Dr David Mee-Lee on his ASAM Patient Placement Criteria and the new DSM-5
Dr Mee-Lee joins Dr Inaba in reviewing and contrasting the new DSM-5 from the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Society of Addiction Medicine’s Patient Placement Criteria, for which he is one of the main authors. The difference between the two manuals is discussed, including the changes in categories and scope in the new DSM, the ongoing issue of public perception/acceptance of the addiction as disease model, and issues around treatment and relapse.
Sports & doping – its not just Armstrong
Performance-enhancing drugs – used by amateurs as well as professional athletes, crosses many fields of competition, and includes use of anabolic steroids, EPO, blood transfusions, etc. Also, designer drugs in sports and the evolution of testing, which as the Armstrong controversies have shown, can now be done years after the fact.
Has drug testing gotten better? And alcohol – factors in relationships and in binging
Has drug testing gotten significantly better recently is the question we ask as this week more baseball players are banned for doping, and whether its a factor in Lance Armstrong’s decision to end his years-long duel with the US Anti-Doping Agency over the question of whether he used performance enhancing drugs and techniques.
Sports & Drugs – Testing backwards, POSD, Ethics
Sports and drugs this summer continues with a consideration of ethics and Olympian ideals … promotion of fair play, education against doping drug use… this summer included stripping a gold medal from a Belarus shot putter when her blood from 8 years ago was re-tested and found to have steroids …
Should We Just Allow Doping in Sports?
An editorial page blog in the NY Times asked the question … with constant scandals … should be just stop trying to fight the use of drugs in sport? and the corollary of the Portugal Experiment – decriminalizing drugs, and doing assessment and treatment, instead of punishment for drug users.
Testing Analysis, Dopamine and Conference Notes
Recent conferences … highlight the way urine test is being analyzed … and new evidence for genetic evaluation, and the possibility that being addiction-prone may be related to a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine in a person’s brain.