Bath Salts Pose Legitimate Danger For Teens, Young Adults

It may be difficult to believe that something with such an innocuous name can be so dangerous, even deadly.

A new designer drug marketed as “bath salts” has nothing to do with a relaxing time bathing. In fact, many are using the product with no thought of relaxing at all.

“Bath salts are being legally sold and are being used by more and more young people to get high,” begins a spokesperson for Mountainside Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center . “They can be found at many convenience stores or smoke shops, and they contain stimulants such as mephedrone and MDPV. Individuals generally snort them to get high, but they can also be smoked or injected. Some states have banned the sale of bath salts and Mountainside is hoping to help push a nationwide ban on the substance. If we don’t address this problem immediately, there will be a whole new drug epidemic plaguing America and, with that, comes tragic deaths.”

Bath salts are among the growing group of the so-called designer drugs that produce a high similar to that of a methamphetamine or cocaine, but with the addition of hallucinogenic side effects. Sold under a variety of different names, the use of bath salts has been linked to suicide, hallucinogenic rages, and even speculation of murder.

If you know or suspect that your teen or young adult is abusing bath salts or any other type of substance, Mountainside Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Center offers professional intervention services to assist you in getting them the help that they need to recover. For the past 13 years, Mountainside has established itself as an innovator within the addiction treatment field, and the treatment modalities Mountainside utilizes are regarded as among the most cutting-edge approaches in helping individuals to get, and to remain, sober.

The compassionate, caring treatment team at Mountainside is comprised of licensed and certified counselors and social workers as well as a Nurse Practitioner and a Registered Nurse, both of whom have specialization and extensive experience in drug addiction and alcohol treatment. For clients who may have psychiatric issues and/or a dual diagnosis, Mountainside provides the services of a Psychiatrist who also has specialization in addictions. As a result of their unique, innovative approaches to addiction treatment over the past 13 years, Mountainside has become the model for the addiction treatment field.

Via EPR Network
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Life Line Screening Reveals Private Health Screening Survey

Life Line Screening has published the results of its private health screening survey.

Private health screening is becoming increasingly popular in the UK & Ireland. Whilst there are metrics on the benefits of screenings in detecting potentially life-threatening conditions early, and thereby preventing conditions such as Stroke and cardiovascular disease, Life Line Screening’s report aims to provide more evidence relating to the effects of screenings on modifying behavioural change.

One area of debate about health screening is that certain types of health screening can lead to “false reassurance”. An individual who has a screening may gain the impression that they have a clean bill of health if no risk factors have been identified. As a result, they may choose to pay less attention to their health overall and lead a less healthy lifestyle than they would otherwise have done. This research aims to look further at this hypothesis and gauge a better understanding of the motivations of individuals who have health screenings, based on evidence rather than subjective judgements. It aims to understand the proportions of individuals who choose to improve their health as well as the number of people who choose not to.

136 people who had Life Line Screening health screenings were surveyed in July 2010 by a researcher from Addenbrookes Hospital. They were invited to answers questions based on their perceptions on health and lifestyle changes as a result of having had a screening.

When asked “Did going for a screening make you think more about your health?” 77% of responders answered yes. Participants were then asked if they have made any positive changes to their lifestyle following their screening. 51% stated they had started eating more healthily, 45% stated they had started exercising more than before (and 18% of the total had tried a new exercise), 35% reported losing weight, 71% had focused on keeping weight at a healthy level, 60% were careful about alcohol consumption, 52% commented that they were controlling their stress levels, 30% reported they had read more health-focussed publications and 74% paid more attention to their overall health.

Only 7% of all responders commented that they had led less-healthy lifestyle following their screening.

The full report on the impact of health screening on lifestyle change is available on the Life Line Screening website in PDF format.

Via EPR Network
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Cataract Awareness Month in Greater Boston at D’Ambrosio Eye Care

D’Ambrosio Eye Care wishes to announce that Prevent Blindness America has designated June as National Cataract Awareness Month.

“Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. About 20.5 million Americans age 40 and older have cataracts and more than half of all Americans develop cataracts by age 80,” commented Francis A. D’Ambrosio, Jr., M.D., a Boston area eye physician and surgeon and Medical Director of D’Ambrosio Eye Care.

Many patients do not actually know that a cataract is a clouding of the crystalline lens of the eye preventing light rays from passing through it easily. This results in a clouding and blurring of vision. Patients should understand that cataracts are not a growth or a film over the eye. For many patients cataracts start out slowly and have little effect on vision at first. But, as the cataract becomes denser, so does the impact on vision. The most common symptoms that bother patients with cataracts include:

• blurring of vision
• sensitivity to light and glare
• double vision in one eye
• poor night vision
• fading or yellowing of colors
• frequent changes in glasses or contact lens prescriptions.

“When cataracts do begin to interfere with daily activities or with patient comfort and safety, they can be treated surgically. Cataract surgery is one of the safest and most frequently performed surgeries in the United States. Today, we have a full range of Intraocular Lens Implants (IOL) available that allow us to correct near vision as well as distance vision without requiring bifocals or reading glasses for the vast majority of patients”, said Dr. D’Ambrosio, Jr.

D’Ambrosio Eye Care is a leading Massachusetts eye care practice with offices in Lancaster, Acton and Gardner, staffed by a team of Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, Opticians, technical and administrative staff who provide eye examinations for adults and children, cataract surgery and Intraocular Lens Implants (IOL), laser vision correction such as LASIK, diagnosis and treatment of cornea disease including cornea transplants, management of eye inflammation, ocular inflammatory disease and uveitis and diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the retina including diabetes and age related macular degeneration, diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma as well as contact lenses, eyeglasses and optical services.

Francis A. D’Ambrosio, Jr., M.D. is a founding member of the LASIK Eye Surgery Patient Information and LASIK Surgeon Directory at http://www.seewithlasik.com and the Cataract Surgery, Intraocular Lens Implant (IOL) and Cataract Surgeon Directory at http://www.aboutcataractsurgery.com.

Via EPR Network
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