Featured Articles

A new study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that a number of pre-teen children have sought treatment for substance abuse problems, including abuse of amphetamines, marijuana, alcohol and heroin.

The Institute of Health reports that the number of Australians getting help from treatment providers is on the rise. Last year, treatment sessions increased from 7,000 to 154,0000. The Institute also reports that alcohol is, by far, the most common substance abuse problem.

Amber Jefferson, from the Institute, recounted drug use data, including: "Alcohol comprising 44 per cent of episodes in 2007/08, compares to 38 per cent back in 2002/03 ... and alcohol treatment is followed by treatment for cannabis at 22 percent, amphetamines 11 percent and heroin at 11 percent."

(Source: www.abc.net.au)

Labels: alcohol, marijuana, teen substance abuse, heroin, treatment

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

According to a new report from the University of Kentucky, 90 percent of the 1.4 million adolescents struggling with substance abuse do not get treatment, partly because not enough treatment programs are devoted to teens. The report was compiled by Hannah Knudsen, an assistant professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Behavioral Science and a researcher in the universitys Center on Drug and Alcohol Research.

The report contained a random sampling of 154 programs. Knudsen looked at nine domains of quality. Overall, the cohort of programs received an average score. Addiction treatment services for teens in the Lexington, Kentucky area appear especially lacking. Of the 38 programs in the area, only six offer services for teens.

Knudsen commented, "One barrier has to do with the limited amount of funding that exists for substance abuse treatment. ... In addition, treating adolescents means that treatment programs need to find counselors with experience and training that helps them to work well with teenagers; that can also be a challenge."

(Source: kykernel.com)

Labels: teen drug abuse, addiction treatment, treatment

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) have found that medical training lacks sufficient education on addiction, which is resulting in suboptimal medical care for individuals with addictive behaviors. The researchers found that a CRIT (Chief Resident Immersion Training program) in addiction is an effective way to disseminate needed information to medical staff. The chief resident takes information from this program and teaches it to residents through a "train-the-trainer" model.

Lead author of the study, Daniel P. Alford, MD, MPH, FACP, Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine and director of Chief Resident Immersion Training in the Addiction Medicine Section of General Internal Medicine at BMC, commented: "Training chief residents who have a primary responsibility for educating medical trainees, appears to be one important pragmatic strategy to address the compelling need for better physician training in the identification and management of patients with addiction. ... This program effectively transferred evidence-based addiction knowledge and practice to 64 chief residents in generalist disciplines and more importantly, enhanced the addiction curriculum in 47 residency programs." (Sources: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: addiction, treatment, diagnosis

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

April 8, 2009 marks the 91st birthday of former first lady Betty Ford. With the founding of the Betty Ford Center in 1982, Betty Ford made a groundbreaking contribution to the treatment of addiction for women. Betty had many roles in her lifetime: model, dancer, first lady, feminist, and cancer survivor. But it was her experience battling and surviving her own addictions that led to her most memorable venture.

In April 1978, the year that her husband lost the presidential election to democratic candidate Jimmy Carter, Betty began losing her battle against substance addiction. Her family staged an intervention, and she was admitted to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Long Beach, California, for chemical dependency. During her treatment at the hospital, she first saw the need for a detoxification and treatment center that would offer services for each gender separately. In 1982, Betty joined with her friend Ambassador Leonard Firestone to co-found the nonprofit center. (Source: www.findingdulcinea.com)

Labels: addiction, treatment, rehab

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A delegation of doctors from Afghanistan is visiting Maryland this week to learn more about treating addiction. Addiction is a huge problem for the country, where almost 90 percent of the world's opium is produced. One devastating issue is that many poor mothers sedate their children with opium because it makes them appear happy and quiet. It is also a cheap and easy way for them to keep their children quiet and under control while they work. The delegation will spend a week observing group therapy sessions and how drug treatment programs in the United States are designed and delivered. (Source: www.news8.net)

Labels: addiction, treatment

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

A growing body of evidence states that treating drug and alcohol abuse is more costly than treating cancer and obesity. In response to this evidence, Magellan Health Service has rolled out a national program aimed at substance abuse.

Magellan said medication-assisted treatment (MAT) intervention to battle substance use disorders has shown success in recent years in several trials in Texas and Georgia.

MAT relies on increasing the use of proven medications… to treat recovering abusers of alcohol and other drugs as part of an outpatient treatment program, Magellan said. [Source: Hartford Business Journal]

Magellan has made training available to treatment centers and other facilities that deal with substance and alcohol abuse. The company’s chief medical officer, Gary M. Henschen, M.D., says Magellan is confident that inclusion of medication into treatment programs will “help reduce relapse.”

 

Labels: treatment

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

People in therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may benefit from the club drug Ecstasy, according to a small study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

• Researchers followed 20 patients who had suffered for an average of 19 years with posttraumatic stress syndrome.
• During two eight-hour therapy sessions, 12 participants took Ecstasy, and eight did not.
• Among those who took the drug, 80% improved, compared to only 20% in the placebo group.

The researchers noted that the long-term effects of Ecstasy are not completely understood, so other studies need to be performed before the drug is prescribed routinely for therapy sessions.
 

Labels: ecstasy, treatment, ptsd, trauma

Posted By: CRC Health Group 1 Comment

Abuse of prescription drugs among teenagers continues to rise, but resources for those who want to get help aren’t increasing at the same rate. The Director of Youth and Parenting Services Prevention Network in New York says people aren’t yet taking the problem seriously enough:

“While the Prevention Network has collected a thick book full of resources to share, there is only one section with in-patient information and two pieces of paper of adolescent counseling… Choices aren’t that much better or outpatient treatment. [”Source: WSYR-TV (Syracuse, NY)]

Adding to the challenge of finding treatment is the fact that most counseling services focus on older teenagers, even though younger ones are abusing prescription drugs, too.
 

Labels: prescription drugs, treatment

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Men and women in treatment for alcohol dependency respond in similar way to a certain drug. However, there are subtle differences in the ways that female alcoholics approach and respond to treatment programs, according to a new study funded by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

• Researchers studied 378 women and 840 men in treatment for alcohol dependency.
• Some took the drug naltrexone while a control group took sugar pills.
• Both men and women in the study responded in similar ways to naltrexone.

The study found that women developed alcohol dependence approximately three years later than men in the same study. Women were less likely to have been in treatment before, and they consumed fewer alcoholic drinks per day. They were more likely to have consulted with their primary care physicians than to go into specialized treatment for alcoholism.

The study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
 

Labels: alcoholism, treatment, naltrexone

Posted By: Teen Drug Help 0 Comments

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

A new study of laboratory animals found that exercise decreased cocaine-seeking behaviors among adolescents.

• Researchers at the Brookhaven Laboratory and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Laboratory of Neuroimaging exposed a group of "teenage" rats to cocaine that they could administer themselves.
• Then they allowed some control animals to be sedentary while others ran on treadmills.
• The adolescent rats who exercised also decreased the amounts of cocaine they used.
• Female rats tended to use more cocaine than males and preferred not to exercise more often than males.

"This is a first step in trying to understand the connection between exercise and substance abuse," said lead author Peter Thanos.

The study was published in the journal Behavioral Brain Research.

Labels: research, cocaine, treatment

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments