Health, illness or addiction: social aspects Books

Book SynopsisThe National Drug Control Strategy, a balanced approach to reducing drug use in America focusing on stopping use before it starts, healing America''s drug users, and disrupting the market for illegal drugs was launched in 2003. The Strategy would pursue ambitious goals: a 10 percent reduction in youth drug use in 2 years and a 25 percent reduction in youth drug use over 5 years. Six years later, this decline in youth drug use continues, at a rate almost precisely consistent with the Administration''s goals. These trends are even more striking when viewed by specific drug. The declines in youth alcohol and tobacco use, combined with sharp declines in illegal drug use, are particularly meaningful as they demonstrate a broad shift in youth attitudes and behaviour.

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Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the Surgeon General''s call to action to prevent and reduce underage drinking, to focus national attention on this enduring problem and on new, disturbing research which indicates that the developing adolescent brain may be particularly susceptible to long-term negative consequences from alcohol use. Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America''s youth. A higher percentage of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 use alcohol than use tobacco or illicit drugs. Underage drinking also creates second-hand effects for others, drinkers and non-drinkers alike, including car crashes from drunk driving, that put every child at risk. Thus, underage alcohol consumption is a major societal problem with enormous health and safety consequences and will demand the nation''s attention and committed efforts to solve.

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Book SynopsisThe fight against HIV/AIDS is, above all, an economic issue. The scale of the pandemic and the lack of funds needed to eradicate it require identifying key issues in field interventions and optimal economic policies to fund them. In developing countries, where the epidemic is reaching its peak, the magnitude of governmental and international interventions triggers major crowding-out effects on every other economic decision of those countries, and thus HIV/AIDS affects every aspect of social life. Economic policies alleviating crowding-out effects are thus paramount to foster the economic growth of developing countries and, in turn, their future welfare. Economic issues in the fight against HIV/AIDS are also a primary concern for developed countries, in charge not only of subsidising current treatment campaigns domestically but also of funding R&D in innovative treatments. Designing optimal incentives for public and private agencies to reduce the costs of available medicines, and to develop innovative treatments such as a therapeutic vaccine, is as important as drug delivery or any other field campaign to eventually eradicate the disease. Over two decades of practical implementation of economic policies and academic research have shown many pitfalls in current policies, and they have made it possible to identify previously missed issues. This book shall provide a recent and comprehensive coverage of those policies, and it shall analyse their economic efficiency as well as ways of improvement using state-of-the-art academic findings in Economics and Finance. The authors discuss in detail and provide new economic analyses on the following issues: The nation-wide and international economic consequences of the spread of the disease; Market incentives and disincentives to produce and to develop treatment technologies; The nature and optimality of economic policies devoted to fighting the disease in developing countries, as well as the enhancement of current policies through financial innovations.

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Book SynopsisSubstance dependence, or addiction, is a relapsing disorder characterised by the loss of control of drug or alcohol intake, or a compulsion to take the substance, associated with the appearance of a withdrawal syndrome after a discontinuation of its long-term use. This book presents and discusses research in the study of substance abuse, including drug abuse and education; binge drinking; the treatment of heroine and cocaine abuse; women and addictions; anabolic steroid abuse and alcoholism and pregnancy.

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Book SynopsisA drug policy most often refers to a government''s attempt to combat the negative effects of drug addiction and misuse in its society. Governments try to combat drug addiction with policies which address both the demand and supply of drugs, as well as policies which can mitigate the harms of drug abuse. This book examines various drug policies, with a particular focus on drug trade and trafficking.

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Book SynopsisThe cannabis sativa plant, more commonly known as marijuana, has been used medicinally for millenia and continues to play a significant role in medical treatment today. This book presents topical research in the study of marijuana; its uses, effects and legal issues. Topics discussed include measurement of cannabis consumption to assess the role of drug potency in rising rates of cannabis misuse disorders; the influence of marijuana legislation on vulnerable populations; marijuana use among adolescents and its effects and recreational marijuana use in a bariatric clinic population.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents current research in the study of substance abuse. Topics discussed include cocaine-dependent patients with antisocial personality disorder; drug abuse and neuro-AIDS; alcohol and substance abuse among older adults; sexual abuse in men with substance abuse problems; cognitive dysfunction in cocaine abuse; current controversies in the assessment and treatment of heroin addiction; psychotropic analgestic nitrous oxide (PAN) for substance abuse withdrawal; carisoprodol withdrawal syndrome and new research on methamphetamine abuse.

