Treating Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

By admin | July 25, 2008

The effects of fetal alcohol exposure may be more profound than researchers hoped. Results of a new study reveal the prenatal damage to peptides in the fetal brain may endure into adulthood despite environmental enrichment provided in a child’s early years.

Neurotrophins — a family of peptides produced in the nervous system — are critical for normal development of the brain. Research has shown prenatal alcohol exposure may be particularly destructive for neurotrophins, with effects lasting into adulthood.

“Neurotrophins also play important roles in learning and memory, and contribute to the repair of the brain following injury or stress,” study author Robert F. Berman, Ph.D., a professor in the department of neurological surgery at the University of California — Davis, was quoted as saying.

Dr. Berman said treatment of other types of brain injury with environmental enrichment therapy could be beneficial. However, new research in rats suggests the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and environmental rearing conditions on neurotrophin levels are largely independent.

“In this study, we found that being raised in an enriched environment, with ample opportunities for motor and sensory stimulation, and social interactions, unexpectedly resulted in reduced levels of neurotrophins in some areas of the cortex, but not in other areas which are well known to be affected by prenatal alcohol exposure,” Dr. Berman said.

He went on to say additional research is needed to devise better treatment strategies for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
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SOURCE: To be published in the October 2008 edition of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

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‘A culture of intoxication’

By admin | July 24, 2008

Nova Scotia still has a drinking problem. People in the province still drive drunk, still go on benders at bars, still drink underage and some drink while pregnant.

To combat this, last August the provincial Department of Health Promotion and Protection launched a strategy called Changing the Culture of Alcohol Use in Nova Scotia.

Almost a year later that plan is leading to some tangible efforts, but there’s been a lot of legwork to do, a provincial official says.

“We know a fair amount around what the issues are,” Carolyn Davison, director for addictions services for the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, said Wednesday. “We also know the broad things that we’d like to do to target them. It’s just helping the public and government get prepared and ready and willing to do it.”

The strategy indicates the health, social and economic costs of alcohol use in Nova Scotia are enormous: $419 million a year.

Last year was the deadliest on Nova Scotia roads in more than a decade and almost a third of 79 fatal collisions involved alcohol. The year wound up with a Christmas Eve brawl outside Halifax’s Liquor Dome that saw 38 people arrested after a cheap-drink night.

“We know there are some (policies) we should be doing around the pricing of alcohol, it’s just whether or not we can help government understand what is the best approach there,” Ms. Davison said.

A group including chief public health officer Dr. Robert Strang formed after that melee to consider things like drink prices and bar advertising, hours of operation and the training of bar and security staff.

The group has made its report to government.

In the meantime, the department is working with the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia to update rules on training for servers. The province is also looking at introducing a program called Safer Bars that aims to help staff recognize and avoid potentially violent situations.

There are plans to roll out a new ad campaign on the hazardous drinking in September when masses of students return to the province. High-risk drinking is common among people aged 19 to 29. While the risks of drinking and driving ought to be no brainer, there is confusion about when and how much a person can drink safely, Ms. Davison said.

“Some people think they should drink because there are some health benefits to it,” she said. “There are some mixed messages there, but people don’t necessarily understand what the limits are. They don’t necessarily understand how in Nova Scotia we have a particular culture that seems to promote a culture of intoxication.”

Updated guidelines are expected to be released by Health Canada this summer. The strategy has provided funding to hire alcohol coordinators in five district health authorities. That’s helped districts set up programs to meet local needs, like the Making Alcohol Related Changes group in the Capital district health authority. It aims to help people control their alcohol use before it becomes an addiction and causes serious problems.

Capital Health is also the setting for another pilot project that’s meant to determine when alcohol has played a role in Nova Scotians’ traumatic injuries and help those suffering alcohol-related trauma make lifestyle changes. The provincial trauma team based at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre is summoned more than 500 times a year to care for people injured in car or ATV crashes or serious falls.

Under the pilot project those people will be tested for blood alcohol content. Those testing positive will be assessed for their willingness to accept alcohol counselling, said Paul Helwig, a clinical program manager at Capital Health.

“Sometimes when there’s such events such as this, people are more willing to look at their behaviour and take the changes necessary,” he said. “When the iron’s hot, we need to strike sometimes.”

