19 Year Old Briton with Alcohol Destroyed Liver Doesn’t Meet Transplant Guidelines

y John LeeGoogle+ Twitter Facebook

Only a couple of weeks ago Britons debated organ transplant guidelines after reading the story of 22 year old Gary Reinbach who was denied a liver transplant, and so died of alcoholic cirrhosis.


Now, a 19 year old out of Ulster Northern Ireland, Gareth Anderson, lies in King's College Hospital London, suffering from total liver failure; the result of a mammoth binge drinking session over the first weekend of August. Doctors say that without an organ transplant the teen will die within 2 weeks, but according to transplant guidelines which prohibit the consumption of alcohol for 6 months prior to a transplant, he is ineligible for the transplant waiting list.


Anderson become ill after downing 30 cans of beer over a weekend binge drinking party.


Because available livers for transplant never meet demand, the National Health Service (NHS) has adopted certain guidelines that help doctors with the impossible task of determining which patients get lifesaving operations and which patients don’t.


Gareth’s father, Brian Anderson, says that the guidelines were written for older alcoholics and shouldn’t apply to his son, who is not an alcoholic. He has taken the matter to the courts and to politicians, hoping to circumvent guidelines that he does not consider fair in this case. He describes the urgency he feels, saying, “I'm dealing with a timebomb now. I've basically two weeks to save Gareth…In my opinion Gareth doesn't fit in with the six-month policy.”


Gareth has never before required medical treatment for alcohol use


Family members had pressured Northern Ireland Health Minster, Michael McGimpsey to act on behalf of Gareth, but McGimpsey indicated he could not intervene in a health matter that required the professional judgment of doctors.


The requirement for 6 months of abstinence is only a guideline, and one that doctors can overlook, but an NHS Blood and Transplant Department spokesperson defended the use of the guideline saying, “it (the 6 month guideline) is one that has been adopted following publication in medical journals from various doctors who have recommended it as suitable practice. It is recognized and in use around the world." The spokesperson said that although doctors can disregard the guideline, that they must also, “take into consideration other potential liver transplant patients who are waiting as well."


Dr. Roger Williams, a UK liver specialist, has weighed in on the public debate over the boy’s case, saying that 6 month guidelines should not apply in cases like this.


Brian Anderson says the he feels optimistic about getting Gareth onto the transplant waiting list and says that his son is “doing well” in hospital.



Read more: 19 Year Old Briton with Alcohol Destroyed Liver Doesn’t Meet Transplant Guidelines

UK Police Use Special Up-Nose Flashlights to Identify Cocaine Users

by John LeeGoogle+ Twitter Facebook

Scottish police are using special flashlights to identify people who have been using cocaine.


Police officers and club bouncers in Paisley Scotland are working together to shine a light on those that have recently been abusing class A drugs, such as cocaine, by issuing those working the door at nightclubs with specially designed flashlights that illuminate cocaine in the nasal passage.


Police and club officials shine the flashlight beams up the noses of patrons seeking entry into a club. If a patron has recently been using cocaine, the hairs in the nose and the area around the nose glow a bright green.


People testing positive for drugs are denied entry into clubs and are searched for drugs by police officers.


Sergeant Greg Dinnie of the Strathclyde Police said that the torches are a non intrusive way to identify people who’ve been using drugs, saying, "That gives us the power to see if they've got any further substances or it lets stewards refuse entry and protect others enjoying a safe night out."


Cocaine use is one the rise in Scotland, a result of greatly falling prices over the last decade. A gram of cocaine in Scotland now costs as little as 30 pounds.



Read more: UK Police Use Special Up-Nose Flashlights to Identify Cocaine Users

Chinese Government Holds Half Million Drug Users in Slave Labor Camps

by John LeeGoogle+ Twitter Facebook

In a scathing report, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch has accused the Chinese government of widespread and institutionalized abuses against drug addicts. According to the report, at any given time a half million or more Chinese drug addicts are held in detention ‘rehabilitation camps’ and many are forced to work without pay, denied medical services, abused and offered no addiction treatment. Treatment durations begin at 2 years, but can be longer, at the discretion of the local officials.


