Is substance abuse coverage as equal as required?
Insurance plans that cover substance abuse treatment must provide the same level of care and cost sharing as they do for other medical issues, but treatment centers say disagreement over what this means leaves many alcoholics and drug addicts without …
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Women Who Sought Treatment for Drug Addiction at Caron Treatment Centers …
WERNERSVILLE, Pa., March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Heroin and prescription drug addiction are on the rise among affluent women, reveals a new survey from Caron Treatment Centers, a leader and nationally recognized non-profit provider of …
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STROKE RECOVERY

A stroke is an disruption of the blood supply to any part of the brain. Stroke is the leading cause of disability among adults in the United States. It is the country’s third leading cause of death.

This article discusses recovery from stroke. How well a person does after a stroke depends on the severity of the stroke and the area affected, and how quickly treatment is received.

The treatment goals after a stroke are: 1) To help the patient re-learn as many skills as possible, 2) prevent future strokes, and 3) prevent any complications from a stroke.

The recuperation time and need for long-term treatment differs from person to person. Problems related to moving, thinking, and talking often improve in days to several months after a stroke. Numerous people who have had a stroke will still continue to improve in the months or years after a stroke. Many, sadly, will not recover completely.

GOING HOME AFTER STROKE REHABILITATION

After suffering a stroke, many patients have stroke rehabilitation so they recover more fully. Participating in stroke rehabilitation helps the patient regain the ability to take care of his or her self; what we call Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Most types of, therapies can be provided wherever you or your loved one live, including in the home. Therapy may be done in a special part of a hospital or in a nursing home or rehabilitation facility. Those who have been released from the hospital might go to stroke rehabilitation therapy at a special clinic or have someone come to their home.

It can be difficult to decide whether the person who has the stroke will be able to return to their home after rehabilitation. Being able to stay in the home depends on how severe the stroke was and whether the person can take care of his or her self. It may also depend how much help there will be at home and whether the home is safe for them.

Sometimes, new living situations such as boarding homes or convalescent homes may be needed to provide a safe environment for a stroke patient.

For those being cared for at home:
Changes in the home may be needed to keep a loved one safe from falling or wandering, as well as making the home easier to use. This involves making sure the bed and bathroom are easy to get to and removing items (such as throw rugs) that may cause a fall.
A number of assistive devices are available to help with activities such as cooking or eating, bathing or showering, moving around the home or elsewhere, dressing and grooming, writing and using a computer, and many more activities.
Family counseling may help in coping with the changes required for home care. Visiting nurses or aides, volunteer services, homemakers, adult protective services, adult day care, and other community resources may be helpful.
Legal advice may be appropriate. Advance directives, power of attorney, and other legal actions may make it easier to make ethical decisions regarding the care of a person who has had a stroke.

To a lot people, throwing up after a drinking spree is not considered alcohol abuse. However, drinking excessively over a prolonged pattern of time can lead to alcohol abuse. The disease can affect an individual’s life especially in the areas of work, education, and relationships among others.

About 20% of men and 10% of women in the United States are affected by alcohol abuse. Symptoms of alcohol abuse may include repeated occasions of red bloodshot eyes combined with the lingering odor of alcohol on the person’s breath and skin. Also the afflicted individual may usually be hot tempered, or apathetic and passive. In worst cases they may show signs of bad hygiene, inconsistency in work performance and attendance and involvement in auto accidents if they still drive while intoxicated.

Sadly the disease has claimed the lives of more than 2000 people under the age of 21 in violent motor vehicle accidents annually. Though motorists who suffer from alcoholism would sometimes be pulled over, by the police, these instances are not enough to make them stop completely and seek help deliberately. People who suffer from alcoholism should seek outside help and support to fight the disease.

There are many institutions that help individuals afflicted with alcoholic abuse. These institutions provide individuals treatment programs that people can go through to recover. Most treatment programs include detoxification, education, support groups, counseling, family meetings and aftercare.

People, who live in Texas, would definitely benefit from these treatment programs, since apparently the state itself leads the union in terms of drunk-driving fatalities. Texans who may know someone or themselves are experiencing alcohol abuse can seek the aid of rehab Austin centers, to benefit from the rehab treatment programs they provide. They in turn may be able to get their health and life back. They should do this to curb the long-term damage this disease can bring to their lives.

It is in the best interest of the afflicted individual to be enlisted in programs provided by rehab Austin Texas centers to get their lives back in order. If not taken seriously, alcoholic abuse can really hurt the individual and even cause their deaths, or the death of the people surrounding him.

Knowing which rehab Austin Texas centers to trust is highly beneficial not just to an alcoholic but to everyone. Someone else might know a friend or family member who needs to get into rehab and start anew. For further information regarding alcoholic abuse and its adverse effects, visit www.alcoholism.about.com.

