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Drug Rehab

Drug rehabilitation is a multi-phase, multi-faceted, long term process. Detoxification is only the first step on the road of addiction treatment. Physical detoxification alone is not sufficient to change the patterns of a drug addict. Recovery from addiction involves an extended process which usually requires the help of drug addiction professionals. To make a successful recovery, the addict needs new tools in order to deal with situations and problems which arise. Factors such as encountering someone from their days of using, returning to the same environment and places, or even small things such as smells and objects trigger memories which can create psychological stress. This can hinder the addict's goal of complete recovery, thus not allowing the addict to permanently regain control of his or her life.

Almost all addicts tell themselves in the beginning that they can conquer their addiction on their own without the help of outside resources. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. When an addict makes an attempt at detoxification and to discontinue drug use without the aid of professional help, statistically the results do not last long. Research into the effects of long-term addiction has shown that substantial changes in the way the brain functions are present long after the addict has stopped using drugs. Realizing that a drug addict who wishes to recover from their addiction needs more than just strong will power is the key to a successful recovery. Battling not only cravings for their drug of choice, re-stimulation of their past and changes in the way their brain functions, it is no wonder that quitting drugs without professional help is an uphill battle.

As an organization we are dedicated to finding the correct solution for your specific addiction problem. Our referral list contains over 3,000 resources which encompass the following treatment categories :


Drug Rehab

The ultimate goal of a drug rehab is to enable the individual to achieve lasting abstinence from drug use. The short term goal of a drug rehab is to help the individual through detox and withdrawal from drugs in addition to improving their ability to function in society again. A drug rehab will help minimize the medical and social complications of drug abuse.

Patients who stay in a drug rehab longer than 3 months typically have better outcomes than those who stay less time. Those who go through medically assisted withdrawal to minimize discomfort but do not receive any further rehab, perform about the same in terms of their substance use as those who never attended a drug rehab. Over the last 25 years, studies have shown that attending a drug rehab works to reduce drug intake and crimes committed by drug-dependent people. Researchers also have found that drug abusers who have been through a drug rehab are more likely to have jobs.

Inpatient Drug Rehab

Inpatient drug rehab is one of many methods whose ultimate goal is long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Those who attend an inpatient drug rehab use the new tools they have learned to help them re-enter society and lead responsible, successful drug and alcohol free lives.

Inpatient drug rehab centers offer support and structure for men and women seeking help for problems with drugs or alcohol. Participants reside on location for the course of the rehab program; lengths of stay vary and may be individualized. Care at an inpatient drug rehab is provided 24 hours a day 7 days a week; this is only one of the benefits of attending an inpatient drug rehab.

Outpatient Drug Rehab

An outpatient drug rehab is a program designed to provide long-term abstinence from drugs and alcohol. Outpatient drug rehab programs use a broad verity of techniques. These techniques include a wide range of approaches including problem-solving groups, specialized therapies such as insight-oriented psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and 12-step programs. Similar to other drug rehabs, the individual may stay in the program for several months or longer. Those who attend an outpatient drug rehab do not live at the drug rehab as they would an inpatient drug rehab.

Outpatient drug rehab programs vary in the types and intensity of services offered. Low-intensity outpatient drug rehab programs may offer little more than drug education and counsel. Other outpatient drug rehab models, such as intensive day treatment, can be comparable to residential programs in services and effectiveness, depending on the individual's characteristics and needs. All in all, the ultimate goal of an outpatient drug rehab is to help the individual recover from drug addiction so that they may re-enter society and lead responsible, successful drug and alcohol free lives.

Alcohol Rehab

Alcohol rehab is a place where an individual who has a drinking problem can receive help. Rehab is a program that helps the individual with their alcohol addiction and provides them with the tools necessary for a complete recovery.

Alcohol rehab works for many people who have problems with alcohol abuse. But just like any other drug of abuse, the individual has to be committed to make a change for the better. Some people stop drinking and remain sober. Others have long periods of sobriety with bouts of relapse. And still others cannot stop drinking for any length of time. With alcohol rehab, one thing is clear: the longer a person abstains from alcohol, the more likely he or she will be able to stay sober.

Detox

The goal of detox is to rid the body of toxins accumulated by drug use. The first step of detox is drug withdrawal. Drug withdrawal is "the act or process of ceasing to use an addictive drug." Once an individual has discontinued using drugs physical and behavioral withdrawal symptoms may follow. Detox is a process that helps diminish the uncomfortable symptoms of drug withdrawal.