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Book SynopsisMany adolescents and young adults engage in drinking behaviour, which result in acute and chronic negative consequences (eg: unintentional injuries, arguments, unplanned and/or unprotected sexual activities, trouble with police/authorities, poor academic/work performance, suicide, and death), and alcohol dependence. Social influence is foremost among the causes attributed to the initiation and maintenance of alcohol use during this period. This book reviews a number of prominent theories of social influence that are directly relevant to drinking behaviour among adolescents and young adults.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors present current research in the study of the pharmacology, effects, and abuse prevention in heroin. Topics discussed in this compilation include opiate sensitivity and gender; the role of heroin biomarkers in heroin abuse; dynamic behaviour for heroin epidemic models; current controversies in the assessment and treatment of heroin addiction and heroin addiction in pregnancy.

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Book SynopsisIt has long been known that some people, usually those with eating disorders, or on their way to having one, abuse drugs that are specifically designed for, or have a side effect that leads to, weight loss. It appears that there is an increased prevalence for people to take pharmacological treatments to aid weight loss or maintenance. These people are not like our previous sample as they have no form of psychopathology. What was once thought to be the remit of the eating disordered individual and a sign of serious psychological dysfunction has become the playground of the norm. This book discussed the reasons behind why people are taking them and how they work. Moreover, the author aims to arm people with the knowledge that will defend them from the diet drug vendors who are now pervasive across the Internet and thus our society.

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Book SynopsisIn the midst of national concern over illicit drug use and abuse, prescription drug abuse has been identified as the United States'' fastest growing drug problem. Nearly all prescription drugs involved in overdoses are originally prescribed by a physician (rather than, for example, being stolen from pharmacies). Thus, attention has been directed toward preventing the diversion of prescription drugs after the prescriptions are dispensed. Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) maintain statewide electronic databases of prescriptions dispensed for controlled substances. This book provides an overview of PDMPs with a focus on supporting access to legitimate medical use of controlled substances; identifying or preventing drug abuse and diversion; facilitating the identification of prescription drug-addicted individuals and enabling intervention and treatment; and outlining and educating the public on drug use and abuse trends to inform public health initiatives.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors present topical research in the study of the racial/ethnic and socio-economic risk factors and strategies for the elimination of health disparities. Topics discussed include the cessation and prevention of tobacco use for indigenous populations; understanding the true burden of cancer in American Indian and Alaska Native communities; understanding cardiovascular disparities between Maori and non-Maori indigenous populations in New Zealand; reducing health disparities of culturally-diverse minority populations through transcultural nursing in the home; childhood trauma and health disparities; dismantling racism to improve health equity; the impact of language barriers on healthcare utilisation among Hispanic construction workers; and white and minority screenings in colorectal cancer prevention.

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Book SynopsisIn 2013, the U.S. President''s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will mark nearly ten years of success with an extraordinary year of achievements. None of this would have been possible without the vision and leadership of President Bush, President Obama, and the bipartisan support of Congress. A decade ago AIDS was wiping out an entire generation in Africa; today, PEPFAR''s efforts and those of its many partners have brought the world to a new era -- a time when new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are on the steep decline, and an AIDS-free generation is both U.S. policy and a goal within our reach. Building off recent breakthroughs, which demonstrated the power of key evidence-based interventions to drive down the rate of new infections and save more lives, this book reflects lessons learned from almost ten years of experience in supporting countries to rapidly scale-up HIV prevention, treatment, and care services. It demonstrates the opportunity for the world to help move more countries toward and beyond the tipping point in their epidemics and put them on a path to achieving an AIDS-free generation. The U.S. commitment to the global AIDS response will remain strong, comprehensive, and driven by science -- and clearly outlines what PEPFAR is doing and will continue to do to help make an AIDS-free generation a reality.

