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Kids And Prescriptions

The New Fix-Its

U.S. teens are abusing illegal drugs such as marijuana less, but abuse of legal prescription drugs is rising, according to a new study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  However, an increase in abuse of prescription and over-the-counter medications has left anti-drug campaigners confused as to how to combat the problem of legal drugs. Nearly one in 10 high school seniors reported using the prescription painkiller Vicodin without a prescription, while roughly one in 20 said they had used Oxycontin without a prescription.  Overdoses of prescription and over-the-counter drugs accounted for about one-quarter of the 1.3 million drug-related emergency room admissions in 2004.  Some kids are self-medicating undiagnosed depression or anxiety, while others are using stimulants to try to get an edge on tests and studying.  Sadly, prescription drugs are familiar mood-altering substances for a generation that grew up as prescriptions soared for Ritalin and other stimulants to treat maladies such as attention-deficit disorder.  A staggering five million kids take prescription drugs every day for behavior disorders.  Pharmaceutical companies’ production of two often-abused prescription drugs — hydrocodone and oxycodone, the active ingredients in drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin — has risen dramatically as the drugs’ popularity for legitimate uses has increased.  To try to reduce the supply of prescription drugs on the black market, authorities have shut down several “pill mills” — where doctors prescribe inordinate amounts of narcotics — as well as Internet pharmacies that ship drugs with little medical consultation, says Catherine Harnett, chief of demand reduction for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).  Essentially what is most important is not locking up the narcotics it is better parenting and more involvement.

More Drinking…Less Maleness.

Too much drinking? Not performing?

Chronic heavy drinking is bad for you, we all know this, but if you’re a man, have you heard that heavy regular drinking might also make you less able to perform???!!! Studies have shown that when consumed in binge amounts, some men may react by showing a temporary surge in testosterone levels; a hormonal jump that may well in part explain drunken aggression.  In general though, heavy, lengthy and regular use of alcohol has a diminishing effect on testosterone levels. Heavy regular alcohol use robs men of normal testosterone levels, which causes a number of negative health effects.

The Consequences of Lowered Testosterone Levels Include:

• Fatigue
• A decrease in sex drive
• Erectile dysfunction
• Weight gain (fat gain, especially around the mid section)
• A loss of lean muscle
• Irritability
• Body hair loss
• A decrease in bone mass and a resultant increase in the risks of breaks and fractures
• Depression
• Male breasts
• Shrinking testes
• An increase in certain cardiovascular disease risks (men with very low testosterone levels are at a very high risk of heart attack)

Lab tests examining the impact of chronic drinking on testosterone levels have found that as little as 5 days of consecutive binge drinking will cause a lingering fall in testosterone in the body.  So while social norms may seem to demand heavy drinking in certain male focused environments, heavy drinking actually reduces the maleness of those selfsame participants!

If, after a diagnosis of low testosterone levels, you find yourself still drinking alcohol at anything above a very minimal amount and infrequently, you may need to reevaluate your relationship with alcohol – after all, continuing to drink even knowing the harms that alcohol does to your body, is a hallmark sign of an alcohol problem.

Too Skinny….How Does It Happen?

How does this happen?

Anorexia is a complex disease, with myriad causes that range from culture to environment to—as recent studies have shown—genetics. Having a predisposition for anorexia means that a simple decision to diet away those last five pounds triggers something (it’s unclear as to what) that could lead you down a slippery slope.  The drive to become thinner is actually secondary to concerns about control and/or fears relating to one’s body. The individual continues the endless cycle of restrictive eating, often accompanied by other behaviors such as excessive exercising or the overuse of diet pills, diuretics, laxatives, and/or enemas in order to reduce body weight, often to a point close to starvation in order to feel a sense of control over his or her body. This cycle becomes an obsession and, in this way, is similar to any type of addiction.  Studies suggest that a genetic (inherited) component may play a more significant role in determining a person’s susceptibility to anorexia than was previously thought. Researchers are currently attempting to identify the particular gene or genes that might affect a person’s tendency to develop this disorder, and preliminary studies suggest that a gene located at chromosome 1p seems to be involved in determining a person’ s susceptibility to anorexia nervosa.  Anorexia could be caused by a genetic brain disorder shared by sufferers of autism and Asperger’s syndrome.  Noticeably sufferers of anorexia share traits with people who have autism, such as an inability to change rules they have set themselves, perfectionism and a tendency to fixate on details.  A few sources suggest that anorexics are addicted to fasting, apparently because of the chemical changes brought on by starvation. The opioids, enkephalins and endorphins are found to be at elevated levels in the spinal fluid of patients with anorexia.