He said this has been done on an ad hoc basis before but will be done consistently now. Patients will be able to access social workers and addictions counselling and be referred to programs in the home districts if they’re from outside Capital Health. If the program proves effective it might be used for less critical emergency department visits, many of which also involve alcohol.

“We’re not out to tell people they can’t drink,” Mr. helwig said. “We just want them to see the realization of maybe they ended up in this accident because they had too much to drink.”

All told just under $800,000 has been spent so far on projects related to the alcohol strategy.
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source: Nova Scotia News

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Study Uncovers Sobering Facts About Alcohol Abuse Detection in Surgical Patients

By admin | July 23, 2008

A study in this month’s Anesthesiology found evidence that alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are frequently overlooked in patients undergoing surgery ― but also touts a very simple and effective method to identify patients who may be at risk for alcohol-related perioperative complications.

In the AUD study, anesthesiologist Claudia D. Spies, M.D., and her research group from Charite-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin studied 1,556 surgical patients and found a trend of missed opportunities in identifying those at risk.

“First, we noted that AUD is not diagnosed adequately during preoperative assessment,” said Dr. Spies. “Then, even if a finding of AUD was made before surgery, preventive measures were not often undertaken. This is significant because patients with AUD have three to four times more complications during and around the time of surgery than patients without AUD.”

According to Dr. Spies, an important key to detection may lie in a computerized self-assessment tool called AUDIT, or the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. When AUDIT was used, over twice as many patients with AUD were identified compared to the standard preoperative interview.

Part of AUDIT’s success (when compared to physicians’ interviews alone) may be due in part to physicians’ lack of training in preoperative screening for alcohol use and also the more anonymous nature of the computerized test itself.

“Patients seem to be more confident in answering questions about their alcohol use in a computer-based question-and-answer format,” said Dr. Spies.

Although it appears that a more accurate assessment of alcohol use is obtained when the human element is removed from the screening process, it is exactly that human element that is crucial to the success of strategies dealing with an enormous societal problem, said Dr. Spies.

“Anesthesiologists can play an important role in preventing severe consequences of AUD and thereby contributing to an improvement in public health,” she said. “Preoperative screening for AUD provides not only the opportunity to select patients for preventive medical interventions but also allows us to screen large and diverse patient populations for at-risk drinkers whose behavior my become dangerous at some point in the future.”

In 2006, the World Health Organization reported that alcohol use was the third highest risk factor for death and disability in the general population of Europe and the leading risk factor for young Europeans.

Dr. Spies’ study found that an overwhelming majority of physicians neglected to use well-documented tools for AUD detection, perhaps because they were uncomfortable in questioning patients about alcohol consumption.

“Physicians tend to underestimate and miss AUD in younger patients, especially young female patients,” she said. “Our results emphasize that the use of computer-based screening methods, such as AUDIT, applied to every patient, are effective in addressing these biases.”

When AUD is properly identified, physicians can then begin the important step of intervention strategies that might include a brief motivational interview or tailored advice, said. Dr. Spies. Patients desiring long-term assistance in changing their drinking habits can then be referred to a specialist in the field.

Dr. Spies’ research is the first to systematically study the effectiveness of a computerized version of the AUDIT test in a preoperative assessment clinic. And although it found inadequate diagnoses among many health care professionals, the study offers simple solutions to a complex problem and should serve as a wake-up call to physicians the world over.

“The enormous amount of well-conducted research into AUD and its social, physical and psychological consequences will not yield the benefits it should if we fail to implement strategies for the detection of AUD into daily clinical practice,” said Dr. Spies.

This study underscores recent efforts by anesthesiologists to address lifestyle issues affecting patients’ health, such as the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ smoking cessation campaign initiated earlier this year.

For more information visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists Web site at www.asahq.org and the journal Anesthesiology site at http://www.anesthesiology.org.

Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 43,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.
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source: Newswise, http://www.newswise.com

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Codeine the silent addiction

By admin | July 22, 2008

The term ‘heroin addiction’ conjures up images of the down and out, malnourished and skeletal, banging up drugs in a backdrop of squalor with a dirty syringe full of god knows what; a tatty piece of cord-turned-tourniquet, clenched between the teeth with its distal end inflating the last surviving veins. An arm ravaged by years of injecting drug use.

