| |
Basic InformationMore InformationIs Alcohol A Problem?"I have benefited from AA and the 12 Steps... Very much so!"A Better MeetingAA Is To Shame As A Hot Knife Is To ButterAging and Alcohol UseAlcoholic's Anonymous, Outcomes and New Research on AlcoholismAlcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a Cult ?An Alternative to PowerlessnessAttachment to OutcomesAwakeningConcerning Problems Within AADefining and Understanding the Concept of Denial, Addictions and OtherwiseGauging the Effectiveness of One Component of Alcoholics AnonymousHow Drugs Affect The BrainHuffing: Parents and Kids BewareIts Never Too LateLike Phoenix Risen from the Ashes of Addiction, A New Addiction Recovery ProgramNIDA InfoFacts: Drug Abuse and AIDSNIDA InfoFacts: Drug Addiction Treatment MethodsNIDA InfoFacts: Drugged DrivingNIDA InfoFacts: Pregnancy and Drug Use TrendsNIDA InfoFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and AddictionOn the Question of Medical MarijuanaPain Pills, A Real PainPerverse MotivationRandom Thoughts About Addiction, Delusions and HallucinationsRecoverySelf-EfficacyStaying Sober: Dealing With TemptationsSteering Versus DriftingThe Author of Your FateThe Enlightened PathThe Impeccable PathThe Mentality of ChildhoodThe OPEN PathThe Paradoxical Sinclair Method For Treating Alcohol DependenceTwo MindsWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Annie Fahy, MSW on Motivational InterviewingWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with John C. Fleming, MD on Preventing AddictionWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Laurence Westreich, MD on Helping Families Help Addicted MembersWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Marc Kern, Ph.D. on Rational Alternatives to Alcoholics AnonymousWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An interview with Morteza Khaleghi, Ph.D. on the Importance of Treating Emotional Trauma in Addiction Wise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Patt Denning, Ph.D. on Harm Reduction Psychotherapy for Substance Abuse and AddictionWise Counsel Interview Transcript: An Interview with Stefanie Goldstein, Ph.D. on Mindfulness and Addiction TestsLatest NewsIs Alcohol A Problem?Computer-Based Screening May Reduce Teen Substance AbuseTeen Impulsiveness Has Different Sources in ADHD, Substance UseAccelerated Aging Evident in Cocaine-Dependent IndividualsMany Who First Misuse Prescription Pills Get Them From Friends, Family: ReportCocaine Habit Might Speed Brain AgingUse of Ecstasy, Speed by Teens Tied to Later DepressionHalf of Young Cigarette Smokers Also Smoke Pot: Survey12-Step Meetings May Help Teens Beat Alcohol, Drug AbuseAlcohol Use With Opioids Common Even Without Abuse PastSubstance Abusers, Even Recovering Ones, May Face StigmaDrug, Alcohol Abuse Common Among U.S. Teens, Study FindsAlcohol Effects on Brain Activity Vary With Blackout HistoryPrenatal Meth Exposure Linked to Behavioral ProblemsExcessive Drinking Costs U.S. Colleges Millions AnnuallyKids Using Synthetic Pot a Growing Public Health ConcernSpring Break Boozing May Put Young Brains at RiskMany Alcoholics Suffered Childhood Trauma: StudyGenes Play a Role in Drug Abuse Risk Among Adopted Kids: StudyNarcotic Painkillers Another Threat to Traumatized War Vets: StudyDrinking Scenes in Movies May Spur Teens to Do the SameStrict Underage Drinking Laws May Deter Delinquency in TeensEcstasy Use During Pregnancy May Harm Fetus: StudySupport for Tougher Liquor Laws Rises When Booze, Crime LinkedBooze in Movies May Fuel Teenage Drinking1 in 10 U.S. Kids Lives With Parent Who Has Abused Alcohol: ReportStop-Smoking Drug May Also Curb Problem DrinkingIllicit Drugs Bought Off Internet May Be Poisons, Experts WarnHard Drug Use in Middle Age Could Prove Fatal, Study FindsDrinking Late in First Trimester May Be Most HazardousAlcohol Targets Brain 'Reward Centers' in Heavy DrinkersOne in Six Americans Binge Drink: CDCMeth Users Much More Likely to Try SuicideFor Some Couples, Binge Drinking Is RoutineStates Crack Down on Drunk Drivers This Holiday SeasonDrug Overdoses Kill More Americans Than Car Accidents: CDCAlcohol Use Down, Pot Use Up Among U.S. TeensDrunk Driving-Related Deaths Surge During the Holidays'Ecstasy' May Cause Long-Term Changes in Brain ChemistryToo Much Alcohol Linked to Unsafe Sex, Study ConfirmsIf Parents Drink and Drive, Their Kids May Too: StudySmart Kids More Likely to Try Illicit Drugs as Young AdultsHelping Others Helps Teens Beat Substance AbuseDrugs Slipped Into Drinks Sending Many to ER: ReportHeavy Meth Use Linked to Schizophrenia'Fake Marijuana' May Trigger Heart Trouble in TeensMore Than a Third of Teens Turning to Alcohol, Drugs: StudyMore People Landing in the ER After Abusing Muscle Relaxant: ReportDeaths From Abuse of Painkillers Triple in a Decade: CDCNational Drug Take-Back Day Scheduled for Saturday Questions and AnswersLinksBook ReviewsSelf-Help Groups |