Detox is performed in many different ways depending on where you decide to receive treatment. Most detox centers simply provide treatment to avoid physical withdrawal to alcohol & other drugs. A quality detox program will not only to provide the individual with counseling during detox but help with the physical withdrawal and the psychological root cause of the individual's addiction problem, so as to decrease the chances of relapse.

Drug detox can be viewed in three separate stages:

1. Medical Detox: A medical doctor will need to supervise your medical withdrawal from drugs, ensuring you complete this phase safely and with minimal complications. Medical detox can take several days.

2. Physical Detox: Once your body is no longer dependent on drugs, you will need to work on building up your physical health. A nutritionist can be helpful during this phase, enabling you to develop a balanced diet to help you through the rest of the detox process.

3. Emotional Detox: Detox can be extremely difficult on your emotional health, which is why most treatment centers offer counseling during detox. Because drugs have become an integral part of your mental, emotional and social life, you will need emotional help as you detox.

Posted by Health Line, Saturday, March 3, 2007 2:41 PM | 0 comments |

Cerebral Palsy

What is Cerebral Palsy?

The term cerebral palsy refers to any one of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but don’t worsen over time. Even though cerebral palsy affects muscle movement, it isn’t caused by problems in the muscles or nerves. It is caused by abnormalities in parts of the brain that control muscle movements. The majority of children with cerebral palsy are born with it, although it may not be detected until months or years later. The early signs of cerebral palsy usually appear before a child reaches 3 years of age. The most common are a lack of muscle coordination when performing voluntary movements (ataxia); stiff or tight muscles and exaggerated reflexes (spasticity); walking with one foot or leg dragging; walking on the toes, a crouched gait, or a “scissored” gait; and muscle tone that is either too stiff or too floppy. A small number of children have cerebral palsy as the result of brain damage in the first few months or years of life, brain infections such as bacterial meningitis or viral encephalitis, or head injury from a motor vehicle accident, a fall, or child abuse.

Is there any treatment?

Cerebral palsy can’t be cured, but treatment will often improve a child's capabilities. Many children go on to enjoy near-normal adult lives if their disabilities are properly managed. In general, the earlier treatment begins the better chance children have of overcoming developmental disabilities or learning new ways to accomplish the tasks that challenge them. Treatment may include physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, drugs to control seizures, relax muscle spasms, and alleviate pain; surgery to correct anatomical abnormalities or release tight muscles; braces and other orthotic devices; wheelchairs and rolling walkers; and communication aids such as computers with attached voice synthesizers.

What is the prognosis?

Cerebral palsy doesn’t always cause profound disabilities. While one child with severe cerebral palsy might be unable to walk and need extensive, lifelong care, another with mild cerebral palsy might be only slightly awkward and require no special assistance. Supportive treatments, medications, and surgery can help many individuals improve their motor skills and ability to communicate with the world.

What research is being done?

Researchers are investigating the roles of mishaps early in brain development, including genetic defects, which are sometimes responsible for the brain malformations and abnormalities that result in cerebral palsy. Scientists are also looking at traumatic events in newborn babies’ brains, such as bleeding, epileptic seizures, and breathing and circulation problems, which can cause the abnormal release of chemicals that trigger the kind of damage that causes cerebral palsy. To make sure children are getting the right kinds of therapies, studies are also being done that evaluate both experimental treatments and treatments already in use so that physicians and parents have valid information to help them choose the best therapy.

Posted by Health Line, 2:34 PM | 0 comments |

Medical Tips For Hiccups

Try one teaspoon of Sugar swallowed dry. The sugar acts on nervous impulses that cause the diaphragm to spasm & relaxes them. My favorite that has never let me down is taking a bag & re-breathing the air for a few minutes while taking a fresh breath when the carbon dioxide builds up to much. But this only works well if you catch the hiccups when they first start. (remember not to let a child see you do this without explaining to them what your doing & never use or leave a plastic bag lying around). Actually their are hundreds of cures & here are a few. Yank forcefully on the tongue, Lift the uvula with a spoon, Tickle the roof of your mouth with a cotton swab where the hard & soft palate meet, Chew & swallow dry bread, Suck a Lemon soaked with Angostura bitters, Hold your breath, Suck on crushed ice. I think that's enough for now. the list goes on & on , good luck & God Bless
Posted by Health Line, Thursday, March 1, 2007 3:08 PM | 0 comments |

Ten Medical Tests You Need

Getting a diagnostic test that may help detect or monitor a disease is like getting car insurance--but better. Car insurance helps you only after something goes wrong, but the right test can prevent something from going wrong before it happens.

