Herbal Health

COMING OFF DRUGS: FOR SOCIAL WORKERS, TEACHERS, EMPLOYERS AND MEMBERS OF THE HELPING PROFESSIONS-OUR SUCCESS RATE

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:31:14 +0000

Those who specialise in the treatment of alcoholism or drug dependence know that it is not easy to treat alcoholics and addicts together. We do.
The most important British study of the decade, at an eminent London hospital, followed up one hundred alcoholics from stable family and work backgrounds at six, twelve, eighteen and twenty-four months after hospital in-patient treatment. It showed that by the two-year mark there was a 100-per-cent relapse rate: all the patients so treated had gone back to drinking over this period. A recent important ten-year follow-up at a number of London drug clinics showed that 53 per cent of addicts had either died or continued to be maintained on drugs. Only 38 per cent were abstinent from illegal drugs.
Our treatment results are much better. Our follow-up studies over five years include all patients, even those who did not fully complete treatment with us. Patients in the study ranged from very disturbed young addicts to alcoholics in their sixties. All patients were followed up at six-month intervals for five years after treatment.
Conservatively, fifty out of every hundred patients were totally abstinent. A further
twenty-five had had a relapse, usually of short length after leaving the clinic, but had gone back to abstinence, successfully continued in recovery and improved the quality of their lives.
These short-term relapsers were often the young and impulsive addicts or alcoholics. Though persuaded that they had a drink and/or drug problem, nevertheless they made one final effort to prove the treatment wrong. Their relapse instead acted as a final convincer that abstinence from all mood-altering chemicals was the only answer.
A final twenty-five addicts and alcoholics relapsed after treatment and had to be
re-hospitalised or “required further long-term treatment. Among these were many who had left treatment early.
These results show that treating alcoholics and addicts is not a waste of time or money, and that, with the right treatment, a high degree of success can be expected. Some patients, indeed, have an even better prognosis. Referrals from employers or unions with a policy of treatment and support for alcoholism and drug dependence, instead of dismissal or covering up the problem, can expect a 75-80-per-cent recovery rate without any relapse.
Treating alcoholics and addicts has great rewards. We see them arrive for treatment as sick, miserable people, leading destructive lives; but as their recovery progresses they become happy, stable, achieving people, full of life.
Change is the key that turns misery into a walking miracle.

