Disastrous Effects of Drug Addiction Call for Rapid Family Intervention

Autor admin | 21.12.2009 | Category Health

Every day of every year, families in every state grapple with the drug problems of one or more of their members. Distraught parents, children or siblings appeal to the drug or alcohol user to please cease their excessive substance abuse without understanding that when substance abuse has progressed to addiction, most addicts need rehabilitation before they can quit. That is true no matter how much they promise they will end their drug or alcohol use. When a person is addicted, the addiction controls them rather than their controlling the addiction.

The slide into addiction very often has a consistent pattern, person to person. Problems at work, problems paying bills, unexplained loss of money; if the person has taken to dealing drugs to support their habit, unexplained cash. Missed family events, falling grades in school, secretive or accusative behavior are all common symptoms of the descent into addiction.

But these events are mild in comparison to what lies ahead when a person completes his or her full descent into addiction.

Drug or alcohol addiction commonly results in manipulative, abusive or criminal behavior; suicide; homelessness; overdoses leading to hospitalization or death. Addiction is frequently accompanied by serious or incurable health conditions: HIV, Hepatitis C, herpes, heart disorders, loss of teeth, abscesses, staph infections, liver disease and much more. Then there’s the constant threat of incarceration. The average sentence for drug felonies in 2004 was 51 months.

“Families often call or email us wondering what they should do to help someone they love who is addicted,” stated said Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “Unfortunately, many families try to help the addict by bailing them out of jail, helping them pay their bills or find a new job. The right thing to do is to help the addict learn to live completely drug-free by getting them into an effective rehabilitation program.”

Rather than substitute an addictive medication for an illicit drug problem, the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program uses nutrition, one-on-one counseling and life skills training to help a person resolve the real reasons they started using drugs in the first place. The result is that 70 percent of Narconon graduates remain drug-free after graduation.

“Not every drug addict is ready to ask for help with the family wants them to,” added Mr. Hallmark. “That’s why Narconon works with experienced interventionists around the country. These people are experienced at helping addicted people make their own decision to stop the pain and loss by getting help. That decision is really the first step in rehabilitation.”

Substance Addicts Need to be Detoxified Before an Actual Rehab Treatment Can be Administered

Autor admin | 15.12.2009 | Category Health

Drug or substance abuse is always in the news thanks to media, the Internet, and a growing awareness in people. That being said, substance abuse is a complex issue and threat to life. Family and friends of people who abuse substances or drugs go through a harrowing time and suffer pain. However, there is always hope. While a vast number of people are completely ignorant about drug addition, substance abuse, and alcoholism, they tend to make incorrect choice related to treatment centers and instead of getting the best treatment, end up getting very little help. For any rehab process, detox is the starting point. That’s why you must ensure that substance abuse detox is the first step when you get admitted to a Florida alcohol treatment center.

Of course, it’s there is no truth in the fact that substance abuse addiction is not treatable. Today, millions of drug addicts are recovering, thanks to the timely help they have received. The two most effective ways to stop addiction is rehab and effective treatment. When a substance abuser enters a rehab program, he/she has to go through the process of substance abuse detox, which is a process of flushing out the toxins and impurities from the body so that it is ready to accept the treatment more effectively. Detoxification is a very health process for anyone.

Most treatment centers such as Florida alcohol treatment center use detoxification so that the drugs/alcohol that was being taken by the addict are broken down by his/her liver and purged from his/her body in the form of waste material. During this time, people dependent on alcohol or drugs will start experiencing withdrawal symptoms if the level of drugs their body is used to is not kept. At the rehab they are motivated to not take any more alcohol or drug so that their withdrawal symptoms are lessened and subsequently non-existent. A successful rehab stint means that the addict doesn’t get tempted to take any more substance during the period of the withdrawal. If this is done, the body will flush out all trace of substances from their body, leaving them healthy and normal.

However, it is important to remember that substance abuse detox in a Florida alcohol treatment center is always taken under the supervision of a doctor or a qualified professional. The intensity of the withdrawal symptoms can vary from severe to very severe to life threatening especially in cases where substance abuse has been prolonged. Nevertheless, a doctor can slowly help an addict to lessen his/her dependency on the substance of abuse with the help of medication and detox.

Discover How Breast Cancer Awareness Can Benefit you

Autor admin | 03.10.2009 | Category Health

You have undoubted run across many of the breast cancer awareness days and sessions that appear around the country sporadically. These are usually put on by a local group, a church, or sponsored by the American Cancer Society to promote breast cancer awareness in the community.