Studies show that 20% of those affected by anorexia die directly from complications surrounding the disorder.  It is lethal, however, there is help and there is a solution it takes a lifetime of change but the only way for those suffering from anorexia to gain the control they are looking for is to admit the powerlessness over their disorder and behaviors.

Running Away From Unhealthy Behaviors

Drug abuse changes all aspects of an individual’s life.  There are so many detrimental behaviors that become ingrained throughout active addiction, one of which is inactivity.  Moreover whatever healthy aspects of an addict’s life are overshadowed by the atrocious amounts of toxins in their system.  Therefore it is crucial in sobriety to be active and healthy, in fact, it may be able to reverse or at least improve some of the damage done.  Scientists have known for some time that exercise sparks growth of new brain cells in mice, particularly in the hippocampus, the area related to memory and learning. They recently also found that it boosts the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which stimulates the rate at which nerve cells bind to create new pathways, increasing the brain’s storage capacity. Getting your body in motion gets your mind moving—both enhancing mental agility in the short term and protecting against cognitive decline in the long term.

Running for A Healthy Mind

The best brain-boosting results come from heart-rate-raising exertion—specifically, running. In a study conducted by Charles Hillman, PhD, and published in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, when subjects were given memory tests both before and after 30-minute bouts of running on a treadmill, lifting weights, or sitting quietly, those who ran were significantly quicker and more accurate on the second round of tests, while the others demonstrated no change at all.

“Other types of exercise, such as yoga, might have a stress-reducing meditative component,” Baker says, “but it’s aerobic exercise that seems to make the most difference to the brain.”

There are a few theories as to why this might be: One is that dramatic changes in blood flow could bring more growth factors to the brain from other parts of the body, helping to limber up connection-forming neurons, whereas with an activity such as weight-lifting, those growth factors are likely to remain in the muscles. Another is that it improves energy metabolism, ensuring that the noggin receives sufficient glucose and fuel. And a third is that it literally clears out the gunk that makes us dullwitted. Evidently, our brains, similar to our hearts, teeth, and lifestyle can suffer from a buildup of bad stuff.  Getting regular exercise over time can increase both gray and white matter in the brain and make a huge difference in how well you process and track information, stay on task, and allocate your mental resources.  Considering that addicts and alcoholics have had time depleting those resources it’s about time to put all that new found energy in sobriety to good use.

Wide Awake….

Drug addiction exacts a variety of ill effects on a user’s health. Among other things, drug addicts often experience disrupted sleep. The mechanism behind how the substances may change a user’s circadian rhythms remains unknown but new research on mice is providing some insight.  Sleep is extremely important and our R.E.M. cycles are important, circadian rhythm genes help to regulate the brain’s reward system and could influence the addictive properties of drugs such as cocaine.  Circadian gene deficient animals exhibited increased activity in the dopamine neurotransmitter system in the brain, which is heavily stimulated by cocaine use.  The next step is to ascertain the affects of this gene in humans and perhaps find a link between those with low levels and the connection to habitual drug use.

Wide Awake

For example, in one study, human patients addicted to cocaine took much longer to fall asleep. Also, EEG measures of their brain activity showed that they experienced much less deep sleep than did people who did not use the drug. When the subjects were sleep deprived, their immune system had a reduced ability to fight infection.  In another study, heroin patients with less than one year of methadone treatment had poor sleep, the possible cause of which could be measured at the molecular level, Gordon says. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging of these patients showed some energy-indicating molecules in their brain had failed to recover properly after sleep deprivation.  Scientists also have determined that cognitive deficits characteristic of people who regularly use the street drug ecstasy may be based on drug-induced changes in sleep neurobiology. Their altered sleep patterns, cognitive deficits, and impulsivity may be worsened by high levels of catecholamines, brain chemicals that the body produces in response to stress.

Although the neurobiology underlying the sleep disturbance can be directly related to the disease process itself, it is often impossible to determine cause and effect.  Therefore, it is important to study both sleep and the disease simultaneously to get a full understanding.  Researchers also are trying to identify the neurobiological factors that help explain a recovering addict’s vulnerability to relapse.

“Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive drug taking, which occurs even though addicts understand that the behavior is harmful to them. It is also a chronic disorder. Addicts find it extremely difficult to suppress drug taking and often relapse, even after years of abstinence,” says Laura Peoples, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

The compulsive nature of the behavior and the ever present vulnerability to relapse suggests that drug addiction is accompanied by long-lasting changes in those parts of the brain that control motivation and behavioral choice.  Recent findings have led to a new hypothesis, that experience- and activity-dependent adaptations cause a progressive and persistent increase in the response of specific neurons to specific signals that promote drug-seeking relative to the signals that facilitate other motivated behaviors.