The experimental treatment, known as reconsolidation blockade, has been shown to interrupt the neurobiologic process of memory formation.

“We do not erase people’s memories,” Alain Brunet, Ph.D., said at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Dr. Brunet of the department of psychiatry at McGill University, Montreal, is one of the first researchers to report results of the treatment in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Rather than erasing an entire memory, reconsolidation blockade appears to erase the emotional reaction to the memory, explained Dr. Roger K. Pitman, director of the posttraumatic stress disorder and psychophysiology laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

The treatment, which normally involves two doses of the beta-blocker propranolol administered between 75 minutes and 2 hours apart, is “pioneering” in that it upends traditional theories about the permanence of memory, said Dr. Charles Marmar, professor and chair of the department of psychiatry and director of the Trauma Research Group at New York University.

Traditional cognitive-behavioral treatment for PTSD is based on the premise that traumatic memory is permanent, and therefore therapy should focus on learning a less emotional response to it, explained Gregory Quirk, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the laboratory of fear learning at the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan.

This learned response, known as “extinction,” changes the body’s physiologic, amygdala-based memory, and teaches a cognitive, hippocampal response to the memory instead, he said. “With extinction, you reroute the stimulus so it does not go to the amygdala. You’re teaching the brain – it’s a learned thing – but the original memory is still in the amygdala somewhere. Extinction does not alter the original memory – we know that from Pavlov.” Extinction works well in certain psychiatric conditions, such as phobia, but people with PTSD have hippocampal and prefrontal deficits that frequently cause extinction failure, he said.

Read the full article at Internal Medicine News.

Even though the American Diabetes Association has known for years about people depriving themselves of their insulin injections in hopes of shedding pounds, “diabulimia” is a term that has just come about in the past few years.

Type 2 diabetes is the more common form of diabetes, accounting for about 95% of all cases. Type 2 is associated with obesity.

Individuals with Type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin naturally because their immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that usually make insulin. These individuals must inject insulin daily in order to stay healthy. Without insulin, a person’s cells will starve because they do not receive the insulin-delivered glucose they need to survive. The excess glucose instead builds up in the bloodstream, causing blood sugar levels to skyrocket. This results in frequent urination because the kidneys are forced to work harder to rid the bloodstream of the excess glucose. Purging the excess sugar through the kidneys is similar to the purging that a bulimic individual will do in the form of vomitting.

When an individual with Type 1 diabetes skips their insulin injections, some of the health risks can include blindness, amputations, kidney failure, coma, and early death.

Unfortunately, women with Type 1 diabetes are more susceptible to developing an eating disorder due to the strict measures associated with good diabetes management, such as watching what they eat and following a diet.

Prescription drug abuse is an ever-increasing problem in the United States, especially among teenagers. It is extremely easy to obtain prescription drugs for free and without a prescription from family members or friends. Because of the easy access to these drugs, prescription drug abuse now ranks 2^nd as the nation’s most prevalent illegal drug problem. More than 6.4 million Americans are using prescription drugs for non medical reasons.

There are three classes of prescription drugs that are most commonly abused in the United States. They are as follows:

1) Opioids are prescribed for treating pain. Examples include codeine, oxycodone (OxyContin and Percocet), morphine (Kadian and Avinza), hydrocodone (Vicodin)

2) Central Nervous System Depressants are prescribed for anxiety and sleep disorders. Common examples are barbiturates (Mebaral and Nembutal), benzodiazepines (Valium and Xanax)

3) Stimulants are prescribed for narcolepsy, ADHA and in some cases, weight loss. These include dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine and Adderall), methylphenidate (Ritalin and Concerta)

Using prescription drugs illegally and not under a doctor’s supervision can lead to many serious health problems. Opioids can cause breathing to slow down and in some instances, stop completely. CNS Depressants can lead to seizures, respiratory depression, and decreased heart rate. High body temperature, irregular heart rate, and cardiovascular system failure can be some of the risks associated with the use of Stimulants. Abusing any of these drugs can ultimately lead to death.

The withdrawal process from certain prescription drugs can be potentially life-threatening. If an individual would like to stop their drug use, it is recommended that they participate in a medically supervised detox where the drug dosage can gradually be tapered. Inpatient or outpatient counseling is also highly recommended to help the individual deal with their drug addiction as well as any other psychological problems that they may have.

Citation information: Daily-Murphy, Laurie (CEDS) “Recovery Tips After Residential Treatment” Eating Disorders Today Fall 2006: 6

Top 10 Signs of Anorexia
1. Dramatic weight loss for one’s age and height
2. Refusing to eat in public
3. Eating only specific foods- specifically those low in calories and fat
4. Skipping meals often with no explanations
5. Covering the weight-loss by wearing baggy clothing
6. Obsessing over body image
7. Basing self-worth on body image and weight
8. Complaining about being overweight when they are actually underweight
9. (Females only) Missing three or more menstrual periods in a row
10. Avoiding social gatherings where food will be involved

What are the causes of anorexia?
There are a number of reasons that play a role in causing anorexia. Culture seems to play a large part because we are constantly being sent the message that to be successful in life and in a career you need to be skinny and beautiful. The media sets such unrealistic and unhealthy standards, especially with today’s Photoshop and other image editing programs in addition to finding extremely skinny women to idolize. Other causes of anorexia have to do with the individual; including personality traits such as perfectionism, and low self esteem or even events in their past. Early life trauma (especially physical or sexual abuse) influences the likelihood of developing anorexia later on in life. A few other causes are relationship problems, depression, anxiety, and even just the intense feelings due to adolescence and puberty affect the possibility of anorexia. Some studies show that there may be a genetic predisposition to anorexia as well.