This stereotypical image of the heroin addict is, in the vast majority of cases, a false one but it nonetheless highlights how heroin addiction is viewed by society. Heroin users are stigmatised and often feel like outcasts, hopeless.

While heroin use has received considerable media coverage in the past decade, there is an addiction emerging that has only recently caught media attention.

Codeine addiction. In the US the drug has earned the nickname ‘Hillbilly heroin’.

Codeine is a short acting opiate drug which belongs to the same family as heroin. Although its effects tend to be milder than heroin, if taken regularly users can become physically dependent on the drug.

Over the Counter (OTC) codeine based analgesic preparations contain small amounts of codeine, usually between 5 and 12.5mg per tablet. The codeine is usually combined with paracetamol (e.g. Solpadeine) or with ibuprofen (an anti-inflammatory drug, e.g. Nurofen Plus).

Herein lies the biggest problem associated with these medications. While codeine is addictive it is not usually physically harmful to those who regularly use the drug. This is similar how people get hooked on cigarettes — it’s the nicotine that’s highly addictive, but it’s the 4,000 or so chemicals in cigarette smoke that cause, by far, the most damage.

Paracetamol, if taken in sufficiently large quantities (possibly as little as 20 x 500mg tablets a day), is toxic to the liver and can result in irreversible liver failure.

Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and like all NSAIDs, chronic use can result in kidney problems and stomach ulceration.

These ulcers can perforate or bleed, which may require emergency surgery. The vast majority of regular users are unaware of these potentially catastrophic effects.

I recently started a patient on methadone who developed a perforated stomach ulcer from years of abuse of codeine-ibuprofen preparations.

She told me that she never knew that these drugs were addictive. She explained: “I spent years going from doctor to doctor trying to get help. They had no idea how to treat this addiction.

“I tried to detox myself off the tablets but became very sick with severe pains in the stomach, the shakes and vomiting. In the end I just had to go back on them.

“Since I started methadone treatment I have been off the tablets for six months. I’ve never felt better. It’s given my family and me our lives back.”

The prevalence of codeine based analgesic abuse in Ireland is not known.

There is little doubt that these drugs, when taken appropriately and as directed, help many thousands of pain sufferers in this country and improve their quality of life.

The treatment of codeine addiction is not simple. In Ireland, the only drug licensed for the purpose of treating codeine dependence is methadone, a drug far more commonly used to treat heroin users. Whilst the drug is very effective at reducing the harm associated with analgesic abuse, it is probably not the best option if detoxification is the ultimate goal.

In the UK and many other countries, a drug called buprenorphine is available and may be a better option.

Codeine (in the form of dihydrocodeine) is also used for this purpose. This allows patients to be given the addictive drug in reducing doses, but without the harmful additional drugs (paracetamol and NSAIDs), so that they can be safely weaned off codeine over time.

There are no treatment facilities in this country that specialise in the treatment of codeine addiction. The only options are either non-state funded (drug- free) rehabilitation centres or methadone treatment facilities.

Whilst rehab centres may appear more attractive to codeine misusers, there is a high relapse rate. On the other hand, methadone treatment centres are unlikely to appeal to many codeine addicts.

Opening specialist clinics may be an option, however many patients for reasons of confidentiality, may eschew these services.

A potential treatment option is for patients to be treated by community GPs trained in addiction treatment. The GP setting is much less threatening.

Depression

As addiction sufferers are at a higher risk of psychiatric problems than the general population, GPs are well placed to treat symptoms such as depression and anxiety and could refer more serious mental disorders to a psychiatrist.

Finally, whilst codeine based analgesia is widely available I would guard against restricting its use by making it prescription only. The vast majority of people use these drugs safely and as directed. It would be unfair to penalise the majority because the minority are misusing them, however greater awareness and better treatment options are needed than currently exists.
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source: The Herald, http://www.herald.ie

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Benefits clampdown on heroin and crack users

By admin | July 21, 2008

Nearly 267,000 heroin and crack users are on benefits and will be required to own up to their drug problems and take treatment - or lose their money, James Purnell the work and pensions secretary, will say today.

He will also announce measures that may take as many as 200,000 families out of child poverty.

