Socioeconomic status & health risks

This blog post stems from an article that was posted this morning by @LaDonna Coy from a ScienceDaily article entitled "Low Socioeconomic Status Affects Cortisol Levels in Children Over Time" (January 21, 2010).  When we think of the challenges children face, it's important to keep in mind the influence of environmental factors but to still explore how we can build assets and have meaningful relationships with children despite - or maybe because - of their situations. 

While reading this particular article, I was reminded of the PBS Series "Unnatural Causes" which addressed themes of racism, infant mortality, poverty, diabetes and the impact of chronic stress on the health of our nation.  If you have some time, I encourage you to read the article and view the trailer of this film.  In addition, I encourage you to think of ways YOU can (and/or continue to) build assets in your community so that youth - and communities -  can thrive!

Learn more about the 40 Development Assets  and Thriving & Sparks from Search Institute

Chronic Pain: Risk Management

Over the course of the last hour I came across three separate yet related articles that address the issues regarding the treatment and management of chronic pain.  Below you'll find links to each article so please feel free to offer your perspective about what patients chronic pain patients might need to function, what doctors are up against and the addiction & overdose risks attached to these particular drugs (Oxycontin, methadone, Vicodin, etc).

Pain Management Fails Due to Rx Drug Abuse Fears 

(Pain-Topics.org, January 8, 2010)

"Millions of Americans with significant acute or chronic pain are being undertreated as physicians fail to provide comprehensive pain treatment, according to recent reviews. The failure is due to inadequate training of physicians, personal biases and, increasingly, fears of prescription analgesic drug abuse." Read On...

Managing the Emotional Aspects of Pain 

(Crossroads for Women blog, January 15, 2010)

"A recent article found on CNN.com talked about how living with chronic pain can hurt personal relationships. Michael E. Geisser, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, states in the article, “It has been shown that relationships in which one partner has chronic pain tend to be more strained, have more marital distress, more conflict, and a greater likelihood for divorce.” Read On...

Even Legitimate Opioid Use May Cause Overdose 

(Reuters Health, January 19, 2010)

"Perhaps it's not surprising, but people who take high doses of opioid painkillers even for legitimate medical reasons are at risk of overdosing, new research shows." Read On...


For local and national treatment options, please visit SAMHSA's Treatment Locator at: www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov .  In Maine you can also dial 211 or visit www.211maine.org 

For parents, a child’s addiction also brings social stigma (Patriot Ledger)

(Hat Tip: NOPE TaskForce)

The Patriot Ledger

Posted Jan 09, 2010

BRAINTREE — Bill Brids wakes up every morning knowing that today could be the day his 20-year-old son goes back to heroin. He knows that it could be the day his son dies. It started at 16, when Dave Brids dipped into his mother’s stash of pills. She was dying of cancer. “I was drinking, and one night we couldn’t get beers,” Dave Brids said. “So I tried the drugs (Oxycontin), and I fell in love.” He didn’t know that what he was taking was essentially the same drug he swore he’d never use. Heroin was for junkies. “I looked at it as smoking weed and drinking beer,” Dave Brids said. “Little did I know it was a pharmaceutical form of heroin.”

Read the full story HERE

If you would like more information on treatment options and support for anyone suffering from opiate addiction visit any of these sites:

SAMHSA's Treatment Locator -

http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ 

Narcotics Anonymous (Maine) -

www.namaine.org

Maine Office of Substance Abuse -

www.maineosa.org

Portland Public Health Division -
http://substanceabuse.portlandmaine.gov/resourcesforsouthernme.pdf

Peer Pressure is What Made Me Use Drugs and Alcohol (INTERVENE @ DrugFree.org)

"As a young girl, two of the more traumatic things I went through were growing up with an alcoholic parent and my parents’ divorce. I tried to stuff the void I experienced with drugs and alcohol.  I never even considered the idea that I might become an alcoholic or drug addict, and I swore to myself that I would never end up like my father.  However, as I would later find out, the cards were stacked against me.  My family’s long history of drug and alcohol addictions played a huge role in where I ultimately ended up. The lifestyle itself was so familiar to me that it didn’t even register that I wouldn’t be able to stand up to the pressure to succumb to it."

Read the full post: http://intervene.drugfree.org/2009/12/peer-pressure-is-what-made-me-use-drugs-and-alcohol/