Viewpoints: Who will fill the health care provider gap?

Sacramento Bee

During this holiday time of year, it can sometimes seem as if our storefronts and shopping malls are bursting at the seams. Parking lots are packed, lines are long, and inventories run short. However, the retail industry somehow makes it through the season.  It's a decent analogy for our health care delivery system. While there is a tremendous amount of need on a daily basis for health care services, our physicians, pharmacists, nurses, nurse practitioners and other medical professionals work together to address that need.  However, imagine if Christmas shoppers were expected to double in number next year. That demand would require new stores to be constructed, new shelves to be stocked, and new salespeople to be hired and trained.  Similarly, the health care system is gearing up for full implementation of President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which in just a year's time will extend health benefits to the estimated 50 million uninsured people in the United States.

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Alcohol abuse playing role in suicide

Montana Standard (Op-Ed)

Congratulations to The Montana Standard for disseminating the disturbing statistics about suicide in Montana and in Silver Bow County. Awareness and education are important components in helping make positive changes in our community. These articles focused on the significant roll that mental illness plays in suicide. One of the statistics I have seen is that 90 percent of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death. So, mental illness plays a major role in suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and suicide. As previously reported, high unemployment rates, substance abuse, alienation, prevalence of lethal devices, “the cowboy way” and varying cultural views on suicide all contribute to this momentous problem in our society. While I don’t want to diminish the important role that mental illness plays in suicide, another equally important factor to be aware of is the role of alcohol.

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Local treatment facilities see increased demand with alcohol, prescription drug abuse

Capital Gazette

The stereotypes about addiction — that somehow only lazy or weak-minded people grapple with substance abuse — can drive a man crazy. “I drank the way I do everything — to the extreme. That’s how I do work, sports, everything,” said a 50-year-old recovering alcoholic from Annapolis at state-certified treatment center the Samaritan House. He requested his name not be used, to protect his identity from potential employers. “Addicts are not homeless bums who don’t want to work,” he said. “They are very productive, intelligent people who have a problem.”

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Prescription painkiller abuse: Oregon's love affair with Vicodin

Oregonian

By the time you hit 50 in Oregon, you're almost certain to have a half-used bottle of Vicodin or OxyContin in the medicine cabinet. Or maybe a whole row of painkillers paying tribute to your root canal, your back problems, your surgery.

These painkillers work exceedingly well, which is their blessing and curse. Doctors say more Oregonians are becoming dependent on them, both physically and psychologically. The state's fast growth in the rates of fatal overdoses and hospitalizations bolster this assertion. Oregon can do better, namely by adopting more of the best practices used by other states to fight addictions and prescription-drug trafficking while also protecting patients' ability to manage their pain.

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Low prenatal alcohol’s brain impact

Vanderbilt University Medical Center Reporter

Heavy exposure to alcohol during prenatal development frequently leads to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), with characteristic symptoms of growth deficiencies, cognitive dysfunction and facial abnormalities. Reductions in overall brain volume – and in specific brain regions – are a common finding among children exposed to high levels of alcohol during development. But the effects of low-to-moderate exposure are less clear.

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Vital Signs: Sobering facts about binge drinking

Daily Progress

With the holidays around the corner, many of us will be celebrating by eating, drinking and spending time with friends and family. As a culture, Americans have a tendency to overindulge from time to time — perhaps overeating, working long hours or overspending. So it probably will not come as a surprise that that there are more people in the United States who binge drink than previously thought. People hear the term “binge drinking” and think of someone who drinks nonstop for several days. In actuality, binge drinking is having five or more drinks for men and four or more for women during a single drinking session. That’s like drinking a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine in just a couple of hours. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 38 million Americans binge drink an average of four times per month, consuming between six and nine standard drinks at a time.

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Guard Your Rx Meds This Holiday Season

Fix.com

Crowded households during the holidays mean the risk of prescription drug abuse—long since declared an epidemic by the CDC—is higher than ever. A recent national survey revealed that 70% of those who abuse Rx meds first get them from a friend or relative. It's easy to imagine house guests in unfamiliar surroundings at this time of year stumbling upon a (prescribed) stash—perhaps an aching uncle looking for anything labeled “pain relief,” or some overexcited youngsters seeking a "safe" high (it's from a pharmacy, right?). With this in mind, The Fix asks Tanya Roberts, project coordinator at Operation Medicine Cabinet in North Carolina, for her top tips on keeping everyone safe: Keep your meds in a safe place.

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