The radical proposals, contained in a welfare green paper to be published today were welcomed by David Cameron. The Conservative leader said he was thrilled with the Purnell green paper and promised to support it in the Commons, adding he thought it could take a million people off incapacity benefit.

Cameron will present his own scheme on Wednesday to help an extra 100,000 mainly unskilled males find worthwhile jobs through apprenticeships.

Research from the Department of Work and Pensions shows 66,000 drug users are accessing job seekers allowance in England, 146,000 are in receipt of income support and 87,000 receive incapacity benefit. The figures cover only England in 2006, suggesting the UK-wide figure is well over 300,000.

In London, 66,000 of 703,000 claimants are either on heroin or crack cocaine, the DWP research suggests. Purnell plans to make it a requirement for these drug users to seek treatment.

Problem drug users largely do not own up to their addiction when they seek benefits, according to the DWP study. Nearly 7% of all benefit claimants are problem drug users, it finds.

Chris Grayling, the shadow work secretary, described the statistics as “profoundly depressing, but they also underline the need for a much more robust approach to our welfare system. Drug addicts should not be allowed to claim benefits unconditionally.”

In the green paper Purnell seeks to strike a balance between imposing responsibilities and granting new rights to some claimant, especially those with disabilities.

He will highlight plans to take up to 200,000 households out of child poverty largely by introducing “a full disregard” in child maintenance payments from April 2010. Any child maintenance payments parents receive will not be taken into account when calculating how much out-of-work benefit they should get.

Purnell is also placing fresh requirements on lone parents with children as young as five to prepare themselves for work.

He will set out medium-term plans to abolish income support so that eventually claimants are put on one of two benefits: employment support allowance for the sick and job seekers allowance for those capable of working, or temporarily unable to work due to care responsibilities.

One of the most radical proposals, requiring those on JSA for more than two years as well as benefit cheats to work for their dole, is estimated to potentially affect only about 5,000 people.

The enthusiastic backing of the Conservatives is likely to ensure the proposals become law.

David Willetts, the shadow skills and higher education secretary, will publish a £100m plan to offer small and medium size firms a £2,000 bonus for each trainee who completes an apprenticeship.

Willetts said: “Our recommendations are aimed at improving social mobility. Many of our social problems stem from the disengagement of young people, and we want to provide more opportunities, particularly to young men, to get them off the streets and on their way in life.”
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source: guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

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Stop Drinking Now…7 Tips to Alcohol Recovery

By admin | July 20, 2008

Drinking Alcohol is a serious health issue and affects almost everyone in one way or another, so this article will help guide you towards a guaranteed method of quitting this forsaken addiction. If you feel that this subject may affect you or somebody you know, then please read on with an open mind as you could be one step away from changing your or somebody else’s life.

The decision to stop alcohol addiction is a hard one. Here is a list of 7 helpful tips to help you on your path to a life without alcohol.

1) Stop Drinking for Yourself - You have to want to take this step for it to work. The decision cannot be only for your family, significant other, or whoever might be asking you to stop. If you don’t do it for yourself, you are already placing an obstacle in your path.

2) Importance of Physical Exercise - Many studies have suggested that people who exercise regularly while trying to stay sober are less likely to relapse. Exercise has a tendency to lower stress and keep a person in a more relaxed state which is a plus when working toward sobriety.

3) Reward Yourself - Sometimes people get so focused on setting goals, they forget to reward themselves for the ones they have reached. Rewards are important to recovery as they encourage you to stay with the sobriety program you are on. The more frequent the reward, the more positive quitting alcohol will become.

4) Don’t Feel Guilty Should You Fail - Guilt over a relapse or setback is only counterproductive to your end goal. Don’t give up, but forget it and continue to move forward. Alcohol addiction is a major challenge and like most challenges, is not easy.

5) Get some kind of outside help - Whether it’s A.A., some kind of therapy, or a proven formula to get sober, utilize something outside of your normal scope of thinking and experience. Left alone to ones thoughts and methods is probably not the best thing, since those thoughts and methods contributed to the addiction in the first place.

6) Seek Out Company - This can be a challenge for those who are single. If you can’t encircle yourself with people, get out more which helps create a brand new outlook on life.