Alcohol addiction is one problem that should not be handled with levity. Assistance must be sought for once the signs of the problem becomes clear in you or in a loved one. As soon as you can’t seem to get work done without resorting to 1 or two bottles of alcohol. When you would rather waste your hard earned cash on booze as an alternative of other obligatory objects, then you must know that you require assistance and you ought to acquire it quickly before the dilemma gets out of hand. The best place to search for and get assistance to handle the drawback of alcohol addiction is the alcohol rehab center. These centers are geared up to help you live the kind of lifestyle you covet. Fortunately, there are several centers all over the United States. Just hunt for a good quality and dependable one.

As observed already, there are numerous alcohol rehab centers throughout the Country. The purpose for this is not far-fetched. The increasing rate of alcoholism in the country has given birth to many centers with the aim of helping addicts who may not be able to deal with the crisis on their own. Alcohol addiction does not involve only the addict; it can have an effect on the finance and vigor of other persons around the addict.You should not allow alcohol to ruin your life. Hunt for a very good and dependable inpatient treatment center that can help you to turn into the most excellent person you want to be. Alcohol addiction is a disease that you can cope with and overcome if you have the correct resources.

Alcohol rehab centers employ various kinds of approach to help patients to stop addiction. Despite the fact that a number of may be religious in their approach, others employ conventional medical means. A number of centers employ counseling, group discussion, medicine, meditation et cetera. Regardless of the method utilized, they are intended to assist the patient get over his or her craving for alcohol and continue to say no to it even after leaving the center.

The foremost thing a good and reliable alcohol rehab center will do to you is to observe you and see how difficult the problem is. In other words, all sufferers cannot be taken care of in a similar way. While several addicts are yet to overcome the problem, other folks may be suffering from alcohol withdrawal signs and symptoms like headaches and depression. After this assessment is completed, the center will recognize what approach to utilize to help you take care of the problem. While certain individuals may be given medicine, other people may be required to lodge in the center to acquire more treatment and be closely monitored. The outcome of all treatment options is to help the addict to get over the craving for alcohol.

Maxim Magazine (December 2008) – Jiah Khan … “Pharmageddon”: America’s New Drug Crisis — better living through better chemistry (September 4, 2011) …

Image by marsmet552
Krantz, medical director of the Hanley Center, a drug treatment center in West Palm Beach, Fla., explained to "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Rebecca Jarvisthat, "It definitely is a pandemic in the United States today, and we got there, essentially, in the late 1990s, there was a paradigm shift for treating chronic pain.

And at the same time there was direct consumer advertising. So, it made the perfect storm. People now were going to their physicians, and they have arthritis, the weekend warriors, the baby boomers, and they’re saying, ‘I have this pain,’ and doctors are over-prescribing.
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…….*****All images are copyrighted by their respective authors ……

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…..item 1)…. website … CBS NEWS … The Early Show …

September 4, 2010 11:01 PM

"Pharmageddon": America’s New Drug Crisis
By CBSNews

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/04/earlyshow/saturday/mai...

(CBS) A new drug problem is emerging in the United States: an alarming national epidemic of pill popping and prescription drug abuse so bad it’s being called "Pharmageddon."

The latest issue of Time magazine has numbers painting a disturbing picture: Over the last two decades, deaths from accidental drug overdoses have increased five-fold. And, for the first time, unintentional overdoses have replaced car accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

It’s a problem Dr. Barbra Krantz describes as "the perfect storm."

Krantz, medical director of the Hanley Center, a drug treatment center in West Palm Beach, Fla., explained to "Early Show on Saturday Morning" co-anchor Rebecca Jarvisthat, "It definitely is a pandemic in the United States today, and we got there, essentially, in the late 1990s, there was a paradigm shift for treating chronic pain. And at the same time there was direct consumer advertising. So, it made the perfect storm. People now were going to their physicians, and they have arthritis, the weekend warriors, the baby boomers, and they’re saying, ‘I have this pain,’ and doctors are over-prescribing.

"The most at risk are not the street junkies, the typical stereotype that you would think of, but the people that are working, that are educated, that have had professions that are now looking for that better living through better chemistry."

Ron Dash, a former Hanley patient and a recovering prescription drug addict, told Jarvis, "For me, it started at a very young age, at the age of 10. I had some anxiety problems and I was given a prescription for Phenobarbital. I believe that set me off in the direction of not dealing with things that bothered me and going to doctors and asking for a quick fix, something to help me feel better. Over the course of my youth, growing up in the ’60s, the culture was encouraging towards social drug use. As I got into my professional career, as a professional businessman, I went to doctors and I got prescriptions for stress, and it just mushroomed and progressed from there. At the age of — my first surgery, I was given a prescription medication for pain, Vicodin. And as I grew older, I just became slowly more and more dependent on taking medications to help me cope, get up for work and get through my day."

