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JULY 18, 2018 BY COREY W. HUNTER, MD, FIPP
While opioid medications may be effective for treating pain in the short-term, they have an extremely high propensity for addiction and do nothing to address the underlying cause of the pain.
The good news is that there are many alternatives to opioids that can help alleviate your son or daughter’s pain. Below, we’ve helped to spell them out for you and have provided guidance on how to ask your doctor about these alternatives.
What if My Child Has Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is defined by the CDC generally as pain that lasts more than three months. It’s a complex issue to manage successfully, but especially so in the case of someone you’re concerned about developing an addiction, or someone in recovery. The CDC actually recommends against opioids as the solution for chronic pain management, as they say the risks from opioids greatly outweigh the benefits for most people. Fortunately, there are several other methods to help manage these chronic issues that you and your child can discuss with a physician.
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Results: Overall, 32.2% (95% CI=29.7–34.9) of patients with a substance-induced psychosis converted to either bipolar or schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The highest conversion rate was found for cannabis-induced psychosis, with 47.4% (95% CI=42.7–52.3) converting to either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Young age was associated with a higher risk of converting to schizophrenia. Self-harm after a substance-induced psychosis was significantly linked to a higher risk of converting to both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Half the cases of conversion to schizophrenia occurred within 3.1 years after a substance-induced psychosis, and half the cases of conversion to bipolar disorder occurred within 4.4 years.
Conclusions: Substance-induced psychosis is strongly associated with the development of severe mental illness, and a long follow-up period is needed to identify the majority of cases.
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Prevention Matters https://www.preventteendruguse.org/prevention/
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Nearly 33 percent of young adults in the U.S. are at risk of being addicted to cocaine, take prescription medication for non-medical use, and become alcoholics. One in three people between the ages of 21 and 24 habitually consumes energy drinks, and a new study suggests they are more likely to abuse drugs or alcohol later in life.
For the study, researchers from the University of Maryland followed the health and risk-taking habits of 1,099 college students over a four-year period. At the end of the analysis, the participants that drank highly caffeinated drinks were more likely to be addicted to cocaine, alcohol, or other substances than students who avoided the beverages.
“This study gives evidence of a specific contribution of energy drink consumption to later substance use,” said Amelia Arria, an associate professor and lead author of the study, as cited by NZ Herald. “The results suggest that energy drink users might be at heightened risk for other substance use, particularly stimulants.”
While the study seemed to find an association between energy drinks and future substance abuse, the researchers could not determine exactly why such a link should exist. Some possibilities for a connection include peer pressure, a higher inclination for risk-taking, and even effects on the brain that cause a craving for more potent stimulants.
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‘Life is not sunshine and rainbows and thank you for teaching me that life is unfair — people disappoint you and there’s sometimes nothing you can do about that. A lesson well learnt from the both of you. Thank you for not being there to wave goodbye as I jetted off to Uganda on a trip of a lifetime, thanks for not being there when I got my first set of exam results to say well done, thanks for not being there when I got the position of head girl (a personal dream), thanks for not being there for me as I stood in front hundreds of people to speak at the Caird Hall for my school prizegiving, thank you for not being there for me when I needed you…
You’ve given me the greatest lesson of how to be independent. You have both allowed me to be a more patient and tolerant person than I could have imagined.
Parents, both of you, thank you for teaching me that taking drugs ruin lives, breaks families apart and gives no one a quality of life worth living. I'll be eternally grateful for this lesson you have taught me which has a message which has stuck by me until this day and always will, I have never and will never have a desire to take harmful substances through your example…