Intensity Of Addiction Research Articles

E-Cigarette Cessation: Content Analysis of a Quit Vaping Community on Reddit.

Backgrounde-Cigarette use, also known as vaping, has increased dramatically over the past few years, especially among younger demographics. However, researchers have found that a large number of e-cigarette users want to quit. Little is known about the unique aspects of vaping cessation, which is critical to informing the development of relevant resources and interventions for e-cigarette users who want to quit. Social media forums such as Reddit provide opportunities to understand the experiences of behavior change such as quitting vaping from the perspective of end users.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine a quit vaping subreddit to understand how e-cigarette users are experiencing and approaching vaping cessation. Specifically, we examine methods used to approach quitting, reasons for quitting, and barriers and facilitators to quitting.MethodsA total of 1228 posts were collected. The posts were inductively coded to generate categories and subcategories using conventional content analysis. Data were analyzed using the NVivo 12 qualitative data analysis software.ResultsMost users reported a preference for approaching quitting through gradual reduction, particularly through the use of their own devices by tapering the nicotine content. Their reasons for quitting were primarily related to experiencing negative physical consequences associated with vaping, especially in relation to their lungs (eg, tight chest), and tired of feeling stuck to the vape because of nicotine addiction. Top barriers to quitting were related to withdrawal symptoms and intensity of addiction. The top facilitators to quitting were related to using distraction techniques (eg, hobby, gaming, and mindfulness exercises), as well as having a positive mindset.ConclusionsThe findings of this study reveal unique aspects that encompass the process of quitting vaping. These findings have significant implications for both policy and intervention development.

Thermal Therapy In Patients with Post-pandemic Stress Syndrome as a S upporting Therapy

The viral pandemic causes multidirectional adverse effects and the greatest of which is health. The viral infection itself and severe infectious disease with pulmonary complications are of government concern. However, less is said about the effects of pandemic restrictions, e.g., social isolation leading to a series of severe psychosomatic disorders. In social isolation and quarantine, the classic negative lifestyle factors are working – the lack of exercise, excessive eating, stress, and addiction intensity. In turn, these factors lead to the exacerbation of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart disease, and others. Stress plays a unique role as it causes a number of stress syndromes, including the most severe form – post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stress is destructive to the entire body. It causes changes mainly in the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system. In a stressful situation, the sympathetic nervous system’s activity increases, which leads to disorders in the functioning of many organs. Together with the autonomic nervous system’s stimulation, the secretion of stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol increases. Increased adrenaline secretion leads to arrhythmias, hypertension, and metabolic changes. Excessive secretion of cortisol increases protein catabolism, glucagon secretion, increases gluconeogenesis, lipolysis, and, consequently, increases blood glucose and cholesterol levels. Post-pandemic stress syndromes should be treated. Classic psychotherapy proposes the most important methods of treating these syndromes. The thermal therapy is the most useful and of pathogenetic significance. Thermal therapy includes heat therapy, hydrotherapy, peloid therapy, massages, music therapy, and physical training. These procedures, included in the appropriate treatment program, positively affect the autonomic nervous system, reduce the secretion of stress hormones, and reduce the level of stress. Thanks to thermal therapy, patients regain their mental balance, eradicate anxiety, improve physical condition, and increase resistance to infections. Moreover, they acquire knowledge about the proper lifestyle and methods to deal with stress.

Decision rules for GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) detoxification: A vignette study

BackgroundGHB dependent patients can suffer from a severe and sometimes life-threatening withdrawal syndrome. Therefore, most of the patients are treated within inpatient settings. However, some prefers an outpatient approach to treatment. The aim of this study was to develop decision rules for addiction physicians to determine whether an outpatient or inpatient setting should be chosen for a safe GHB detoxification. MethodsA prospective vignette study was performed. Forty addiction medicine specialists from various treatment settings and residents of the Addiction Medicine postgraduate Master training were asked to contribute vignettes of GHB dependent patients. A focus group of 15 psychiatrists and addiction medicine specialists was asked to recommend an outpatient or inpatient setting for GHB detoxification treatment per vignette. Finally, five addiction medicine specialists, experts in GHB dependence treatment in the Netherlands, assessed the bio-psychosocial reasons for the choices of the focus group and formulated the recommended criteria. ResultsBased on the bio-psychosocial state of twenty vignette patients, addiction physicians and psychiatrists established the criteria and conditions recommended for the indication of an outpatient GHB detoxification. Intensity of addiction (GHB dose ≤32g/d and frequency of abuse ≤2h) was stated as the primary criterion in determining the setting as well as the complexity of the psychiatric comorbid disorders. The importance of a stable support system was emphasised. ConclusionThe vignette study resulted in a set of criteria with which addiction medicine specialists can make a weighted decision as to an outpatient or inpatient setting for GHB detoxification.

Response: A Sensible Division of Labor

Response: A Sensible Division of Labor

Exercise Dependence and Morphine Addiction: Evidence From Animal Models

This study used animal models to examine potential similarities between dependence on physical activity (i.e., exercise) and dependence on morphine. Using C57BL/6 mice, the study also tested the hypothesis that physical exercise (e.g., long-term wheel running) may enhance vulnerability to the development of morphine dependence. The existence of an endorphin-related dependence induced by physical activity was also assessed. Naloxone was used to precipitate morphine withdrawal in mice accustomed to morphine. Specifically, the study sought to assess the intensity of addiction provoked by injection of morphine in mice that engaged in wheel-running activity as opposed to inactive mice. After 25 days of free access to activity wheel, mice that engaged in wheel-running demonstrated increased vulnerability to naloxone-induced withdrawal symptoms, which may be linked to activation of peripheral, as opposed to central, opioid receptors. These results indicate a behavioral interaction in which engaging in wheel running appears to potentiate the effects of morphine addiction. Implications of these findings for understanding human behavior and exercise addiction are also discussed.