7) Develop a New Alcohol Free Routine - Get up earlier, include some exercise into the daily routine, the potential is endless. After all a day without alcohol is a new routine in itself.

Beating alcohol is a different battle for everyone that comes with its own steps and pace. There are no rules or time limits on the road from addiction to sobriety. Take it as it comes.
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source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles

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Binge-drinking teens on track for disaster

By admin | July 19, 2008

As always, I had a great time at Courtenay’s Island Music Fest this past weekend, and I don’t want what I’m about to say to be taken as criticism of what is a summer highlight for my family.

But holy moly, there was some out-of-control drinking going on up there.

There were kids drinking so hard that I suspect some of them were putting their lives at risk. They were falling-down, glassy-eyed, fumble-footed drunks. I can’t imagine the drunken coupling that went on in the teens’ sprawling, bottle-strewn campsites that would have failed the legal test of consent.

I like young people and saw a whole lot of them at the festival who were there for all the right reasons and not just to drink themselves blotto in the campground. I definitely wouldn’t want anyone thinking that I’m pointing the finger at young people in general — or even underage drinking.

What disturbed me was not that some teens were drinking, but that they were drinking so heavily.

I saw one girl, maybe 15 or 16 , staggering around between the tents absolutely blasted, wearing an itsy, bitsy bikini and carrying a beer. It was 10 a.m. I couldn’t help but wonder about all the bad things that might have happened to her already.

One worried camper started bringing water to the drunken teens camped near his site, trying to help them stay hydrated as they sat drinking fearlessly for hour after hour in the hot sun.

The studies call it “binge drinking.” It’s defined as any single drinking session where you consume four or more alcoholic drinks (four for females, six for males). Not surprisingly, it’s the riskiest way to drink and the most likely to lead to something bad happening.

Binge drinkers are five times more likely to have unprotected sex. They’re more likely to drive drunk and to cause accidents that kill. They’re at significantly higher risk of getting in trouble with police and much more likely to get in fights. Gender matters: Men are three to six times more likely than women to binge drink.

Should a binge drinker develop habits that last — another known risk — he or she is looking at higher risk of more than 60 health conditions: Heart disease, brain damage, liver failure, cancer. Hard drinkers also risk chronic problems with sexual performance and fertility.

In other words, nothing good comes from binge drinking. But the health stats still don’t really get at the issue that scares me most when I see kids drinking hard, which is how completely vulnerable they are to unforeseen events that could change their lives forever.

I drank to get drunk myself as a young teen, although I can’t recall ever being quite as blasted as some of the girls I saw last weekend. Those drinking hardest seemed to be between 14 and their early 20s, but there were a number of older festival-goers hammering it back as well.

Drinking is more or less sanctioned at the festival, what with a beer garden on site and a relaxed alcohol policy in the campsite. Perhaps that’s something organizers will want to reflect on.

But just because you can doesn’t mean you have to, and it’s that point that requires the most thought.

More than a fifth of British Columbians are occasional binge drinkers. In terms of consumption — which is rising — Vancouver Island is second only to the Interior as the B.C. region that drinks the most. In Europe, where binge-drinking is a growing concern, a 2006 study found that 80 million Europeans were drinking at harmful levels once a week or more.

Hopefully we all know the drill on alcohol: That it slows the functions of the central nervous system; affects parts of the brain that control emotion, movement, balance, judgment and impulse; lowers people’s pain thresholds; fogs all five senses. If you’re pregnant, it wreaks havoc on the developing fetus.

Too much of it and you’re dead, as a group of California teens were reminded in March when a 16-year-old pal drank herself to death at their party.

The message: Don’t binge drink, both for your sake and for the sake of whatever young kid is noticing how you knock them back and concluding that’s the way it’s done.

And one for the parents: What the heck are you doing blithely dropping off young teens at the festival campground for three days as if somebody’s looking out for them? Teens need their parents to help them learn when to draw the line.
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source: Times Colonist

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New Medications May Offer Hope to Drinkers Battling Alcohol Dependence

By admin | July 18, 2008

Individuals who experience the physical, mental and social symptoms associated with alcohol dependence are offered hope through the results of two recent studies by researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). In separate investigations, researchers found favorable results for a medication to help heavy drinkers who are trying to modify their consumption, as well as a medication to reduce alcohol withdrawal symptoms and prevent relapse.