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Book SynopsisThe title of the book harks back to Michael Dorris''s seminal work The Broken Cord (1987) which eloquently brought this hidden'' population into the light. However, the metaphorical umbilical cord is not truly broken, and the unique neurodevelopmental disorder resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure will continue to be one ghost in our delivery rooms, nurseries, and lives which haunts us. Why a different knot''? Because management becomes knotted with the origins of the infant''s prenatal life, whether they are birthed, fostered, adopted, either same culture or inter-country adopted. The knot'' (as in Not it''), also speaks to medical professionals and society''s continued ambivalence to acknowledging another inconvenient truth. Maternal drinking in pregnancy causes Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) whether dysmorphic, called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), or non dysmorphic, ARND itself. These are both transgenerational developmental psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of ARND continues to be under-recognised as it is mainly presented as a faceless ''hidden disability'' (masquerading as ADHD, Mood Disorder or ASD), rather than a facial dysmorphic disorder. The subtle denial and minimisation of transgenerational alcohol abuse is aided only by diagnosing the far less frequent dysmorphic ARND (FAS). This creates a false security across social classes concerning alcohol''s true transgenerational epigenetic effect. Thus, the real financial costs and health care burden of trans-generational ARND , with an international prevalence of 1 in 100 live births, is avoided.

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Book SynopsisThe federal government prohibits the manufacturing, distribution, and possession of many intoxicating substances that are solely intended for recreational use (notable exceptions are alcohol and tobacco); however, the federal government also allows for and controls the medical use of many intoxicants. Federal authority to control these substances primarily resides with the Attorney General of the United States. This book discusses domestic drug enforcement. It outlines historic development and major changes in U.S. drug enforcement to help provide an understanding of how and why certain laws and policies were implemented and how these developments and changes shaped current drug enforcement policy. This book also highlights certain non-criminal regulatory requirements of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

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Book SynopsisGambling is emerging as a major industry around the world at a time when many of the more traditional economic pursuits are becoming less productive, but while the burgeoning gambling industry is certainly profitable and provides good investment opportunities and economic benefits for business and communities alike, it is timely that we look more closely at the overall benefits and costs of this phenomenon in modern society. In this book about the modern gambling business, a motif of the Colorado River and the Boulder/Hoover Dam is explored in the opening section, likening the benefits and risks of gambling to those of the damning of the Colorado to irrigate California. There can be no doubt that the project wrested many Americans from poverty and unemployment in the depression, built a world-leading engineering structure that served to help the desert bloom, so to speak, including, of course, the re-making of Las Vegas. With the wisdom of hindsight and our increasing environmental awareness, the choking of the Colorado has had its downsides as does the gambling industry as we already know.

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Book SynopsisThe 2015 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in calendar year 2014. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities. Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides the latest research in substance abuse research. The first chapter evaluates psychotropic drug overdoses in forensic practices. Unintentional overdose deaths involving opioid pain relievers are discussed in the second chapter. In the next section, the prevalence, trends and management strategies for alcohol withdrawal are reviewed. The prolonged heavy drinking of alcohol (ethanol) often creates brain disorder alcoholism. In the third chapter, the authors explore alcohol withdrawal from the perspective of oxidative stress. Additionally, the authors discuss the epidemiology of alcohol withdrawal, the pathophysiology, and the diagnostic criteria for the various manifestations of alcohol withdrawal and management. Recent findings and new treatment options are reviewed as well.

