Cocaine Addiction

Health Benefits of Meditation

11.05.06

Health

Meditation is one of the top-10 alternative therapies used by the U. S. population. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that 8% of Americans use meditation as a health tool. No longer just for Buddhist monks and New-Age types, meditation is now appealing to mainstream business professionals, medical doctors and even health care companies. This is a result of the growing evidence which supports that meditation can promote physical healing.

Meditation may be spiritual for some, but the practice is not necessarily religious in nature. There are many meditative approaches but regardless of the technique, medical research indicates that the practice of meditation tends to evoke a state of physiological relaxation: blood pressure drops, heart beats slower and breathing is quieter, other biochemical changes can also occur. Scientists do not understand why the changes happen but understanding the physical effects can explain the potential health benefits of meditation.

Twenty minutes of daily meditation can provide relief for ailments such as low back pain, headaches, depression and anxiety. Suffers of these chronic conditions should attempt to incorporate the meditation practice into their daily routine. If meditation can lower blood pressure, it could be a useful tool in helping patients with hypertension. If scientists uncover exactly how meditation works to relieve these symptoms, they may be able to apply that understanding to treat a variety of other disorders.

Research on meditation began back in the late 1960s. Herbert Benson, MD, began studying the physiological impact of Transcendental Meditation on individuals. In recent years, the scope of studies has focused on how the practice can reduce symptoms of chronic illnesses from cardiovascular disease to cancer. Critics indicate some of the research is been on small study populations and has not had adequate control groups for comparison. But some studies have shown promising results.

Meditation can relax the body. Promote more restful sleep and boost the body’s immune system. This will help fight illness and better manage the symptoms of chronic conditions. Meditation can relax the mind and help us better deal with the stress of our daily lives. The popular interest in meditation and its health benefits may help drive more research in the future.

Article written by Allison Preston © Copyright Fitness-web.com, All Rights Reserved

Meditation Improves Mental Health

08.05.06

Health

People who've beaten depression face a daunting prospect: half of them will relapse within the next two years. Surprisingly, the best way to avoid relapse isn't medication, but meditation. And now a Canadian scientist is providing the first tantalizing glimpses as to why.

"Our research is identifying the mental muscles that people build that protect them against depression and enhance their well-being," says Adam Anderson, Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Toronto.

Anderson is using brain imaging to actually see why "mindfulness meditation" - which emphasizes non-judgemental, moment-to-moment awareness of your feelings and thoughts - is so effective in preventing depression relapse.

In a recent study, Anderson used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to take snapshots of brain activity in individuals before and after they took part in an eight-week mindfulness meditation program at Toronto's St. Michael's hospital.

Once inside the fMRI scanner, participants were shown words including "confident" and "smart" on a screen. They were then alternately asked either to judge how the word related to them, or to simply be aware of their mental and physical response.

"We found that when people focused on simply being aware of how they were feeling, their brain activity moved from the problem solving, judgmental part of the brain that is closely linked to depression, to an older part of the brain that's focused on body awareness," says Anderson. "And this move is very calming. It's like moving into the eye of the storm. You're actually turning off the judgmental part of your brain."

Anderson believes his research will help build a strong case for the use of mindfulness meditation in treating depression. His next step is a clinical study that will examine the effectiveness of meditation in preventing depression relapse, specifically among patients who've taken anti-depressants.

This post was an article taken from SooNews Wire -- SooNews.ca -- Saturday, May 6, 2006

Surge in alcohol-related deaths

16.08.05

Health

The number of alcohol-related deaths has increased by nearly a fifth in four years, figures show. The Office for National Statistics data revealed deaths in England and Wales rose by from 5,525 in 2000 to 6,544 in 2004 - an 18.4% increase.

The highest increase was in Yorkshire and the Humber which saw a 46.5% hike. The Liberal Democrats, which obtained the data, said people were "literally drinking themselves to death", but the government said it was taking action.