In a landmark study, MUSC researchers working with investigators at the University of Virginia Health System and elsewhere have found that topiramate, an effective therapeutic medication, not only decreases heavy drinking, but it also lowers all liver enzymes, plasma cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure — all of which tend to increase with heavy drinking and pose such serious health risks as heart disease and cirrhosis. Notably, these combined effects suggest that topiramate may decrease the risk of heart disease in alcohol dependent individuals.

“These findings add growing data indicating that heavy drinkers who modify their drinking with the help of medication and supportive counseling may see an improvement in health and well-being, as well as a potential reduction of risk for the development of heart and liver diseases. This shows that treatment of alcoholism has potential health benefits beyond the immediate behavioral and emotional improvement caused by a reduction in drinking” said Raymond Anton, M.D., distinguished university professor.

By decreasing liver enzymes and cholesterol levels, topiramate also may reduce the risk of fatty liver disease, which leads to cirrhosis - a common consequence to end-stage liver disease leading to death in some alcoholics.

Additionally, topiramate significantly contributed to a decline in obsessive thoughts and compulsions, components of alcohol craving, and also had a greater improvement in their “overall quality of life,” and specifically an improvement in general and leisure activities and household duties, as well as a reduction in sleep disturbances.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved topiramate for seizures and migraine headaches, but it is not currently approved for treating alcohol dependence. Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, Inc., manufactures topiramate and provided study funding.

Results from the nationwide 14-week trial involving 371 male and female diagnosed alcoholics was published in the June 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In addition, Anton presented initial results from a separate investigation of a 14-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study utilizing the PROMETA ® alcoholism treatment program, developed by Hythiam, inc., at the 2008 Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) conference in Washington D.C.

Anton suggested that alcohol dependence programs are few in number and not exceptionally effective, which is particularly true for individuals who experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms. PROMETA ®, a combination of generic medications, reduced cravings and alcohol withdrawal symptoms, promoted abstinence, and improved mood and sleep only in those who had symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Although the PROMETA ® Protocol has been marketed nationally, this was the first scientific study examining its utility in individuals with alcohol dependence.

At the time of the RSA presentation, the data presented covered the initial six-week active treatment phase of the 14-week study. While these are initial findings, additional evaluation of the full 14-week study data is ongoing, and Anton plans to release these specifics in a peer-reviewed publication.

MUSC has an ongoing clinical trial program studying new medications for the treatment of alcohol use disorders. For more information call 843-792-2727.
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source: Newswise Medical News

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It’s all about drugs, say local authorities

By admin | July 17, 2008

Drugs are the common thread running through the most extreme crimes in the Poconos.

According to court records, drugs permeated the life of Steven Santillo for years. Last week a motorist found Santillo shot dead at the intersection of Hypsie Gap and Laurel roads in Chestnuthill Township. State police have accused Fritz Gerald Dejoie, 21, of the murder. They say the men had a relationship that involved drugs, and Santillo may have owed Dejoie money. Both men were unemployed.

“The general public doesn’t understand the depth of the drug problem in the Poconos, or how drugs impact the amount of crime we have,” said Eric Kerchner, Monroe County District Attorney’s Office detective and drug task force coordinator.

“Many users and dealers are not gainfully employed. The have to get money somewhere, usually they get it from crime,” Kerchner said.

In 2002, unemployed drug dealer Otis Powell was charged with shooting and killing brothers Keith and Daniel Foiathis after an argument in Stroudsburg.

“The majority of crimes in the Poconos are drug related,” according to Kerchner, who’s office conducts undercover drug buys in Monroe County. Buys are made in the parking lots of businesses, in private homes and on street corners all over the county. Marijuana, heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs are all prevalent.

Carbon Monroe Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission Executive Director Rich Mroczka said that well over 60 percent of the agency’s caseload involves people in the criminal justice system in some way.

“It could affect anybody in our society at any level. People have good jobs and nice families ruined because of addiction,” Mroczka said.

Alcohol has always been the top drug of choice because it is legal. Marijuana used to be second, but not anymore. Heroin and prescription opiates like OxyContin are most prevalent, according to Mroczka.

