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A new study from the University of Minnesota indicates that fatalistic attitudes among teens are linked to risky behaviors. The study, which was based on surveys of more than 20,000 middle and high school students between 1995 and 2000, found that teens who engaged in risky behaviors such as drug use, fighting, and unsafe sex were more likely to believe that they would die young than those who didn't.

Pediatrician and study researcher Iris Borowsky, MD, PhD, of the University of Minnesota commented: "The conventional wisdom has been that teens underestimate their risk, but there are also studies showing that they are no worse than adults at perceiving their vulnerability to risk and that they tend to overestimate their risk of dying."

(Source: www.webmd.com)

Labels: teens, high risk behavior

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Drug addicts are at increased risk of contracting and transmitting HIV infections. Therefore, helping drug addicts could possibly curb the number of new HIV infections worldwide, according to information presented at the 18th International AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria.

Nora Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said that many drugs increase sexual desire and impulsivity while decreasing the function of the inhibitory systems of the brain. Even after a person stopped using drugs, impulsive behaviors can persist for years.

"If you do not treat the addiction," she said, "the likelihood of any individual being infected by HIV becomes higher. "

For example, Volkow noted that substituting methadone for heroin reduces the rate of HIV transmission from 20% to 2% over a period of 18 months.

"Addiction is a chronic disease," Volkow said. "People take drugs, not because the individual wants to but because they have lost their ability to control."

Labels: health problems, addiction treatment, treatment, high risk behavior

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 2 Comments