http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog Addiction and Drug Education Blogs and Podcasts, looking at drug use trends and treatment, and how addiction is tied to the brain as well as the body Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:29:50 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2007-2008 service@cnsproductions.com (CNS Productions) service@cnsproductions.com (CNS Productions) Addiction education 1440 http://www.cnsproductions.com/144logo.jpg http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog 144 144 A leader in the creation of drug education books and videos for educators, health care professionals and the public --- used by treatment facilities, counselor-training programs, law enforcement, and businesses and industries concerned about drugs in t... Addiction and Drug Education Blogs and Podcasts, looking at drug use trends and treatment, and how addiction is tied to the brain as well as the body addiction, drugs, education, recovery, substance abuse education, prevention, chemical dependency, AOD CNS Productions CNS Productions service@cnsproductions.com no no http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/698/ http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/698/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:46:52 +0000 CNS http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/?p=698 http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/698/feed/ 0 00:01:01 We look at a new study correlating craving sugar, depression and the tendency toward alcoholism in children; also this is the 2nd annual Children of ... We look at a new study correlating craving sugar, depression and the tendency toward alcoholism in children; also this is the 2nd annual Children of Alcoholics Awareness Week. Listen to podcast Transcript (edited): CNS:   Welcome to the CNS Podcast featuring Dr. Darryl Inaba, research director for CNS Productions. CNS:   Alcohol and depression in children are topics in this week’s news.   It is National Children of Alcoholics week, (February 14 -20, 2010) not just in this country, but around the world and there is a new study that just came out in Addiction Journal (http://www.addictionjournal.org/viewpressrelease.asp?pr=118) looking at the relationship between sweets, depression and the proclivity towards alcoholism.  How do you view this study? DARRYL:      Well, it’s confirming what we’ve all suspected and actually clinically observed in treating alcoholics and interacting with their families and their children.  I believe the study looked at about 300 or more children, ages 5 to 12 or so, researchers carefully took their histories and they exposed them to different sugar solutions and asked the children which of the solutions they preferred.  The results showed that the children who preferred the sweetest of the solutions, I think it was 24% sucrose, which is equivalent to about 14 teaspoons of sugar in 8 ounces of water,  I think that is about double the amount of sugar there is in Coca-Cola, so that’s really, really sweet. CNS:   And Cola’s are plenty sweet. DARRYL:      Absolutely, and the children who preferred that level of sweetness had parents who were alcoholic and/or depressed and the children were also exhibiting depression.  So the conclusion from this study implies a need within children who may be predisposed towards alcoholism and depression to crave high amounts of sugar which creates the dopamine effect in the brain or in the reward reinforcement center that sends the message that a basic need is being fulfilled. Researchers believe this preference for more sugar is a need to stimulate that center to a higher level than normal. These children need a lot more dopamine released in their brains in order to appreciate it.  They are postulating that these kids need a lot more sugar, but get a weaker effect or get a weaker satisfaction from it.  That’s a prelude to alcoholism.  They’re not saying it actually predicts that the children are going to be alcoholics, but we do observe when alcoholics come into treatment, residential treatment is where we really see it, they really prefer sugar when they first come into treatment.  And they crave sugar any place they can get it…candy bars, whatever. CNS:   Right, of course the alcohol breaks down into sugar. DARRYL:      Right and they have, I guess, a greater need for more.  Even though they’re taking in a lot more it’s not satisfying them.  So…it is a common thing for the alcoholic, the heroine addict too, is first thing in the morning they reach for a  Jolt or a Coca Cola or something with a lot of caffeine and a lot of sugar in addition to their drug.  So there is, I think, a clinical correlation to this craving for sugar or need for more sugar that may be greater in those who are predisposed to or ill with the condition of alcoholism and addiction. CNS:   Sounds like a bunch of double whammies, all on top of each other.  