“Kids are raiding parent’s medicine cabinets. They put the drugs in a bowl at parties,” he said.

“Heroin is 90 to 95 percent pure. You don’t have to inject it anymore. You can snort it,” Mroczka said.

Drugs were at the center of a grisly 2003 ax murder in Kresgeville.

Manuel Sepulveda was described as a crazed crack dealer by his victim’s mother. Sepulveda killed drug dealer Johnny Mendez after an argument about stolen guns. Mendez survived a close-range gunshot from Sepulveda, and his accomplice, Daniel Heleva, chopped Mendez with an ax. A wounded Mendez escaped the bloody home, but the attackers dragged him back inside and killed him. Sepulveda also shot and killed Ricardo Enrique Lopez Jr. in the same incident.

“Disputes over money, territory and confidentiality are reasons relationships turn violent,” Kerchner said.

If a dealer suspects someone of stealing his customers or reporting him to the to police, there will be trouble.

“It’s their lifestyle and means of income. They sell drugs so they can afford to use them,” Kerchner said.

Mroczka says addiction is a progressive disease. Big problems don’t happen overnight. For some, “There is a desperation to feed the habit and to live. Some have no home or food,” Mroczka said.

The first place addicts turn to when they get desperate is often to those closest to them. They commit crimes against family members.

“It’s the family who enables the situation to continue. By paying the fines and putting up bail money, they enable the addiction to continue,” Mroczka said.

Addicts frequently lose their jobs. To continue the habit, they sell part of the drugs they buy at a profit. That takes customers away from other dealers. A recipe for danger. Unregulated trade invites harsh, often fatal, rule enforcement from inside the drug world.

Quitting the drug business is tricky too. It is not easy to stop dealing without making associates nervous.

A drug deal gone bad left dealer David Sigmund Jr. shot dead and Christopher Nowak wounded in the East Stroudsburg Wal-Mart parking lot in 2006.

John Brabazon and Joseph Alvardo were out of cash but they had been snorting cocaine, smoking marijuana and drinking beer that night. They wanted more drugs and decided to rob them from Sigmund.

“Drugs are one of the major problems we have in our area. A lot of people don’t realize that,” said Mroczka.
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source: http://www.poconorecord.com

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Australian Government Develops Strategy for Combating Alcohol Abuse

By admin | July 16, 2008

The Federal Government in Australia is developing a strategy for combating excessive alcohol consumption, spending $53.5 million dollars on a national strategy. This comes after concern about binge drinking amongst young people, a rise of alcohol-related violence and associated problems.

The national approach follows state government strategies to combat alcohol abuse. One state government recently introduced new closing times for hotels and bars making it more difficult to continue drinking throughout the early hours of the morning.

Another tactic the Government is proposing is to tax the drinks referred to as alcopops –- pre-mixed drinks marketed to young people. Coca-cola Amatil is upset by this move believing that it will have no affect on binge drinking. However, evidence on the taxing of certain alcoholic drinks has shown that when taxed, consumption drops.

For example, when light beer was introduced which attracted a lower tax, a significant number of people switched to the less expensive light beer. In addition, in one state the effect of higher taxes on alcohol lead to reduced alcohol related problems in all communities including indigenous ones. However, this tax was later removed resulting in huge social problems relating to an increase in the consumption of alcohol.

Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that teenage girls are becoming heavy drinkers –- 3 times more likely than boys to consume alcohol once a week. They are also drinking more and are more likely to drink at harmful levels with figures showing that nearly 30% put themselves at risk every month (1).

The short term risks include risk-taking behaviour, coordination problems leading to falling over and other accidents, speech problems, unconsciousness, and heart problems (2). While long term there is the risk of breast cancer based on research linking it to the moderate consumption of alcohol.

Over the last 12 months the consumption of alcopops jumped by 15%. The number of teenage girls between the ages of 12-17 that consumed alcopops between 2000-2004 rose from 23% to almost 50% (1).

Surprisingly the tax is not being supported by the opposition who claim that it will be blocked. This is despite the evidence that a tax will contribute to a reduction in consumption as advised by experts. Professor John Toumbourou, of Health Psychology at Deakin University, believes a price increase will affect consumption particularly of girls that have fixed drinking preferences.

