Discussions

Discussions » Shameless Blog Promotion
JacobDiv

Drug Addiction Pegged as Treatable Medical Problem

Posted by JacobDiv • 6/01/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: addiction, drug addiction, medical



She is fascinated by addiction, because "it cuts to the core of our ideas regarding free will."

Nora Volkow is director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She is extraordinarily informed regarding drug addiction. She explains how alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and meth amphetamine, all have the same effect of raising levels of dopamine in the brain. While experimenting with drugs is common, only some people become addicted as a result of their experiments. Ms Volkow is considered one of the U.S.'s leading addiction researchers, but after listening to her, it might be hard to imagine another person somehow being even greater, at least with regard to eloquence. In her job, working without benefit of a medical degree, she's helped demonstrate that addiction is in fact a treatable disease of the brain.

More coverage:
danallen.com/blurb.php?dogNow=396

Reply

User Comments

  1. carlgalloway
    6/01/08
    carlgalloway
    Its amazing that a person who cares, and is willing to get to know the people she deals with is able to discover working treatments, yet glass tower professionals spend millions and millions of dollars and still seem no wiser
    [reply]
    1. JacobDiv
      6/01/08
      JacobDiv
      yep.

      Don't forget the 'free will' lobby, that needs to tag drug addicts are people who make bad choices. The whole point of addiction is the addict doesn't have a choice.

      I wonder how many other areas of life this applies to, besides drug use. Political opinions have been traced to DNA. I think people have a lot less choice than than most people think.
  2. Anniepooh
    6/01/08
    Anniepooh
    Well, we've known for years that it was more than just a "character defect", but a real medical issue, haven't we? Ideas for "fixes" have been tried off and on for just as long. I'd be interested to see if what she had to offer is any better.
    [reply]
    1. JacobDiv
      6/01/08
      JacobDiv
      In her interview on Fresh Air, with Terry Gross on NPR, Ms Volkow explains the situation with fantastic eloquence. Full of information most people never have heard.
      www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11847222

Add Your Comment

Login to leave a message.