Tag: disease
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Heart Disease vs Addiction: A Call for Change
I was reading my favorite entertainment weekly, Happenings Magazine, and saw a news brief that indicates that 99% of heart attacks and strokes are linked to “modifiable” risks. I HAD to dive deeper. What I found is that 99% of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure cases are linked to preventable risk factors (Medical). Weird.…
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Understanding Drug Testing: A Tool for Informed Decisions
Drug testing has gotten a bad rap, but it’s not the TESTS that are bad. It’s how the results are being used. And we – the people who work in the field of substance use disorders – are the reason they are used inappropriately and why the message isn’t getting out. A Google search explains…
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Addiction Misconceptions: Expert Opinions vs. Personal Bias
I always forget how dumb I am, but, thankfully, I have a bunch of people willing to remind me: family, friends, and strangers…so, yeah, pretty much have that covered. I know a lot about addiction. I’ve spent decades learning about addiction, working with people who have addiction, and working to prevent addiction. I am a…
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Ending Addiction: Strategies for Effective Treatment and Recovery
Would you want to go to an endocrinologist for treatment of your type 2 diabetes if ze were obese and has type 2 diabetes? Do you get your hair cut by someone with a hairstyle you don’t like? Why do we have a current emphasis on people who use drugs (PWUD) to be part of…
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Understanding Addiction: The Disease vs Connection Debate
Is addiction a disease, or, is it, as Johann Hari asserts, a lack of connection? Johann Hari is an award-winning journalist and writer. From his own bio, his education is that “He studied Social and Political Science at King’s College, Cambridge, and graduated with a Double First.” Admirable, but does that make him an expert…
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The Other Face of Stigma
I recently read an article in Women’s Health magazine about a triathlete whose friend suggested she have a growth on her arm looked at. The athlete disregarded the suggestion. Time went by, and now her brothers also expressed concern about the growth. At that point, if I’m recalling the article correctly, the athlete went to…
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Alcohol and Other Drug Testing: No Room for Gotchas
In continuing the theme of looking at addiction as the chronic, progressive, lethal disease that professionals say they believe it is, the question should be posed: why do we spring tests on people suffering from a disease? My husband recently underwent heart surgery, and when the doctors need him to have lab tests, they make…
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