Posts Tagged ‘ drug abuse ’

Will Smoking Medical Marijuana Kill Brain Cells?

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The most commonly abused illicit drug in the US is marijuana, with over 26 million Americans having smoked pot at least one time back in 2008. At this point in time, sixteen states along with DC have instituted legal medical marijuana programs too.

Forty years ago, there were reports claiming that brain damage was caused by smoking marijuana. There were descriptions of marijuana smokers as lazy, apathetic, dull, delusional, irrational, and unproductive, which then gave reason for people to assume smoking marijuana resulted in brain damage.

As modern brain imaging was invented, such as CAT scans, no evidence of brain damage was seen in heavy chronic marijuana smokers. At Tulane Medical School in the 1970′s, animal studies were accomplished looking at massive doses of THC. Massive in these studies was 100 times the psychoactive doses in humans. The first set of studies showed significant EEG brain changes with implanted electrodes in monkeys. These changes, however, switched back to normal within one hour of drug administration.

Further animal testing was not conclusive, however, the monkey autopsies showed damage to the brain hippocampus. In humans, the hippocampus is associated with intellectual function. The assumption was then that humans smoking marijuana would then experience brain damage.

A few years after the Tulane study, the National Center for Toxicological Research in Arkansas repeated the study on a larger scale. Four groups containing 65 monkeys were evaluated: 1) High dose inhalation 2) Low dose inhalation 3) Placebo smoke 4) No smoke inhalation. The results on this larger study displayed no marijuana related brain abnormalities whatsoever in any groups.

Previous scientific research could not definitively prove brain damage from marijuana usage. However, some recent research could change that. A new study from late 2010 showed potential for marijuana smoking to reduce cognitive function.

In a paper presented meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Dr. Staci Gruber, reported that in a small study of participants who began smoking pot before 16 years of age, they performed significantly worse on cognitive function tests than both non-smokers and those who became chronic smokers later in life.

This will need to be followed up with a larger study, as this may mean that when those with an immature nervous system start smoking marijuana there is the potential for long term vulnerability and brain effects.

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Negative Spiral Effect Of Drugs

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Has your life spiraled out of control on account of a drug problem? If yes, you may feel isolated, helpless and ashamed. Or perhaps you’re worried about a friend or family member’s drug use. In either case, you’re not alone. Addiction is a problem that many people face.

The good news is that you or your loved one can get better. There is hope, no matter how terrible the substance abuse problem may seem and no matter how powerless you feel. Understanding and learning about the nature of the addiction, how it develops, what it looks like, and why it has such a powerful hold on an individual, will give you a better understanding of the problem and how to deal with it.

Most people do not understand why individuals become addicted or how drugs can change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. What people often misjudge, is the complexity of drug addiction, that it is a disease that impacts the brain and because of that, breaking the addiction is not simply a matter of willpower.

People mistakenly view drug addiction and abuse as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just quit taking drugs if they are willing to change their behavior. However scientific advances have shown much more about how exactly drugs work in the brain, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated, to help people stop abusing drugs and resume their normal productive lives.

There are at least two ways that drugs are able to do this: (1) by imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers, and/or (2) by over stimulating the “reward circuit” of the brain. Drugs are chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information.

Prolonged spells of drug abuse can cause changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the ability to learn. When the optimal concentration of glutamate is changed by drug abuse, the brain attempts to compensate, which can impair cognitive function.

Drugs of abuse facilitate unconscious (conditioned) learning, which leads the user to experience uncontrollable cravings when they see a place or person they associate with the drug experience, even when the drug itself is not available. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs compulsively despite adverse consequences-in other words, to become addicted to drugs.

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Finding The Right Drug Rehab Program

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Drug addiction is typically caused by deep seeded emotional problems that exist from past trauma. People use drugs to numb the pain. Feelings of guilt and shame are masked by drug and alcohol use. A vicious addiction cycle occurs because the behaviors and associations that go along with drug use only cause more guilt and shame.

The second step of the addiction recovery process is getting to the root of these issues, changing behaviors, and building self-esteem. Many people find salvation in drug rehab and support groups. Drug rehabilitation programs have helped millions of people free themselves of drug addiction. Sobriety is achievable.

There is help out there. It just comes down to which drug rehab option is best for the individual. Don’t let drug addiction cast a shadow over your family any more. Addiction festers in the darkness and secrecy. Bring the problem out into the open. Discuss the drug treatment options with your whole family.

Finding the right treatment and recovery program or rehab center is a daunting enough task, but the real challenge is that the individual must first admit that they do have a problem with alcohol abuse. Not only that, but once the admission has been made, the individual is further challenged by having to make the commitment to do something about it and seek help for their addiction.

In many circumstances, a family intervention, conducted by an addiction counselor and having family members and the individual’s close friends in attendance, may be necessary. This can have both negative as well as positive results.

The positive results that people hope to achieve by holding an intervention are that the individual admits having a problem and then seeks help immediately. The negative results could range from the individual being angered, exhibiting an abusive or violent reaction, or just angrily leaving the meeting.

If you have or have had an addiction, or have lived with someone who does, you know the pain that it causes. It is not uncommon for the addict to die in some instances, but what is so tragic is that they typically drag their family members and friends down with them. There are two immediate challenges that the drug addicted individual must face. The first is admitting that they do have a problem, which is a difficult enough task as it is.

