuggled via the postal system is estimated to be in hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.
   Young people who abuse methamphetamines may put themselves at risk of Parkinson-like movement disorders later in life.

Job Stress and Drug Abuse
Young workers who feel high stress on the job may be at increased risk of using drugs. In a survey of nearly 1,000 young adults, researchers found that those who reported high job strain when they were first interviewed for the study were more likely to have started abusing marijuana, cocaine, heroin or other drugs one year later. Specifically, "low control" jobs, where workers have little leeway in how to accomplish their tasks, were linked to a higher risk of drug abuse.

Drug Abuse in Pregnancy
Pregnant mothers caught using illegal drugs could go to prison for endangering their unborn children under a bill passed by the Idaho State Senate in March, 2006.

Drug Abuse Treatment
Drug-addicted patients with severe, persistent mental illness respond well to a behavioral approach that involves social skills training and motivational interviewing, as well as mandatory urine checks. The intervention is called Behavioral Treatment for Substance Abuse in Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (BTSAS). Researchers ahve compared this approach with Supportive Treatment for Addiction Recovery (STAR) -- the usual care approach involving talk and support and found BTSAS to be more effective.

Mind Power Rx has:               
Acetyl-L-carnitine and Carnosine antioxidants, Choline, DMAE brain booster, Inositol, Trimethylglycine methyl donor, Tyrosine amino acid, Vinpocetine herbal extract. B vitamins include Methylcobalamin and Pantothenic acid.

Plus a proprietary blend of:Ginkgo Biloba leaf extract, Mucuna Pruriens extract, Ashwagandha extract, Bacopa monniera extract, Gotu kola extract, Reishi extract, Ginseng extract, Fo-ti extract, and Rhodiola extract.

Click Mind Power Rx to order or to see a complete list of high quality products

Meth Drug Abuse

Meth is a top drug problem in the U.S. Meth abuse is a bigger issue than heroin, pot and coke combined. Meth abuse continues to fuel an increase in crimes like robbery and assault, straining the workload of local police forces despite a drop in the number of meth lab seizuresy.

Huffing, inhaling solvents
Inhaling household solvents such as cleaning products or glue -- so-called "huffing" or "bagging" -- indicates an increased risk of attempting or thinking about suicide among incarcerated teens.

Drug Abuse, Heroin, and Germany
The German government says it is planning to supply long-term drug addicts with controlled amounts of free heroin. A spokesperson said "A heroin therapy is the last hope and provides help for survival for some of those who are addicted." Apparently pilot projects in seven German cities have shown that giving controlled amounts of heroin to long-term addicts was a more effective way of getting them off the drug than methadone, a drug used as a heroin-substitute. Furthermore, testing in the pilot cities also showed the heroin therapy had led to reduction in crime.

Drug Abuse in Switzerland
Switzerland has a liberal policy of offering drug addicts substitution treatments. This has resulted in a drop in the number of new heroin users. People taking up the habit dropped 82 percent from 850 in 1990 to 150 in 2002 in the canton of Zurich thanks to policies such as needle-exchange services and methadone programs.
Critics of the liberal drugs policy had warned that providing medical treatment with methadone would attract new users. But this did not happen.

Cocaine Drug Abuse and Heart Disease
Long-term cocaine use may be associated with regional left ventricular dysfunction, a condition that reduces the heart's pumping efficiency and increases the risk of heart failure.

Drug Abuse by Elderly
The more drugs an older patient is prescribed, the more likely the patient is to be taking an inappropriate medication. Overall, 65 percent of the 196 study patients were on at least one drug that was unnecessary, a duplication of the effects of a drug they were already taking, or not recommended for older people. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, October 2006.

Drug Abuse questions
Q. Do you have any supplement recommendations for a person trying to get off drugs and alcohol?
   A. You could ask your doctor to read the page on depression and kudzu. Drug abuse sometimes is due to depression or anxiety.

Q. I read the information regarding 5-HTP and how low levels of serotonin may lead to addictive behavior, and I am just curious if there is any information out there in connection with a supplemental cocktail, so to speak, that might alleviate cravings for drug abuse, such as cocaine addiction, and other drug addictions. There is a product called Prometa that utilizes gabapentin, flumazenil and hydroxyzine to treat cocaine drug abuse; and I recently read where there was a vaccine that is being tested for treatment of cocaine addiction. And I guess my thought is whether anyone on the natural supplementation side has given much thought to how different supplements might be able to help, if at all, people with a drug abuse disorders. In view of the drugs noted above that are being touted to treat cocaine addiction, is there anything equivalent on the supplement side which may accomplish the same thing.
   A. There are several supplements one can try to reduce the urge for drug abuse. These include 5-HTP, SAM-e, St. John's wort, etc. But we are not familiar with a cocktail supplement product that deals with cocaine addiction or drug abuse.