The figures detail deaths where the underlying cause was directly-related to alcohol, such as liver disease and alcohol poisoning. The revelations come as the government is in the process of relaxing the drinking laws.

From November, pubs and other licensed premises, which have been given council permission, will be allowed to open for longer than the existing laws allow.

Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone said: "These figures are deeply worrying. The government must address the underlying reasons why people are drinking themselves - literally to death. I am worried that the proposed change to licensing laws will add to this startling increase in drink-related deaths. The government should pause for more thought before it brings in the changes to the licensing laws in November."

Martin Plant, professor of addiction studies at the University of the West of England, said the rise in deaths had been fuelled by the increase in binge drinking.

"In recent years we have seen more and more young people drinking more, especially women. Alcohol-related liver disease used to be only found in middle-aged and elderly people, but now evidence is mounting that more and more people in their 20s and 30s are being diagnosed with it. It is very depressing."

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the figures were "deeply disturbing".

"There is no quick fix solution to the problem. We need a broad based public health approach, which addresses licensing laws and the underlying factors of peer pressure and social behaviour.

The Department of Health said it was taking action, pointing out the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy was published last year. The paper put forward a range of measure to tackle binge drinking, including sensible drinking campaigns and provisions for GPs to give alcohol advice.

And a spokeswoman added: "The government is currently consulting with the drinks industry on the development of a social responsibility scheme. This scheme will encourage the responsible promotion and selling of alcohol."

Neuroimaging confirms the greater vulnerability of women's brains to alcohol

20.05.05

Health

Women appear to be more vulnerable to chronic drinking than men are.
New research using computed tomography (CT scans) to examine alcohol's effects on the brains of alcoholic men and women show that women develop alcohol-related brain damage quicker and more frequently than their male counterparts.

The study in the May issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research examines brain atrophy in the brains of alcoholic men and women. Karl Mann, full professor in the department for addictive behavior and addiction medicine at the University of Heidelberg and first author of the study said "In studies using brain-imaging techniques gender has generally not been considered or samples have not been large enough to differentiate between women and men and also study results were thought to be generally applicable to both genders. Yet gender differences in the development, course and consequences of alcohol dependence have to be considered in early diagnosis as this probably will lead to different therapeutic strategies."

'Telescoping' is a term that refers to the later onset and possibly accelerated negative effects that chronic alcohol consumption may have on the brain's structural and functional systems in women.
"Epidemiological studies have demonstrated gender differences in alcohol-consumption behavior and the course of alcohol dependence," said Mann. "Women typically start to drink later in life, consume less per occasion and are, in general, less likely to develop alcohol dependence. One could reason that women are less affected by alcohol. But there is, in fact, evidence for a faster progression of the developmental events leading to dependence among female alcoholics and an earlier onset of adverse consequences of alcoholism. This suggests that women may be more vulnerable to chronic alcohol consumption."

For this study, researchers examined 158 subjects: 76 women (42 patients, 34 healthy 'controls') and 82 age-matched men (34 patients, 48 healthy 'controls'). All of the alcoholics were recruited from a six-week inpatient treatment program. Control subjects were recruited by advertisement. CT scans were performed twice among the patients – at the beginning and end of their six-week program – and once among the controls.

Results confirm gender-specific differences in the onset of alcohol dependence.

"We were able to confirm the telescoping course of alcohol dependence in women," said Mann, "meaning faster progression of the developmental events leading to dependence among female alcoholics and an earlier onset of adverse consequences."

Results also show that brain atrophy seems to develop faster in women.

"We confirmed greater brain atrophy in alcoholic women and men compared to healthy controls," said Mann. "Furthermore, the women developed equal brain-volume reductions as the men after a significantly shorter period of alcohol dependence than the men. These results corroborate previous studies that have found other gender-related consequences of alcohol, such as cognitive deficits, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, myopathy of skeletal muscle, and alcoholic liver disease - all of which occur earlier in women than in men despite a significantly shorter exposure to alcohol."