You might be wondering why your breast cancer awareness level should be raised and what benefit that represents for you, but all you need to do is look at the statistics about the reported cases of breast cancer. The reported cases of breast cancer has been rising steadily year after year, and for the coming year, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be more than 200,000 diagnosed cases. Even scarier is that they also estimate that more than 40,000 of those cases of breast cancer will die from it.

Here is an even scarier fact for you — did you know that breast cancer is not limited to women? Yes it is true. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 1600 cases of breast cancer in MEN this year, and that about 400 of them will die. So are you starting to see where breast cancer awareness is starting to be important to you and your health? With statistics like this, it is no wonder that they want to promote breast cancer awareness as much as possible.

Many people do not take this disease seriously, even despite these statistics. Although it is difficult to believe, there are many people who have not had a checkup or medical exam in the past 4, 5, or 10 years or more. How can you possibly take your health seriously if you do not have regular checkups and exams from your doctor or medical professional? One way is of course to raise your breast cancer awareness level since that is a disease where there is currently not a known cure.

Your best option for fighting breast cancer is to get early detection and early diagnosis. When breast cancer is detected early, your chances of being able to cope with it, to fight it, and via treatments like chemo, there are many documented cases of people who have beat it. But if it had not been detected and diagnosed early, those would almost certainly be different stories with radically different outcomes. What about those people who have not had a medical examination in the past 4 or 5 years? If they have developed breast cancer in that timeframe, it will certainly not be considered an early diagnosis and could even mean another fatality from breast cancer.

You need to become knowledgeable about the typical symptoms of breast cancer, and if you detect any of those symptoms at home, you should schedule a checkup with your doctor as soon as possible. For women of ages 18 to about 40, you should plan to schedule a checkup with your doctor once about every 2-3 years. For women over 40, that checkup should be not less than annually. Although breast cancer has not conclusively been determined to be hereditary, you might want to consider having checkups even more often is there is a history of cancer in your family tree. Keeping these statistics in mind, your level of breast cancer awareness should be raised where these regular checkups should be at the forefront of your mind.

Raise your breast cancer awareness levels and get those checkups. Be aware of the symptoms and if you see any of them, be sure to get an exam soon. Remember, the best chances for beating breast cancer are early detection and early diagnosis.

Herbal Skin Care: Top Herbs for Natural Skincare

Autor admin | 23.09.2009 | Category Health

Skin care is not a new topic; it has been around since ancient times, when herbal skin care was probably the only way to take care of skin. However, modern skin care has transformed in a big way. Traditional herbal skin care routines have been replaced by synthetic/chemical-based skin care regimens. The herbal skin care recipes which once used to be common place are in disuse today, and even unknown to the mainstream population.

The transformation from herbal skin care to synthetic can be attributed to three things – our laziness the fast pace of modern life, and the commercialisation of skin care. Even herbal skin care products have been commercialised. Commercial herbal skin care products are mixed with preservatives in order to increase their shelf-life, hence making them less effective than fresh mxtures made at home. However, things change fast and now more people are opting for natural and herbal skin care routines. But still, none want to make them at home and hence the commercial market of herbal skin care products is on the rise.

So what are the herbs of herbal skin care?

Aloe vera, which is an extract from Aloe plant, is one of the best examples of herbal skin care product. Freshly extracted aloe vera is a natural hydrating agent that helps in soothing skin. It also helps in healing cuts and treating sun burns.

A number of herbs are known to possess cleansing properties. Dandelion, chamomile, lime flowers and rosemary herbs, are a few examples of such cleansers. Their herbal skin care properties get invoked when they are combined with other herbs like tea.

Antiseptics are another important part of Herbal skin care. Lavender, marigold, thyme and fennel are good examples of herbs that are known to possess antiseptic properties. Lavender water and rose water also form good toners.

Tea plays an important part in herbal skin care. Tea extracts are used for treatment of skin that has been damaged by UV radiation.

Oils prepared from herbal extracts present another means of herbal skin care. Tea tree oil, Lavender oil, borage oil and primrose oil are some popular oils used in herbal skin care. Some fruit oils (e.g. extracts from fruits like banana, apple and melon) find use in shower gels (as a hydrating mix)

Herbal skin care is good not only for the routine nourishing of skin but also for treatment of skin disorders like eczema and psorasis. Most herbal skin care products don’t have any side effects (the most important reason for preferring them over synthetic products) Moreover, herbal skin care products can be easily made at home, hence making them even more attractive.

So you can see why herbal skin care is the way to go. However, this does not mean that you totally discard synthetic products. The fact is that some skin orders call for the usage of clinically proven non-herbal skin care products and medications.