Both Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous hold meetings of recovering addicts and alcoholics – sometimes in church halls, sometimes in hospitals or clinics, occasionally in homes or social-service offices. Just wherever the rent is cheap!
If you decide you want their help, all you have to do is ring their number and they will put local members in touch with you, or tell you where the nearest meeting is.
Meetings vary in format, but a fairly typical NA meeting will usually have a secretary who runs the meeting, and a speaker. Often this speaker will say something about his addiction and how he recovered from it. Other NA members then join in, perhaps adding their comments or telling something about their own experience. Newcomers are not expected to speak at the meeting – though if they want to, they can. Alcoholic’s Anonymous meetings are run in the same way.
Starting your own NA meeting-You can start your own Narcotics Anonymous meeting. All you need to do is to contact NA headquarters and they will help with advice.
It’s probably best to start a new meeting with the help of another recovering addict. If you have been to local AA meetings and have met an AA member who used to use drugs as well as drink, ask if he or she will help. Many AA members have a history, if not of illegal drugs, then of being dependent on prescribed drugs like tranquillisers.
You should look out for a sympathetic member who is sober and can give support. If possible, it should be somebody who has been sober for at least a year.
*61\116\2*
In a larger scheme of things, the notion of the culturally molded mind, introduced by Vygotsky and Luria, leads to a very important corollary for our understanding of the biological machinery of the mind: The brain comes pre-wired for certain kinds of pattern recognition but not for others. This means that the brain must have some capacity, in fact huge capacity, to store information about various facts and rules, whose nature is not known in advance but is acquired by learning through personal experience or derived from culture. How can this be done?
Evolution solved the problem through the judicious application of the principle that “less is more.” The “old” subcortical structures are preloaded with hardwired information representing the “wisdom of the phylum,” and so are the cortical regions directly involved in processing sensory inputs: vision, hearing, touch. Motor cortex is also to a large degree “pre-wired.”
But the more complex cortical regions, the so-called association cortex, have relatively little pre-wired knowledge. It has, instead, a great capacity to process any kind of information, to deal in an open-ended way with any curve ball the circumstances may throw at the organism. In a seemingly paradoxical way, the more advanced certain cortical regions are and the more recently they developed in evolution, the less “preloaded with software” they are. Instead, their processing power is accomplished increasingly by the ability to forge their own “software” as required by their survival needs in an increasingly complex and unpredictable outside world. This ability to forge “software” in the form of increasingly complex attractors is in turn accomplished by endowing these new brain regions with an open-ended capacity to deal with complexity of any nature. In contrast to the inborn, pre-wired processors, like the angle-specific neurons of the visual cortex, the pattern-recognition capability of these most advanced regions of the cortex is called “emergent,” because it truly emerges in the brain, which is very complex but also very “open-minded.”
This leads to a conclusion that is quite profound: The evolution of the brain is dominated by one grand theme, a gradual transition from a “hardwired” to an “open-ended-open-minded” design. As a result, the functional organization of the most advanced heteromodal association cortex does not resemble a quilt consisting of little regions each in charge of its own narrow function. To use the technical parlance of neuroscience, it is not modular. Rather, it is highly interactive and distributed. The heteromodal association cortex develops along the continuous distributions, called gradients, that emerge spontaneously, as dictated by brain geometry and neural network economy, and not by some preordained, genetically or otherwise, content-specific order. In the association cortex, functionally close aspects of cognition are represented in neuroanatomically close cortical regions. This congruence between cognitive metric and brain metric is exactly what one would expect as an “emergent property” in a self-organizing brain. I term this emergent principle of neo-cortical organization the gradiental principle. By contrast, attaining such congruence between cognitive metric and brain metric through genetic programming would have amounted to a tremendous, and unnecessary, waste of genetic information. Mercifully, this wasteful approach was rejected by evolution. Instead, evolution carved out in the brain design a space for a tabula rasa, but one powered by an exquisite neural capacity for processing complexity of any kind and filling itself with any content.
*21\302\2*
Just as you would flush a toilet to rid it of waste, it also helps to flush out your body to cleanse it of potentially infectious organisms like cold viruses. Drink plenty of fluids, especially those that hydrate the body—that is, fluids that are free of caffeine, alcohol, excessive sugar or salt. That leaves water as the best thing to drink. Other useful beverages include decaffeinated coffee and tea, caffeine-free herb teas, seltzer, club soda, mineral water, and diluted fruit juices. The liquid helps to keep mucous membranes moist, enabling them to trap cold viruses and dispose of them before they can infect your cells. This is especially important during the winter months, when both indoor and outdoor air are much drier. One of the best weapons yet invented to ward off respiratory viruses may be the quart-sized sports bottle; fill it with water, carry it around with you, and sip from it all day long.
