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[Status of drug addiction in Mostar].

Drug addiction is becoming a more serious problem in many countries in transition and so in B and H. The age limit is decreasing to younger age groups, and the number of i.v. drug users is increasing every day. The aim of our research was to examine the habits, attitudes and practise related to drug taking of young people in the area of the city of Mostar. Following methods were used in our research: polls, focus groups, interviews, observation and mapping. Results showed that one third of all examinees used or use some kind of drug. Marihuana is mostly used, although other drugs are also used, like in the rest of the world. Drugs are available to everybody and on many places in town. The main reasons for taking drugs are dissatisfaction with the actual social and political and also economical situation, lack of contents for the youth and lack of meeting places for them. Drug consuming is a try of running away from reality. Most addictives consider that they dont need any kind of help. Just a small number of addictives would be ready for medical treatment, but if it were noninstitutional. Drug addiction is one of the more important problems for the city of Mostar. We must take its solving more organising then by now. The including and co-working of more sectors is necessary, but the role of the family is the most important.

Adolescent↗

Intraocular motility, electrophysiological tests and visual fields in drug addicts.

The effects of drugs on intraocular motility, retina function and central pathways in a drug addicts population have been studied. The study group were made up of 15 drug addicts. Fifteen healthy subjects who had never used drugs acted as a control group. Refractive state, accommodation, tonometry, assessment of pupillary reflexes, campimetry, visual evoked cortical potential (VECP) and ERG were performed in all cases. All the subjects studied used heroine, 12 used cannabis and 12 used cocaine. Refraction was normal in all cases. Accommodation amplitude in normal subjects ranged from 8.5 to 11.5 D, and from 3.5 to 9.5 D in the drug addicts group. Tonometry indicated a tendency to lower intraocular pressure values. Direct and consensual pupillary reflexes were normal in eight subjects, but were sluggish in the rest. Campimetry showed relative and absolute scotoma in five subjects. VECP were found to be normal in two of the cases, moderately pathological in six and pathological in the remaining seven cases. As for the ERG, it showed non-specific altered traces in 11 cases. Accommodation amplitude was lower than normal in 20 eyes. The decrease of VECP with altered traces but with an increase of latency, seem to indicate the presence of an alteration in the optical pathway or in the cortical centres. The findings in ERG point out a decrease of amplitudes and an increase of latency in more than half the population studied.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Hepatitis C in deceased drug addicts.

Needle sharing among drug addicts leads to the transmission of infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and AIDS. After development of a test system based on gene technology against the hepatitis C virus (HCV), drug addicts have been regarded as an important reservoir for hepatitis C. In our study 113 (40.1%) out of 282 addicts who died from drug abuse in Hamburg between 1988 and 1990 had antibodies against HCV (anti-HCV). The prevalence of anti-HCV differed in various age groups; the highest prevalence was found in addicts aged 30-34 years. Co-infections with hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus were found in 57 drug addicts (59.4%) out of 96 deceased with antibodies to hepatitis B (anti-HBc), whereas only 8 out of 23 HIV-infected were anti-HCV positive (34.8%).

Adolescent↗

[Current status in drug addiction and addiction memory research].

The central feature of drug addiction is compulsive drug use--loss of control over apparently voluntary acts of drug seeking and drug taking. Drug addiction, as a chronic brain disease, may result from abnormal engagement of long-term associative memory. Addiction and memory are likely to share much in common in the aspects of neural adaptations, synaptic plasticity, and related molecular mechanisms. This paper reviews the possible roles of learning mechanisms in the development of relapse, sensitization, and drug addiction, abnormal associative learning and compulsive behavior, addiction memory and addiction, multiple memory systems and the development of addiction, and emphasize the importance of synaptic plasticity and addiction memory in drug addiction. Addiction is characterized by the involvement of specific learning patterns of information. Addiction is closely related to the disorder of associate learning that depends on dopamine. Hippocampus may play a key role in addiction. At last, we put forward the future directions for research.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Behavioral perspectives on the neuroscience of drug addiction.

Neuroscientific approaches to drug addiction traditionally have been based on the premise that addiction is a process that results from brain changes that in turn result from chronic administration of drugs of abuse. An alternative approach views drug addiction as a behavioral disorder in which drugs function as preeminent reinforcers. Although there is a fundamental discrepancy between these two approaches, the emerging neuroscience of reinforcement and choice behavior eventually may shed light on the brain mechanisms involved in excessive drug use. Behavioral scientists could assist in this understanding by devoting more attention to the assessment of differences in the reinforcing strength of drugs and by attempting to develop and validate behavioral models of addiction.

Animals↗

['Treatment of drug-addicted detainees': and advisory report by the Health Council of the Netherlands].

The Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport and the Minister of Justice requested advice from the Health Council of the Netherlands, on options for the treatment of detainees addicted to drugs. It is estimated that 15,000 to 23,000 people per year with addiction problems are detained. On the basis of the Custodial Institutions Act detainees have the right to adequate medical, psychological and psychiatric care, including treatment for drug addiction. The legal possibilities for using compulsion in the treatment of addicted persons in detention are very limited. A consensus needs to be reached on methadone medication; professional groups must reach this consensus. As well as abstinence, Addiction Support Sections should aim to achieve harm reduction, for example, by means of stabilisation with a maintenance dose of methadone. The success of interventions among addicted detainees is largely dependent on both the introduction of pressure in the area of follow-up care and the continuity of care. Bearing in mind the frequent psychiatric comorbidity, more psychiatric care should be available within the penitentiary setting. The Penal Care Facility for Addicts [Dutch acronym: SOV] is a new sanction option in the Penal Code with which drug-addicted repeat offenders can be involuntarily admitted to a drug addiction treatment centre for a maximum of 2 years. There is not enough scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of the SOV approach. The compulsory placement of an addict in the SOV could reduce the addict's motivation to do something about his addiction problem. SOV is a harsh sanction that should only be used once lighter sanctions (based on pressure by means of special conditions) have been shown to be ineffective for the persons concerned.

Coercion↗

Drug addiction and dental care.

Patients who are addicted to drugs, or are being treated for drug addiction, present a variety of management issues when they attend for dental care. A number of factors are related to the treatment planning and clinical management. Dentists should be aware of these factors in order to manage these patients sensitively and effectively. Important management issues include medical problems associated with drug abuse, dental problems and how drug abuse and its subsequent treatment affect the dentition, behavioural disorders, pain management, and control of cross-infection. People who have recovered from chemical dependency to opiates have special needs, especially in pain management. Establishing a good pre-treatment rapport with the patient will assist the dentist in reducing the need for postoperative analgesics, and will encourage this group of patients to return and obtain needed dental care. The more dental practitioners know about types and patterns of drug abuse and recovery programmes, the more safely this group of patients with special needs can be managed.

Dental Anxiety↗

[The determinants of the spread of HIV among injection drug addicts in Ukraine].

The main tendencies in the development of drug addiction in the Ukraine, the dynamics of the spread of HIV among drug addicts introducing drugs intravenously, epidemiological data on HIV, AIDS and drug addiction, as well as prognoses on the development of HIV infection are presented. Since 1995 the number of HIV-infected persons grew 34-fold, the number of cases of HIV infection resulting from the intravenous use drugs rose to 70% simultaneously with the rise (about 34-fold) of the number of persons infected with HIV through sexual contacts (about 13 fold). In 1996-1997 such tendency increased. On the whole, the proportion of drug addicts introducing drugs by intravenous injection was 83% in the Ukraine. By April 1, 1998, official registration covered 18,800 HIV-infected persons, including 270 foreign nationals, as well as 499 AIDS patients, including 487 Ukrainian citizens, among them 28 children. Out of 18,800 HIV-infected persons, 78.3% were drug addicts, most of them young people aged 15-30 years; about 18% were young people under 20 years of age, 80% being males. According to the model the rapid spread of HIV from the group of drug addicts to the heterosexual population, the total number of HIV-infected persons reaching 1,500,000 is expected in the country by 2014.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

The influence of antihistamine compounds on the oral intake of different addictive drugs.

The influence of two antihistamines on the oral intake of various drugs with addictive potency was investigated in rats. Under the chosen conditions neither tripelennamine nor diphenhydramine have reinforcing properties. The reinforcing potency of addictive drugs is not augmented by the both substances. On the contrary, in some cases they led to a decrease in oral intake of the drug solutions offered.

Amphetamine↗

[A comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program for drug addicts at the Dnepropetrovsk Province Drug Abuse Clinic].

On the basis of the experience gained in the treatment of patients who are drug addicts a complex treatment-and-rehabilitation programme has been developed and adopted. It is a psychotherapeutically--oriented programme that includes the following steps: selection of patients, promotion of health of the family, staging, participation of social workers--former patients. The end objective is to achieve a lasting remission in addicted patients, promotion of health of their relatives and normalization of family relations. Such an approach to solving the problem differs from nonmedicamentous methods widely employed now in the Ukraine and UIS republics, which have not been associated with demonstrable effects in treatment and, more important, rehabilitation of addicted persons.

Combined Modality Therapy↗

[Threat of drug addiction in the army].

UNLABELLED: Drug addiction belongs to those phenomena of social pathology with complex canses, mechanisms and conditionings. Drug addiction mainly concerns young people, also those from the military environment despite the fact that recruitment boards consider detected drug addicts-conscripts to be completely or temporarily unfit for service. AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the scale of drug addiction among soldiers taking into account the reasons and range of the phenomenon. METHOD: Using the method of the auditorial questionnaire, the tests were carried out on the amount trial among servicemen using anonymous questionnaires. The tests were performed in 1996 and the trial consisted of 552 soldiers and then they were repeated using the same questionnaire among 682 soldiers in 2001. RESULTS: It was found that in the years 1996-2001 the number of soldiers using psychoactive agents increased threefold. Marijuana and amphetamine were the most frequently used drugs. Nearly half of the soldiers tested think that in the army there are no problems with the supply with drugs, and over half of those who take drugs are of the opinion that drugs do not disturb their ability to service. THE RESULTS: Of the tests point to the following conclusions: in 2001 16.6% of the tested soldiers confessed to having contact with drugs, in 1996 this result was 5.1%. CONCLUSION: Marijuana and amphetamine still are the most popular among active soldiers. Although majority of servicemen consider taking drugs as a negative phenomenon, every tenth tested soldier pointed to positive effects of their taking. First contacts with drugs the tested soldiers had as early as in secondary school (58.3%), whereas as many as 25% of the tested subjects reported that they had the first contact with drugs in the army.

Activities of Daily Living↗