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Anti-Smoking

COMING OFF DRUGS: FOR SOCIAL WORKERS, TEACHERS, EMPLOYERS AND MEMBERS OF THE HELPING PROFESSIONS-OUR TREATMENT PROGRAMME

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:30:29 +0000

What we have done is successfully to integrate the caring philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous into the professional treatment programme. This is a team concept, including counselling, nursing, medical, psychological and psychiatric staff who have had special training and experience with addictive diseases.
In doing this, something profound seems to have occurred – a humanising of a complex treatment programme with the close sharing found in both AA and NA.
Perhaps the most important factor in the programme is the opportunity the patient has to learn and grow in small structured peer groups. There is an immediate effectiveness in the sharing of a common experience. This common identity appears to be based on the admission and acceptance of human limitation. Non-addictive people seem to have no problem in accepting their own limitations. Most addictive people find this reality unacceptable.
In the commonality of accepting limitation, patients draw strength and help from other patients, and in turn help other alcoholic and chemically dependent people to recover. In simple terms, people who have made a career of abusing alcohol or drugs, and who have been dishonest, manipulative and intolerant towards their family and friends, learn to change when confronted with each other and their common, chronic addiction.
From this human ‘peak’ or spiritual experience, for the alcoholic or addict comes the courage to face up to the illness of chemical dependence and to recover.
The primary function of any chemical-dependence programme is to evaluate and initiate the proper treatment for people who are suffering from alcohol or drug dependence. We see this illness as dependence on or abuse of alcohol and/or drugs. These drugs can be prescribed or illegal; most patients substitute one for another during their career of dependence.
A wide range of services is provided by the treatment team. We think very few, if any, professionals can work successfully outside a team. It is just too draining and too emotionally stressful.
Based on the patient’s history, current physical and emotional condition, employment and family situation, a referral may be made to the out-patients’ department at our London centre or at Farm Place, our treatment centre in Ockley, Surrey, or to inpatient treatment at Farm Place. We insist on involvement in the appropriate self-help group of AA or NA.
Out-patient treatment begins with a medical assessment and detoxification, followed by necessary therapy by counselling, group therapy and family counselling – as indicated by the
individual treatment plan which is developed by the treatment team.
The patient requiring in-patient treatment receives a full medical examination and is placed on a detoxification regimen if necessary. In order to assist the newly admitted patient to understand the programme, there is an introductory and orientation session explaining the structure of the programme and the patient’s responsibilities and rights while in treatment.
Soon after admission, each patient is assessed several times so that an individual treatment plan can be developed. Treatment-plan designs are based on a series of interviews supplemented by co-operation from the family, GP and other referrants – employers and other significant people in the patient’s life.
This plan is designed to enable each individual to progress according to his or her capabilities. All patients have frequent sessions of individual counselling to enable them to recognise their dependence on alcohol or drugs and to resolve problems relating to the special needs of each individual and the family members.
Structured group therapy takes place twice daily. By sharing their experiences, patients come to terms with their dependence and the damage this has caused to themselves and to others. With the support of their peers, patients face their mutual problems with chemicals and begin to change.
Families are encouraged to involve themselves in the treatment programme. They participate in multiple family groups and in individual family-counselling sessions. This is to ensure that the family members, or significant others, understand the nature of chemical dependence. This understanding benefits both the patient and the family. Individual treatment plans are developed by the team for families, or significant others, to maximise their involvement. This is sometimes described as a ‘family-systems’ approach to addiction.
In recent years it has been recognised how much the families of chemically dependent people have become emotionally involved and damaged by association with the illness. The patient has often blamed his need for alcohol and drugs on other people or problems. Usually most families have initially believed this to be the case. They have taken the blame on themselves and have sometimes become immobilised and/or complicit in the illness.
Family programmes must therefore be geared to teach the family to modify their reactive behaviour and to detach from the patient while still caring. Another object is to help the family to know what to expect when the patient comes home. They must learn to live for themselves and not to be a weathervane for the chemically dependent person: to accept that their own personal growth is good for them, and that what is good for them is good for the chemically dependent person.
Of further assistance to the patient are the self-help groups of AA and NA, in which they participate while in treatment and which are their on-going support system in recovery. This applies equally to family members in Al-anon, Alateen and FA.
Early in treatment, each patient is given a psychological assessment, which is communicated directly to them in an understandable way. This is to help the patient to develop increased insight and understanding into the psychological problems that usually develop as addiction progresses and how these problems usually recede as recovery stabilises.
Patients are also assessed to ensure that no serious psychiatric problems, related to chemical dependence or independent of it, are present. This assessment is integrated into the individual treatment plan and updated as appropriate.
Further information is given to patients during treatment in the form of lectures giving guidelines for recovery, ways of coping and the way roles in the family change in recovery.
Exercise and relaxation sessions are provided to enhance the patient’s physical and emotional well-being, and also to promote social interaction. Having fun without chemicals is often a new experience which must be learned or relearned after years during which alcohol or drugs have been the main social lubricant.
Some patients need a longer period of treatment than four to six weeks of primary care. Extended care is provided within the residential centre of Farm Place. The aim is to help patients make changes in lifestyle and attitudes, and to develop self-worth without the risk of returning to alcohol and drugs.
Some patients need to spend between six months and a year in a halfway house – usually those who need to be able to spend a long period in a structured environment in which they can take time to consolidate recovery. This is necessary for some young people with a long drug history and little structure in their life, and for alcoholics with a previous extensive history of relapse. The halfway house provides counselling and on-going group therapy, as well as opportunities to work, continue education and progress to normal living while involvement in AA or NA is developing.
Plans are made to ensure, as far as possible, that the patient has the best chance for recovery. After-care services include introduction to the appropriate self-help group, out-patient follow-up and group therapy. The main goal of after-care is to continue progress made in treatment and to work towards happiness and normal living. All patients are followed for at least five years.
Recovery really begins when the patient returns home to use the tools that have been given and the skills acquired with the ongoing assistance of the self-help groups of AA and NA.

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Anti-Smoking

BIOLOGICAL REASONS WHY YOU BINGE: SEROTONIN

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 07:29:24 +0000

Binge eating may be driven by a need to increase serotonin, a brain chemical that produces a feeling of relaxed calmness. Serotonin levels increase when we eat carbohydrate foods. That is why, compared to protein or fatty foods, carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, and chocolate have a soothing, mood-altering effect on us.