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking meditation on pain, painkillers, and dependence from a prescription opioid user.Her writing has been described as "measured," "sensuous," and "compelling." In 2016, Carlyn Zwarenstein’s short narrative on pain made the Globe and Mail’s Top 100 Books. Now, she returns with a seductive dive into opioids and the nature of dependence.North Americans are the world’s most prolific users of opioid painkillers. In On Opium, Zwarenstein describes her own use of opioid-inspired medicines to cope with a painful disease. Evoking both Thomas De Quincey and Frida Kahlo, she travels from the decadence of recreational drug use in past eras to the misery and privation of the overdose crisis today.Speaking with users of prescribed morphine, illicit fentanyl, and smoked opium, Zwarenstein investigates uncomfortable questions about why people use substances and when substance use becomes addiction. And she exposes causes of drug-related harms: the debilitating effects of poverty, isolation, and trauma; the role of race, class, and gender in addressing pain; and a system of prohibition that has converted age-old medicines into taboo substances.Through all of this, Zwarenstein finds hope. Drawing on solidarity between illicit drug users and people in pain; in a wise understanding of what humans need to be well; and in radical drug policies like legalization and safe supply, she lays out a vision of a world where suffering is no longer lauded, and opioids are no longer demonized.Trade Review“Carlyn Zwarenstein provides a voice previously missing from the overdose crisis. With empathy and urgency, she takes us inside the world of people who use opioids at a time when they are dying in record numbers. On Opium captures people’s pain, hope, and resilience, and in sharing their stories, provides a blueprint to end the crisis.” -- Travis Lupick, author of Fighting for Space“Captivating, rage-inducing, and most important of all, helpful. In On Opium, Zwarenstein challenges us to imagine a world in which we toss out our antiquated, actively harmful ideas about substance use, stop thinking of addicts versus 'legitimate' users, and embrace harm reduction in a meaningful way.” -- Alison Manley * Miramichi Reader *“We need to legalize and regulate non-medical use of drugs. ... On Opium shows us that, after too much suffering, too much delay, that change will come.” -- W.A. Bogart * Healthy Debate *

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses the roadside checkpoints that were set up by Maori to protect communities during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Case studies of four different checkpoints are examined, each of which looked slightly different, but all of which were underpinned by tikanga Maori. The checkpoints are discussed as practical expressions of whanau, hapu, iwi and Maori rangatiratanga and indicate the ongoing existence and flourishing of rangatiratanga.

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Book SynopsisThe binary construction of "young" and "old", which is based on a biogerontological model of aging as decline, can be redefined as the ambiguity of aging from a cultural studies perspective. This concept enables an analysis of the social functions of images of aging with the aim of providing a basis for interdisciplinary exchange on gerontological research. The articles in this publication conceive the relationship between living and aging as a productive antagonism which focuses on the interplay between continuity and change as a marker of life course identity: aging and growing older are processes which cannot be reduced to the chronology of years but which are shaped by the individual's interaction with the changing circumstances of life.

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Book SynopsisThe discourse on transplantation and brain death has become emblematic of conflicts between certain perspectives on adequate medical care, death and dying. Scientific and religious, modernising and traditional as well as academic and popular voices debate on how to approach these topics. This work captures the heterogeneous and often contradictory views on the Malaysian transplant venture and the treatment option of end stage organ failure from the Malay and Chinese population, physicians, state officials, and Muslim, Buddhist and Daoist clergy. It also addresses vital issues as to the use of and extent to which biomedicine and medical technology in contemporary Malaysia actually benefits its people.

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding the significance of genetic factors for our lives requires an analysis that goes beyond biological aspects. It is especially necessary to take into account how human beings relate to others and to themselves. Who we are is a result of social action and the ways in which human beings constitute themselves as subjects. Seen from this perspective, genetic medicine is a social practice that shapes how we think about us, how we conduct our behaviour and how we care for our children. This book scrutinises practices by which individuals become knowledgeable about their genes and constitute them as responsible decision makers.

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Book SynopsisInstitutional care for seniors offers a cultural repository for fears and hopes about an aging population. Although enormous changes have occurred in how institutional care is structured, the legacies of the poorhouse still persist, creating panicked views of the nursing home as a dreaded fate. The paradoxical nature of a space meant to be both hospital and home offers up critical tensions for examination by age studies scholars. The essays in this book challenge stereotypes of institutional care for older adults, illustrate the changes that have occurred over time, and illuminate the continuities in the stories we tell about nursing homes.

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Book SynopsisThis book deals with various facets of the human right to health: its normative profile as a universal right, current political and legal conflicts and contextualized implementation in different healthcare systems. The authors come from different countries and disciplines - law, political science, ethics, medicine etc. - and bring together a broad variety of academic and practical perspectives.The volume contains selected contributions of the international conference "The Right to Health - an Empty Promise?" held in September 2015 in Berlin and organized by the Emerging Field Initiative Project "Human Rights in Healthcare" (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg).

