OVERTAKEN

ONE COMMUNITY, 98 + FATAL OVERDOSES, THOUSANDS OF LIVES, OVERTAKEN BY DRUGS

If there is a war on drugs then Jodi Barber and Christine Brant are on the front lines doing battle in their community. These two moms have accomplished their goal of making a short length documentary featuring the struggles of addiction through the lives of young adults. Jodi’s son Jarrod died from an overdose of a prescription drug she had never heard of until the night he died. His peers had heard of it though, and within weeks more young lives were gone and many more kids were left to battle addiction. Realizing that accidental death from overdosing was an epidemic, not just in their suburban community but across the U.S., they decided to make a documentary to show at school assemblies and youth groups. This documentary features the battle of addiction as told by those whose lives were overtaken by drugs. You will understand the struggle these brave young people take on each day to stay alive. The goal of this documentary is to save lives by educating our youth on the truth about addiction and the deadly consequences drugs often have. Approved by school district superintendents across the country and featuring specialists in the fields of medicine and addiction, this film delivers accurate and up to date information on the type of drugs infiltrating our communities and how to help our youth avoid them. For more information or to make a donation please write to : Overtaken, 28641 Via Pasatiempo, Laguna Niguel, California 92677

http://www.professionalcorporatevideoproduction.com/overtaken.html

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NATURAL WAYS TO HELP WITH PAIN

I recently heard Dr. Russell Greenfield MD speak about natural ways to help pain issues that so many people are facing. I felt this might be helpful to the many people I speak with that are suffering from back pain, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, etc..

Dr. Greenfield has done extensive studies on natural ways to help with these conditions without the use of traditional pain medication which has caused many to become addicted and encounter all the problems associated with the chronic use of pain medication.

Dr. Greenfield suggests trying the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory supplement Zyflamend, 1 capsule 2 times a day. He has seen many get relief from chronic back pain by using this supplement.

He also suggests the use of the supplement Butterbur, 75-100 milligrams, 2 times per day to relieve Migraine headaches. He claims it decreases migraine headaches by half, due to lessening inflammation in the areas that cause Migraines.

If our readers would like to visit Dr. Greenfields website for Integrative Medicine, follow the link below.

http://www.bewelldoc.com/index.php

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Opiate Abuse – Important Things You Need To Know

Opiate abuse has changed the face of drug addicts. It used to be that drug addicts were on the fringes of society and most people stayed clear of them. Today, your best friend, next door neighbor, babysitter or teacher could be an opiate addict. This is because it often starts with a legitimate prescription for painkillers or medication used for anxiety, depression, and other emotional problems.
Since opiates are so powerful in delivering that sense of euphoric well being, they are highly addictive. The brain starts craving more and more of that happiness and it doesn’t take much for even the most stable, well rounded person to end up addicted.

Common Opiates Abused

Heroin is the street opiate that many end up seeking because of the high cost of the pharmaceutical pain medication and it is one of the deadliest drugs out there today. Doing heroin one time often leaves a person trapped in the downward spiral of serious drug addiction. Unfortunately, heroin is now easier to get a hold of and usually cheaper than prescription medications, so it is where many addicts turn when they are unable to get their prescriptions.

The most commonly abused prescription medications include:

• Hydrocodone
• Oxycontin
• Percocet
• Dilaudid

The Cycle of Opiate Addiction

The cycle of addiction often starts with an injury, medical condition, or mental health issue. A doctor issues a prescription for opiate based drugs. The addiction sets in and the addict starts taking more than their prescribed dose. This causes their pills to run out before they can legally get more, so they end up going to different doctors to get multiple prescriptions or going to pain clinics to get extra pills.

Eventually, a doctor may determine the legitimate need for the pills is no longer present and stop prescribing it. This is when addicts either admit they need help or begin using deception and scheming to get pills illegally. This is where many will turn to heroine because it gives the same feelings but can be found easier and bought for less on the streets.

It is extremely difficult for opiate addicts to stop abusing the drugs on their own. Withdrawal is hardcore and can even be life threatening and many will continue abusing just because they are afraid to go through the detox process.

Signs of Opiate Abuse

You may notice that someone is high on opiates if their eyes are small and red or they appear to have trouble opening them all the way. They may also seem unusually happy or spaced out like they aren’t fully present on a mental level.

Long term use will result in chronic constipation, shaking, nausea, and can even result in convulsions or seizures in the case of an overdose.

Many of the signs of opiate abuse are social in nature. The drug interferes with daily life and the addict will choose to stay home and get high rather than doing things they used to enjoy. They may withdraw from friends and loved ones and as the addiction progresses they may push everyone away by stealing from them, lying to them, or just withdrawing from them entirely.

By the time an opiate addict seeks help they often have very little of a functional life left. Losing it all is often the bottom that breaks them down to finally seek help. If someone can intervene earlier on the addiction might not be quite as devastating in the end.

Suboxone Detox Treatment – Is It The Best Option For Opiate Addicts?

Opiate detoxification treatment helps break the cycle of opiate abuse. Suboxone is touted as the miracle drug for opiate drug addicts. This drug is used to treat severe cases of opiate addiction, by keeping withdrawal symptoms and cravings at bay.

Without a doubt, suboxone detox treatment for opiate addiction certainly serves a purpose, especially at a certain level of abuse, but the truth of the matter is that it’s an opiate replacement therapy, and you’re still taking a form of opiates. If you become addicted to suboxone, you will experience suboxone withdrawal if you stop taking it, just like you would with other opiates. Promises of weaning down and getting off of this drug easily doesn’t typically happen without painful and long lasting withdrawal.

