Showing posts with label advice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advice. Show all posts
May 6, 2011
May 5, 2011
SMH: Quit drinking to cut cancer risk
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/quit-drinking-to-cut-cancer-risk-20110501-1e38g.html
Quit drinking to cut cancer risk
Julie Robotham
May 2, 2011
Photo: Jessica Shapiro
New evidence reveals the extent of alcohol's contribution to cancer.
CANCER COUNCIL AUSTRALIA has revised dramatically upwards its estimate of alcohol's contribution to new cancer cases and issued its strongest warning yet that people worried by the link should avoid drinking altogether.
New evidence implicating alcohol in the development of bowel and breast cancer meant drinking probably caused about 5.6 per cent of cancers in Australia, or nearly 6500 of the 115,000 cases expected this year, a review by the council found. This was nearly double the 3.1 per cent figure it nominated in its last assessment, in 2008.
The council's chief executive, Ian Olver, said the updated calculations revealed breast and bowel cancer accounted for nearly two-thirds of all alcohol-related cancers, overtaking those of the mouth, throat and oesophagus.
''The public really needs to know about it because it's a modifiable risk factor,'' said Professor Olver, calling for awareness campaigns to alert people to the link. ''You might not be able to help your genes but you can make lifestyle choices.''
Professor Olver said public advice should not conflict with the National Health & Medical Research Council's 2009 recommendation people should drink no more than two standard alcohol units daily, already half the previous safe threshold for men.
But people should also be told there was no evidence of a safe alcohol dose below which cancer-causing effects did not occur - either from direct DNA damage, increased oestrogen levels or excessive weight gain. ''If you want to reduce your cancer risk as far as possible [abstinence] would be the option you have,'' he said.
Public advice was especially important, Professor Olver said, because studies that suggested alcohol could protect against heart disease were increasingly being challenged by new findings that people gave up drinking when they became ill or old - meaning any potential benefits of moderate alcohol use for cardiovascular health had probably been oversold.
Western Australia last year began screening government-funded advertisements about the link between cancer and alcohol and Victoria is understood to be about to start. But spokespeople for the Cancer Council NSW and Cancer Institute NSW yesterday said there were no immediate plans for a similar campaign here.
Mike Daube, the convener of the Public Health Association of Australia's alcohol expert group, said he would write today to the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, which is meeting this month, to request it mandate health warnings on bottles.
''I'm not talking about tobacco-style warnings but at the moment there's no requirement for any health advice on alcohol packaging, and that's wrong,'' said Professor Daube, from Curtin University.
He said the council's findings also had implications for taxation of alcohol, which is on the agenda at the tax summit in October.
Quit drinking to cut cancer risk
Julie Robotham
May 2, 2011
Photo: Jessica Shapiro
CANCER COUNCIL AUSTRALIA has revised dramatically upwards its estimate of alcohol's contribution to new cancer cases and issued its strongest warning yet that people worried by the link should avoid drinking altogether.
New evidence implicating alcohol in the development of bowel and breast cancer meant drinking probably caused about 5.6 per cent of cancers in Australia, or nearly 6500 of the 115,000 cases expected this year, a review by the council found. This was nearly double the 3.1 per cent figure it nominated in its last assessment, in 2008.
The council's chief executive, Ian Olver, said the updated calculations revealed breast and bowel cancer accounted for nearly two-thirds of all alcohol-related cancers, overtaking those of the mouth, throat and oesophagus.
''The public really needs to know about it because it's a modifiable risk factor,'' said Professor Olver, calling for awareness campaigns to alert people to the link. ''You might not be able to help your genes but you can make lifestyle choices.''
Professor Olver said public advice should not conflict with the National Health & Medical Research Council's 2009 recommendation people should drink no more than two standard alcohol units daily, already half the previous safe threshold for men.
