Acamprosate is a drug used to maintain abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients sold under the brand Campral. Many of the people who take acamprosate experience a significant reduction in their urge to drink alcohol, as well as a reduction in symptoms associated with a form of alcohol withdrawal called post-acute withdrawal syndrome. Doctors caution that the [...]
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term describing the effects that can occur in a child whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. It encapsulates conditions previously known as Alcohol Abuse and Seizures (FAS) and the milder form, Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE).
No, he’s not that Steve Martin, but this Steven Martin is certainly a world-class storyteller in his own right. The beauty of this book with the unique and instantly captivating title Opium Fiend: A 21st Century Slave to a 19th Century Addiction is that it is written with such style and attention to words that [...]
Cocaine is the popular name for the illegal, addictive chemical ethylbenzoylecgonine (known in its powdered form as cocaine hydrochloride and in its modified, rocklike form as “crack”). When inhaled nasally, smoked, eaten or injected, it produces a form of central nervous stimulation that closely resembles the central nervous system effects of legal drugs known as [...]
Anyone know how to make buck? Not how to make a buck, but buck, as in jailhouse booze. Richard Broom does, although he’d be the first to say it’s not something he’s proud of.
Benzodiazepines are a group of medications used to treat medical conditions such as insomnia and anxiety. They belong to a larger class of drugs known as sedative-hypnotics; medications in this class get their name because they produce a reduction in agitation and irritability (i.e., sedation), and also have sleep-inducing (hypnotic) characteristics. People under the influence [...]
All the way back in 1976, a recording artist named Larry Groce released a novelty song called “Junk Food Junkie.” This catchy little tune told the Jekyll-and-Hyde-themed tale of a man who ate only healthy and wholesome foods by day, but who transformed into a junk food-craving maniac who would pig out on every sort [...]
Delusional parasitosis, also known as delusions of parasitosis, is a condition characterized by an affected individual’s mistaken, deep-seated belief that he or she has a serious parasite or insect infestation. In some cases, the condition results from the use/abuse of one of several different illegal drugs and legal medications. In the United States, this form [...]
Diphenhydramine is a medication that belongs to a class of substances known as antihistamines. As their name implies, all substances in this class achieve their effects in the body by blocking the actions of a naturally occurring chemical called histamine, which plays several important roles in the maintenance of normal health. People who take diphenhydramine [...]
The dust and the fallout from the recent U.S. presidential elections may be over, but the results of voting in two states means that recreational use of marijuana is now legal – in the states of Washington and Colorado, that is.