"The higher depression index in alcoholic women than men was also of interest," added Sullivan, "and may actually serve as a useful trigger to family members that 'something is wrong' with the affected individual."

The good news is that abstinence seems to partially reverse the brain atrophy, for both genders.

"Because of the 'telescoping' effect," said Mann, "early diagnosis and early prevention are even more important for women with alcohol problems than for men. Despite the fact that men, in general, drink more alcohol and are more likely to develop alcohol dependence, it is those women who consume alcohol who probably develop alcohol dependence and adverse consequences more readily than men."

Meditation could extend your life

19.05.05

Health

Using mantras and breathing to lower death rate.

Transcendental meditation may have benefits way beyond simply stress reduction. It might just help you live longer.

Researchers at five universities and medical centers including the Medical College of Georgia and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine tracked 202 patients with high blood pressure for up to 18 years.

They found that participants who used transcendental meditation twice a day for 20 minutes had a 23 percent lower death rate from all causes and nearly a third lower death rate from heart disease than those who did not practice the form of meditation.

"This paints a strong picture of how transcendental meditation can restore the body and promote better health in the long term," said Dr. Robert Schneider, the principal author of the study and also the director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

Researchers can't say for sure how meditation lowers death rates, but studies have shown meditation can reduce risk factors associated with heart diseases and other chronic illnesses.

The small study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was published May 2 in the American Journal of Cardiology.

Yoga Gets Hearts Healthy

12.11.04

Health

Yoga and Meditation 3 Times a Week helps to prevent heart disease

According to new research from Yale University School of Medicine, people who practice yoga and meditation at least three times a week may reduce their blood pressure, pulse rate and most importantly their risk of getting heart disease.

The study enrolled 33 patients, 30% of whom already had heart disease. They were required to practice yoga and meditation for an hour and a half at least three times a week. More than 60% of the volunteers were men and the average age of the study participants was 55.

Yoga is said to improve heart health in both healthy individuals and those with diagnosed heart disease. The healthy volunteers taking the six-week yoga-meditation program improved endothelial function by 17%. However, the study participants who had heart disease had close to a 70% improvement. Endothelial function is how we measure the way blood vessels contract and expand to aid blood flow and it is an important indicator in the detection of heart disease because as the disease and plaque build-up progress, the blood vessels become less supple, less active, therefore less effective.

Stress is known to increase the risk of heart problems. Both anxiety and type A behavior (i.e you are prone to being impatient, you're always in a rush to be somewhere, you're easily irritated, you have frequent and intense feelings of anger, you're stressed and tense all the time) have long been associated with coronary diseases. Yoga and meditation on the other hand, are often recommended as effective ways to relieve stress and the study showed it doesn't take years of lotus positions and meditation to see improvement, the volunteers had measurable improvement in just six weeks.

Cocaine and pregnancy

24.08.04

Health

Exposure to cocaine in the womb linked to behavioural problems in boys.

The Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrics has published a study by Children's Hospital of Michigan which reveals that persistent exposure to cocaine in the womb is associated with an increased risk of hyperactivity and other behavioural problems in boys during their early school years. No such correlation was found with girls.

Children were considered to have been persistently exposed if they or their mothers tested positive for cocaine in their urine at the time of birth.
The findings confirm previous animal studies that suggest gender is a factor in the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure. This study did not identify any specific causes for this gender difference.
The researchers studied 473 Detroit-area children, aged 6 to 7 and collected information about their behaviour from their teachers. About 200 of the children had been exposed to cocaine in the womb.
Boys who'd been persistently exposed to cocaine in the womb exhibited more behavioural problems and difficulties with motor skills and abstract thinking than boys who had little or no pre-natal cocaine exposure.

Chasing the high

18.08.04

Health

UK Cocaine Death Rates Double

London drug researcher Dr Fabrizio Schifano revealed that deaths linked to cocaine use in the UK, doubled between 2002 and 2003, rising to 87 fatalities in the first six months of 2003.