But people should also be told there was no evidence of a safe alcohol dose below which cancer-causing effects did not occur - either from direct DNA damage, increased oestrogen levels or excessive weight gain. ''If you want to reduce your cancer risk as far as possible [abstinence] would be the option you have,'' he said.
Public advice was especially important, Professor Olver said, because studies that suggested alcohol could protect against heart disease were increasingly being challenged by new findings that people gave up drinking when they became ill or old - meaning any potential benefits of moderate alcohol use for cardiovascular health had probably been oversold.
Western Australia last year began screening government-funded advertisements about the link between cancer and alcohol and Victoria is understood to be about to start. But spokespeople for the Cancer Council NSW and Cancer Institute NSW yesterday said there were no immediate plans for a similar campaign here.
Mike Daube, the convener of the Public Health Association of Australia's alcohol expert group, said he would write today to the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, which is meeting this month, to request it mandate health warnings on bottles.
''I'm not talking about tobacco-style warnings but at the moment there's no requirement for any health advice on alcohol packaging, and that's wrong,'' said Professor Daube, from Curtin University.
He said the council's findings also had implications for taxation of alcohol, which is on the agenda at the tax summit in October.
December 25, 2009
A Real-Deal Sure-Fire Hangover Remedy that Works!
A Real-Deal Sure-Fire Hangover Remedy that Works!
Unless you are way too hungover, spend 3 minutes to watch the brief entertaining YouTube video below.
If you don't have the ability nor patience, then follow these instructions for a simple sure-fire hangover remedy that won't have you scrambling for exotic ingredients you most likely don't have on hand:
Ingredients
3-4 fresh oranges
One fresh Grade-A egg
Instructions
Using the oranges, squeeze out one glass of juice. Store-bought juice is not considered an acceptable substitute.
Pour the juice into a tall glass but definitely not to the top of the glass.
Carefully break one fresh raw egg into the orange juice.
Stir vigorously with a fork; the juice should change color.
Drink at once.
How It Works
The orange juice provides both much-needed water, Vitamin C and sugars while the raw egg provides protein and also Cysteine which helps counteract Acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) - a byproduct of ethanol oxidation and responsible for most of the hangover.
October 10, 2009
Alcoholism May Alter Sleep Long-TermStudy: Alcoholism May Leave Lasting Effect on Sleep Patterns, Even After Sobriety
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Oct. 1, 2009 -- Even if they quit drinking, alcoholics still have differences in their sleep when compared with other people, a new study shows.
The study, published in the Oct. 1 edition of the journal Sleep, included 42 alcoholics who had quit drinking and 42 people with no history of alcoholism. The alcoholics had been sober for anywhere from 30 days to more than two years.
All participants spent a night at a sleep lab, hooked up to monitors that showed their brain activity.
Compared with people with no history of alcoholism, the alcoholics had less slow-wave sleep and spent more of their sleep time in the early stage of sleep and in REM sleep. Those patterns were the same for male and female alcoholics.
The REM findings surprised the researchers, who included Ian Colrain, PhD, of SRI International, a nonprofit research institute in Menlo Park, Calif.
Colrain and colleagues note that increased REM sleep might be expected in people who had recently quit drinking to make up for the reduction that heavy drinking takes on REM sleep.
The fact that that difference persisted despite long-term sobriety suggests that alcoholism might have a lasting effect on sleep, Colrain's team notes.
The study doesn't prove that alcoholism caused those differences in sleep patterns.
But "self-reported sleep problems are ubiquitous in those suffering from alcohol abuse and dependence," Colrain's team writes.
September 9, 2009
Naltrexone aka "The Sinclair Method"
Click here to hear an interview with Dr. David Sinclair - the American researcher who developed a method of removing the cravings for alcohol using Naltrexone therapy. The method boasts a success rate between 78 to 85% in securing long-term control of alcohol consumption to abstinence or acceptable levels ("social").