However, it is the decision to do something about it and go get help for that drug addiction that becomes the most challenging task for the individual suffering with an addiction. The key is that if the individual has any hope of being treated and recovering successfully, they have to remain honest to themselves during the entire process.

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Understanding The Drug Abuse Intervention Process

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Part of the reason you may have anger and fear during your intervention is that you are not sure what happens after the drug abuse intervention. Fear of the unknown keeps many people with drug addictions from seeking the help they need. The only way to overcome this fear is to become informed on what drug rehab can entail.

Being informed means that you have the power to take control of your life and allow the drug abuse intervention to be successful. All drug treatment centers approach rehab differently, however, luxury rehab centers such as ours, Cliffside Malibu, can give you a clear picture of what to expect when you become one of our guests.

Moreover, even if you do not believe it now, knowing that you are not the only one who is facing or has been through an intervention will actually help you cope with the situation. Your addiction is a lonely disease, meaning that only you, your drug, and your drug providers exist when you are addicted.

You may even think that no one can possibly understand what you are going through. This is how knowing that other people have and are facing the same, general, type of situation as you are. The situation that results from a drug abuse intervention is a situation offering hope and help.

This hope and help can come from Cliffside Malibu. All you or your loved ones need to do is call us, Cliffside Malibu, today at 1-800-501-1988, so that we may help set up your drug abuse intervention and give you the hope of lasting sobriety.

We will help your family set up a drug abuse intervention and then help you to understand and/or cope with the intervention when you become one of our guests. In order for an intervention to be successful, you had to understand that your family was no longer going to stand silently and watch your self-destruction.

Moreover, you had to understand that there would be consequences if you did not accept help. Most importantly, you need to understand that the intervention was an act of love, not a way to hurt you. To understand more about your intervention and your drug addiction, please call us, Cliffside Malibu, at 1-800-501-1988.

Cliffside Malibu is a luxury addiction treatment center offering professional drug intervention services located in Malibu, California. For further details about Cliffside’s intervention services visit www.cliffsidemalibu.com.

What to Expect from a Substance Abuse Treatment Center

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Having the courage to admit you have a problem and then seeking help at a substance abuse treatment center is the best thing you could ever do for yourself. Substance abuse is hurting both you and your family. Seeking help is showing that you care about yourself and everyone around you.

You may want to research several substance abuse treatment centers. Ask questions to find out exactly what each substance abuse treatment center has for substance abuse rehab. Decide whether the standard rehab facility is for you or if you would feel more comfortable with a private substance abuse treatment center.

Drug detox is closely overseen by professional doctors and caregivers who have experience and training in the treatment of drug detox with medically proven treatments. After detox within a substance abuse treatment center, patients need to regain what they lost in physical strength with proper nutrition and physical exercise.

The patients also go through several therapy sessions to restore their mind and spirit giving them strength for further recovery from drug rehab. The ultimate goal of the drug detox process is to help the patient return to their former selves and to embrace the next day with hope and strength not fear and embarrassment. At the Cliffside Malibu substance abuse treatment center, your drug detox is in a safe and supportive environment.

Substance abuse warps the addict’s body and mind to the extent that they have to have the drugs to live their daily lives. During drug detox, the body is gently taken off drugs. This is the “comfort detox” process. At Cliffside Malibu, our detox process is gentle, safe and fast. It prepares our patients to better face all the challenges further in the recovery process.

An intervention is when your friends and family force you to see your problems and then lay down an ultimatum. Many times interventions and substance abuse rehab treatments go hand in hand; meaning without intervention there cannot be successful treatments.

This helps our patients to build on the progress they made in detox with the drug rehab program the makes the treatment process more comprehensive. Always remember, any type of recovery is never easy. For additional information on the exclusive substance abuse treatment center at Cliffside Malibu, please call 1- 800-501-1988.

Cliffside Malibu is a private alcohol and drug abuse treatment facility located in Malibu, California. To read more about Cliffside’s exclusive drug abuse treatment program go to www.cliffsidemalibu.com.

Drug Rehab - Get Cured Forever

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Have any dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines? Feel your life has suddenly changed because of this or similar addictions? Get back to your family and friends by getting help right away.

As all of us know, withdrawal symptoms can be really hard to cope with. Drug rehabilitation tends to address a stated twofold nature of drug dependency: physical and psychological dependency. With regular use of many drugs, legal or otherwise, the brain gradually adapts to the presence of the drug so the desired effect is minimal. The urge to get back to your support (drugs) is really irresistible.

Habits and reactions to such situations can also be changed by providing adequate treatment. Psychological dependencies can be addressed by teaching the patient to learn how to live without getting in touch with drugs or other addictives.

Each individual is guided through the process with proper counseling and therapy sessions, which promise to help one get rid of this annoying addiction. Cliffside Malibu’s rehab centers offer age and gender specific programs.

Effective drug rehab requires intervention, qualified treatment that deals with both the addiction itself and its underlying causes, an emphasis on individual counseling with experts who understand what you are going through and facilities that ensure comfort and privacy.

Recent discoveries have shown those suffering from addiction often have chemical imbalances that make the recovery process more difficult. This is the very reason why it focuses its attention on treatment along with counseling and proper understanding of the patient. Relapse is always possible in such cases, and hence Cliffside Malibu offers special programs that will not only help you get rid of your addiction, but will also help you avoid it throughout your life.

Looking for cures to other problems too? Look for Cliffside’s Rehab Center Malibu. Think drug problems are bothering you? Find out more about our Malibu Heroin Detox.

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