Treating Opiate Addiction

Persons with an addition to opiates continue using their drugs due to an irrational fear of withdrawal from the drug. Addicts are full of fear and the short-term emotional needs of the addict vastly outweigh the long-term rational thoughts and benefits of detoxing from opiates. The thought of the withdrawals and being be able to live a sober life without drugs prevents many addicts from breaking through their denial and working towards accepting and taking responsibility for their actions and seeking help.

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Music Therapy

Music, an abstract stimulus, can arouse feelings of euphoria, similar to tangible rewards that involve the striatal dopaminergic system. Using the neurochemical specificity of positron emission tomography scanning, combined with psychophysiological measures of autonomic nervous system activity, scientists found endogenous dopamine release in the striatum at peak emotional arousal during music listening. To examine the time course of dopamine release, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging with the same stimuli and listeners, and found a functional dissociation: the caudate was more involved during the anticipation and the nucleus accumbens was more involved during the experience of peak emotional responses to music. These results indicate that intense pleasure in response to music can lead to dopamine release in the striatal system. Notably, the anticipation of an abstract reward can result in dopamine release in an anatomical pathway distinct from that associated with the peak pleasure itself. Their results help to explain why music is of such high value across all human societies.

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Statement from Reckitt Benckiser concerning Subutex

“Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals Inc. is discontinuing distribution and sale of Subutex® tablets as we believe that mono product (product containing buprenorphine alone with no naloxone) creates a greater risk of misuse, abuse and diversion, and while other mono product may be available on the market, we are concentrating our efforts around less abusable products in order to protect patients, communities and access to treatment.”

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Oxycontin Banned in Canada

Addiction experts are applauding Ontario’s new restrictions on OxyContin and the drug replacing it, but say the country needs a national strategy to tackle widespread abuse of prescription painkillers.
The province’s decision to remove OxyContin and its successor from the list of drugs it routinely funds is a “very positive thing overall,” said Dr. Irfan Dhalla of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital.
His research found the addition of long-acting oxycodone — the form contained in OxyContin — to Ontario’s drug plan in 2000 coincided with a spike in opioid-related deaths.
Imposing tighter controls on prescriptions “is not going to solve the problem by itself, but it’s a major step forward,” he said.
The maker of OxyContin will stop manufacturing the drug in Canada at the end of the month and replace it with a new formulation called OxyNeo.
Ontario health officials said Friday the new drug will be funded through the province’s Exceptional Access Program, meaning prescriptions will fall under stricter regulations.
As other provinces weigh whether to include OxyNeo in their formulary, experts such as Dhalla are urging Ottawa to take the lead in combating what has become a national health crisis.
Benedikt Fischer, director of the Centre for Applied Research in Addictions and Mental Health at Simon Fraser University, said “concerted measures” could help prevent smuggling of the drug across provincial borders.
“Let’s say in Manitoba or in Quebec, the restrictions aren’t there, there’s a much higher supply and there’s a great black market demand in Ontario, it’s quite possible the stuff will come in from the neighbouring provinces,” he said.
“It’s one reason why approaches to those kinds of measures in Canada should really be harmonized across the board,” he said.
Manitoba and British Columbia are among a handful of provinces that have yet to decide whether to fund OxyNeo once OxyContin is discontinued.
Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick have chosen not to pay for the new drug, which is formulated to make abuse more difficult.
Unlike OxyContin the tablet is hard to crush and when added to liquid it forms a thick gel that stops oxycodone from being extracted for injection.
But that won’t help those who have developed addictions to the drug in pill form, Fischer said. “They can still simply swallow it,” he said.

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Painkiller 10 times stronger than Vicodin being developed – sparking addiction fears

Drug companies are developing a painkiller ten times stronger than Vicodin which addiction experts fear could spark a wave of abuse. Four companies have begun patient testing on the pills which are the first to contain the addictive ingredient hydrocodone in a pure form. If approved, it would mark the first time patients could legally buy pure hydrocodone as existing products combine the drug with nonaddictive painkillers such as acetaminophen.

The pharmaceutical firms claim the new drug will give doctors another tool to help patients manage pain. The companies also say patients will be more closely supervised. However addiction experts fear abusers will crush the pills into a fine powder and snort it to get high. Such practice is common with the painkiller oxycodone, currently the most-abused medicine in the U.S.

April Rovero, president of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse told Fox news: ‘I have a big concern that this could be the next OxyContin. ‘We just don’t need this on the market.’

According to the DEA, there were 19,221 emergency room visits as a result of hydrocodone abuse in 2000. The figure was 86,258 in 2009. Between 2003 and 2007 in the state of Florida alone, hydrocodone caused 910 deaths and contributed to 1,803 others.

Andrew Kolodny, president of Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing told CBS: ‘You’ve got a person on your product for life, and a doctor’s got a patient who’s never going to miss an appointment, because if they did and they didn’t get their prescription, they would feel very sick. Abuse: Addicts crush pills such as oxycodone into a fine powder which they snort to get high. ‘It’s a terrific business model, and that’s what these companies want to get in on.’

The San Diego company Zogenix plans hopes to begin marketing its product, Zohyadro, in early 2013. Rival companies Perdue Pharma, Cephalon, and Egalet are developing their own versions. Zogenix chief executive Roger Hawley claims Zohydro will be a safer painkiller than Vicodin as Vicodin contains acetaminophen which can be dangerous to the liver.

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