Sinclair Method wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Method
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/health/12bside.html
A brief four-minute news clip on the Sinclair Method (Naltrexone):
You can read more about the Sinclair Method in this book by Roy D. Eskapa, PhD which also has a foreword by David Sinclair, PhD:
An online forum for those using the Sinclair Method can be found here:
http://www.thesinclairmethod.net/community/
Sinclair Method wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Method
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/health/12bside.html
May 12, 2009
Primary Care for Alcoholics
By JANE E. BRODY
THE NEW YORK TIMES
In treating alcohol abuse and alcoholism, “we haven’t yet reached the Prozac moment,” says Dr. Mark Willenbring, referring to the drugs that radically changed the treatment of depression. But Dr. Willenbring, an expert on treating alcohol addiction, predicts that the day is not far off when giving a pill and five minutes of advice to an alcohol abuser will be all that is needed to keep drinking under control.
Two such medications are already available, though they are not as effective as modern antidepressants have been for depression.
“We’re at the same place with alcohol abuse that the treatment of depression was at 40 years ago, when only psychiatrists treated it and most people with depression were never treated at all,” said Dr. Willenbring, the director the Division of Treatment and Recovery Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Then came Prozac, followed by similar antidepressants that took the treatment of depression out of mental hospitals and psychiatric offices and put it in homes and in the offices of primary care doctors.
“Now almost all of depression is treated in primary care,” Dr. Willenbring said, “and two-thirds to three-fourths of depression is getting treated.”
But with alcohol dependence, he said, only one person in eight receives professional treatment.
“Those who get into treatment programs are the most severe alcoholics,” Dr. Willenbring said. “But the bulk of alcohol abusers have a more moderate form, with a better prognosis. Most could get well in primary care settings and not have to wait until they are at the end of their rope and forced to go into a rehabilitation program, which can be so stigmatizing.”
What is needed for controlling alcohol abuse early in the disease, he said, are drugs like Prozac that can be easily prescribed by primary care physicians to help people with moderate alcohol abuse. Several such drugs are now in the pipeline, Dr. Willenbring said.The two already available — naltrexone and Topamax — are not yet the equivalent of Prozac for depression, but they can help many alcohol abusers learn to drink more moderately or abstain altogether. Naltrexone, now a low-cost generic, was originally developed to control drug addiction but was found to be more effective at reducing cravings for alcohol. Topamax, an antiseizure drug not yet available as a generic, has also been used to treat alcohol dependence, among other conditions.
Taken an hour before consuming alcohol, naltrexone blocks receptors in the brain that register “reward” and that reinforce a craving for alcohol. Within three to four months of starting treatment, naltrexone, when compared with a placebo, can reduce relapse to heavy drinking 20 to 40 percent, Dr. Willenbring said. Some European practitioners claim even greater effectiveness. By eliminating cravings for alcohol, the drug enables an abuser to drink more moderately or abstain entirely.
While naltrexone is not the final answer to alcohol abuse, it has been shown to be at least twice as effective as alcohol treatment programs and can avoid their stigmatizing consequences, which can include difficulty getting life insurance, jobs or security clearance.
Unfortunately, most primary care physicians know little or nothing about naltrexone, Dr. Willenbring said. He suggested that drinkers who need help controlling their intake ask their doctor for a prescription. More information about the drug can be found on the Web sites of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (www.aaap.org) and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (www.asam.org). JANE E. BRODY
A brief four-minute news clip on the Sinclair Method (Naltrexone):
You can read more about the Sinclair Method in this book by Roy D. Eskapa, PhD which also has a foreword by David Sinclair, PhD:
An online forum for those using the Sinclair Method can be found here:
http://www.thesinclairmethod.net/community/
July 31, 2009
THE BENEFITS OF NOT DRINKING ALCOHOL - A Mind Map by Paul Foreman
click on image for a clearer larger viewJuly 28, 2009
COULD YOU BE AN ADDICT? (LA TIMES)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks11-2009jul11,0,6020182,full.column
Could you be an addict?
Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times We know Michael Jackson was dependent on sedatives and painkillers, but our reliance also needs examining.
It's not just the Michael Jacksons and Anna Nicole Smiths who pop pills. Society's reliance on painkillers and sleeping aids has us walking a fine line.
Sandy Banks July 11, 2009
Subpoenas have gone out, the DEA has been brought in, and every doctor who has ever come within a prescription pad of Michael Jackson can probably expect a phone call soon.
But even absent the results of the inquiries and toxicological reports, it seems obvious that prescription drugs played a role in the pop star's sudden death.
In fact, what we already know about Jackson's reliance on sedatives and painkillers is enough to prompt the kind of public discussion we have sidestepped too many times before -- when Anna Nicole Smith died from "combined drug intoxication" two years ago after mixing sleeping pills and sedatives; or when Heath Ledger was found dead last year with six different legal medications for pain, anxiety and insomnia in his blood.
Instead of simply dismissing them as celebrity drug addicts or pitiable tragedies, it's time we take a look at our own lives -- and the contents of our medicine cabinets.
It's no secret that the use of pharmaceutical drugs is on the rise. Prescriptions for painkillers climbed from 40 million to 180 million in the last 15 years. More than 56 million prescriptions were written for sleeping medications in 2008, up 54% since 2004. And 7 million Americans admit to "non-medical" use of drugs prescribed for pain or mental disorders.
Even the nation's new drug czar Gil Kerlikowske has called Jackson's death "a wake-up call." More Americans die from overdoses of legal drugs each year than from gunshot wounds, he told CNN on Thursday.
It's a complicated problem. There is no bright line separating use from misuse. And a constellation of circumstances is nudging us toward chemical solutions to the struggles of everyday living.
An ever-expanding list of mental illnesses means almost anyone can be diagnosed with a treatable malady. Pharmaceutical ads -- with butterflies flitting through bedroom windows and happy, prosperous families -- promise pills that can make you happier or more social; help you stop hurting and get to sleep. And doctors have been pressed by patients, plied by drug reps and squeezed by insurance companies until a 10-minute visit gets you a refillable prescription.
Yet pharmaceutical advances have allowed schizophrenics to hold down jobs, insomniacs to get a good night's sleep, and people with depression to go about their lives.
Substance abuse recovery programs have long relied on a simple nostrum: You're an addict if "your life has become unmanageable due to drugs or alcohol."
But what if your life is only manageable because you're taking drugs? How do you recognize addiction then?
I took my questions to Vickie Mays, a nurse and professor of psychology at UCLA.
"We think about addiction as 'Your life is out of control,' " Mays said. "But it's the medication that gives you a sense of control when you've got so many balls in the air . . . with so many demands from the job, the kids."
Sounds a lot like the lives that us non-rock stars live.
"It's the demands on us that are out of control," Mays said. "You yearn for just a little bit of peacefulness, a way to try to shut things off. . . . It's the normal, average, very busy, high-achieving person" who is most vulnerable to reliance on prescription drugs.
We're not trying to get high, just trying to get some sleep, blunt the pain from that old sports injury, keep from screaming at the kids.
But pill-popping can move almost imperceptibly, she said, from habit to ritual to need.
"When there's no other way in your mind to relieve the pain, and you start taking it more frequently and in higher doses. . . . When it's become too automatic. You can't sleep and you don't wait; you just reach over for the bottle on your bedside table.
"It's a slippery slope," she said. But that's when you ought to ask, "Am I becoming an addict?"
Her answer gave me pause this week, when I tossed and turned through a sleepless night.
I rolled over and reached for the bottle of pills my doctor prescribed last year, when chest pains that sent me to UCLA's emergency room turned out to be anxiety, not a heart attack.
Is this, I wondered, how Michael Jackson's problems with drugs began?
A pain pill when your hair catches fire and you end up mainlining Demerol? A tranquilizer when you're stressed out by the paparazzi and soon you're throwing back 10 Xanax pills at a time?
