Are Naltrexone Implants safe enough?

Naltrexone

According to the two articles, published in the latest Medical Journal of Australia, an urgent analysis of the use of naltrexone for heroin and alcohol dependence is required as there are reports of harmful and unpleasant reactions.

Opioid dependence

Associate Professor Robert Ali, Director of the Drug Alcohol Services Council in Adelaide, and his co-authors stated that because of naltrexone‘s inexpensive, long-acting and usually well accepted effects it is considered a striking treatment for opioid dependence.

Oral naltrexone is used as a cure for heroin and alcohol dependence

Naltrexone implants

However, the success and safety of oral treatments is related to poor patient observance to taking regular doses.This has led to the expansion of long-acting naltrexone implants and storing injections.

Naltrexone implants have not been permitted for human use in Australia, but these implants are being supplied through some private clinics.

continue reading Are Naltrexone Implants safe enough?

In terms of controlling dopamine signals between nicotine and opiates are almost similar based on the testing done by Prof. Daniel McGehee, when nicotine was tested in the that particular part of the nucleus accumbens where opiates have been demonstrated to affect behavior, given the fact that these are two different drugs. The research has complemented previous studies that showed overlapping effects in the way two drugs work, in the hope that it will help identify new treatment methods in addiction. It also demonstrated that tobacco addiction is as equally serious in the same way an individual is hooked on to heroin.

‘Opiate’ is derived from the opium seed. ‘Morphine’, ‘codeine’, ‘heroin’ are among the most common drugs that are derived as ‘opiates’. ‘Morphine’ has a similar chemical composition and chemical structure to that of the ‘heroin’. It stops pain, abridges anxiety, and makes the user euphoric if taken in significantly high doses. The use of the drug affects the cells of the cranial nerves that bring forth natural painkillers or endorphins called “endogenous opiates.”

continue reading Opium and Nicotine Addiction-Plenty of Similarities

Drug Addiction for some refers to a disease while many believe that it is just a matter of will or choice. We take addiction to be learned behaviour. However the contemporary science has tried to shed light on the pathological background of the addiction, giving a new thought to the world. It suggests that like another disease, it is a brain disease that develops over time. Repeatedly using drugs brings certain fundament structural and functional changes in the brain that continue long even after the individual stops using them.

The evidence suggests that these long-lasting brain changes are responsible for the distortions of cognitive and emotional functioning that characterize addicts. It is as if drugs control the brain’s natural motivational control circuits, resulting in drug use becoming the sole, or at least the top, priority for the individual.

There is much public debate on this brain-based view of addiction as some people wrongly think that it somehow releases the addicts from responsibility point of view, for their own behaviour. However in spite of this belief, the biological and behavioural explanations are not only an alternative way to understand this phenomenon, they are in fact an incorporate part of the whole picture.

continue reading Drug Addiction or Disease

Sexual addiction is a typical compulsive behavior causing deviations in normal living conditions resulting in to factors responsible for extreme stress. This may affect the whole family, friends, and working associates.

Sex addiction starts out as a “bit of fun” and in due course of time develops in to a destructive addiction. It is not just regarding a need of sex every minute or a need of obsessive masturbation. It is also relating to wider issues, not least the rise of internet pornography.

Along with the compulsion, dependency is an essential part of sexual addiction. Compulsive behavior is responsible for making sex a top priority. A sexual addict will be ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of sex.

Progressive intimacy disorder is very often synonymous with the sexual addiction. This grows with the time and causes negative impacts on the addict and its family. Sex addict normally feels compelled for intense behavior in order to obtain respective results.

continue reading Sexual Addiction and Its Related Behavioral Patterns