Like other chronic diseases such as heart disease or asthma, treatment for drug addiction usually isn't a cure. But addiction can be managed successfully. Treatment enables people to counteract addiction's disruptive effects on their brain and behavior and regain control of their lives.
Full Answer
Is chronic care necessary for substance use disorders?
This chapter pointed out that when substance use problems become severe, providing ongoing, chronic care is required, as is the case for many other diseases. Little research has studied chronic care models for the treatment of substance use disorders.
What are the health conditions as a result of substance abuse?
Health Conditions as a Result of Substance Abuse Brain Damage Cardiovascular Problems Gastrointestinal Issues Respiratory Problems Liver Damage Kidney Damage Infections and Immune System Damage
What can health care professionals do to prevent substance abuse?
Health care professionals are being encouraged to offer prevention advice, screen patients for substance misuse and substance use disorders, and provide early interventions in the form of motivational approaches, when appropriate.39,40
Why is substance use disorder treatment so difficult to treat?
The existing health care workforce is already understaffed and often lacks the necessary training and education to address substance use disorders; and The need to protect patient confidentiality creates hurdles for sharing of information. The Infrastructure of the Substance Use Disorder Treatment System Is Underdeveloped
What are the factors that influence substance use and abuse?
Certain factors can affect the likelihood and speed of developing an addiction:Family history of addiction. Drug addiction is more common in some families and likely involves genetic predisposition. ... Mental health disorder. ... Peer pressure. ... Lack of family involvement. ... Early use. ... Taking a highly addictive drug.
What conditions is associated with substance use disorders?
A person's genes, the action of the drug, peer pressure, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and environmental stress can all be factors. Many who develop a substance use problem have depression, attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or another mental problem.
What condition is associated with an increased risk of developing a substance use disorder?
A pre-existing mental health condition People with an existing mental health condition like depression, PTSD and ADHD are also more likely to develop a substance use disorder as a way of coping with the emotions and anxieties that these disorders cause.
How do substance use disorders affect older adults?
Older adults may be more likely to experience mood disorders, lung and heart problems, or memory issues. Drugs can worsen these conditions, exacerbating the negative health consequences of substance use.
How are substance abuse and mental health related?
Substance abuse may sharply increase symptoms of mental illness or even trigger new symptoms. Abuse of alcohol or drugs can also interact with medications such as antidepressants, anxiety medications, and mood stabilizers, making them less effective at managing symptoms and delaying your recovery.
How does substance use affect mental health?
If you or someone you care about is chronically using drugs or alcohol it can lead to changes in the brain, which can lead to mental health issues including paranoia, depression, anxiety, aggression, hallucinations, and other problems.
How do you think risk factors affect a person's chance of substance use?
Risk Factors for High-Risk Substance UseFamily history of substance use.Favorable parental attitudes towards the behavior.Poor parental monitoring.Parental substance use.Family rejection of sexual orientation or gender identity.Association with delinquent or substance using peers.Lack of school connectedness.More items...
What are some risk factors within a family that can make recovery from substance use disorders more challenging?
Developmental FactorsEarly Use. The large majority of patients with SUD report that their problems with alcohol and other drugs began in adolescence. ... Family. ... Trauma. ... Peers. ... Spirituality. ... Route of Administration (how quickly drugs work) ... Severity of Withdrawal Symptoms.
What are the risk and protective factors in substance use and abuse?
Risk factors can influence drug abuse in several ways....Risk FactorsDomainProtective FactorsEarly Aggressive BehaviorIndividualSelf-ControlLack of Parental SupervisionFamilyParental MonitoringSubstance AbusePeerAcademic CompetenceDrug AvailabilitySchoolAnti-drug Use Policies1 more row
What are some health issues associated with medication misuse or abuse by the elderly?
The person may become more sensitive to medications; their metabolism begins to slow down; their experience of pain may increase; sleep disorders may develop; problems with memory may occur; anxiety may become more prevalent; and overall, the body does not function the same as it did in the person's younger years.
What is the best treatment for substance abuse in older adults?
Drug detox is essential for elderly drug addicts, and medical detox programs in California are the best option. Following drug detox, the next step with treatment involves attending a residential or outpatient drug rehab for seniors.
What can be done to reduce medication related problems List 3 interventions and how they could help keep older adults safer?
Read on for important safety tips.Take Medicine as Prescribed — with Input from Your Health Care Provider. ... Store your Medicines Properly and Check the Expiration Date. ... Be Aware of Potential Medication Interactions and Side Effects. ... Keep a Medication List.
When a person struggles with substance abuse for a long time, the brain adapts.?
As it does so, certain changes in brain chemistry accompany the development of physical dependence to the substance in question. 21
How to contact Sunrise House for addiction treatment?
