A new study shows that siblings share a vulnerability to addiction, even if one abuses drugs and the other doesn’t. Researchers looked at pairs of siblings and healthy unrelated people and compared their brain structures and their ability to control their impulses — something that is known to be compromised among drug users. The study
Keep ReadingBinge drinking. Alcohol poisoning. Prescription sharing. Painkiller addiction. These are all serious problems for teens and college students. Although it is unlikely that we are going to get kids to stop experimenting or partying altogether, we don’t need to encourage it. Urban Outfitters, known for supplying teens and college students with trendy and low-cost clothing,
Keep ReadingTurning to medication seems easier than exploring the issues behind a health problem. Making diet and lifestyle changes, lowering stress, cutting out bad habits and self-examining are far more difficult. Who wants to do all that work, when they can just take a pill? There aren’t catchy ads for behavioral therapy or classes that teach
Keep ReadingWhen it comes to addiction, most of us don’t think we are at risk. However even if you’re fit and health conscious, you can fall prey to addiction. A single injury can start the addiction process without you even realizing it. Injuries can lead an otherwise healthy and active individual to take painkillers to avoid
Keep ReadingThe type of drugs a teen chooses to try may have a connection to the music he or she listens to. A substance’s mention in songs can pique curiosity, and that has been the case with “sizzurp.” The term has popped up in tracks by Three Six Mafia (“Sippin On Some Syrup”) and Lil Wayne
Keep ReadingFrom huffing and pill parties to overdosing on caffeine on the playground, kids today are finding creative – and dangerous – new ways to get high. Teens and experimentation go together. While it’s natural for kids to explore new things and push boundaries as they journey toward adulthood, some experimentation can be deadly. Teens (and
Keep ReadingJoe Putignano is a Cirque du Soleil acrobat that performs death-defying leaps and dangles from a 40-foot-high catwalk. He is an addiction recovery success story, as he has nearly six years of sobriety after a harrowing heroin addiction. Pushing his body to the limits night after night doesn’t come without a price. Putignano’s shoulder has
Keep ReadingIt is not uncommon to find that a drug created for one purpose may be used to treat other issues as well, and interesting new options for addressing addiction have experts taking notice. As we better understand how addiction and brain disease overlap, scientists are discovering new treatment methods in already established medications. Options being
Keep ReadingWe know tobacco is bad for you, but when individuals are tackling addiction to heroin, cocaine, meth or prescription painkillers, are you really going to deny them a few cigarettes? In a recent Scientific American podcast Christopher Intagliata addressed the topic of instituting bans on tobacco at rehab centers. At first glance it seems obvious.
Keep ReadingFourth- and fifth-grade students in one US school were caught smoking and inhaling candy. The children’s fake drugs of choice were Fun Dip, a flavored sugar powder, and Smarties, which can be crushed into a similar powdery consistency. The principal responded by sending a letter home to parents, warning that while the candy may not
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