Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Dec. 5, 2024 – A new study of lab rats who were given cocaine is shedding new light on the cognition of addiction. Rats that initially overindulged eventually reduced their consumption.
The post Scientists Learn from Coked Up Rats appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 23, 2024 – Microplastics have been found throughout the human body, raising concerns about their potential impact on our health. Studies have shown correlations between their presence and health issues such as heart attacks and strokes … Efforts to mitigate microplastic pollution include banning certain plastic products, developing better recycling technologies, and working towards a UN agreement to end plastic pollution globally.
In 2022, scientists found microplastics — pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long — in human blood. Since then, they’ve been discovered throughout the human body, including in our lungs, kidneys, livers, hearts, and brains.
So, why do we have all this plastic in us, what does it mean for our health, and what can we do about it?
The post Are microplastics really destroying our health? appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 21, 2023 – In her extraordinary debut feature, Irish artist and filmmaker Myrid Carten fixes her camera, when possible, on her erratic, alcoholic mother Nuala —On a busy Belfast shopping street, in broad daylight, the filmmaker observes a woman slumped on a sidewalk bench, her head hidden in a gray hoody, her right hand clasping a bottle of red wine.
Pedestrians walk past, either ignoring the hunched figure or casting her a fleeting glance of concern before carrying on with their day. Carten keeps her camera on her, in transfixed recognition — for the woman is her mother Nuala, identifiable to her daughter only by the high-heeled boots on her unsteady feet. No approach is made, no greeting shouted, no gaze returned. Later, Carten admits to feeling guilt at filming her mother as though she were a stranger, before walking away. But as her raw, searing documentary “A Want in Her” eventually makes clear, theirs is a relationship defined by safe and unsafe distances. Absence, if it doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, sometimes keeps it intact.
The post ‘A Want in Her’ Review: A Daughter’s Shattering Testament to Her Mother’s Alcoholism appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 23, 2024 – That said, there are daily habits and practices that older adults can engage in to help ease some of the aches and pains that come with aging. We spoke with a number of doctors across different specialties about things they wish older adults would do daily ― and many are easier than you think. As you get older, you’ll particularly want to try to avoid heavily consuming processed foods. While these are OK in moderation, you should try to focus on incorporating more nutritious foods onto your plate.
“Making these changes can be as simple as choosing healthy meals and snacks that can help prevent heart disease, including fresh fruits and vegetables, foods high in fiber and low in unhealthy fats, and also limiting your intake of salt and sugar,” said Dr. Nadim Geloo, senior director of medical affairs at Abbott’s structural heart business. “It may be difficult to change overnight, so I recommend changing one aspect of your diet at a time with a medium-term goal to eliminate harmful foods.”
The post 7 Things Doctors Wish Adults Would Do Daily appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 27, 2024 – “I didn’t think in a million years I’d ever make it,” the 35-year-old mother of one said from her home. “I have struggled with addiction through the majority of my adult life.” “One time since I’ve been home, somebody was using [drugs] in the same area as me,” she recalled. “All I could think about was the promise I made to my son. I promised him that even though I messed up while he was a very young child… and he’s 13 now.
I’m going be there when he graduates. I’m going to be there when he gets married. I’m going to be there to help him with his children and my grandchildren. That was all I could think about. I had an opportunity — I could have taken those drugs and I could have used it — but all I could think about was that I made a promise.”
Tanche, who said her grandfather was “a healer,” now works as a wellness program manager in the village, and takes great pride in helping others through their recovery — particularly her fellow Indigenous people.
The post Gracyn Tanche Is Recovering From Addiction ‘OUT-LOUD’ appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 23, 2024 – When you think of holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, what comes to mind? Gathering around a table set with food and wine, sitting on the couch watching football with a beer in hand or enjoying cocktails at a bar with friends? We’re here for each other for a reason. Just trusting in that sense of fellowship that you find.
Styer stopped drinking about six years ago, when the attitudes around alcohol hadn’t quite begun to shift. Styer described the experience as “isolating,” but at the same time was heartened by the fact that a lot of her friends, even those who still drank, “were really supportive of that journey” and accommodated her needs.
