Lindsay Lohan has left the opiate treatment center after more than six weeks and will voluntarily wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet on her ankle.

Lohan, who turned 21 on July 2nd, left the treatment facility on Friday according to People magazine.   The ankle bracelet will be part of a thorough outpatient program that can detect levels of ethanol which the body will give off when drinking alcohol.  The bracelet then automatically sends the information to a computer that collects the data.

Lohan had checked herself into the treatment center this past memorial day weekend after crashed her Mercedes Benz.  She was then charged with a DUI and officers found cocaine in her car.

Lindsay now must go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and receive therapy as part of her outpatient program.  This is the second time Lohan has been in rehab this year for substance abuse.

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Dr. Leigh Baker, who headed the trauma treatment centers study says that being anonymous on the internet can often make individuals feel far more open to crossing the line and moving beyond fantasy  For people who are on the verge of engaging in immoral behavior involving sexual exploitation of children and teens, the internet can be very dangerous.

The explosion of online networking has created many positive opportunities, but it has also exposed many individuals to significant risk.  More adolescents are online that ever before using services such as MySpace and Facebook.  It is estimated that nearly 55% of all teens are members of some type of social networking site.  Approximately 44% of those teens said they have been approached by strangers online.  Of that number, about 22% say they have actually followed up and replied to the stranger.

Even more alarming statistics show that nearly 15% of all teenage girls on the internet have at one point arranged face-to-face encounters with strangers on the internet.  Experts believe this number to actually be much higher, because most teenagers will not admit to doing so because they don’t want to get in trouble.  For the most part they know what they are doing is wrong, but they don’t always see how dangerous it can be.

Due to the incredibly large amount of trafficking in child pornography, many temptations are created on the internet that wouldn’t be there normally.  It’s also much more difficult to fight the problem than in off the internet situations because authorities don’t have profiles of the deviants so there is much left unknown.

The problem also extends much further than just arranging real life meetings.  Many teenagers are being exploited through sexual chat and online pornography.  This can involve the child setting up webcams or sending photographs of themselves.  Just because it doesn’t result in the child meeting anyone face to face it can still cause severe trauma.

Many of the offenders do not even view what they are doing as sexual abuse because there is no face to face aspect of it.  Many of them think that it isn’t even wrong.  They believe that the internet turns into this type of fantasy world where they don’t have to live up to their responsibilities as they would in real life.

It is important to talk to you child and find out what they are doing online.  Try to limit their use of MySpace and if you can find out who they are friends with.  Until there is a way to solve the problem completely it is extremely important to communicate with your child and educate them.

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New information from eating disorder treatment centers suggest that by adding a healthy exercise program to your daily treatment you will increase your chances of battling the disease.

Researchers revealed that individuals who took part in exercise programs that were designed to make you feel better about yourself instead of weight loss, tended to have a healthier approach towards eating and life.  Depending on what exercises the individual does, weight can even be gained back in the form of muscle.

During exercise, health officials suggest the need to emphasize that fitness can be used to make the body feel rejuvenated rather than just burn calories.   The study showed that individuals who took part in healthy exercise with anorexia gained more than one-third more weight than those who didn’t have anorexia.

Exercising also plays a very valuable mental role in that it can alleviate an individual’s anxieties about eating.  Individuals may also learn the importance of how exercising can increase your self esteem, and improve your quality of life.

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A recent study into the relationship between prostitution and drug addiction is turning up some interesting results. With successful drug treatment centers, the number of prostitutes should fall.

Many prostitutes admit that they were turned to prostitution specifically because of drug abuse and addiction.  A successful rehab facility  could give them hope, and ultimately their lives back.

It’s not uncommon for prostitutes to sell their body in order to support their growing habit for drugs.  Unfortunately in the process they are also putting themselves at risk for disease, jail, and even death.

Being able to cure both the physical and mental components of drug addiction is where the difficulty lies.  A good drug treatment center will be able to help both mentally and physically. This can hopefully lead to the prostitutes giving up drugs, increasing their health, and living a better life.

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Have you ever wondered how you can prevent a relapse from anorexia?  According to research and information from anorexia treatment centers around the world there are a few secrets you might not know about.

If you have developed an eating disorder such as anorexia, you will continue struggling to be happy with your body and the way you look. Although the disease will affect you physically, it is actually caused by  psychological problems in your head.  Even if you do go through therapy and receive treatment there is still a change that you can relapse.  Just stopping the physical behaviors will not be enough to get rid of the disease.

Here are some things that you can do to decrease your chance of having a relapse.

Try to start out by thinking about why you became anorexic in the first place.  What were you trying to accomplish and why did you not feel good about yourself?  Try to compare this with the positive things you have in your life.  You will most likely see that risking your health over a matter of a few pounds is insignificant.  You need to understand that just because you lose more weight it doesn’t mean that all of your problems will be fixed.