Some experts feel that we binge on certain foods to increase serotonin to soothe us. That is why you want to eat when you’re stressed out. Food becomes your antidepressant or antianxiety medication. It may be that your brain does not produce enough serotonin and you are driven to eat in order to get more. It may also be that you enjoy the mood changes resulting from serotonin more than others.

Jackie, a 46-year-old woman from Atlanta, described her reaction to chocolate in this way:

When I eat candy I feel like a totally different person. It calms me. I feel tranquilized. It’s a drowsy, relaxed sensation. My body feels warm and heavy. I hate to admit this, but chocolate gives me a mental and physical pleasure that I don’t get from anything else. I feel like a drug addict.

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Weight loss

GENERAL BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS: SIBLING RIVALRY

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:03:20 +0000

Sibling rivalry is a common concern for parents. Children spend as much time, if not more, with siblings as with parents, and it is inevitable that some conflict will arise from time to time.

Sibling rivalry may be worsened by family stresses and tension , or by changes in the family such as separation or moving house. Sometimes conflict between siblings may be worse when one sibling has a chronic medical condition or a disability or learning problem, which necessitates additional parental attention.

The best way for parents to manage sibling rivalry and conflict is generally to keep out of it. Some rivalry is inevitable, and not necessarily a bad thing. The situation is often made worse by parents buying into the argument. Most of the time it is best left to the children to sort things out themselves. Parents should rather establish clear guidelines and set limits on what is acceptable behaviour, and handle it in the way they would handle any aggressive or inappropriate behaviour.

Parents can minimise sibling rivalry by addressing the following issues:

• inform other children of the imminent arrival of a new baby;

• involve other children in helping to care for the new arrival, strongly praising appropriate behaviour, and attempting to ignore behaviour that is inappropriate;

• try to set aside time for each child each day (‘special time’);

• demonstrate to each child the very special individual attributes they alone have; encourage individual activities and interests; allow them to have different activities, appropriate to their ages, such as different bedtimes.

*179\90\8*

ANXIETY DISORDERS/WORKING THROUGH THE RECOVERY: COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL EXPOSURE PROGRAM

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:24:41 +0000

A cognitive behavioural therapist will normally work with various types of exposure methods pertaining to our particular anxiety disorder. When wc begin to work with our avoidance behaviour we will probably feel anxious and the ‘what ifs’ may return. In only a few seconds the ‘what ifs’ can create a mountain of fear and anxiety which seems insurmountable. We may forget any management strategies we have learnt, and become caught up in the automatic cycle of thinking.

It is most important to realise that we will feel anxious and frightened when working with a CBT program. By accepting this we can work with it, not against it.

Making allowances

As an example, part of our CBT program may include doing the shopping alone. This can be broken down into easy steps. To begin with, we can go to the shop early in the morning. We will feel more comfortable in letting the anxiety and attack happen if the shop is not too crowded. As we become more confident in letting it happen, we can begin to shop at different times of the day.

If part of our program means going to dinner or the theatre, we can ask to be seated by an aisle or an exit, or both-not so much for a quick getaway, but to help break down the feeling of being trapped. The aisle or exit is there if we do need to leave quickly. If we work with our thinking and let the anxiety and attack happen, we will find we won’t have to leave.

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CHILDREN’S SLEEP PROBLEMS/BUILDING THE BASICS: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:02:42 +0000

It is much easier to prevent a problem than to solve it. And it is easier to solve a problem if you know what you want.

Values. As you plan for the ideal sleep situation, take into account the specific values you hold, and set expectations that fit your lifestyle. Values are as unique as each family.

We are frequently out evenings, so we value Maureen’s ability to get to sleep smoothly—and on her own.

Because my wife works late and enjoys spending time with the kids when she gets home, we appreciate their late bedtimes.

Goals. Your values will clarify the goals toward which to aim. For example, if you value everyone sleeping together, then your goal is to arrange a family bed where everyone is comfortable and teaching independent sleep will not be an issue. If you value independent sleep, you will not take your child into your bed under normal circumstances.

As you carry on, check to be sure your action supports your goal—watch that “just for tonight” doesn’t slip into an unwanted pattern.