Influence of some demographical and social factors on degree of nicotine addiction and motivation to quit smoking in healthy people

Aim: Estimation of the influence of some demographical and social factors on degree of nicotine addiction and motivation to quit smoking. Material and method: 208 healthy, smoking people entered the study. The Fagerström test was used for analyzing degree of nicotine addiction (heavy addiction > 7 points). Motivation for smoking cessation was estimated by Schneider test (high motivation > 5 positive answers). Tests results were analyzed in connection with age, gender, education and intensity of nicotine addiction definedaspack-years. Results: In 37% of patients (77/208) heavy nicotine addiction was diagnosed. High motivation for quitting smoking was recognized in 74% people (150/208). Subjects with wild nicotine addiction had significantly higher motivation for smoking cessation (chi2, p = 0.002). There was not influence of gender, age, education and addiction intensity(definedaspack-years)on the grade of nicotine addiction. We didn't notic relation between gender and motivation to quit. Young, well educated patients are significantly stronger motivated for smoking cessation. Conclusions: There was not direct dependence between the number of smoked cigarettes and degree of nicotine addiction. In the group of healthy subjects, young, well educated people have a better chance for smoking cessation.

Tobacco smoking, harm reduction, and nicotine product regulation

Cigarette smoking is highly addictive, widely prevalent, and very hazardous. Smoking killed 100 million people in the 20th century, and is predicted to kill 1 billion in the 21st century. Worldwide, there are about 1·1 billion smokers, and there are expected to be 1·6 billion by 2025. Half of all smokers will die prematurely, unless they stop smoking. In the 50 years since the health risks of smoking fi rst became widely recognised, the political and public health responses to smoking at national and international levels have been grossly inade quate. Although the main components of current recommended tobacco control policy (panel 1) have changed little from those fi rst proposed in 1962, they have still not been widely applied and, in any case, achieve a reduction in smoking prevalence of typically about 0·5, and at best 1·0, percentage point per year. Full implementation of these policies might be suffi cient to prevent smoking in countries in which the smoking epidemic has yet to take hold, but this is only part of the necessary solution for countries with an estab lished smoking population. In the UK, for example, where 24% of adults still smoke, at a reduction rate of 0·5 percentage point per year it would take more than 20 years to reduce the prevalence of smoking by half. Even then, there will be more than 5 million smokers in the UK alone, predominantly from the most socioeconomically disadvantaged sectors of society, bearing a vast burden of avoidable morbidity and mortality. In fact most of the 150 million deaths from smoking that are expected over the next 20 years will occur in current smokers who are alive today. Since millions of these are unlikely to stop smoking in the near future, we argue, on the basis of a new report from the Royal College of Physicians, that in addition to conventional tobacco control policies, the application of harm reduction principles to nicotine and tobacco use could deliver substantial reductions in the morbidity and mortality currently caused by tobacco consumption. However, achievement of these reductions will require radical structural reform of the way in which nicotine and tobacco products are regulated and used. Most people continue to smoke because they are addicted to nicotine. Inhaled tobacco smoke is especially addictive because it delivers high doses of nicotine to the brain very rapidly, and because nicotine confers rewarding properties on other stimuli associated with smoking. Exposure to high nicotine concentrations at an early age might also determine the intensity of addiction through eff ects on nicotinic receptor numbers in the brain. Nicotine is available from a wide range of products: smoked tobacco, of which the cigarette is pre-eminent; medicinal nicotine, currently available as nicotine replacement therapy; and smokeless tobacco products, of which oral tobacco is the most widely used. Cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products, such as cigars and pipes, are by far the most harmful because they deliver nicotine in conjunction with hundreds of other toxins and carcinogens. It is these toxins and carcinogens that are mainly responsible for the major adverse health eff ects of smoking—particularly lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, and stroke. By contrast, the safety record of medicinal nicotine products is very good. Nicotine is not a recognised carcinogen and does not cause COPD. It has eff ects on blood pressure and heart rate that might be expected to increase risk of cardiovascular disease, but these eff ects are not seen in practice. Nicotine reduces placental blood fl ow, but medicinal nicotine does not reduce birthweight as much as smoking does. Therefore, although medicinal nicotine is not wholly safe, for practical purposes, and certainly when compared with smoking, the hazard associated with medicinal nicotine use is very low. The risk profi le of smokeless tobacco products is more wide ranging and includes oral cancer, other gastrointestinal cancers, and heart disease. These risks vary substantially between diff erent smokeless products, but are low for products low in nitrosamine, such as Swedish snus. Snus use increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, but not of lung and oral cancers, or COPD. Use of other smokeless products has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but snus has little, if any, eff ect. The risk of adverse eff ects associated with snus use is lower than that associated with smoking, overall by an estimated 90%. Whatever the true overall hazard, use of low nitrosamine smokeless products is clearly substantially less harmful than tobacco smoking. The rationale behind harm reduction is that although the best option would be to avoid the harmful behaviour Lancet 2008; 371: 441–45