Thursday, September 15, 2016

Help for the Alcohol Addicted

If you know someone who is suffering from alcoholism, the best way that you might be able to help is to urge him or her to attend 3-4 meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous to give the program a chance.  Their success rate is better than any other measure.  The average person who has achieved strong recovery has attended AA meetings for 7 years or more.  The added social support is crucial for success.

See Marc Gallanter, “What is Alcoholics Anonymous?  A Path from Addiction to Recovery”,  Oxford University Press, 2016.


 

 

Thursday, September 1, 2016

New Guidelines for Prescribing Pain Meds

A few years back, doctors were urged to treat pain as the fifth vital sign so it could be adequately treated.  Unfortunately, this resulted in more narcotics being diverted  toward abuse.  Now the CDC is asking for caution.  Whenever possible, non-drug measures are now recommended first line for pain relief, such as chiropractic, massage, and the Kaufman technique that we use.  Non-steroidal drugs such as ibuprofen are also preferred for short-term pain relief, but they have their own set of side effects.  Nutritional supplements like curcumin can also be very effective and safe.

See Family Practice News, June 15, 2016, p. 12.



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