Crack: Cocaine’s Deadly Cousin

Cocaine can come in either powder or crystal form. Crack cocaine comes in solid blocks or crystals. The effects of using crack cocaine vary depending on the individual’s response to the drug and level of use. Short term effects result from immediate use of the drug but long term effects happen as a continued pattern

How Cocaine Wrecks the Body

Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant. Made from the leaves of the coca plant in South America, the short term effects are euphoria, high energy and levels of talkativeness and elevated heart and blood pressure. There are different forms of cocaine which produce different results, depending on how it is taken. The drug is powerful

Liver Damage from Alcohol Abuse

Excessive drinking creates havoc in the brain and the body, particularly the liver. It is important to understand the function of the liver, how it is impacted by alcohol abuse and available treatments for these conditions including fatty liver disease, cirrhosis (scarring), and hepatitis. Role of the Liver The liver is a vital organ in

Goal Setting in Addiction Recovery

Marathon runners predict their finishing times and set their running pace to meet those times Companies write detailed business plans that include two- and five-year sales projection and then set up operations to achieve those sales goals. These and other long-term endeavors typically start with goals and work toward meeting those goals. Your addiction recovery

Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Meth Abuse

You don’t have to look long or hard to find photo evidence of the physical effects of chronic meth abuse. After several years of meth abuse, an addict’s skin will be scarred and sallow. He may have lost several teeth and his remaining teeth will be discolored and cracked. He will be thin from malnutrition.

Alcoholism Pulls Fathers from the Home

Fathers play an important role in a family’s life. Children especially benefit when a father is present to spend time encouraging and demonstrating things in a unique way only fathers can. However, the difficult reality for millions of people is that addiction to alcohol fractures and damages families, often separating fathers from the home emotionally

Warning Signs of Opiate Addiction

Opiate addictions may once have been centered in opium dens of the nineteenth century and among heroin addicts in the 1970’s. Modern opiate addictions are broader and more insidious, as they affect every social strata and demographic group in virtually every part of the United States. If your physician gave you a prescription for an

Why You Need to Quit Smoking

Smoking has detrimental consequences to both the physical and emotional wellbeing of people who are addicted. Family, friends and loved ones are also affected by an individual’s addiction to nicotine, including children. Quitting smoking may seem easy but, in fact, is one of the hardest habits to break. Here is why a person should consider

Are You An Alcoholic?

If your drinking has progressed to a point where you’re asking yourself if you’re an alcoholic, you can easily convince yourself that the answer is “no”. You might have had one or two nights of binge drinking and woke up the next day with little memory of the previous evening, but in your mind those

Three Steps to Relapse

After recovering from a serious drug addiction, the last thing you want to do is consider going through that ordeal again. Once you’re done, you want to be done with that forever, right? Unfortunately, the nature of addiction is complex and frustrating and you will have to fight off temptations and relapse triggers for some