American Society Of Addiction Medicine

Addiction- a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include one or more of the following: impaired control over drug use, compulsive use, continued use despite harm, and craving. The difference between addiction and abuse is often times unclear. It’s a difficult call to make as a family member or a close friend that is dealing with a person like this in their life, but ultimately it is a call that only the addict can make for themselves. There are tons of different sources and tests and questions out there that can be done that can

The purpose of this paper is to examine the article, “The Brain’s Rewarding System & Addiction” (2004) by Katharine P. Bailey, MSN. In this article, I did not find a general hypothesis. Studies in this article show that most drugs directly or indirectly cause selective elevation of dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens (NA), the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and the limbic system, consequently called the reward center of the brain (Bailey, 2004). Behaviors that bring pleasure and are also crucial to existence (eating, drinking, and sex) also activate the same reward circuitry, however, activation of this circuitry by addictive drugs can be much

McLellan. David Nutt is a professor at Edmond J. Safra Fundation. Besides, David Nutt is the Director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Science. Thomas M. McLellan is the Chief Executive Officer and cofounder of the Treatment Research Institute. In addition, Thomas M. McLellan is a substance abuse researcher. Moreover, McLellan served as Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Can Neuroscience Improve Addiction Treatment and Policies?” is a research that explains that the brain is the primary objective of psychoactive drugs. In the paper “Can Neuroscience Improve Addiction Treatment and Policies?” the authors state, “drugs are self-administered because they make people feel different – usually better”. They explain that the majority of the modifications related with drug consume are fast changes. The alterations produced by drugs are faster than most changes created by natural stimulus. Numerous activities that produce amusement feelings release neurotransmitters such as dopamine. The consume of drugs manufacture quickly and higher levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine. An important fact about the ingest of drugs according to the authors is that “this rapid release of reward-inducing experience is a significant part of the transition from exploratory, to regular, to compulsive use (addiction).”

This can be associated with a concept named “sugar addiction”. It seems it’s hard to connect “sugar” with “addiction”, because we eat sugar every day, and we tend to connect “addiction” to something that sounds more “chemical” like drugs. But some researches show that “sugar addiction” really exists. According to the research of Avena, Rada and Hoebel (2008), sugar can be a kind of addiction material. It is found that sugar can make human body to release opioids and dopamine, which are two kinds of substances that are considered as addictable. This article summarizes the evidence of sugar dependence in an animal model, and the evidence supports the hypothesis that rats can become sugar addicted under certain circumstances. Also, the research of Wideman, Nadzam and Murphy (2005) indicates the effects of sugar addiction, withdrawal and relapse are similar to the effects of drugs addiction. From the researches about the mechanism of being addicted to sugar, we can see that it’s possible to let a man become addicted to

Substance use disorders and addiction are affecting Americans at an alarming rate. People of all backgrounds, cultures and socioeconomic status have suffered the impact this epidemic is causing on loved ones, friends or maybe even themselves. Some individuals seek treatment and with the help of a support network they can change their life. Others are not so lucky. It is estimated that 62,497 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016. That is more casualties than the Vietnam War (Lopez, 2017). This number does not include deaths resulting from diseases of long term use such as liver cirrhosis, hepatitis and AIDS. It would be easy to conclude these addicted individuals died in vain simply due to their poor life choices and lack of morals, but

The American Medical Society (AMA) declared addiction to alcohol to be an illness in 1956. Prior to 1956, addiction was stigmatized as a moral failure or weakness of character. You can read a fascinating historical review of addiction evolving from a moral failure to an illness at http://bit.ly/1TwOdE8.

While addiction is a crippling disease that affects more than 20 million people, it is also a multi-billion dollar company. Prescription pill addiction affects more than 2 million people a year and has killed more than 200,000. The United States federal government benefit and profit from prescription pill addictions.

Most people associate dangerous addiction with the use of illegal drugs, but substance abuse consists of any dangerous dependence, including alcoholism and reliance on prescription drugs. For centuries, substance abuse was regarded by society as a personal failing or moral fault, and addicts were shunned and forced to the fringes of the community. Substance abuse today is recognized as a disease, typified by the brain becoming reliant on certain substances to deliver neurotransmitters like dopamine or serotonin. Street drugs like marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines react with the brain in a similar way to legal addictives, such as alcohol, tobacco, and inhalants.

Prescription drug addiction is a growing epidemic in several cities in the United States. As a result, many cities have begun to have an increase of babies being born addicted to opiates. In rural areas of Maine, this is becoming a more common occurrence, babies born addicted to opiates more than doubled in a five-year span. These women try to stop using drugs for the sake of their unborn children however, this may cause them to have a miscarriage. In this article, it is discussed how the effects of abusing prescribed painkillers affect infants once they are born and the moral dilemma doctors face to try to treat these babies.

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) is redefining addiction. Some experts from the ASAM got together to try to develop parameters to define addictions as a chronic brain disorder in ways the brain communicate. The new development shows that addiction is addiction, whether it’s gambling, food, or drugs. It also shows that addiction is not a disorder but a disease. Addictive behavior is the underlying disease which need to be treated, and if left untreated, it can cause the addiction to get worse and sometimes causes death. Dr. Miller, who was part of this study said “It is time to stop moralizing, blaming or smirking at the person with the disease of addiction”. The ASAM have been trying to remove the stigma or labeling from addiction,

When we follow a pill with a swig of water, the liquid’s coolness washes down the chemicals into a more permanent part of our bodies. We do not think about how the temporary relief will affect our future. Over time, this repeated subtle form of abuse can take a toll, resulting in something more harmful. Several articles report that the average drug has 70 side effects, and sometimes one of those is death. Why do very few know that over 100,000 deaths occur annually from known side effects of prescription drugs? The medical field receives a lot of attention in this country, with its growing financial numbers and our frequent visits to hospitals and pharmacies. Health is important to everybody, and there is always a drug advertisement for the

reasons it is so misunderstood is because there is no real consensus as to what

It is like drugs, cigarettes, and other addictive things. If you never try them, you

This source summarizes the 2014 meeting of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAP). Dr. Brezing recaps the main points from the meeting, speaking about the pros and cons of marijuana legalization with a particular focus on treatment strategies for those with both substance use and a psychiatric disorder. The article also touches upon patients suffering from PTSD, and the effects of cannabis consumption on the adolescent brain. Dr. Brezing is highly qualified on the topic as she is a clinical and research fellow in the Division of Substance Abuse, Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City, who gives an unbiased summation. Right from the get-go, the author describes the

Research by Prof. Selena Bartlet from Queensland University of Technology, shows drug used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat sugar addiction. Pointing that sugar addiction should be treated as drug abuse. The research stated that excess sugar consumption elevate dopamine levels in the reward and pleasure ventral cortex of the brain, in a similar way to many drug of abuse including tobacco, cocaine and morphine.