OK . . . so those were middle-of-the-night thoughts. But I can't blame Jackson for wanting a break from the cacophony in his head; relief for a 50-year-old body, called on to perform for hours every day onstage.
His manner of death was a tragedy with implications for all of us.
Have I started down the slippery slope if I have refilled that year-old prescription twice? If I can tell you exactly how many of those pills I have left?
Or was I wise not to take the sedative that night, even though I stumbled through work the next day? Instead I watched the sun come up, with "Man in the Mirror" playing in my head.
sandy.banks@latimes.com
July 27, 2009
The Alcoholic Child's Story
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/25/the-alcoholic-childs-story
The alcoholic child's story
The Guardian, Saturday 25 July 2009
"I got my first taste of alcohol when I was a tot – my mum used to give me whisky in warm milk to help me sleep. She was a big drinker, a binge drinker. At the age of 11 I had my first proper drink. I found a bottle of advocat in the bathroom cupboard, and I had some. I was incredibly ill, but I guess I must have liked the sensation because after that, I went on looking for more.
"I had a difficult childhood. My mum was on her own, but then when I was nine she remarried. It was an abusive relationship and I was abused, too. I desperately wanted to be normal and to cope, despite everything that was happening to me. Alcohol helped. I'd steal money from my mum's purse, and borrow from friends, to buy booze.
"At 15, I remember thinking for the first time that I really needed a drink. I was up against it and alcohol calmed me. I felt I couldn't get through the day without it. I remember searching for 10ps down the sofa so I could buy sherry. And I turned to spirits, because I got my hit faster.
"After school I got a job in a department store, but I was coming in with a hangover then drinking at work, so I got sacked. I've had jobs since, but I've often only barely managed to function.
"Eventually I got so bad that I'd be sleeping in pubs, not cleaning my teeth, plastering make-up on over make-up I'd put on yesterday … I was going downhill fast. I'd tried Alcoholics Anonymous before, and at 31 I tried it again. It was a struggle but it's now eight years since I had a drink. The legacy of my drinking years is that I've got a terrible memory and nerve damage in one hand, but it could be so much worse.
"I've gone back to university now, and it's strange being with all these young people who drink themselves silly. Sometimes I wonder if I should say something, but I never do. People have to make their own mistakes. The trouble is when you drink you're only thinking of now, never the long term."
"Sarah" is a pseudonym
The alcoholic child's story
The Guardian, Saturday 25 July 2009
"I got my first taste of alcohol when I was a tot – my mum used to give me whisky in warm milk to help me sleep. She was a big drinker, a binge drinker. At the age of 11 I had my first proper drink. I found a bottle of advocat in the bathroom cupboard, and I had some. I was incredibly ill, but I guess I must have liked the sensation because after that, I went on looking for more.
"I had a difficult childhood. My mum was on her own, but then when I was nine she remarried. It was an abusive relationship and I was abused, too. I desperately wanted to be normal and to cope, despite everything that was happening to me. Alcohol helped. I'd steal money from my mum's purse, and borrow from friends, to buy booze.
"At 15, I remember thinking for the first time that I really needed a drink. I was up against it and alcohol calmed me. I felt I couldn't get through the day without it. I remember searching for 10ps down the sofa so I could buy sherry. And I turned to spirits, because I got my hit faster.
"After school I got a job in a department store, but I was coming in with a hangover then drinking at work, so I got sacked. I've had jobs since, but I've often only barely managed to function.
"Eventually I got so bad that I'd be sleeping in pubs, not cleaning my teeth, plastering make-up on over make-up I'd put on yesterday … I was going downhill fast. I'd tried Alcoholics Anonymous before, and at 31 I tried it again. It was a struggle but it's now eight years since I had a drink. The legacy of my drinking years is that I've got a terrible memory and nerve damage in one hand, but it could be so much worse.
