




Facts
Prevention services can most effectively reach drug-using populations when they are available in a variety of locations and at a range of operating times. Drug users are dispersed throughout communities and have varying lifestyles. Thus, reaching them requires providing HIV/AIDS prevention services in a wide range of settings, including community health and social service agencies, hospitals and clinics, and drug abuse treatment and correctional facilities. Coordinating these services in various community settings and at a range of operating times enhances the impact of interventions and reduces the unnecessary duplication of services. The highest rates of current and past year heavy alcohol use are reported by workers in the following occupations: construction, food preparation and waiters/waitresses, along with auto mechanics, vehicle repairers, light truck drivers and laborers. Virtually all users of Cannabis in North America take the drug by smoking. As inhaling any foreign material into the lung may have adverse consequences, well proven in the case of tobacco, this mode of administration of Cannabis might also be suspect. A formal study has shown that very heavy marijuana smoking for six to eight weeks caused mild but significant airway obstruction. The issue of damage to lungs from Cannabis is somewhat unclear because many Cannabis users also use tobacco. As yet, it is far easier to find pulmonary cripples from the abuse of tobacco than it is to find any evidence of clinically important weakness of the lungs caused by smoking Cannabis. The cessation of ovarian function at menopause and the accompanying decline in the production of the sex steroid hormones secreted by the ovaries are marked not only by characteristic signs and symptoms but also by a loss of estrogen’s protective effects against osteoporosis and coronary heart disease. Alcohol use affects the health of postmenopausal women in two ways—directly, through its impact on organ systems such as the liver, brain, and gastrointestinal tract, and indirectly, by altering the blood levels of sex steroids that affect the risk for disease. Both the pattern and amount of alcohol that a woman drinks influence whether alcohol has a beneficial or harmful effect on her body. |
Alcoholism
Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol dependence," is a condition that includes craving and continued alcohol abuse despite repeated drinking-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law. It includes four major areas: Craving: - A strong need, or compulsion, to drink. Impaired control: -The inability to limit one's drinking on any given occasion. Physical dependence: -Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking. Tolerance: - The need for increasing amounts of alcohol in order to feel its effects.
Intervention
An intervention is when a group of loved ones and/or a trained intervention counselor meets with the person in need of help for the purpose of breaking down their denial and motivating them to immediately seek drug addiction treatment. Often, individuals in the midst of drug addiction engage in a variety of self destructive behaviors. Although baffling to friends and family members such people generally either aren't aware on a conscious level that they have a drug addiction problem, or even when they know they have a problem they may cling to the false belief that the problem will somehow go away without any outside help. When an intervention is held a moment of clarity is created
for the addict. Most people struggling with the problem of drug or alcohol
addiction will accept help the very day of the intervention.
Sobriety
Sobriety means the moderation in or abstinence from consumption of alcoholic liquor or use of drugs. When an individual with an addiction problem enters drug rehabilitation, their main goal is to attain long term sobriety. Unfortunately, sometimes drug addicts and alcoholics find they are able to sustain short periods of sobriety followed by a drug or alcohol relapse. This is why attending a drug or alcohol rehab will help the individual maintain their focus on sobriety. Often, it is only by getting help that individuals with severe drug addiction problems are able to achieve lasting sobriety.
Addiction
Addiction is one of the many consequences of so-called 'casual' drug and alcohol abuse. A loss of control over drugs and alcohol can be driven by physical or psychological factors, or sometimes both. Physical addiction takes place when the body comes to need a drug to function normally. If it is not taken, unpleasant withdrawal symptoms occur. The only way to avoid this is to take more of the drug. Psychological addiction takes place when an individual comes to rely on a drug to supply good feelings, such as relaxation, self-confidence, self esteem, and freedom from anxiety. This is not just a casual desire, it's a powerful compulsion.
Abstinence
Abstinence is the act or practice of refraining from indulging a desire. The type of abstinence we are referring to here is abstinence from drugs and alcohol. This term has two connotations when it comes to abstaining from drugs. The first refers to drug or alcohol treatment programs that aim to help an individual stop using drugs or alcohol for the rest of their lives. The time abstinence is also used in drug education and prevention. It refers to trying to stop children from ever using drugs.
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