The drug expert blamed the sharp rise on various factors including increased supply, falling prices and in particular the growing numbers of weekend users, particularly those mixing coke with other drugs.

"Heavy drinking with the drug really pushes up the level of risk," Dr Schifano told The Guardian.

"Most people take it with alcohol, not realising that it increases the chance of having a stroke or heart attack."

Another factor behind cocaine's rising popularity could be related to the findings of a new international lifestyle survey by NOP which revealed this week that Brits are currently top of the worldwide table for hedonism.

According to the survey over 1 in 3 Brits (38%) qualify as 'funseekers' (individuals focused on 'immediate gratification, leisure and hedonism; having fun, pleasure, sex, music and enjoying a varied life') compared to 1 in 5 Americans (21%) and 1 in 4 Australians (27%) (PR newswire).

Heart disease and cocaine

11.06.04

Health

Cocaine and Heart Disease

From New Scientist magazine, vol 165 issue 2222, 22/01/2000, page 14

Straight to the heart - Snorting charlie can make your body turn on itself

THE fashion for cocaine may be causing a wave of heart disease among young people. Besides its known effect of sending coronary arteries into spasm, the drug also encourages the immune system to turn on healthy cardiac tissue, researchers in Michigan have discovered. The work comes as some doctors are complaining that the abuse of the drug is causing a hidden drain on already stretched hospital resources. They believe that cocaine is making large numbers of otherwise fit young people-most of them men-report to emergency departments with chest pains.

The immunological study, led by Benedict Lucchesi of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, suggests that cocaine activates a part of our immune defences called the complement cascade. This system, which is usually triggered by invading microorganisms, destroys cells by building complexes of proteins on cell membranes, causing the cells to burst.

Working on rabbit hearts, the Michigan team has shown that cocaine boosts the production of complement proteins, causing the deadly complexes to form on heart muscle cells and the endothelial cells that line the heart's blood vessels.

The complement cascade is already known to damage heart tissue in some circumstances (New Scientist, 25 April 1998, p 20). So, prompted by Lucchesi's findings, doctors at the University of Michigan's hospitals are now investigating whether drugs that block the cascade will help patients suffering from cocaine overdoses.

Michael Davies of St George's Hospital in London, a cardiovascular pathologist and assistant medical director of the British Heart Foundation, says the Michigan team's research might explain why some young cocaine users develop a form of heart failure in which the heart grows floppy and pumps blood less efficiently. "This would fit quite well with the idea that complement is damaging blood vessels or heart tissue," he says.

Larry Alexander of Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, a drug abuse spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, agrees: "The authorities should be doing more to highlight the danger cocaine poses to people's hearts."

Cocaine can also send coronary arteries into spasm. Alexander and other specialists in emergency medicine believe this is the reason for a growing number of young people turning up in hospital complaining of chest pain. The vast majority are men, and they are usually discharged after doctors establish that they are not suffering from a heart attack. Each case has to be thoroughly investigated, however, which stretches hospitals' resources.
"At the weekend I saw three young males in their early twenties with chest pains, and all three were positive for cocaine," says Alexander. "Normally it just goes away. But occasionally it gets very serious and you'll see a heart attack."

The link between chest pain and cocaine abuse isn't always clear, says Alexander. And this could mean that statistics on the number of emergency hospital visits caused by cocaine use (see below) are seriously underestimated. Alexander also fears that people who repeatedly send their cardiac arteries into spasm may suffer long-term heart damage.

John Henry, an expert on drug abuse at St Mary's Hospital in London, is similarly concerned. He suspects that up to 10 per cent of people reporting to hospital with chest pain owe their problems to cocaine abuse. Henry is seeking ethical approval to carry out anonymous urine tests for cocaine on everyone reporting to his hospital with chest pain.

Further reading:
Source: The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (vol 292, p 201)

Michael Day