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PRESSURE SORES (BED SORES) – IMPORTANT SECTION

admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:56:05 +0000

It is very important for you to read this section carefully if you can’t move around freely and easily, whether or not you are confined to bed. You don’t have to be in bed to get bed sores, which is why I prefer the name of pressure sores.

Pressure sores are nearly always preventable—you are not likely to get any if you, and the people caring for you, understand what causes them and how to prevent them. You are in danger of developing pressure sores whenever you stay in the same position for many hours at a time, especially if you have lost a lot of weight. This is because when weight is taken by any part of you where there is very little tissue between the skin and the bone, the circulation to that part may be cut off. It’s not only your backside that is in danger. Pressure sores can develop on hips, knees, ankles, elbows, and even the back of the head—anywhere where there is bone very close to the skin.

*218/40/1*

HEART ATTACK – DANGEROUS FACTORS

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 09:13:33 +0000

As well, plaques of atheroma collect and may ulcerate through the lining, leaving a raw surface. Platelets from the blood may be deposited on these raw surfaces to form a clot.

There are many factors which can lead to the formation of atheroma. These are:

Heredity — a history of heart attacks at an early age in parents or grandparents

High levels of blood fats (lipids) — cholesterol and triglycerides

High blood pressure

Obesity

Cigarette smoking — this increases the risk four to six times

Nervous tension

Lack of physical exercise

Most of these factors are reversible and there is no doubt that high fat levels are a cause. What is debated is whether you can do anything about changing the level of fat in the blood.

A diet high in animal fat tends to increase the amount of cholesterol and a high intake of refined carbohydrate increases the level of triglyceride. Changing the diet may reduce this factor and so reduce the risk.

*406/71/1*

MISCARRIAGE – THREATENED MISCARRIAGE

admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:21:14 +0000

A threatened miscarriage is where there is bleeding from the vagina during the course of pregnancy. This may settle down and the pregnancy proceed to term. But if the cervix dilates and the membranes rupture, then the term used is inevitable abortion.

Incomplete abortion means that some placental tissue has been retained within the uterus or womb.

This miscarriage is usually associated with bleeding which may be heavy, and pain, backache or lower abdominal cramp, just like a mini-labor.

Very few miscarriages are complete — that is, all the products of conception completely discharged.

Most doctors would consider that all cases of miscarriage require the operation of D and Ñ — dilatation and curettage — to remove the products of conception.

If the womb is not completely emptied, then the retained placental tissue may cause infection or, later on, heavy or irregular periods.

A missed abortion is where death of the foetus has occurred. The symptoms of pregnancy disappear, but there may be no bleeding.

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WHAT IS THE SKIN? (PART 2)

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:09:52 +0000

The dermis in turn is supported by the subcutaneous tissue, which in reality is a specialized layer of the dermis. It is more loosely arranged and has specialized in the formation of fat. The thickness of the subcutaneous tissue varies greatly in different parts of the body and even between the sexes. Its main function is heat insulation and being a support for the various blood vessels and lymphatic vessels which supply the skin with nourishment and drain away the waste products. Through it also run the bundles of nerve fibres which form a complex interlacing network throughout the dermis.

There are a number of both essential and non-essential skin appendages. The essential ones include the various glands, and the non-essential ones, the hair and nails. The sebaceous glands are a group of specialized cells in the basal layer of the epidermis which produces sebum. This is an important fatty secretion which is discharged onto the skin surface through a small duct leading into the hair follicle opening. Sebum has a number of functions, one of which is to lightly coat the epidermis with oil and so help retain moisture in the skin. Another is to improve the pliability of the skin. It also has a mild anti-bacterial and antifungal action. Sebaceous glands occur over the whole skin surface, except on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. They are most numerous on the face and scalp. The activity of these glands varies greatly between individuals and at various ages. During adolescence there is usually an over-production of sebum, resulting in acne, whereas in the elderly there is an under-production, resulting in dry. non-pliable skin.

Apocrine glands are modified sebaceous glands, found mainly in the armpits, genital area, and around the nipples. They are specialized glands which do not function until after puberty. They are stimulated by certain hormonal factors (such as the hormonal changes which occur during menstruation and pregnancy) and emotional factors (such as stress and sexual arousal). Their secretions are responsible for an individual’s characteristic odour and may also have some minor lubricating function.

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