Take a segment of the population prone to poor impulse control and judgment, who, biologically, are at the peak of risk-taking and pleasure-seeking behavior, put them all in one place – welcome to college. Life on most college campuses includes a vibrant party culture where alcohol and drugs are easily accessible. For students in recovery, […]
Seventy-one percent of adults in the United States enjoy an alcoholic beverage on occasion according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The vast majority of them do not suffer from dependence or addiction. A study by the Mayo Clinic however, found that an almost equal number of adults – 70 percent […]
In a move that mystified many researchers, the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) refused yet again, to loosen marijuana restrictions by reclassifying the plant as Schedule II or lower. Designated a Schedule I Drug since passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, the agency considers pot on par with drugs like heroin, cocaine or […]
By mapping human genomes, scientists unlocked a powerful new tool that’s altering the approach that many healthcare professionals have in caring for their patients – Genetic Metabolism Testing. Personalized Medicine, discussed in Part 1 of this series, is the treatment of a chronic illness tailored to a patient’s unique genetic code. This practice allows physicians […]
The Human Genome Project was completed almost 20 years ago by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Energy, and mapped the 3 billion units of DNA that makeup the human genome. Such an enormous undertaking took scientists more than a decade. As a result of their dedication, researchers are now […]
Amid the chaos of ongoing presidential campaigns and their nonstop contribution to the 24-hour news cycle, President Obama quietly made history. With nearly eight years in office, Obama has done more than any other president to call attention to the fact that addiction is a chronic disease and not a moral failure. And he has […]
Logistically, it’s impossible to know exactly how many people in the United States battle addiction issues. Narrow the focus solely to alcohol, opioids and other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines, experts believe an estimated 24 million struggle with the disease. However, that number doesn’t account for other types of addictive disorders, such as […]
Most people assume that anyone who regularly drinks too much is either alcohol dependent or an alcoholic. This is a widely held belief for a number of complex and culturally engrained reasons that there’s simply not enough time to parse out at the moment. In an interesting twist, new research suggests that most heavy drinkers […]
For many people, the dividing line between casual, social drinking, and alcoholism is the ability to stop consuming alcohol before it becomes too much. Addiction experts might suggest that’s an oversimplified version of addiction and they’d be right. There are other factors, such as genetic predisposition or neurochemical imbalances, which play a large role in […]