Ways to curb anorexia
Like every other eating disorder, it is advisable to get professional help to treat anorexia, but there a lot of things you can do to help yourself! Addressing the physical problems caused by anorexia is a good place to start. Gain back some healthy weight by developing a new plan for eating the right amount of good foods. You can take small steps and include different new foods into your diet that will help you get back to your healthy body weight. Doing a little bit of soul searching to discover what may have caused anorexia will also help so you can address the root of the problem.

If you or a loved one is struggling with anorexia, contact a qualified eating disorder treatment facility today to get the help you deserve.

Binge eating in America
Binge eating is one of the most prevalent eating disorders in America as of 2007, if not the most prevalent even over the more well known disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. It effects up to 3.5% of American women and 2% of men.

Top 10 Signs of Binge Eating
1. Frequently eating large amounts of food
2. Recurring feelings of a loss of control of what or how much you are eating
3. Eating faster than usual
4. Eating beyond when you are comfortably full
5. Constant feeling that your eating is out of control
6. Dieting attempts often with no weight loss
7. Eating alone most of the time
8. Negative feelings due of the amount of food you eat
9. Feelings of disgust, guilt, or anxiety after eating
10. Depression around the time the binging may have started

What causes binge eating?
While there is no specific reason that you can pinpoint to binge eating, a lot of binge eating is influenced because a person feels that they are losing control over parts of their life and somehow eating however much they choose brings some sort of satisfaction. Other influences on binge eating are depression, anxiety, anger, and other similar negative emotions. Studies also show that people who try very strict diets often experience binge eating right before or after they begin their diet.

Ways to help stop binge eating
Getting professional help is always a good idea for binge eating, but there are ways of starting the healing process at home. You can eat 3-5 regular-sized healthy meals a day. This is better for your body and will help your metabolism stabilize and reduce your need to continuously eat. The simplest, yet probably the hardest tip would be to just stop eating when you are full!

If you or a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder, contact a qualified treatment center for the treatment you deserve today!

Often times the cause of depression is directly related to an eating disorder or even chemical dependency. Because of the difficulty they experience in dealing with an outside problem, they lose faith in themselves and slowly descend into a depression. This is known as Dual Diagnosis.

Signs of Depression
People who are dealing with other issues (such as an eating disorder) are very prone to developing depression. If you are unsure as to whether you or someone you know is dealing with depression, here are some red flags to look out for:

1. Activities that used to interest you are no longer enjoyable
2. You feel generally unmotivated about life
3. You are easily irritable and frustrated about things that didn’t used to bother you
4. You experience irregular sleeping patterns, having trouble falling to sleep or waking up in the middle of the night, or sleeping too much
5. There are unexplained bodily changes such as gaining or losing weight
6. Low self esteem or self worth
7. Thinking or talking excessively about death, or thinking you would be better off dead

While these are not the only signs of depression, these are some of the most common signs in people dealing with depression. Watching for these signs should give you a good place to start, and be sure to use your common sense.

Leading a Balanced Lifestyle
Some of the first questions asked to a person experiencing depression are: Do you get physical exercise every week? Do you eat a balanced diet? On average, how much sleep do you get every night? This is because sometimes, the problem is just that you are not properly taking care of yourself. Even if you are not depressed, you would be amazed at how much better you would feel with a regular exercise routine, a healthy diet, and the amount of sleep that your doctor recommends. Leading a balanced, healthy lifestyle is one of the most missed keys when trying to treat depression. While these sorts of habits can be difficult to attain, especially when you are already depressed and have no motivation for it, taking small steps one at a time will eventually lead you to that goal.

Leading a healthy lifestyle is not a fix-all for depression. This usually applies to smaller cases that don’t have a specific reason for the depression. Leading a healthy lifestyle is, however, a great decision to make regardless of whether you are here for yourself or someone you know.

This particularly applies to anybody experiencing an eating disorder or struggling with a chemical dependency, as both are detrimental to your health. There are many options for getting help and finding a treatment that will best serve your needs.

Ways to Treat Depression
At the beginning, it was said that there are different reasons for depression. While there is no fix-all for every person with depression, there are many treatments and methods that apply in almost every situation.

Some basic principles for treating depression:
1. Treat depression as soon as it is recognized.
2. Discover the root of the problem. (Example: Is there a history of abuse? Stressful situation?)
3. Get professional help. There are many counselors, programs, and treatments available to deal with depression.

To help a friend experiencing depression:
1. Try to learn more about depression and what they are going through.
2. Give them support and love. (Be careful to take time out for yourself, as being a support can be very draining.)
3. Develop your own support system so that you, too, have somebody to go to.
4. Remember that they may not be as interested in doing the things that they used to enjoy. Try to be understanding and don’t take it personally or think that they don’t love you anymore.
5. They may feel easily overwhelmed by simple chores and tasks. It may be helpful for you to help them with some of the basics, like grocery shopping.
6. Continue to show them love, and give them hope in whatever way you can.

His rep, Meredith O’Sullivan, made the following statement to People magazine; “After a non-stop succession of filming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers has entered an alcohol-treatment program. He felt a break was needed to maintain his recovery.”

Rhys Meyers currently plays the role of King Henry VIII on the Showtime series The Tudors and has just recently finished filming August Rush with Robin Williams, another actor who has recently completed a stint in rehab for alcohol and drug problems.

What are your thoughts?