Deadly Public Policy: What the Future Could Hold for the HIV Epidemic Among Injection Drug Users in Vancouver.
Deadly Public Policy: What the Future Could Hold for the HIV Epidemic among Injection Drug Users in Vancouver.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2012 Jul 8;
O’Shaughnessy MV, Hogg RS, Strathdee SA, Montaner JS
The scope and scale of the HIV outbreak that occurred among injection drug users in Vancouver in the late 1990s was unprecedented and resulted in some 2,000 new HIV infections, with incidence rates reaching 18 per 100 person-years. This outbreak, localized mainly in one neighbourhood, cost the Canadian health care system more than 1 billion dollars to diagnose, care and treat. A number of factors combined to stabilize HIV incidence: 1) HIV prevalence became saturated among those at highest risk; 2) several public health policies focused on drug users were implemented, including increased and additional decentralized needle exchange programs, expanded methadone maintenance services, better addiction treatment services, improved housing, and mental health programs; and 3) increased access and expansion of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. To ensure that a similar outbreak never occurs again in Vancouver and other cities, future health policy must consider the political, psychosocial and socioeconomic factors that contributed to this outbreak. These policies must address the unintended adverse consequences of past policies and their repercussions for marginalized individuals living in this community and beyond.
HubMed – addiction
The “Janus-Faced Role” of Autophagy in Neuronal Sickness: Focus on Neurodegeneration.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Mol Neurobiol. 2012 Jul 7;
Viscomi MT, D’Amelio M
The mature brain is a highly dynamic organ that constantly changes its organization by destroying and forming new connections. Collectively, these changes are referred to as brain plasticity and are associated with functional changes, such as memory, addiction, and recovery of function after brain damage. Neuronal plasticity is sustained by the fine regulation of protein synthesis and organelle biogenesis and their degradation to ensure efficient turnover. Thus, autophagy, as quality control mechanism of proteins and organelles in neurons, is essential to their physiology and pathology. Here, we review recent several findings proving that defects in autophagy affect neuronal function and impair functional recovery after brain insults, contributing to neurodegeneration, in chronic and acute neurological disorders. Thus, an understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which the autophagy machinery is finely regulated might accelerate the development of therapeutic interventions in many neurological disorders for which no cure is available.
HubMed – addiction
The Relationship of Appetitive, Reproductive and Posterior Pituitary Hormones to Alcoholism and Craving in Humans.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Neuropsychol Rev. 2012 Jul 7;
Kenna GA, Swift RM, Hillemacher T, Leggio L
A significant challenge for understanding alcoholism lies in discovering why some, but not other individuals, become dependent on alcohol. Genetic, environmental, cultural, developmental, and neurobiological influences are recognized as essential factors underlying a person’s risk for becoming alcohol dependent (AD); however, the neurobiological processes that trigger this vulnerability are still poorly understood. Hormones are important in the regulation of many functions and several hormones are strongly associated with alcohol use. While medical consequences are important, the primary focus of this review is on the underlying confluence of appetitive/feeding, reproductive and posterior pituitary hormones associated with distinct phases of alcoholism or assessed by alcohol craving in humans. While these hormones are of diverse origin, the involvement with alcoholism by these hormone systems is unmistakable, and demonstrates the complexity of interactions with alcohol and the difficulty of successfully pursuing effective treatments. Whether alcohol associated changes in the activity of certain hormones are the result of alcohol use or are the result of an underlying predisposition for alcoholism, or a combination of both, is currently of great scientific interest. The evidence we present in this review suggests that appetitive hormones may be markers as they appear involved in alcohol dependence and craving, that reproductive hormones provide an example of the consequences of drinking and are affected by alcohol, and that posterior pituitary hormones have potential for being targets for treatment. A better understanding of the nature of these associations may contribute to diagnosing and more comprehensively treating alcoholism. Pharmacotherapies that take advantage of our new understanding of hormones, their receptors, or their potential relationship to craving may shed light on the treatment of this disorder.
HubMed – addiction
Right Step Announces New Intensive Outpatient Program in Jersey Village …
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Outpatient drug addiction treatment typically consists of several contact days per week for 6-8 weeks, integration into a self-help recovery program, and aftercare meetings for ongoing support. The structure of frequent contact, consistent urinary drug …
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EASTWOOD MUSCLED DRUGGIE SHEEN INTO REHAB
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Sheen has struggled with addiction most of his career, and was once hospitalized in 1998 after overdosing on cocaine. In the midst of his meltdown, Sheen's dad Martin, his family and friends sat the Two and a Half Men thesp down in an intervention attempt.
Read more on The National Enquirer
Slideshow: Melanie Griffith rejuvenates her life after rehab
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Melanie now says that her daughters' intervention saved her. "I couldn't have done it without them. I really couldn't have. And I'm so grateful,” Melanie added. Her addictions: alcohol and cocaine, coupled with painkillers. And she described detox as …
Read more on Examiner.com
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