It is not just governments who have a role to play but parents as well. Research has shown that introducing alcohol to children at an early age to encourage sensible drinking is not good at all, as the earlier they are introduced, the more likely they will become binge drinkers.

For this reason the National Health and Medical Research Council changed its guidelines. It now recommends that children 15 and under should not be given any alcohol. Some health experts want to take this further and make it illegal for anyone to give children and young teenagers any alcohol.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is now also developing strategies to combat binge drinking among young people as well as health problems caused by over-consumption. This will include guidelines on the marketing, pricing and distribution of alcohol.
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source: Natural News

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Topics: Alcohol Addiction, Medical News, society, teenagers | No Comments »

Steps to protect your liver

By admin | July 15, 2008

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and getting the Hepatitis B vaccine is the most effective way of preventing liver cancer, writes KASMIAH MUSTAPHA. IT may not have received as much attention as other forms of cancer, but in reality, liver cancer is the most common cancer in the world. It is also the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.

Making it even more deadly are the two types of liver cancer — primary and secondary. Primary liver cancer is defined as cancer that begins in liver cells — called hepatocytes. This type of cancer is called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which accounts for 90 per cent of liver cancer cases.

Secondary liver cancer is the result of the mutation of the cells from another type of cancer which spreads to the liver.

HCC is caused by several factors which include chronic infection of hepatitis B and/or hepatitic C virus, cirrhosis which is scar tissues of the liver, alcohol abuse, long-term exposure to alfatoxins which is produced by many species of fungus that can be found in tree nuts, peanuts and other oilseed, smoking, long-term use of anabolic steroids and obesity.

Often HCC has no symptoms until the cancer is at an advanced stage making early treatment almost impossible.

Symptoms usually include fatigue, pain on the right side of the upper abdomen or around the right shoulder blade, nausea, loss of appetite, feeling full after a small meal, unexplained weight loss and jaundice.

Consultant clinical oncologist Dr Chong Kwang Jeat says the prognosis for HCC is never good with the survival rate of less than a year. This is largely due to the fact that the symptoms are presented at an advanced stage and there are very few treatment options for the patients.

“Liver cancer is under-reported due to lack of awareness and there is certainly a high medical need for an early and reliable diagnosis as well as for an effective life-prolonging treatment,” he added.

In Malaysia, liver cancer is the 10th most common cancer among men and the 15th most common cancer among women.

In 2003, there were 530 cases of HCC reported in Malaysia. Ninety per cent of HCC is cause by hepatitis B, followed by hepatitis C and alcohol.

However, while it may be impossible to prevent secondary liver cancer, there are possibilities of reducing the risks from HCC by taking steps to protect your liver.

Those in the high risks group — namely those with chronic hepatitis B, C and drink alcohol — should go for screening often as early detection have the potential to cure the disease.

“The most effective way of preventing liver cancer is to get vaccination from hepatitis B. The vaccination will provide protection from the infectious disease and at the same time protect your liver from HCC.”

According to the World Health Organisation, hepatitis B vaccine has an outstanding record of safety and effectiveness. Since 1982, over one billion doses of hepatitis B vaccine have been used worldwide. Studies have shown that the vaccine is 95 per cent effective in preventing children and adults from developing chronic infection if they have not yet been infected.

Dr Chong says treatment for liver cancer will depend on the stage of the disease. If it is caught in the early stage, surgery to remove the cancerous growth will be done. However only about 15 per cent of patients can be operated on.

“Treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, percutaneous ethanol injection and targeted therapy.”

Meanwhile, Professor Dr Peter Galle, Department of Internal Medicine director at the University of Mainz in Germany, says surgery and chemotherapy are used to treat liver cancer that is diagnosed in the early stage, when the tumour is confined to a small area of the liver.

“Unfortunately liver cancer is a devastating disease that is diagnosed too late, too often. This is because there are no symptoms in the early stages of the disease.”

Bayer Schering Pharma had recently launched sorafenib as the oral targeted therapy for the treatment of liver cancer. Sorafenib was approved and launched in Malaysia for the treatment of kidney cancer last year. Based on clinical trials, it is found that sorafenib improves patient’s survival rate by 44 per cent.
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source: NST Online, http://www.nst.com