Andrew M Brown Andrew M Brown is a writer specialising in the influence of addiction and substance abuse on culture and celebrities. Why Michael Jackson's ludicrous cocktail of sleeping pills was making his insomnia worse By Andrew M Brown Celebrities Last updated: August 29th, 2009 17 Comments Comment on this article “The drugs propofol and lorazepam were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson’s death. Other drugs detected were: midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine.” So said the statement from the Los Angeles County coroner on Friday (yesterday, reported by Alan Duke of CNN). Michael Jackson died from “acute propofol intoxication” and: “other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect.” Leaving to one side the colossal risks of using propofol, an anaesthetic, as a remedy for insomnia, Jackson’s drug protocol doesn’t inspire confidence that a lot of intelligent thought had gone into the treatment of his “insomnia”. Lorazepam (Ativan), midazolam (Hypnovel in Britain, or Versed) and diazepam (Valium) are benzodiazepines. No wonder he couldn’t sleep if he was taking such a range of drugs, all from the same class (the other two drugs were a local anesthetic, lidocaine, and a vasoconstrictor that raises heart rate, ephedrine). If he was tolerant to one kind of benzo, then giving him another was not going to help much. These drugs in the long run can make insomnia worse because first one can’t sleep without them and then one can’t sleep with them either. Did his doctors not try any other class of sleeping pill? In addition, two of those drugs – midazolam and lorazepam – are very short-acting so they wouldn’t keep you asleep for long even if you weren’t tolerant to their effects. For this reason they’re not normally used as sleeping pills. Midazolam is only used in Britain for inducing sedation during operations and lorazepam for anxiety. (Midazolam is eccentrically used, and abused, in parts of the developing world as a sleeping pill.) Lorazepam is widely used in Britain as “something to calm you down” but not for sleeping. Valium is longer-acting so can be used for sleep. Incidentally, I wonder if the quantities of propofol stated – 50mg and in the end 25mg – are accurate. Dr John Dombrowski, a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, says that sounds too low. “It doesn’t make any sense,” he says in the LA Times. “I cannot believe that was the number that was given. Such a small amount won’t tip anyone over in terms of respiratory depression.” Lastly, the Chicago Tribune helpfully provides a slide-show of the pills, capsules and vials reportedly used at one time or another by the singer, who died aged 50. A note on that photo-gallery: one of the medicines is modafinil, brand-name Provigil, used to treat daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy. One hears of students using this relatively new medication to stay awake for exam cramming, but it’s not recommended for that. In Jackson’s case, given that his regular nightcap was 50mg of intravenous anaesthetic, it’s not surprising if he tried to balance it out with something that promotes wakefulness, but he’d have been better advised to leave out the heavy-duty anaesthetic in the first place.

By:  Daniel Manson

People are irresistibly drawn to panic and even in case of approaching a proper drug rehab center people have shown resilience just because of social worries. It’s really unfortunate that people of Twenty First century at times tend to go back to the attitude of early 19th century in some crucial factors. It’s just like a self contradictory theory that we become vocal about globalization and we don’t allow unconditional private investments. Whatever the reason may be, if an addiction treatment is necessary, people should exhibit guts to go against the conventional and pseudo worries, which ultimately harm the victim only.
This is true that a lot of drug rehab centers have been formed in the recent past and the lucrative business proposition has allured a lot of entrepreneurs also, who hardly has got any holy objective. Whatever the objective may be, it is to be noticed that whether the Alcohol Rehab center has got adequate professionals and expertise to take care of the victims. In most of the cases the drug rehab centers aim at providing a lot of free space to the victim, so that they feel comfortable. Most of the alcohol rehab centers keep enough provision for fun and entertainment. Some of them take the drug victims through a set of activities as they also believe that idle brain is the devil’s workshop. Every addiction treatment attempts to develop a bond between the victim and the nature by some routine visit or some games on the sea beach. In a nut shell, every individual has to remain engaged for a sustainable amount of time and all the drug rehab centers follow this basic principle.
Its really unfortunate that people become hesitant in undergoing a proper addiction treatment and feel that they can come out of such addiction on their own. We surely agree that it is the self confidence, which can set you back to normal life very soon, but it needs to be checked, whether you have got such a mental strength to support your willingness. The fact remains, had you been able to show such resilience, no drug rehab center would be required in the first place. Now, when the time has passed by, it’s really suicidal to wait further as no Aladdin is going to appear in front of you with the magic lamp. Instead, if you undergo a proper addiction treatment from a really reputed alcohol rehab center, you can not only recover faster, but also, it can bring about a phenomenal change in you. A scientific addiction treatment will surely increase your confidence level. Even psychologically, you will become much stronger as you have been able to prove at least once that you can also do it.
Chemical dependency is bad and it is worse to become a loser in the game of life.
About the Author:
I am Daniel Manson, daughter of an alcoholic. I am working in the field of Alcohol Abuse to find a way to combat it. Many Alcohol Rehab Center, Addiction Treatment and Drug Rehab are available for the alcoholic, that alcoholism can be overcome.

Source:  www.amazines.com 

By:  Bertil Hjert

Addiction can be defined as a family disease. It is a fact that the entire family suffers with the addict. This is the reason that professionals consider treatment of the family to be the part of the whole treatment of addiction. First, it is important to understand that the tendency to become addicted is genetically transmitted. This is proved by a research that has been undertaken to know the exact reason of raise in the cases of addiction.
When it comes to the family suffering, there are a number of ways a family suffers with the addict. According to a study, about one third of the families in the United States have at least one member in the family with a substance abuse problem. About one-fourth of this problem exists in nuclear family. In such families, there are more chances of divorce, domestic violence, anxiety, child abuse, depression and general medical problems.
When an addict & the whole family gets into the recovery mode, many effects of depression are supposes to go away in a couple of years. However, there needs to be an active participation from the addict, the family & the recovery professional.
It may be quite difficult to deal with addiction in the family as it’s hard to see a family member in trouble but one needs to be strong enough to cope up with such troubles. The most important thing to remember is that there are many important issues to explore as soon as someone in your family requires help. First, you need to make out whether you are contributing to the core problem or working towards eliminating it.
Here are certain contributions you may be making to increase the problem:

• Making yourself believe that you are responsible for the whole scenario rather than caring for yourself.
• Getting judgmental towards the addicted person.
• Concealing the addict’s behavior & covering up for them.
• Doing certain things for the addict that they require to carry out all by themselves.
• Accepting your lack of control & giving up after some trials.
• Paying attention to your feelings & needs rather than taking care of the addict.
• Here are certain important facts that you must know regarding how to deal with addiction:
• The family must suggest some actions to the addict that are required to help him get out of the addiction.
• Individual counseling also works really well with the addict. Here, a professional puts an effort to provide some cool tips to get out of the situation and fight addiction bravely.
• People who are fighting against a drug or alcohol addiction, a variety of detox treatments are suggested and these treatments may be conducted in a hospital, specific clinic or even a treatment facility.
• Certain types of addiction also require adept or special type of medication. For instance, a drug called nicorette helps a lot to those addicted to smoking.
• One can also contact self recovery groups where special help is provided to addicts. Addicts are taught how to recover & maintain their self esteem here.
• Different types of out-patient facilities are also available where the addict is provided adept treatment. He needs to visit where facilities regularly in order to meet their program expectations.
• The task of helping an addict overcome his problem may be difficult but with hard work & determination, it is possible.

Source:  www.isnare.com