Treatment Cave

Over the past few years, meth has crept into the American addiction landscape. According to the United States government, more than 13 million people over the age of 12 have used amphetamine-like stimulants and trends in drug treatment admissions due to methamphetamine and amphetamine drug use show no signs of slowing down. Given that substance abuse issues are so pervasive, it’s important to better understand the symptoms of meth addiction. If you are concerned about a friend or family member, here are a few of the most common signs of methamphetamine abuse. (1) Very erratic sleep patterns.  Meth is an extremely strong stimulant. Users feel unusually energetic and often don’t sleep for long periods of time. And, followed by a binge, users often suddenly experience a crash and can’t control the amount of sleep they need. While everyone periodically sleeps more or less than usual - sustained, frequent and pronounced bouts of sleeplessness are symptoms of meth addiction. (2) Increasi...

You can probably spot a heavy smoker walking down the street. It can trigger visible and significant changes to your appearance. Cigarette smokers are more likely to have discolored teeth, deeper wrinkles and thinning hair. While it’s easy to see how smoking can make superficial changes to your body, you might be surprised to learn that it can actually make hazardous alterations at the molecular level, too. In fact, a team of scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute conducted a study to better understand how cigarette smoking damages our DNA. And, in turn, how those alterations can increase our risk of various conditions including cancer. To do so, the team of researchers evaluated DNA samples from a variety of tumors. Specifically, they investigated if and how the DNA profiles varied among smokers and nonsmokers. In general, the Sanger team found that exposure to cigarettes profoundly changed the DNA of tissue that came into direct and repeated contact with smoke. And, other ...