See how addiction treatment at a facility like Sunrise House could change your life and help you get on the road to recovery: just call 973-862-4820. Below you’ll find some of the most common health conditions caused or made worse by drug or alcohol abuse.
What are the risks of intravenous injections?
Drugs that are injected intravenously carry a very high risk of infection, especially from HIV, hepatitis B and C , or bacterial infections from sharing dirty needles. 3 Other drugs also increase the risk of certain infections, such as upper respiratory infections from snorting or smoking drugs. 4
Why are kidneys affected by drugs?
The kidneys also filter toxins out of the bloodstream, so they are affected by large amounts of any dangerous substance in the blood. Some drugs are associated with a condition known as rhabdomyolysis, which is the breakdown of muscle tissue that floods the bloodstream with toxic levels of muscle cell contents, including a large protein known as myoglobin; as a result, the kidneys may become overwhelmed and unable to filter toxins efficiently. 19
Why are synthetic drugs dangerous?
Other substances, like synthetic drugs or inhalants, can be extremely dangerous because of their unpredictable, harmful effects on those using them. In this article, we’ll explore some of the serious health conditions that may be caused or worsened by substance abuse, including: Diminished immune system function and infection.
Is addiction a problem in 2020?
Last updated on May 21, 2020. Addiction to any substance, whether legal or illegal, can in some cases lead to serious health conditions. Unfortunately, substance abuse and addiction have reached epidemic proportions in many parts of the world, including the United States.
Can you take drugs intravenously?
Taking drugs intravenously can also have negative cardiovascular effects, such as local and disseminated vascular inflammation, cardiac valve infections, and otherwise a potential for increased exposure to several bloodborne infectious processes. 9.
Substance Use
We live in a very odd time. Right now, there are transitions in the penal code that are making substances more available. Several states in the United States are moving to legalize marijuana; several countries around the world are moving to legalize many more substances.
Smoking
When we talk about smoking, we mean smoking tobacco. This is the most common way it is consumed and is still very popular to this day. If I can give my opinion here, which I can since no one can stop me, I never understood smoking.
Alcohol
Enough about smoking; we know it's bad, and it only gets worse. What about alcohol?
Why is it important to treat substance abuse concurrently with physical disease?
For this reason, treating substance abuse concurrently with physical disease treatment, whether the substance abuse is a cause or a result of the illness, is vital to managing this disease burden for a number of the world’s most common and challenging chronic illnesses.
What are the effects of drug use?
However, when the substance is taken heavily on a regular basis, these physical reactions can take a toll on the involved systems, resulting in the development of chronic disease or permanent physical disability, as described by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This includes such illnesses as: 1 Heart disease, including hypertension, heart attack, or stroke 2 Lung disease, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or chronic bronchitis 3 Liver or kidney disease 4 Weight loss or gain, leading to chronic malnutrition or diabetes 5 Cancer
Why is it important to treat comorbid physical disease?
The treatment of comorbid physical disease and substance abuse is a delicate process. Because substance abuse is also a chronic disorder, it is important to manage the symptoms of this mental illness while also treating the physical disease in order to avoid relapse into substance abuse.
What is the co-occurrence of substance abuse?
Diabetes. Chronic Respiratory Illness. Chronic medical conditions and substance abuse often co-occur — this type of co-occurrence is referred to as comorbidity. On the one hand, long-term, regular substance abuse can result in physical damage to various body systems that can lead to chronic disease. One well-known example of this is the connection ...
What happens when you have a physical diagnosis?
When a person receives a diagnosis of physical disease, there can be a profound effect on that person’s mental health. People with chronic illness have high rates of mental health disorders, as indicated in a large-scale review from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
How does drug abuse affect the cardiovascular system?
Depending on the ways in which the drug of abuse affects the brain, it can cause the heart to race or slow, resulting in damage to the organ itself or to the blood vessels. Over time, this can result in heart disease that leads to stroke, heart attack, collapsed veins, and high blood pressure.
What is the vicious cycle of tolerance?
Tolerance can result in the person deciding to take higher doses of the drug, or use it more often, which can then lead to a higher degree of tolerance. This vicious cycle leads to addiction and risk of overdose. The condition causes a mental health disorder that contributes to initiating substance use.
How Alcohol Affects the Body
The short-term physical effects of alcohol consumption are fairly well-known. Most people experience impaired vision and hearing, slurred speech, and a lack of coordination when they drink, which can lead to drunk driving, falls, poor decisions, and serious accidents. Blackouts and memory loss can occur after heavy drinking, along with a hangover.
How Heroin Affects the Body
When heroin interacts with the brain, the user feels the initial rush of pleasure, which is typically accompanied by warm skin, dry mouth, and heaviness in the extremities. This is usually followed by brain fog, slowed breathing, and slowed heart function.