Close contact with potentially infected people is but one reason why colds spread so easily in winter or when you take a long plane trip. Another is extreme dehydration—especially the drying out of those nasal passages, your first line of defense against cold viruses. Homes, cars, and workplaces that are heated in winter typically have humidity levels of 20 to 30 percent. And airplane air at any time of year is comparable in dryness to the Sahara Desert. At home, you might try humidifying the air at night with a steam vaporizer (cold-mist humidifiers often foster the growth and dispersal of infectious organisms and allergens). Another strategy that some people find helpful is to program the thermostat so that the heat is off when you sleep and doesn’t come up until you get up and can start drinking again. But at work and during travel, your only option is to keep yourself moist from within by drinking lots and lots of plain fluids—eight ounces for every hour of travel is a good benchmark for maintaining decent hydration.
*14\296\2*
Antidepressant drugs are derivatives of major tranquillizers, which in turn are derivatives of sedating antihistamines. Antidepressants make profoundly unhappy and often suicidal people much happier. This transformation takes place after two to four weeks of therapy.
Side effects of the antidepressant drugs are legion and include dry mouth, blurred vision, tremor and constipation. Hallucinations, excitement and confusion can also occur and the antidepressants may be responsible for the precipitation of epilepsy and jaundice. Occasionally the antidepressant drugs become a cardiac hazard. Sometimes sudden death occurs in people with coexistent heart disease. Sometimes death occurs in people with apparently healthy hearts.
Doctors frequently provide this potentially lethal group of drugs to the very people that may consider the use of the same drugs as a means of suicide. In such cases, it is customary to prescribe only a small number of tablets and to review the patient very frequently over the first few weeks of therapy. An antidepressant called Tolvon better suits depressed people with heart conditions. The manufacturers of Prothiaden also claim greater safety in that regard, while two new drugs called Prozac and Aurorix are thought to be even safer again.
Commonly prescribed antidepressants include the following list of drugs: Anafranil, Deptran, Nortab, Pertofran, Prothiaden, Sinequan, Surmontil, Tofranil, Tolvon and Tryptanol.
*1/131/5*
The term food allergy has been used to describe an adverse reaction to a particular food. It is thought that all allergies involve an immune system response. For some people this response is almost immediate. Common foods that are linked to this type of allergy are shellfish, strawberries and, even more severe, peanuts. The person may develop a rash, get diarrhea or constipation or in extreme cases severe shock (anaphylaxis).
Masked food allergies, however, have a much more delayed response and the effects can be quite deceptive but may cause a number of symptoms such as weight gain, bloating, water retention, stomach disorders, aching joints, fatigue, stuffy nose, skin problems, asthma, hyperactivity and migraine headaches. If you are allergic to a particular food, it is likely that you will crave it and eat it frequently. The food becomes mildly addictive. You may find it hard to believe you are reacting to it.
How can you track down a food allergy? There are two ways to do this: have a blood test or follow a hypo-allergenic diet.
*1/101/5*
ВЕДУЩИЕ ПИЩЕВЫЕ АЛЛЕРГЕНЫ
Коровье молоко и его белки: казеин, лактальбумин, лактоглобулин.
Наиболее часто у людей наблюдается сенсибилизация к лактальбуминовой фракции, реже – к лактоглобулиновой и редко – к казеиновой фракции молока. При термической обработке разрушается лактальбуминовая фракция, поэтому кипяченое молоко менее аллергенно. У больных с клиническими проявлениями аллергии к молоку чаще выявляется повышенная чувствительность к лактоглобулиновой фракции.
Куриные яйца
Являются одним из ведущих пищевых аллергенов. Чаще встречаются реакции на белок куриного яйца. Аллергенным является и желток яйца. Термическая обработка (варка) яйца уменьшает аллергенные свойства, но не уничтожает их полностью. При аллергии к куриному яйцу обычно развиваются аллергические реакции и на другие виды яиц (утиные, гусиные и др.).
Рыба
Морская и речная рыба, а также рыбные продукты являются распространенными аллергенами. Обычно сенсибилизация к морской рыбе сочетается с сенсибилизацией к речной рыбе, икре, ракам, крабам, креветкам и продуктам из них (селедочное масло, креветочное масло, салат с крабами). Термическая обработка мало влияет на аллергию к рыбе. Нередки аллергические реакции даже на контакт с рыбой или с предметами, которые соприкасались с рыбой, и даже на ее запах (например, при ее жарении). Возможна перекрестная сенсибилизация к корму для рыбок (дафниям).