Drug users are sent to the camps at the discretion of local police. Drug users receive no charge, trial or opportunity to defend themselves against accusations. The majority of the half million Chinese in the camps are heroin addicts.


Although treatment is supposed to occur at ‘community based rehabilitation centers’ treatment experts on the ground in China say they’ve yet to see any such facility in use. Wang Xiaoguang, the director of Daytop (an American treatment organization) in Yunnan Province described the addiction clinics as business ventures run by local police – where drug addicts are sent out to work at local farms or factories for the benefit of their captors, and where treatment services are “nonexistent”. Wang told reporters, “I don’t think this is an ideal situation for people trying to recover from drug addiction.”


Prior to 2008, drug addicts were sent to forced labor camps with other criminals. The passing of the 2008 Anti-Drug Law was supposed to improve treatment conditions by ending the practice of labor camp detention and calling for officials to pay for any work done by camp inmates. In reality, the law has simply induced officials to rename the practice of drug user detention and to ignore any calls for substantive change – and under the provisions of the new law, officials can now remand drug users for up to 7 years.


Additional charges from the Human Rights Watch report include:
Denying detained drug users medical care – even those with serious illnesses like tuberculosis or AIDS
Physical abuse, including beatings and fatal beatings


Joe Amon, Human Rights Watch’s director of health and human rights called for the Chinese govt. to respect the human rights of the Chinese drug users, and declared, “Warehousing large numbers of drug users and subjecting them to forced labor and physical abuse is not rehabilitation.”



Read more: Chinese Government Holds Half Million Drug Users in Slave Labor Camps

12 STEPPING TO RECOVERY DAILY THOUGHT!!

STEP 1
      You know your ready when you have come to realize my way of life and what I have done with my life is to some degree meaningless and self centered.  ME ME ME was my way of thinking and it did not matter what I had to do to satisfy my wants.  In my addiction I was such a helpless fool, I got this and when something went wrong I used every excuse in the book to say it was everyone elses fault.  No matter how hard I tried to pretend everything was ok and this was life, boy was I wrong! The sad part was I was missing what life was all about and I was living way below my potential. That is why step one is so important to me, it helped me realize I wasn't alone and that there was a GOD out there who created me for so much more!  Coming to the realization what you have done until now was selfishness and foolishness will be the beginning of step one for you! LET GO AND LET GOD

Recovery is a new beginning.

Recovery can be a time of great personal fulfillment and growth. But it is a constantly evolving period that requires work to maintain.

By abstaining from alcohol and drugs, people in recovery can regain their physical health and emotional well-being.

Over time, your loved one will return to being a happier person, a dedicated student or employee, and a more loving family member.

Inviting the recovering person to talk about his or her experiences can be quite supportive – here are some examples:

• I'd be interested in hearing how your meetings are going.
• Are the coordinators helpful?

• Are you finding that recovery is a struggle for you?
• Do you like the other participants?

Moms Who Use Nicotine Patches More Likely to Have Colicky Babies, Study Finds

By Join Together Staff | February 22, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Parenting &Tobacco

Babies born to mothers who smoke or use nicotine patches during pregnancy are more likely to have colic, a new study published in the March issue of Pediatrics finds.

The study found that exposure to nicotine, either from the mothers smoking cigarettes or from nicotine replacement therapy, was linked to a significantly increased risk of colic in their babies, ranging from 30 to 60 percent, HealthDay reports.

Researchers looked at data based on more than 63,000 interviews with mothers, who participated in the Netherlands-based study, with interviews conducted during pregnancy and six months after the moms gave birth to their babies.

The findings concluded that 8 percent of the babies had colic. About 74 percent of the moms didn’t smoke; 24 percent reported that they did smoke; 2 percent of the moms said they smoked and used nicotine replacement therapy, while 0.3 percent of the women used nicotine replacement therapy alone.

“The theory is that there are nicotine receptors in the GI [gastrointestinal] system and nicotine receptors that alter serotonin and these alterations affect the babies after birth, causing colic,” said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an Obstetrician-Gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital.

Dr. Wu added that the causes of colic aren’t well understood, nor are the reasons why nicotine might raise the risk of colic. Prior research has also shown smoking to be associated with colic. However, these studies do not prove cause and effect.