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Book SynopsisDiabetes is regarded as one of the most challenging global health issues of the 21st century. Especially countries with weak health infrastructure are struggling to deal with the increased demands this chronic disease entails. Tracing the effects of a diagnostic device, the glucometer, this book examines how it contributes to the making of diabetes in contemporary Uganda. Arlena S. Liggins demonstrates that depending on who uses the glucometer, the outcomes may go far beyond diagnosis. The book draws a complex picture of hopes and misplaced expectations, of trust and mistrust in a technology to which access in the first place is all but a given.

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Book SynopsisIn the age of globalization, the transnational dimension of sciences like medicine seems to be given. However, the agents connecting different parts of this transnational biomedical landscape have yet to receive their due attention. Situated at the intersection of contemporary debates as well as theories of medical anthropology and migration in the 21st century, this book explores the experiences of Nigerian trained physicians who migrated to the US and the UK within the last 40 years. By drawing on individual professional life stories, Judith Schühle illuminates how these physicians disconnect from and (re)connect to diverse local social and biomedical contexts, becoming established abroad while at the same time trying to influence health care services in Nigeria through transnational endeavors.Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations; Introduction; Methodological Musings; The Emerging Nigerian Biomedical Landscape and Trajectories of Becoming a Doctor; Going Global; Female Nigerian Physicians; Practicing in a Transnational Biomedical Landscape; Between Moral Dilemmas and Logistics; Giving Back; Conclusion; Bibliography; Acknowledgements.

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Book SynopsisMalaria remains one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. Matian van Soest looks at the malaria epidemic in the peri-urban zones of Uganda's capital Kampala against the backdrop of recent socio-ecological transformations. Based on long-term ethnographic research, the book provides a holistic picture of the malaria epidemic in central Uganda, revealing the highly localized character of an epidemic that once spanned across almost the entire globe. Understanding, and ultimately tackling the disease, requires an appreciation of the social, political, as well as ecological circumstances that frame this epidemic.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Malaria: A brief overview; Ethnographic research in Uganda: Language and ethics in the field; Kampala's urban fringe: Socio-economic dynamics and transformations; Providing malaria treatment: Different forms of healthcare in Uganda; Coping with malaria: Facets of health seeking; Agriculture in the urban fringe: The ambivalent role of wetlands; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisWhile it has been argued that anonymity in gamete donation has been brought to an end by legal changes and technological developments, Amelie Baumann suggests that this is in fact still in transformation. By focusing on the narratives of those who were conceived with anonymously donated gametes in the UK and Germany, she examines this transformative process and the role which donor-conceived persons play in it. This book shows that it is not someone's decision to procreate that turns "being donor-conceived" into a meaningful categorisation. Rather, kinship knowledge gets activated by the donor-conceived in specific ways for "being donor-conceived" to become a powerful identification.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Contextualising donor conception and anonymity; Research and analysis; The right to know; Public stories and new networks; Micropolitics of not-knowing; When the cat has been let out of the bag; Connections you might (not) make; Infrastructuring DNA; Conclusion; References; List of abbreviations; List of figures; Acknowledgements.

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Book SynopsisWhile the disciplinary architecture of hospitals has long prevailed in psychiatry, many care teams now work in smaller structures, within communities. Ariane d'Hoop explores one of these places: Drawing on fieldwork in a psychiatric day center for teenagers, she traces how spatial arrangements matter in the care practice. From a corner in which one can withdraw, to a kitchen inviting to hang around, or displayed artworks that pique one's curiosity, caregivers use the material environment to stir up the slightest affinity from teenagers. This study thus expands our idea of what attachment is, and makes us more able to recognize the subtle dynamics between care, things, and spaces. With a preface by Jeannette Pols.

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Book SynopsisWhile it has become fashionable in the arena of international health to think about health systems, the theoretical underpinning of Niklas Luhmann's vast and productive theory has been given too little consideration in the field. It is rich in concepts that can facilitate a fuller understanding of what health systems are. João Costa applies these concepts and shows the analytical possibilities they open up. He argues concisely how Luhmann's Social Systems Theory offers an integrated theoretical body as well as a consistent articulation of concepts that can lay the groundwork for a vastly improved health systems thinking.

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