Зерновые продукты
Нередко встречается аллергия к пшенице, ржи, реже к другим злакам. Сенсибилизация к пшенице, ржи может сочетаться с аллергией к пыльце растений, что приводит к утяжелению симптомов пыльцевой аллергии и к тому, что они не ограничиваются только сезоном цветения.
Фрукты, овощи
Наиболее часто встречается аллергия к цитрусовым (апельсины, мандарины, лимоны). Чаще вызывают аллергию те овощи, которые имеют желтую и красно-розовую окраску (помидоры, морковь). Выраженными аллергенными свойствами обладают клубника, земляника.
Часто причиной пищевой аллергии являются грибы и орехи.
К распространенным пищевым аллергенам относятся мед, шоколад, кофе, какао.
лечение неврозов
In all countries where it operates, NA has a central office which deals with enquiries. This office will tell you where there are local members.
If there is no NA, turn to Alcoholics Anonymous for help. A A has been going longer than NA and has a wider spread of offices. Often the local telephone book or the telephone operator will have their number. Local Samaritan offices usually have AA details too.
It may seem odd to send a drug addict to Alcoholics Anonymous, which is, strictly speaking, for people who have a problem with alcohol. But nowadays most AA meetings include members who have used both drink and drugs. They can help you.
Besides, AA membership is for everybody who wants to stop drinking alcohol. As the preamble to every AA meeting puts it: ‘The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.’
Every addict should stop drinking alcohol, because alcohol is a drug which alters the mood and is therefore addictive. So any addict is entitled to attend AA meetings.
In that sense too, all addicts are entitled to call themselves alcoholics. And it is customary to preface all remarks at an AA meeting with ‘I’m Michelle or Tom. I’m an alcoholic’
Alison, the recovering addict and alcoholic we met earlier in this chapter, got well in Alcoholics Anonymous in 1977 before NA had started in Britain. ‘At my first meeting I sat next to a man who talked about drugs and rock music. I think that helped me feel I was in the right place.’
That said, it has to be admitted that AA members sometimes feel uncomfortable with people who talk a great deal about drug-use. Graphic stories about fixing, scoring or pill-swallowing may even be met with the suggestion that AA is for those using alcohol, not other drugs.
It’s partly a question of tact. If you want to use Alcoholics Anonymous to get well, it is best to play down stories of your drug-using at the meeting. Concentrate on talking about the methods of recovery.
‘Some people go to AA and freak AA out with needle stories or with drug stories,’ says. ‘But that is the basis of their addiction anyway, as opposed to their dad’-s alcoholism. We say in NA, “Don’t do that. Shut up about your drugs. Don’t try to freak out the old boys in AA, because that’s what you were doing outside. That’s outside behaviour. So don’t do it.” ‘
And, if you feel you can’t yet call yourself an alcoholic, just sit in the meeting and listen, rather than talk. This, anyway, is the best recipe for recovery in the early days. There’s an AA saying: ‘Take the cotton wool out of your ears and stick it in your mouth.’ There will always be an opportunity to talk about drugs after the meeting in the informal get-togethers which most AAs have over tea or coffee.
*62\116\2*
The general practitioner (GP) is usually the focal point of these community-based services. GPs are moving away from the old-style single-handed practice to more group work, often involving a number of doctors based in a health centre. These centers then become the base for the other primary health care workers and a focal point in the community. GPs are self-employed but come under the authority of the local Family Health Services Agency (FHSA). Government reforms of the NHS have encouraged certain GPs to become fund-holders. This implies a larger degree of financial autonomy and is only granted if the GPs concerned wish to apply, if their financial and patient base is big enough, and if they can demonstrate an understanding and competence of financial and management matters. It does mean that within certain restrictions the GP practice can operate more independently in a variety of ways (with the idea of benefiting the customers, i.e. patients). Running one’s own budget can improve services (the government’s intention). People have been worried however that patients seen as expensive would be deemed undesirable to fund-holding practices and either asked to find new GPs or get a less expensive service provision. There appears to be very little evidence of this but in cases of concern the patient or carer can contact the local FHSA to discuss the matter further in confidence (if discussing the issue with the GP fails to resolve the issue).
