Combining Alcohol and Energy Drinks is a Public Health Concern: Expert

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

January 27th, 2015/

Mixing alcohol and energy drinks leads to negative consequences that are a public health concern, according to a new paper. Combining the two beverages makes a person want to drink more and masks the signs of drunkenness, Time reports.

“When people mix energy drinks with alcohol, people drink more than they would if they had just consumed alcohol, which is associated with a cascade of problems,” says paper author Cecile Marczinski of Northern Kentucky University.

In Advances in Nutrition, Marczinski says drunk driving is the main public health concern. The caffeine in an energy drink makes a person look and feel more coordinated and balanced than they actually are. This leads some drinkers to believe they are not drunk, she says. Mixing alcohol and energy drinks can also lead to brain damage in teens, as well as increased emergency department visits and hospitalizations, Marczinski notes.

A study published in July 2014 found mixing energy drinks with alcohol increases the urge to drink. People who consume the mixture may drink more alcohol than they planned, according to the researchers.

Energy drink manufacturers in the United States are no longer allowed to make high-caffeine drinks with alcohol, but young people are mixing their own drinks, such as combining Red Bull and Jägermeister liquor.

A study published in 2013 concluded drinking alcohol with an energy drink is more dangerous than drinking alcohol alone. Researchers found college students tended to drink more heavily, and become more intoxicated, on days they used both energy drinks and alcohol, compared with days when they only drank alcohol.

Clinton Foundation Negotiates Lower Price for Naloxone Device for Local Groups

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

January 27th, 2015/

The Clinton Foundation announced Monday it has negotiated a lower price for a device that delivers the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. The device, called Evzio, will be available at a lower price to institutions that can distribute naloxone more widely, such as police departments and universities.

The high cost of naloxone has prevented its widespread use, The New York Times reports. In some cases, prices for the drug have increased by 50 percent or more. Naloxone reverses the effects of an overdose of heroin or opioid painkillers.

The antidote has long been used by emergency rooms and paramedics. Recently, the World Health Organization said increasing the availability of naloxone could prevent more than 20,000 deaths in the United States annually. Naloxone works quickly, without side effects.

A growing number of states have passed laws increasing access to the antidote.

As of September 2014, there were 24 states with such laws. Most of the laws allow doctors to prescribe naloxone to friends and family members of a person who abuses opioids. The laws also remove legal liability for prescribers and for those who administer naloxone.

The Clinton Health Matters Initiative, part of the Clinton Foundation, announced it had negotiated a lower price for Evzio, which is a hand-held auto-injector similar to an EpiPen. Evzio delivers a single dose of naloxone. The price, which was not disclosed, is close to what the federal government pays, the article notes.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Evzio in April 2014. It can be used by friends or relatives of a person who has overdosed. When the device is turned on, it gives verbal instructions about how to use it. The medication blocks the ability of heroin or opioid painkillers to attach to brain cells.

Almost One-Third of Women of Childbearing Age Fill Prescriptions for Opioid Painkillers

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

January 27th, 2015/

Almost one-third of women of childbearing age had an opioid painkiller prescription filled each year from 2008 to 2012, according to a new government study. These drugs can increase the risk for birth defects, The New York Times reports.

The study, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found 39 percent of women ages 15 to 44 on Medicaid, and 28 percent of women of the same age group with private insurance, filled an opioid prescription in a pharmacy each of those years.

“These are dangerous drugs that are addictive, and we are substantially overusing them,” said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. He noted that women often do not know they are pregnant in the early weeks of a pregnancy, which is a crucial time for organ formation. If they take opioid painkillers, they could be “unknowingly exposing their unborn child,” he said.

Opioid painkiller exposure can raise the risk for defects in a baby’s brain, spine, heart and abdominal wall, the article notes. Babies whose mothers take opioids during pregnancy are also at risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome. A baby with the syndrome experiences symptoms of withdrawal from medications or drugs taken by a mother during pregnancy.

The researchers said it is not known why women on Medicaid had higher prescription rates than women with private insurance. “The higher opioid prescribing rates among Medicaid enrollees might be due to differences in the prescription medications covered under their health insurance plan, differences in use of health care services, or differences in the prevalence of underlying health conditions among Medicaid enrollees compared with persons covered by private health insurance,” the CDC noted in a news release.

Oxycodone, hydrocodone and codeine were the most frequently prescribed opioids for women with either public or private insurance.

Women for Sobriety, Inc. Reflections Hello WFS Friends! I thought you would like to read one of the day passages from the WFS booklet, "Reflections for Growth" that WFS's Founder, Jean Kirkpatrick, wrote.  All women using our program in their recovery are encouraged and welcomed to submit their comments on this reflection for possible publication in the March 2015 issue ofSobering Thoughts newsletter...please send them to newlife@nni.com by February 11th.  Thanks! WORRY: Why do we worry?  Usually it is because we do not believe in ourselves.  We think of ourselves as being incapable of meeting the demands that are being made upon us.  Or we worry about our children and/or husband.  Or we worry about bills lying unpaid in the checkbook.  Our we worry about our elderly parents and how to care for them. Yes, these are our worries.  They are universal.  And, certainly, we are an integral part of that universality. (This was an excerpt from "Reflections for Growth" booklet and may be purchased through the WFS Catalog - there are 12 booklets - one for each month of the year.  Copyright WFS Inc.) EXTRA EXTRA....  checking to see who actually reads through to the bottom of the emails... Because Jean always encouraged us to counter every negative with a positive (and then some!) - I am asking those who will respond with comments to the "Worry" reflection by ALSO respond with at least 5 things that make you HAPPY.  They will be added to Jean's article on "Happiness is..." for the April 2015 Sobering Thoughts Edition (or at least as many as I can fit in the newsletter!).  And to give you some encouragement, here is Jean's list: Happiness is... + Visiting my Aunt in a nursing home and seeing her smile. + Saturday morning with Sunday following. + Knowing we each have an allotted amount of time and appreciating each day. + Seeing a sunset or a sunrise anywhere on earth. + Spring, Autumn, even Winter and dull gray days. + Rescuing a stray cat from otherwise certain death. + Yellow, orange, pale blue + Smelling new-mown grass. + Living every day to the very fullest. Warm regards, Becky Fenner, WFS Director Email:  newlife@nni.com   *   Tel: 215-536-8026   *   Fax:  215-538-9026

http://www.womenforsobriety.org   *   http://www.wfscatalog.org

January 27 CHP 32 v 8 v 9 TWELVE STEPPING WITH STRENGTH FROM THE PSALMS

The Lord says ,"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life .I will advise you and watch over you. Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control."  
(GODS BIG BOOK)

STEP 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

NEED I SAY ANYMORE!  Yes it is that simple!  

Deuteronomy 28 47-48 -Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.(GODS BIG BOOK)By Joseph Dickerson

Daily Quote

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." - "A Course In Miracles"

Today's Online Meetings

AA Meeting - 8:00 pm CST: "12 Steps and 12 Tradiditons"

Guest Speaker - 1:00 pm CST: "Being Sober and Becoming Happy"

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