How Cocaine Affects the Body
Whether a user snorts cocaine, rubs it into their gums, injects it directly into the blood stream, or inhales vapors into the lungs, cocaine causes an increase in dopamine in the parts of the brain that control pleasure. This leads to the “high” of energy and alertness.
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Why do people with substance use disorders access the health care system?
But individuals with substance use disorders often do access the health care system for other reasons, including acute health problems like illness, injury, or overdose, as well as chronic health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, heart disease, or depression.
How does integration help with substance use disorders?
Integrationcan help address health disparities, reduce health care costs for both patients and family members, and improve general health outcomes.
What are health care professionals encouraged to do?
Health care professionals are being encouraged to offer prevention advice, screen patients for substance misuse and substance use disorders, and provide early interventions in the form of motivational approaches , when appropriate.39,40.
What is the essential health benefit category?
One of these essential health benefit categories is mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment. This requirement represents a significant change in the way many health insurers respond to these disorders.
Why do substance abuse disorders come to light?
Because substance use disorders often first come to light in the context of school, law enforcement, and employment, communities have many opportunities to expand the delivery of prevention and treatment services to include schools and school-based health care clinics, jails and prisons, and places of employment.
What is integrated care?
Integration. The systematic coordination of general and behavioral health care. Integrating services for primary care, mental health, and substance use-related problems together produces the best outcomes and provides the most effective approach for supporting whole-person health and wellness.3.
What is the Protecting Access to Medicare Act?
Most recently, Congress passed the Protecting Access to Medicare Act, which, in addition to its Medicare provisions, funds pilot programs to increase access to, and Medicaid payment for, community mental health and substance use disorder treatment services. This is an important opportunity for integration.
What happens when you stop using a drug?
Thus, when you attempt to stop using, you experience severe withdrawal symptoms. Drugs impact the part of the brain associated with decision-making and impulse control, causing those with a substance use disorder to seek out drugs ...
What is the condition where you can't form new memories?
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is characterized by an almost nonexistent ability to form new memories. Signs that someone struggling with alcoholism may also have wet brain are symptoms like those associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Wet brain syndrome is treatable as long as you stop drinking and seek help immediately.
What happens to the brain when you take drugs?
Basically, your brain makes you, you. Much like introducing a virus to an incredibly intricate computer, changes to your brain can have huge and devastating consequences. If you ingest drugs, those changes tamper with your brain’s chemistry. Chronic substance use doesn’t just lead ...
What are the effects of alcohol on the brain?
Untreated alcohol use disorder can put you at risk of a condition known as wet brain, or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. This disorder is actually two different conditions: 1 Wernicke’s disease: A neurological disease that affects voluntary movement and causes eye abnormalities. 2 Korsakoff syndrome: A mental disorder that results in disproportionate memory loss.
Does drug use cause addiction?
If you ingest drugs, those changes tamper with your brain’s chemistry. Chronic substance use doesn’t just lead to addiction — it wreaks havoc on your brain’s ability to perform its many functions properly.
Can drugs cause brain damage?
Drug use may eventually cause dramatic changes to your brain’s neurons and circuits. These changes can linger even after you’ve stopped drinking or taking drugs, especially when a substance is used over and over again.
Can addiction be treated successfully?
Yes, addiction is a treatable disorder. Research on the science of addiction and the treatment of substance use disorders has led to the development of research-based methods that help people to stop using drugs and resume productive lives, also known as being in recovery.
Can addiction be cured?
Like other chronic diseases such as heart disease or asthma, treatment for drug addiction usually isn't a cure. But addiction can be managed successfully. Treatment enables people to counteract addiction's disruptive effects on their brain and behavior and regain control of their lives.
Does relapse to drug use mean treatment has failed?
No. The chronic nature of addiction means that for some people relapse, or a return to drug use after an attempt to stop, can be part of the process, but newer treatments are designed to help with relapse prevention. Relapse rates for drug use are similar to rates for other chronic medical illnesses.
What are the principles of effective treatment?
Research shows that when treating addictions to opioids (prescription pain relievers or drugs like heroin or fentanyl), medication should be the first line of treatment, usually combined with some form of behavioral therapy or counseling. Medications are also available to help treat addiction to alcohol and nicotine.
What medications and devices help treat drug addiction?
Different types of medications may be useful at different stages of treatment to help a patient stop abusing drugs, stay in treatment, and avoid relapse.
How do behavioral therapies treat drug addiction?
Behavioral therapies help people in drug addiction treatment modify their attitudes and behaviors related to drug use. As a result, patients are able to handle stressful situations and various triggers that might cause another relapse. Behavioral therapies can also enhance the effectiveness of medications and help people remain in treatment longer.
How do the best treatment programs help patients recover from addiction?
Stopping drug use is just one part of a long and complex recovery process. When people enter treatment, addiction has often caused serious consequences in their lives, possibly disrupting their health and how they function in their family lives, at work, and in the community.