"I've gone back to university now, and it's strange being with all these young people who drink themselves silly. Sometimes I wonder if I should say something, but I never do. People have to make their own mistakes. The trouble is when you drink you're only thinking of now, never the long term."
"Sarah" is a pseudonym
The Paramedic's Story
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/25/alcohol-the-paramedics-story
Sometimes a drinking session gets out of hand. Young people can become intoxicated quite quickly, even to the point of slipping into unconsciousness. Their friends may feel frightened about the situation, but there are some basic steps you should take.
Here is some first aid advice for young people. Steve says:-
1. Don't panic, the Ambulance Service is there to help you in this situation.
2. Clear the casualty's airway of vomit by finger sweeping if necessary.
3. Make sure the casualty is breathing by looking, listening and feeling for movement of the chest or abdomen, if they are not breathing then you need to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
4. If the casualty is breathing then you need to clear the area of broken glass so that you do not roll them on to it.
5. Having done this you need to roll the casualty into the recovery position, that is on to their side so that they can still breathe. If you roll them right over then they will not be able to breathe properly, as their own body weight will stop them from breathing.
6. This is the time to send or phone for the Ambulance by dialling 999, giving the exact location of the casualty. It will help the Ambulance crew if you send somebody to meet them and guide them to the casualty.
7. You should try and keep the casualty warm as a side effect of too much alcohol is hypothermia.
8. Keep checking that the casualty has a clear airway and is still breathing properly until the Ambulance arrives.
By following these simple steps you may save the life of a friend. Do not worry about getting into trouble by getting involved, because we are more interested in saving lives than telling people off.
The paramedic's story
The Guardian, Saturday 25 July 2009
Steve Evans has been a paramedic for 38 years with the North West Ambulance Service.
"I remember the moment I realised what a big problem underage drinking had become. It was a Friday night in Widnes and we were called out to two 11-year-old boys and a 13-year-old girl who were unconscious due to alcohol.
"If they'd all been at the same party it wouldn't have been so bad, but what frightened me was that they were all from different callouts. One had nicked the alcohol, another had got an older brother to buy it, the third had bought it from a white-van man who'd gone to France, stacked up his car with vodka, and didn't care who he sold it to.
"That was bad enough … and then, a few weeks later, I was called out to a 12-year-old lad who was unconscious in a field all on his own. Fortunately, a woman out walking her dog saw him and called for an ambulance, or he'd probably have choked on his own vomit or died of hypothermia.
"It made me realise that the problem is out of control and that kids aren't equipped for helping one another when the worst happens. So I decided to set up a campaign called Don't Walk Away. We publish posters and we put them up in places where kids will see them, and what we're telling them is not to abandon a friend who collapses because of drinking too much. What we say is: your intervention could save your mate's life.
"Alcohol abuse in the very young is a timebomb, and it's starting to go off. Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool runs an alcohol referral unit, and has children of 10 among its patients!
"I've got a 13-year-old son. How will I stop him drinking? Well, I don't drink myself and that's important in terms of role-modelling.
"But beyond that, I just want to demystify alcohol. I want him to realise that it can wreck your life, and I definitely don't want it to wreck his."
Advice from Paramedic Steve Evans of the NORTHWEST AMBULANCE SERVICE (NHS) (UK)
When Things Go WrongThe Guardian, Saturday 25 July 2009
Steve Evans has been a paramedic for 38 years with the North West Ambulance Service.
"I remember the moment I realised what a big problem underage drinking had become. It was a Friday night in Widnes and we were called out to two 11-year-old boys and a 13-year-old girl who were unconscious due to alcohol.
"If they'd all been at the same party it wouldn't have been so bad, but what frightened me was that they were all from different callouts. One had nicked the alcohol, another had got an older brother to buy it, the third had bought it from a white-van man who'd gone to France, stacked up his car with vodka, and didn't care who he sold it to.
"That was bad enough … and then, a few weeks later, I was called out to a 12-year-old lad who was unconscious in a field all on his own. Fortunately, a woman out walking her dog saw him and called for an ambulance, or he'd probably have choked on his own vomit or died of hypothermia.
