We’re in the final stretch of 2019, and for many people, now is the time to reflect on the year and begin making plans for the next. Each year, we all make a list of New Year’s Resolutions for how we will improve our lives in the coming year, listing...
September is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Month
When a mother-to-be drinks, her baby drinks. Alcohol in the mother’s blood is passed directly to the fetus through the umbilical cord. At present, physicians cannot determine the precise moment when a specific biological system such as the nervous system is most affected by alcohol consumption. That’s why the medical...
Addressing Substance Abuse: Community Health Improvement Week
Substance abuse disorders are quiet, careful killers. They are disorders that force our way of living to center solely around the addictive substance and nothing else. In the United States, 20.2 million adults aged 18 or older suffered from a substance abuse disorder in 2014, accounting for billions of dollars...
How to Explain Addiction to Children Carefully
When Is it Too Early or Too Late to Have the Drug Talk? Children are sponges. They absorb information better than any of us. If you think your problem is going over their head, think again. Although your child doesn’t understand the gravity of a chronic substance use disorder, the...
Stroke Awareness Month: Strokes Are Preventable and Treatable
The 5th Leading Cause of American Deaths Did you know that stroke is a leading cause of death in America? 795,000 people suffer from strokes yearly. Further, strokes account for 1 in every 20 deaths that occur in America. This means that 140,000 people die of strokes every year. This...
Kapoor Guilty in Insys Therapeutics Opioid Bribery
In the first successful prosecution of its kind, a jury found Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor and four co-defendants guilty of racketeering conspiracy. The verdict came Wednesday after 15 days of deliberation in a Boston court. The federal government brought charges against Kapoor and his co-defendants for allegedly operating a...
Recognizing Functional Alcoholism
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, a time to examine the effects alcohol may be having on your life and the myriad options of treatment at your disposal. In 2016, an estimated 81.6 million people in the US were binge or heavy alcohol users according to the National Survey on Drug Use...
Where Does Addiction Occur in the Brain?
Recognizing the roots of addiction in the brain is key to understanding and addressing the substance abuse crisis affecting the United States. A recent study by scientists at Scripps Research may have located the source of alcohol cravings in the brain, further supporting addiction as a disease. But where does...
5 Anxiety Busting Lifehacks No One Told You About
How to Calm Anxiety Creatively Every well-being advice column is chalk full of tips on alleviating anxiety- you know the tired, rehashed advice we’ve heard our entire lives. Breathe deeply. Distract yourself. Remind yourself with positive affirmations that “everything is going to be okay.” Well, sometimes things are NOT okay....
American Heart Month: How Do Drugs and Alcohol Affect Your Heart?
It often goes unnoticed. Your heartbeat has always been there, and as far as you’re concerned it will always be there. Many people take it for granted, thinking their body can handle anything they throw at it. The heart is responsible for your entire circulatory system. When it is weakened...