Plan a diet that is healthy.  The most important thing you need to make sure of is that you are getting the proper amount of nutrients.  Do not limit that mount of food that you eat because then you will not receive the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy.  Try to eat foods that are better for you.

Incorporation a healthy amount of exercise into your daily life.  Be careful not overdo it, but taking part in a small workout once a day can keep you in great shape.

Anorexia can be deadly, so if you find yourself relapsing please see a doctor immediately.

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As Spice Girl Geri Halliwell goes in and out of bulimia treatment centers, she says that she is determined to win the battle over her eating disorder.

Halliwell looked extremely tired and bloated recently as she was spotted leaving a treatment center in London.  She was also reportedly attending an Over Eaters Anonymous group nearby.

Bulimia involves a period of intense over eating know as binging, followed by excessive purging where the individual forces themselves to lose the food by either taking laxatives or throwing up.

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10 years ago, many young adults in Kandahar, Afghanistan didn’t even know that heroin existed.  Today there are thousands  of opiate addicts fighting for treatment where the wait is hundreds of people long at opiate treatment centers.

As the cultivation of poppy booms, so does the use of and addiction to heroin.  The Afghanistan Ministry of Counter Narcotics says that there are only 36 rehabilitation and treatment centers for drug addicts in the entire country.  This is mostly because the funding comes from non-governmental private parties.

In Kandahar, the local treatment center has a list of over 600 people waiting to get in one of the 10 residential spaces to receive help for their opiate addiction.

The United Nations office on Drugs estimates that over one million people are addicted to some kind of drug, and that their are over 5,000 addicted to heroin in Kandahar city alone.   Within Kandahar it is estimated that over 30,000 heroin packets are sold each day.  Many believe that the rise in heroin addicts is increasing do to the current government.  Studies show that during Taliban rule the amount of heroin addicts was down significantly.

During the Taliban’s rule over the country the cultivation of poppy was almost completely gone.  However, after 9/11 and the collapse of the Taliban, thousands of farmers have returned to growing poppies in order to generate a steady income.  It is estimated that more than $3 billion is made each year from the sale of opium by Afghan farmers.

Many experts believe that treatment alone is not going to solve the addiction problems that the country is facing.  There is almost zero prevention, and until there is some prevention opiate addiction will run rampant.

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A new study done by experts at eating disorder treatment clinics shows that anorexia might be genetic.  The study, which is being labeled as the Genetics of Anorexia Nervosa collaboration, is taking place in multiple cities across north america and two in Europe.  The National Institutes of Health is doing the funding.

Research shows that if a family member has had anorexia, that the individual is almost 12 times more likely to develop the disease.   Just because it is your genetics however, your environment also plays a big role, says top eating disorder specialists.  Anorexia nervosa can occur when a certain number of factors are set in place.  These factors include your genetics, and the type of culture that you live in.

Most individuals who have anorexia nervosa develop a  strong disliking towards food which then leads to a very distorted body image.  Research shows that females between the ages of 11 – 15 are most likely to develop the the illness.  Scientists believe this to be the case because this is the period in their life when they gain a majority of their adult weight, nearly 40 pounds.

Many young women tend to be provoked into episodes of excessive exercise and dieting just by someone they know making a comment about ther weight gain.  This is why it’s such a critical time in their life to be happy with who they are.

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New studies coming out of Italy are showing that more Italians are using cocaine than ever before.  The study says that Italian males between the ages of 24 and 35 have increased their cocaine usage over the past three years by 62 percent.  Health experts agree that a cocaine rehab treatment center can help aid in the addiction to cocaine.

Another alarming statistic showed that girls between the ages of 14 and 24 have doubled the amount of cocaine they have been using.  Many believe that the increase in cocaine usage is due to the prices decreasing all over the country.  Experts say that the prices have been dropping for some time now.

Many Italians do not consider many of the softer drugs to be dangerous anymore, such as marijuana.  While the prices of the drugs fall, the prices of the treatment centers rise.  The report says that treatment centers for such drugs as cocaine take up 10.5 billion euros out of the health care system’s and welfare budget.

For more information please visit the history of cocaine.

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At only 25 years old Nicole Richie may be in danger of losing her baby if she does not get help from an anorexia treatment center.

Medical experts say that her battle with anorexia mixed with alcohol and cocaine abuse are probably putting her baby’s life in danger.  If Nicole was to enter an anorexia treatment center she would probably get the help she needed and her pregnancy would not be as at risk.

The 12 weeks pregnant Nicole still struggles to stay sober everyday.  Experts also believe that she still has a long way to go to become completely sober.  Doctors says that if Nicole had drugs in her system when she got pregnant or shortly there after, she has a greater risk of birth defects, or even a miscarriage.

Nicole’s anorexia also presents her pregnancy with another huge risk.  Many are surprised that she was even able to get pregnant at all.  During the course of her pregnancy she will need to gain 40 pounds or more just to be able to feed and nourish the baby properly.

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