Are You Safe in Surgery?

Are You Safe in Surgery?

The problems of addiction affect people in every walk of life, including healthcare professionals, for whom access to controlled substances is easier. It’s easy to pass that off as a subset affected that doesn’t matter to anyone else, but consider the medical professional who feeds his addiction and ends up harming others.

The easiest access to addictive drugs is in the operating room. A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that just under 1 percent of anesthesiologists in their residencies during the period 1975-2009 had substance use disorders, with narcotic painkillers as the drug of choice. During that time, 28 residents died from substance abuse.

Those may not seem like alarming numbers, but the picture gets scarier when the focus turns to other medical professionals and recent events. In New Hampshire, David Kwiatkowski was recently sentenced to 39 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing medications and infecting at least 45 people with the hepatitis C virus.

Kwiatkowski worked as a cardiac technologist in 18 hospitals across seven states. He began stealing morphine from operating rooms to feed his own opiate addiction and was infected with hepatitis C. For a decade after he was diagnosed, he stole syringes, usually of the narcotic painkiller fentanyl, self-injected them and replaced the used syringes (now contaminated with his tainted blood) filled with saline for the patients.

Thus far, more than 12,000 people across many states have been tested, at least 45 have been infected and one woman died.  Hepatitis C is difficult to treat and can lead to other problems like fatigue and depression. Kwiatkowski kept moving from job to job and was not discovered until he worked in New Hampshire. At his sentencing, victims and family members were allowed to speak to say how their lives had been affected by hepatitis C since they had crossed paths with Kwiatkowski.

Addicted professionals can hurt many people, but so can anyone addicted to opiates. Do you or someone you love need help finding drug rehab for opiates? Call Recovery Connection at 866-812-8231 for help.

Sounding the Alarm on Crystal Meth

Sounding the Alarm on Crystal Meth

Meth Awareness Needed When Impact Is So Deadly

The calendar is full of awareness weeks and months, with different colored ribbons (pink for breast cancer) and even facial hair getting into the act (Movember mustaches for men’s cancers). Sadly, we’ve had to make room for another cause—we are in the middle of the inaugural Meth Awareness Week, November 30 to December 7.

Meth use may be declining, but it is still deadly.  Despite the notoriety from AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” most meth is made in Mexico and imported.  It is cheaper and may be purer than in previous years.  But the dangers of meth haven’t changed. People can get addicted quickly.

Meth is one drug that sucks in so many innocent bystanders. Children who are endangered by meth labs at home or end up in foster care. Age is no barrier, either. Police recently found an active meth lab inside a Florida condominium normally filled with seniors and seasonal residents.

Taking down meth labs isn’t easy. The state of Maine has had a record number of meth busts in 2013—18 so far, up from 13 in 2012. Each bust requires agents with specialized training, hazmat gear, containers and other equipment to remove the dangerous drugs and the chemicals. They can cost between $5,000 and $10,000 per bust and involve other agencies as well. Not to mention, the drug agency resources devoted to meth are not available to deal with other drugs of abuse.

Don’t think that the drug use is personal or doesn’t harm anyone else. Meth above all other drugs can harm many people along the way.

If you or someone you love is struggling with meth, Recovery Connection can help. We can find drug rehab for meth addiction and get you into treatment right away. Call us 24/7 at 866-812-8231.

Cold Turkey Means Damaging Inflammation

Cold Turkey Means Damaging Inflammation

Scientists are just beginning to learn more about long-term effects of inflammation on the body, and they can now add a new source for it: Quitting drugs cold turkey can increase levels of damaging inflammation.

Inflammation is the body’s immune system response to anything. If a mosquito bites you, the immune system inflames the skin, making it swell and itch. Overall, inflammation is a good response because it means your immune system is working to protect you. Chronic inflammation is another story, where the research is in its infancy.  Scientists are just beginning to learn how it affects health in the long run. Inflammation may be a contributing factor to heart attacks. Poor dental hygiene can lead to a permanent state of inflammation of the gums and affects heart disease risk. Inflammation may also increase the risk for certain cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.

Now a new study addresses what happens with quitting drugs cold turkey. Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center studied animals addicted to morphine. Animals that were addicted to morphine were treated either with lower doses of morphine during withdrawal or had no treatment. Each group had opposite results. Those treated during morphine withdrawal had more protective proteins and fewer damaging inflammatory cytokines. Those made to quit cold turkey had more of those cytokines.

The animals that quit cold turkey also experienced mental decline. Physicians see mental disorders coupled with substance abuse all the time, a condition called dual diagnosis. But this study indicates that withdrawal can be a physical contributing factor to a mental effect. That may not be a surprising result. Recent studies on Alzheimer’s disease point to chronic inflammation as a contributing factor and possibly a trigger for the disease.

For people struggling with addiction, this new study seems to point toward professional treatment for substance abuse. Drug rehab programs begin with a medical detox to wean the patient off drugs safely. There’s no cold turkey when the right medications are used over a period of time, so patients stay comfortable and safe. At the same time, they can begin their rehab treatment, getting the tools they need to stay clean and deal with their lives in the outside world.

Kava and Kratom: Buyer Beware

Kava and Kratom: Buyer Beware

A couple in Florida is suing a kava bar, claiming that the drinks they bought there got them addicted to kava and kratom. The Purple Lotus Kava Bar in West Palm Beach sells several drinks advertised as ‘kava with a little kick’ or ‘kava with a serious kick.’ Their website, which may not be up to date, doesn’t even mention using kratom. The couple is suing because they were not warned and want to be reimbursed for money spent on treatment to kick this addiction.

Kava and kratom are two substances that fall into a gray area. Both come from plants found in the South Pacific or Southeast Asia, where they have a long history of use. They are not controlled substances in most places, nor do they have legitimate medical uses.

Kava is made from the root of the plant and can be chewed, drunk in tea or taken in pill form. It has been used to reduce anxiety. Kratom comes from the leaves of its plant. At low doses it can be a stimulant, but higher doses have a sedative effect. Reports vary, as does the status of kratom. It is banned in some places, while at the same time is being studied for its potential use to wean people from opioid addiction.

The discussions about substances like kava and kratom range the same way that discussions on marijuana do, and opinions vary, depending on who has tried what. Some say the substances produce a small buzz and are no big deal. They may even reduce dependence on other drugs, like benzodiazepines or opioid painkillers. Others fear that the drugs are the next in line to be drugs of abuse, and the fact that they are legal makes it that much easier. The people suing the kava bar are good examples of that.

The message for kava and kratom may be the same as that for many emerging psychoactive substances (molly, synthetic marijuana, bath salts): You don’t know what you are getting and you don’t know how your body will react.

Are you concerned about addiction to emerging drugs of abuse? Recovery Connection can help. Call us at 866-812-8231 for help finding an addiction treatment center.