Krantz said there are definite signs someone could be addicted to prescription drugs:

Activities abandoned or reduced: "There’s a progressive isolation that occurs in their life. Where they get to is that the drug is the only thing that’s important to them, obtaining the drug."

Dependence on the drug: "Dependence, tolerance, withdrawal is another sign," Krantz said.

Duration or amount greater than intended, intra-personal consequences — that they can’t cut down or control it. And when it becomes time-consuming: "What happens," Krantz said, "is that the person finds themselves needing to take more of the prescription drug than intended or prescribed, and then they’re taking friends, or they’re asking friends for their drugs. We saw a serious increase in the baby boomer drug addict. About 70 percent of our patients at Hanley are baby boomers. We have special program for them now."
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…..item 2)…. website … Time Magazine … Health … The New Drug Crisis: Addiction by Prescription

By Jeffrey Kluger Monday, Sept. 13, 2010

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img code photo……skull and crossbones with tons of prescription pills

img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2010/1009/wdrugs_0913.jpg

Stephen Lewis for TIME
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www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2015763,00.html

Update Appended: Sept. 17, 2010

It’s not easy to find a mother who would look back fondly on the time her son had cancer. But Penny (not her real name) does. Penny lives in Boston, and her son got sick when he was just 13. He struggled with the disease for several years — through the battery of tests and the horror of the diagnosis and, worst of all, through the pain that came from the treatment. For that last one, at least, there was help — Oxycontin, a time-released opioid that works for up to 12 hours. It did the job, and more.

The brain loves Oxycontin — the way the drug lights up the limbic system, with cascading effects through the ventral striatum, midbrain, amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex and prefrontal cortex, leaving pure pleasure in its wake. What the brain loves, it learns to crave. That’s especially so when the alternative is the cruel pain of cancer therapy. By the time Penny’s son was 17, his cancer was licked — but his taste for Oxy wasn’t. When his doctor quit prescribing him the stuff, the boy found the next best — or next available — thing: heroin. Penny soon began spending her Monday nights at meetings of the support group Learn to Cope, a Boston-based organization that counsels families of addicts, particularly those hooked on opioids or heroin.

(See the top 10 medical breakthroughs of 2009.)

"Penny told the group that she actually misses her son’s cancer," says Joanne Peterson, the founder of Learn to Cope. "When he had that, everyone was around. When he had that, he had support."

Penny and her son are not unique. Humans have never lacked for ways to get wasted. The natural world is full of intoxicating leaves and fruits and fungi, and for centuries, science has added to the pharmacopoeia. In the past two decades, that’s been especially true. As the medical community has become more attentive to acute and chronic pain, a bounty of new drugs has rolled off Big Pharma’s production line.

There was fentanyl, a synthetic opioid around since the 1960s that went into wide use as a treatment for cancer pain in the 1990s. That was followed by Oxycodone, a short-acting drug for more routine pain, and after that came Oxycontin, a 12-hour formulation of the same powerful pill. Finally came hydrocodone, sold under numerous brand names, including Vicodin. Essentially the same opioid mixed with acetaminophen, hydrocodone seemed like health food compared with its chemical cousins, and it has been regulated accordingly. The government considers hydrocodone a Schedule III drug — one with a "moderate or low" risk of dependency, as opposed to Schedule II’s, which carry a "severe" risk. Physicians must submit a written prescription for Schedule II drugs; for Schedule III’s, they just phone the pharmacy. (Schedule I substances are drugs like heroin that are never prescribed.) For patients, that wealth of choices spelled danger.

(See the most common hospital mishaps.)

"If someone is dying, addiction isn’t a problem," says Dr. Jim Rathmell, chief of the division of pain medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "But for prescribers, the distinction between a patient who has three or four weeks to live and one who’s 32 and has chronic back pain started to blur."

The result has hardly been a surprise. Since 1990, there has been a tenfold increase in prescriptions for opioids in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2007, 3.7 million people filled 21 million legal prescriptions for opioid painkillers, and 5.2 million people over the age of 12 reported using prescription painkillers nonmedically in the previous month, according to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). From 2004 to ’08, emergency-room visits for opioid misuse doubled. At the same time, the drugs have become the stuff of pop culture, gaining cachet in the process. The fictitious Dr. House and Nurse Jackie gobble them like gumdrops, as did the decidedly nonfictional Rush Limbaugh and Heath Ledger. And, like Ledger, some users don’t make it out alive.

In 1990 there were barely 6,000 deaths from accidental drug poisoning in the U.S. By 2007 that number had nearly quintupled, to 27,658. In 15 states and the District of Columbia, unintentional overdoses have, for the first time in modern memory, replaced motor-vehicle incidents as the leading cause of accidental death; and in three more states it’s close to a tie.

Watch TIME’s video "Forget to Take Your Pills? Don’t Worry, They’ll Call You."

See how to prevent illness at any age.
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