Spike in methadone-related deaths has some seeking drug regulation A drug commended years ago for helping to loosen heroin’s deadly grip in Pennsylvania and beyond may now be the region’s No. 1 killer. Coroners say 21 people in Blair, Cambria and Clearfield counties died of accidental methadone overdoses in 2007 – more than the statewide….
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We must fully debate our attitude to alcohol, or acknowledgment of our dysfunctionality will be suppressed, writes BRIAN O’CONNELL A soon-to-be-published study attempts to define, with some clarity, what the health consequences of our national hangover are. The report examined alcohol-attributable deaths and hospitalisation in Ireland from 2000 to 2004. In that period, one-in-10 bed-days….
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There are more than 800 over-the-counter cold and cough medications. It is a huge and profitable industry, with an excess of $2 billion spent each year nationwide. Because they are sold without a prescription, many people assume the medications are “safe.” These medications are associated with potentially serious side effects. Many products contain multiple substances….
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Once a person’s body becomes accustomed to large amounts of alcohol on a daily basis, the brain and body cannot function normally without alcohol in the system. This condition can develop in matter of weeks in cases of frequent binge drinking or when consuming large quantities on a daily basis. Under these conditions, cutting back….
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Alcohol-related admissions to hospitals in England have soared by more than 50 per cent over the last five years, latest figures revealed last night. Startling data from the Department of Health showed there were 863,257 drink-related admissions in 2007-08, up sharply from 569,418 in 2003-04 – the year Labour’s reforms ushered in round-the-clock drinking. That….
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