Most of us dislike the idea of tests. We are frightened of bad news. However, burying your head in the sand won't make cancer or high blood pressure go away. Not only can the right diagnostics save you considerable money by catching problems earlier, when they are often more treatable, but they can also help you live better and longer.

That doesn't mean you should rush out and demand a battery of tests from your doctor at the first sign of a sniffle. (If you do, don't be taken aback if your doc scribbles one word in your file: "hypochondriac." And then you'll be off to the shrink instead of the labs).

But there are a few tests that you'd be smart to push for.

Getting a stress test, which is designed to determine if there is adequate blood flow to your heart during increased levels of activity, is not a bad idea for men and women who are middle-aged, since heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Another diagnostic test recommended by experts to help prevent heart disease is a simple blood test that measures C-reactive protein, a marker of the level of inflammation in the blood. That's key because too much inflammation can cause an arterial plaque to suddenly rupture, triggering a massive clot and possibly even a heart attack.

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 18.2 million Americans with diabetes, and nearly one third of them (or about 6 million people) don't even know they have it. As a major risk factor for heart disease and other disabling conditions, diabetes is a disease that requires vigilant attention and monitoring--which is why not knowing that you have it or are prone to getting it is a particularly bad thing.

Fortunately, there are two simple tests your doctor can use to determine whether you have prediabetes: the fasting plasma glucose test and oral glucose tolerance test. Both tests tell physicians how your body metabolizes glucose--and you are not necessarily doomed if the results come back with bad news. The American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Prevention Program study conclusively showed that people with prediabetes can prevent the development of type II diabetes by making changes in their diet and increasing their level of physical activity. Just 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise, coupled with a 5% to 10% reduction in body weight, produced a 58% reduction in diabetes.

Diagnostics tests not only save you money, but they can save your company money too. A survey of over 3,000 employers by New York-based Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a subsidiary of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Companies (nyse: MMC - news - people ), found that total health benefit cost per employee has been slowing in recent years, with only a 7.5% increase in 2004, compared to a 10.1% increase in 2003 and a 14.7% increase in 2002. In addition to shifting health benefit costs to employees, more and more companies are curbing health care costs by encouraging their employees to take advantage of preventive medicine. Sometimes it's more efficient to dish out cash to decrease the chances of getting sick than it is to pay for expensive procedures to fix health problems that have become full-blown.

Despite all their benefits, diagnostic tests that enable early detection of diseases are not always perfect. Prostate-specific antigen screening--a simple blood test used to detect prostate tumors--has a high rate of false-negative and false-positive results. The risks as well as the costs of further tests like biopsies present a serious clinical dilemma because not everyone who is in a high-risk category based on PSA screening actually has a high chance of developing a fast-growing, life-threatening tumor.

Dr. Leo Cheng, an assistant professor of radiology and pathology at Harvard Medical School, notes that patients whose tumors appear to be slow-growing might be better off with no treatment. That's because treating prostate cancer can cause complications, such as the inability to have an erection or control urination--not to mention the risks involved with any surgical procedure.

Understanding the limitations of certain diagnostic tests often provides the impetus for researchers to improve existing methods and technologies. Cheng and his colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass., have developed a new way of evaluating prostate cancers that may help physicians differentiate between patients who really need treatment and those who might be better off without it. Their research, which appeared in the April 15 issue of Cancer Research, uses "magnetic resonance spectroscopy" to determine which tumors are likely to spread and which are not, based on chemical profiles of the tissue.

Although there are no plans to try to turn these findings into a new screening test anytime soon, Cheng notes that as technology improves, it is entirely possible that examining the cells of prostate tissue to determine cancer risk could one day become routine.

Most of the tests on our list are covered by PPO insurance plans. If you have an HMO, and you want, say, a stress test, you generally have to get a referral from your designated primary care physician to see a cardiologist, who would then be able to order the test.
Posted by Health Line, Saturday, February 3, 2007 4:41 PM | 0 comments |