| |
When Teens Abuse Prescriptions, Addiction Often Follows
by By Amanda GardnerHealthDay Reporter
Updated: Aug 1st 2011
MONDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- More than one in five teens who have been prescribed a controlled medication such as Oxycontin for pain or Ritalin to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are misusing the drugs, a new study has found.
And these kids are more likely than others to abuse other substances and to start giving or selling drugs to their peers, the researchers said.
Still, it's important to remember that most kids do take their medications as prescribed, the team added.
"The fact that we can now say the majority of secondary school kids who are prescribed opioids and other controlled medications [do not abuse then] is important because the field doesn't want to go back to having so much fear associated with these medications that we then underprescribe them," stressed Sean Esteban McCabe, lead author of a study on teens and controlled medications appearing in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics. "Some of these students are in school because they use their medications appropriately. If they didn't have access, they might not be in school."
McCabe is associate professor at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and at the Substance Abuse Research Center of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Nevertheless, the results are also a good argument for screening which kids should be prescribed these medications, or which should be monitored more stringently, said another expert.
"We need to have an understanding that misuse or diversion can occur, so we have to be able to screen people effectively for risk factors for substance abuse," said Dr. Howard Liu, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. "Parents also need to be able to control medications and that means securing or locking up controlled medications and also getting rid of them when they're no longer needed."
As the number of controlled medications prescribed to youngsters increases, so does the risk of their abuse and misuse.
The Michigan team set out to gauge rates of misuse for four types of controlled medications: painkillers, stimulants, sleeping meds and anti-anxiety drugs.
About 2,600 middle- and high-school students from two school districts in southeastern Michigan responded to a Web-based survey. The average age was about 15.
Almost one in five (18 percent) of the respondents said they had used at least one prescribed controlled medication during the past year.
Of those, 22 percent said they had misused the medication, usually by taking too much.
These kids were almost eight times more likely to test positive for drugs compared with those who used their medication appropriately, and they were more likely to start selling or giving the drug to others, the study authors said.
Kids who used pain, sleeping and anti-anxiety medications more frequently were more likely to abuse them, though the same wasn't true of stimulants.
The misuse of prescription medications is a growing concern. Among Americans in general, abuse of prescription painkillers has surged alarmingly in recent years. Treatment admission rates for abuse of opiates other than heroin -- including prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin -- rose by 345 percent from 1998-2008, according to federal data.
A second study, this one appearing in Archives of General Psychiatry, found that people who "self-medicate" their anxiety symptoms with drugs or alcohol are more likely to become substance abusers.
U.S. adults who self-medicated were also more likely to develop social phobia, according to a team from the University of Manitoba, Canada.
More information
For more information on controlled substance abuse, visit the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.
This article: Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved. |
![[VolunteerMatch - Where Volunteering Begins.]](http://www.volunteermatch.org/images/2.0/new_logo.gif){kind=logo}
