Posted by fredjoiners on June 20, 2008
Action for Parents
Despite all of your efforts to keep your kids drug-free, one day you might suspect that your son or daughter is using drugs or alcohol. Perhaps you have found an odd-looking pipe in his room, cans and bottles in the car or rolling papers in her laundry. Or you overheard a conversation not meant for you. Whatever the signal, your gut instinct has been activated. How do you know if you need to do anything? What do you do now? Where do you turn for help?
Every day, approximately 4,700 American youth under age 18 try marijuana for the first time. That is about equal to the enrollment of six average-sized U.S. high schools. In 2003, nearly nine out of 10 twelfth graders reported marijuana as being accessible.
By the time they finish the eighth grade, approximately 50 percent of adolescents have had at least one drink, and more than 20 percent report having been “drunk.”
Drug and alcohol use by teens increases the risk of addiction and can change the developing brain for life.
Despite these statistics, one thing remains true:
Parents are the most important influence in a teen’s decisions about drug use. You can and do make a difference. If you suspect or know that your child is using drugs, take action now, because the longer you wait, the harder it will be to deal with your child’s drug use.
Especially for Parents
- www.TheAntiDrug.com is an online service of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign that offers resources, information and facts for parents.
- www.laantidroga.com is the Spanish online service of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and offers resources, information and facts for parents.
- www.drugfreeamerica.org/Parents_Caregivers is an online service of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America that offers tips and information for parents and caregivers.
Posted in Cannabis, Drugs, Families, Health, Smoking, Youth, addiction, alcohol | Tagged: adolescent, daughter, drinking, drunk, kids, parents, son, twelfth grade | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on May 23, 2008
The America
n Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that pilots and air-traffic controllers may not use the antismoking drug Chantix, citing concerns about side-effects associated with the drug, the Associated Press reported May 21.
“We have immediate safety concerns about the use of varenicline (Chantix) among persons operating aircraft, trains, buses and other vehicles, or in other settings where a lapse in alertness or motor control could lead to massive, serious injury,” said a new report from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, which found hundreds of cases where Chantix users experienced dizziness, loss of consciousness, seizures, and abnormal movements and spasms.
A spokesperson for the FAA said that the ban would go into effect immediately even though the agency has not received any reports of Chantix being involved in aviation accidents.
Pfizer, the maker of Chantix, said that the labels on the drug already warn against operating heavy machinery or driving, and the firm cast doubt on reports of incidents of serious side effects. “It is important to understand the limitations of spontaneous adverse event reporting,” the company said. “Often these reports lack sufficient medical information and/or have confounding factors that prevent a meaningful assessment of causality.”
See also;
Posted in Drugs, Medication, Smoking, addiction, symptoms | Tagged: Chantix, FDA | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on March 14, 2008
Not smoking and other healthy habits may add years to your life
A recent study indicates that you might add up to 14 years to your life by adopting four health habits:
- staying smoke-free,
- drinking moderately or not at all,
- eating more fruits and vegetables, and
- being physically active.
“These results may provide further support for the idea that even small differences in lifestyle may make a big difference to health in the population and encourage behavior change,” noted the study’s authors.
This study—part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition—involved 25,639 men and women aged 45 to 79 living in the United Kingdom. Findings were published in the Jan. 7, 2008 issue of PloS Medicine.
Each participant in the study received a health behavior score that included one point for each of the following:
- Being a non-smoker.
- Consuming 1 to 14 drinks per week. (A single drink was defined as a half-pint of beer, a glass of wine, or a single shot of spirit alcohol.)
- Exercising for a half-hour daily or working in a non-sedentary job (such as being a nurse or plumber).
- Having blood levels of vitamin C consistent with eating at least five servings of fruits or vegetables daily.
Researchers recorded deaths among the study participants from 1993 to 2006. The results: Ninety-five percent of people with four points survived the study period. But only 75 percent of those with zero points survived.
In fact, people with a score of zero were four times more likely to die during the study than people with a score of four. People with a score of two were twice as likely to die. The main factors in these differences in longevity were due to cardiovascular disease.
In summary, the authors note that the “mortality risk for those with four compared to zero health behaviors was equivalent to being 14 years younger in chronological age.”
“We’ve known that individually, measures such as not smoking and exercising can have an impact upon longevity, but this is the first time we have looked at them altogether,” said lead researcher Kay-Tee Khaw from Cambridge University’s Institute of Public Health. “And we also found that social class and BMI—body mass index—really did not have a role to play. It means a large proportion of the population really could feel health benefits through moderate changes.”
The results strongly suggest that meeting relatively simple, achievable health goals can lead to years of added life for large numbers of people.
“Nothing is really new here on the science, but it is new in terms of public health messages,” said Alexander C. Wagenaar, professor of epidemiology and health policy research at the University of Florida. “What this does is take the existing research and calculate the benefits of healthy behaviors, and their combinations, into units the public will understand.”
So you may have a score of 10 on the looks scale but a score of 4 will keep you there.
Alive & Free is a health column that offers information to help prevent and address addiction and substance abuse problems. It is provided by Hazelden.
Posted in Eating Problems, Health, Smoking, alcohol | No Comments »
Posted by fredjoiners on February 12, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it is “increasingly likely” that the stop-smoking drug Chantix can cause depression, suicidal thoughts and other psychiatric problems, the Associated Press reported Feb. 1st 2008.
People who want to use the drug to stop smoking should inform their doctor if they have a history of mental-health problems, FDA said. “Chantix may cause worsening of current psychiatric illness even if it is currently under control. It may also cause an old psychiatric illness to reoccur,” the agency said.
Two weeks ago, Chantix maker Pfizer amended warnings on the drug to include information on the reported link between use of the stop-smoking drug and psychiatric problems. About four million prescriptions for Chantix have been written.
And from Wikipedia;
Varenicline (trade name Chantix in the USA and Champix in Europe, Mexico, Canada and Australia, manufactured by Pfizer, usually in the form of varenicline tartrate) is a prescription medication used to treat smoking addiction.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chantix
See also;
Nicotine Anonymous
Posted in Medication, Research reports, Smoking, addiction, treatment | Tagged: Australia, Canada, Champix, Chantix, Europe, Mexico, USA, Verenicline. | 2 Comments »