Until recently general practice was not seen as a very attractive career prospect unless working in a prosperous country area. This has now changed with new regulations requiring GPs to be specially trained. This usually takes the form of a 3 year vocational scheme, undertaken a year after qualifying and involving training in numerous specialties (children, the elderly, psychiatry etc.) A year is then spent in general practice under supervision. Many areas run organized schemes, while some doctors make their own. Increasingly many young doctors are being trained and then choose to remain in inner city areas improving the standard of health care to the population (often poor and with a high percentage of old people).
The government changes have also meant that GPs are being asked to meet certain targets (e.g. a certain number of children immunized) before full payment is given. This is meant to improve the overall standard of care. In addition, the government has insisted on the offer of an over-75 yearly screening programme. This means that every person over 75 must at least be offered a visit to check certain things: weight, blood pressure, hearing, eyesight, etc. Many GPs feel this is not a good use of their time as the pick-up rate is considered to be low. Many delegate this duty to the practice nurse and many practices do not follow up on the initial refusers.
The situation is complex and certainly not many new problems are uncovered if the government guidelines are strictly adhered to. GPs, however, are now in a position to widen the scope of the health check and include other services which may be of benefit, e.g. assessing levels of disability, depression, the possibility of abuse, etc. Good GP practices tend to offer good services, and as it is now easier to shop around and change GP, elderly customers should try and be more critical of the services on offer.
*47/128/5*
Prescription meds without a prescription
In September 1983, Spencer P. Thornton, M.D., director of research for the Eye Foundation of Tennessee located in Nashville, reported that a high success rate had been obtained in a series of patients undergoing radial keratotomy for myopia. “An overall average of 73 percent of our patients having between 2 diopters and 18.5 D of myopia attained 20/40 or better uncorrected vision,” he stated to the Biennial Canadian Contact and Intraocular Lens Conference in Toronto. Jean Robertson, a registered nurse and certified ophthalmic technician, assisted him in the collection of data.
The series consisted of two hundred consecutive patients who underwent operations after November 1979. The lowest degree of myopia was -2.00 D, while the highest amount was -18.5 D. The longest follow-up period was 3.5 years. All patients in the series were followed for at least one year. Approximately 71 percent of the patients had preoperative uncorrected vision of 20/400 or worse.
“Among those patients who had less than 6 D of myopia preoperatively, approximately 80 percent had improvements in vision to 20/40 or better without correction,” Dr. Thornton said. Postoperative acuity of 20/15 to 20/25 was achieved in 43 percent of the patients, and 75 percent of the total patient population was within + 1.00 D or -1.00 D of emmetropia.
In patients with myopia of -3.00 D or less, 86 percent had postoperative vision of 20/40 or better. Seventy-six percent of patients whose myopia ranged from -3.00 D to -5.00 D attained 20/40 vision or better postoperatively. In those with -5.00 D to -8.00 D of myopia, 68 percent attained 20/40 or better. Half of those patients with nearsightedness above -8.00 D attained 20/40 vision or better.
Only 2 percent of all patients had over-corrections of myopia that were more than +2.00 D of hyperopia (farsightedness) after one year. “There were no surgery-related complications that resulted in a loss of best-corrected visual acuity of more than one line in any case.” Dr. Thornton said. He noted that some patients have lost enough improvement in visual acuity to warrant a second operation. However, no patient has lost all improvement. Second operations were performed either to add more incisions or to deepen existing ones, he added.
*47/127/5*
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Thus radiation to the mouth, throat or nose can cause soreness and sometimes ulceration. Radiation to the stomach can cause a vague stomach ache, loss of appetite and nausea. Radiation to the intestines can cause diarrhoea. Radiation to the lungs can cause a dry irritating cough. Radiation to the bladder can cause cystitis-stinging and burning when passing, urine and a desire to pass urine frequently. Radiation to the skin can cause redness, soreness and ‘peeling’.
It is important to try not to place any extra demands on these areas during radiation. For example, you will be asked not to rub skin that is being radiated, and to avoid tight clothing and hot or cold applications. Steps will be taken to prevent infection in any of these areas—for example, by using antiseptic mouth washes if the mouth is being irradiated. Any infection that does occur must be treated promptly.
The bone marrow is another tissue which normally contains a high proportion of actively dividing cells. However, radiation of part of the bone marrow doesn’t usually cause any symptoms provided the rest of the marrow is normal. A large proportion of your active marrow must be irradiated to produce any change in radiation treatment the blood count. Even then, you would be unlikely to experience any symptoms as a result.
*284/40/1*
Cancer
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