prevention
Kaiser Permanente’s Early Start Program Could Serve as Intervention for Substance Abuse
Kaiser Permanente has recently published the results of their online study helping at-risk pregnant women with obstetric care. The program could save almost $2 billion yearly towards health care costs in the United States if implemented. According to Medical News Today, the new Early Start program follows a 2008 study by Kaiser Permanente that showed how women could achieve safer health outcomes for themselves and their babies by not using alcohol, cigarettes or drugs. Full Story
Teen Substance Use is Problematic Now and Later
For parents who had given in and joined the societal shoulder shrug over teen experimentation with substances, a new report should put some strength into the parental backbone. The report comes from CASA, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University and deals with use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco by American teens. Full Story
Study Says Many Medications Used by Elderly Can Heighten Health Risks, are Unsafe
Many of the medications elderly people use may be the wrong choice because they carry a high risk for falling, daytime grogginess and a loss of cognitive ability, say researchers from the Nordic School of Public Health, Sweden.
Called psychotropic drugs, the medications – including antidepressants, hypnotics and anxiolytics – may actually further the health problems of elderly people, instead of other types of medications that may not carry the same risks.
For example, the drugs may lead to loss of balance. Falling causes brittle bones to break, resulting in a long-term inability to remain active – and can heighten the chances of hospitalization or secondary health complications. Medications to calm anxiety, such as benzodiazepines, can cause daytime sleepiness that prevents adequate nighttime sleep, contributing to a depressed state. Anxiolytics and hypnotics can also render older persons more unsteady on their feet, contributing to higher anxiety levels as well as a risk for falling.
The research findings, highlighted in a ScienceDaily report, suggest that in Sweden alone, around 20 percent who are 75 years old or older are using prescription medications that may be unsafe or inappropriate. Adding to the drugs’ complications is the fact that older persons may respond at heightened proportions to the drugs’ side effects than younger people.
While improvements have been noted, such as a decline in potentially unsafe psychotropics between 2000 and 2008, researchers still believe the problem may be worse for lower-income elderly persons and warrants larger research to address the drugs’ use as a public health problem.
Study Says Primary Care Physicians Not Taking Adequate Addiction Prevention Measures
Any physician would likely react if a patient said they were addicted to recreational marijuana, and needed help getting more. Yet when it comes to opioid painkiller prescriptions, recent studies and news reports suggest many physicians are giving thousands of patients orders for opioid painkillers daily – even to patients at high risk for addiction, and those whose pharmacy records show an addiction has already formed.
Want to Reduce Teens’ Use of Drugs? Study Says Sit Down to Dinner
One powerful antidote to teen drug addiction could be found in a simple family dinner at home, according to new research. A 2009 report from Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) says teenagers who sit down to dinner at home, with the family, less than three times a week have a risk for trying smoking or marijuana that is two times higher than teens who sit down to a family dinner five times each week.
FDA Attempts to Restrict Cold- and Cough-Medications to Reduce Abuse among Adolescents
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee will meet on September 14, 2010 to discuss the increased prevalence of dextromethorphan abuse among the American public. After receiving a request from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the rising incidence of dextromethorphan abuse nationwide, especially among adolescents, has raised enough concern over the availability of cold- and cough-remedies containing this powerful drug that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is now considering restricting the public’s access to these medications.
Educating Children About Marketing Messages Can Help Prevent Substance Abuse
Media Detective is an activity-based program used to help prevent alcohol and tobacco use among children, helping them understand the intentions of marketers and advertising. A new study suggests that teaching children as young as eight or nine to be more skeptical of marketing tactics can help prevent substance abuse.
How to Control Teen Parties and Prevent Drinking of Alcohol
New York’s State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) recently advised parents about the dangers of underage drinking at residential parties. To be blunt, minors who attend parties where alcohol is available are at risk for becoming intoxicated, regardless of whether the actual imbibing of alcohol has been sanctioned by party hosts.
Minors who drink alcohol at celebrations are then at risk for alcohol-related overdoses, injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and death.
Would Changes in Opioid Formulation Help Deter Abuse?
As effective as opioids can be in the treatment of pain and other conditions, they also continue to be a target for abuse. According to an article in Monthly Prescribing Reference, scientific experts are examining whether or not opioids can be formulated to deter abuse.
Need Help Finding an Intervention Specialist?
We can refer you to an experienced interventionist who can help you help your loved one.
The Addiction Primer: Everything You Need to Know to Get Help for a Loved One
A very inexpensive yet indispensable guide for anyone struggling with a loved one's addiction. Chapters on intervention, what to expect from rehab, and information on how addiction impacts the family.