“Having people around you that will be supportive of your sobriety journey is a really important thing. And, a lot of people since then, I’ve seen more and more people becoming sober and more and more establishments accommodating non-alcoholic drinks,” Styer said. “It has been, actually, quite lovely to see that. It makes me feel more comfortable. The pressure and the anxiety of it is lessened.”
Both Styer and Liffick emphasized that while communication is important, and that letting people know what your needs are and what you’re going through can help, no one is owed an explanation.
The post Seeking Sobriety This Holiday Season? appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 27, 2024 – Chelsea Moore never imagined she’d be advocating for better addiction treatment options. Three years ago, she hit rock bottom after overdosing while pregnant.
“I was with very experienced users. They had Narcan, the nose spray, the injection, everything. But it didn’t work at first,” Moore recalled. She refused to go to the hospital because her father worked there as a doctor. With her father’s support, Moore eventually got help at UNC Horizons, a comprehensive treatment program for pregnant and parenting women. The program provides residential treatment, group therapy, and on-site pediatric services, as well as OAT.
“They saved my life. They taught me how to be a mom,” Moore said. She credits medication-assisted treatment for her recovery and her ability to thrive today with her son, Liam
Carroll’s study highlighted systemic issues among North Carolina’s addiction treatment facilities. Posing as uninsured heroin users, researchers contacted 94 residential facilities. They discovered:
The post Life-Saving Opioid Treatments Lacking in NC Rehabs appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 26, 2024 – It’s been four years and five months since Sam Tutanuak of Rankin Inlet had a drink of alcohol or a puff of marijuana.
Tutanuak, 57, who now resides in Iqaluit, said believe it or not, over a 20-year period he figures to have gone through more than a million dollars on his addictions. “That’s an astronomical number and that’s not including aged 12 to 20 and it’s also not including ages 41 to 48,” said Tutanuak.
“I finally reached the realization that I can battle my demons within myself without having external substances come in. I finally figured out that I was able to talk through whatever issues I was battling at the time, but it wasn’t easy.
“That’s one of the main things that has kept me away from using these substances.”
The post Popular Musician Shares Sobriety Struggle appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 26, 2024 – Ifeanyi Vincent Ntukogu, 49, of Fresno, pleaded guilty to distributing more than 450,000 oxycodone and hydrocodone pills based on fraudulent prescriptions, prosecutors said Monday in a news release. “This defendant displayed a blatant disregard for public safety and the law,” U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said in a statement.
Ntukogu owned and operated New Life Pharmacy in Madera, which shuttered after his arrest. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. The scheme involved forged prescriptions attributed to more than 10 other doctors, prosecutors said, as part of a plan with co-conspirators, Kelo White and Donald Pierre. Ntukogu reviewed each prescription between December 2014 and November 2018 and rejected the ones he believed regulators would find suspicious, prosecutors said. He required cash payments from co-conspirators White and Pierre, who illegally sold the pills in Tennessee, Texas and elsewhere, prosecutors said.
The post Local Pharmacist Sentenced For Selling 500,000 Opiate Pills appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
Addiction Recovery Bulletin
Nov. 25, 2024 – Catholic in Recovery is “a nonprofit organization that seeks to serve those suffering from addictions and unhealthy attachments,” such as alcohol and drug abuse, gambling, and sex addiction, according to its website.
While I was writing the manuscript for the book, I did a four-week series at the cathedral, St. Joseph Cathedral in downtown San Diego, on the structure of the book. The best part of that happened when I was done speaking; other people in the audience had a chance to share their experience with addiction or recovery or their loved ones’ challenges with addiction, but through the lens of our faith and sacraments and Scripture and Catholic devotions, things that are otherwise a little too specific in a secular 12-step meeting.
It was very clear we needed to keep bringing those people together. So we started our first Catholic in Recovery meeting in January 2017 at St. Joseph Cathedral in San Diego. Fast-forward to today, there are about 125 active Catholic in Recovery meetings held in person and about 75 weekly meetings held via Zoom. It’s grown in ways that I could have never imagined.
The post Catholics in Recovery appeared first on Addiction/Recovery eBulletin.