"It made me realise that the problem is out of control and that kids aren't equipped for helping one another when the worst happens. So I decided to set up a campaign called Don't Walk Away. We publish posters and we put them up in places where kids will see them, and what we're telling them is not to abandon a friend who collapses because of drinking too much. What we say is: your intervention could save your mate's life.
"Alcohol abuse in the very young is a timebomb, and it's starting to go off. Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool runs an alcohol referral unit, and has children of 10 among its patients!
"I've got a 13-year-old son. How will I stop him drinking? Well, I don't drink myself and that's important in terms of role-modelling.
"But beyond that, I just want to demystify alcohol. I want him to realise that it can wreck your life, and I definitely don't want it to wreck his."
Advice from Paramedic Steve Evans of the NORTHWEST AMBULANCE SERVICE (NHS) (UK)
Sometimes a drinking session gets out of hand. Young people can become intoxicated quite quickly, even to the point of slipping into unconsciousness. Their friends may feel frightened about the situation, but there are some basic steps you should take.
Here is some first aid advice for young people. Steve says:-
1. Don't panic, the Ambulance Service is there to help you in this situation.
2. Clear the casualty's airway of vomit by finger sweeping if necessary.
3. Make sure the casualty is breathing by looking, listening and feeling for movement of the chest or abdomen, if they are not breathing then you need to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
4. If the casualty is breathing then you need to clear the area of broken glass so that you do not roll them on to it.
5. Having done this you need to roll the casualty into the recovery position, that is on to their side so that they can still breathe. If you roll them right over then they will not be able to breathe properly, as their own body weight will stop them from breathing.
6. This is the time to send or phone for the Ambulance by dialling 999, giving the exact location of the casualty. It will help the Ambulance crew if you send somebody to meet them and guide them to the casualty.
7. You should try and keep the casualty warm as a side effect of too much alcohol is hypothermia.
8. Keep checking that the casualty has a clear airway and is still breathing properly until the Ambulance arrives.
By following these simple steps you may save the life of a friend. Do not worry about getting into trouble by getting involved, because we are more interested in saving lives than telling people off.
July 26, 2009
Craig Ferguson Speaks from the Heart
The Late Late Show host, Craig Ferguson speaks on his past problems as an alcoholic...
(the total video is 12 minutes... give him about 4 minutes until the serious part of his monologue kicks in - it'll be worth it. Guaranteed.)To get a free (legal) online copy of the AA "Big Book", go to this post.
Alcoholics Anonymous BIG BOOK (The Anonymous Press PDF Edition)
Before reading the post below, first, take a look at the excellent Youtube monologue by The Late Late Show host, Craig Ferguson:http://sobermd.blogspot.com/2009/07/craig-ferguson-speaks-from-heart.html
"A recovering alcoholic, Ferguson has been sober since February 18, 1992. He said he had considered committing suicide on Christmas Day 1991, but when offered a drink by a friend, Tommy the Irishman, for celebrating the holiday, he forgot to jump off Tower Bridge in London as he had planned."
I promise that it won't be a waste of your time....
(The video is about 12 minutes ... give it about 4 minutes until he starts getting into the serious part of the monologue)
Alcoholics Anonymous BIG BOOK
(The Anonymous Press PDF Edition)
(The Anonymous Press PDF Edition)
For many people, one of the first organizations they turn to advice when they are deciding whether to quit drinking is Alcoholic Anonymous (AA). The "Big Book" as it is known contains the stories of recovery gathered from all types of alcoholics.
If you think you have a drinking problem and would like to learn more about AA, this is the next best solution to attending a meeting: read the book...
If you think you have a drinking problem and would like to learn more about AA, this is the next best solution to attending a meeting: read the book...
Alcoholics Anonymous BIG BOOK (The Anonymous Press PDF Edition): The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism -
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