If you have sugar proclivity, #1 that’s going to inch you towards being overweight and obese and if you are one of those likely to become an alcoholic, then the alcohol turns back into glucose. DARRYL:      This also speaks to the fact that there is an epidemic of metabolic disorder in the United States.  The tendency toward Type II diabetes is just horrendous.  I think the last report, indicated maybe a good third of the country or close to 30% of the population had either a diagnosisable Type II diabetic condition or are pre-Type II diabetic.  Alcohol, Dr. Darryl Inaba, In the News, Podcasts, Understanding Addictions & Brain Chemistry CNS Productions no no http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/615/ http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/615/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:38:05 +0000 CNS http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/?p=615 http://www.cnsproductions.com/drugeducationblog/podcasts/615/feed/ 0 00:01:01 The Holiday Season can be a wonderful time of thanksgiving, giving and sharing, enjoying food and festivities with family and friends. It can also be ... The Holiday Season can be a wonderful time of thanksgiving, giving and sharing, enjoying food and festivities with family and friends. It can also be a very difficult time for someone coping with their addictions, and trying to maintain their recovery, especially with ever-present alcohol at parties and dinners, and the stress that family get-togethers can sometimes elicit, as well as issues with seasonal depression. Dr Inaba shares his thoughts. Listen to podcast Transcript: CNS: Hi and welcome once again to the CNS addiction pod cast, I’m Howard LaMere here with Dr. Darryl Inaba. Darryl it’s the end of November and the holidays are upon us -- this can be a wonderful time, a joyous time, getting together with family and friends. It can also present a lot of issues, especially those of us that have friends and family members involved in one way or another in substance abuse and addiction. Darryl: Now I’ve always seen in my career I’ve been working in this field, that the holiday times, especially in the intense holiday times coming up in late November through the first of the year are real challenging, real difficult for not only people with substance abuse but also people with mental health issues as well. I’m not sure if there’s any real definitive statistics in studies that’s been done but it seems like we’ve had a lot more threatened suicides. We had a lot of people who were down-trod, who were very upset about what was going on in their lives and enough so to make suicide gestures and threaten suicide. Another time of year that’s difficult, believe it or not, is spring time. In spring time we actually have I think more suicides and less threatened suicide. So these are you know, like I said, spring time is the time of renewal, time of change, and if you’re going to change maybe that’s the time they do it. During the holiday season, people who aren’t in trouble with drugs or don’t have mental health issues they’re exuberant, they’re, they’re expressing joy and cheer and how everything’s wonderful and everything’s great and they just… CNS: That can present a real contradiction there for someone… Darryl: It, it really exaggerates to people struggling with their addiction or with depressions and mental health, how difficult their lives are and the contrasts and contradictions as such that it becomes overwhelming to many people. There are a number of people who are both depressed and have major drug problems to co-occurring disorder problems and especially in those individuals the holiday season can be a real challenging, difficult time of year. They’re going to see relatives, they’re going to be with friends, they’re struggling still with stigma of addiction. It’s a very difficult thing for them to take that first step where they can accept they have a biological problem. A problem with their brain that prevents them from controlling their use of drugs and alcohol, and for that reason they succumb to the stigma that continues to permeate our society that maybe they’re weak, or they’re bad or they’re stupid, they’re crazy, they’re amoral, they’re criminal, and this time of year if they’re struggling in their addiction and going through relapses, or even if they’re not going through relapses, just having “stinking thinking” about wanting to use again. All the good cheer and the happy times of the holidays, really conspires to reinforce how desperate they are and how difficult in with the difficult situations they are and so they develop what I call “the holiday blues” actually get very, very depressed this time of year and don’t know what to do. They don’t know if they should spend time with their relatives or friends. I often think there’s not enough fun in sobriety, we certainly have a lot of twelve-step groups and different activities where they’re clean and sober activities during holiday times to cheer people up and keep them from Alcohol, Dr. Darryl Inaba, Podcasts, Recovery & relapse CNS Productions no no