Equine Assisted Psychotherapy helps recovering addicts by giving them a deep connection with a majestic animal and teaching them the virtues of patience and self-confidence.

People who are dealing with drug and alcohol addiction often have trouble making meaningful connections with other people in their lives. Often times, mental health issues, past traumas or difficulty coping with stress can cause people to “shut off” from their friends and family. Abusing illicit substances becomes a substitute for contact with other people for the addict and can lead them to wall themselves off and sink further into their addiction.

One of the tools that can help people who are in a alcohol or drug rehabilitation is Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP). Within the past decade, a growing number of addiction programs have started to use EAP programs as a form of experiential therapy. Much like with other forms of experiential therapy, the goal of EAP is to use outside activities to help patients connect with hidden feelings that could provide obstacles to healing.

The concept of EAP is to have patients dealing with drug addiction perform tasks with specially-trained horses. Many of the tasks involve being physically active with the horse. Patients might be asks to chase down a horse that is running free in a stall. Another exercise that is frequently used is something called “Temptation Alley,” where patients guide horses through a series of obstacles — including many possibly tempting things for the horse such as water and snacks.

Accomplishing these tasks can often take multiple sessions and be very frustrating for the patient. However, this is one reason why EAP is frequently used in drug rehab. The process of treatment can be extremely frustrating and the temptation to quit the program or start using again after treatment can be great. Performing tasks with horses helps to teach people in a rehab program that the process is difficult and requires patience and hard work but the rewards can be great.

EAP is derived from the equine therapy which has been proven to work over the past several decades for people with autism and other mental challenges. Horses are a perfect animal for EAP purposes because they are very social animals who react to both positive and negative body language. Their size can be intimidating to some people but also creates a sense of accomplishment when a task is completed.

When used properly, EAP can help people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction connect with deep-seeded emotions and find the inner strength and confidence to complete their addiction treatment program.

Drug addiction never happens in a day. This occurs over a period of abuse and while the addict begins to spiral down while increasing the dosage or the number of times he or she requires the drug until the situation takes an ugly turn resulting in choices that could determine life and death. And that’s when drug rehab becomes a necessity!

Addiction to any substance has generally been accepted as a biological phenomenon. When one ingests a particular drug, the part of the brain that gets most affected is the mesolimbic dopamine system that is located in one part of the brain. The effect that it has on the brain is commonly referred to as a ‘high’. As the brain gets used to the drug, the patient doesn’t get that high anymore, and this results in taking more to achieve that state of high that he or she first experienced.

Apart from the popular drugs and alcohol, a growing problem these days is prescription drug abuse, where due to stress factors or even pain, the patient needs to take more drugs than the recommended level by the doctor. And somehow, as ironic as this addiction is, one must watch out for this type of substance abuse as well.

Cirque Lodge, a prominent drug rehab center, caters to the needs of patients who are addicted to alcohol, recreational and prescription drugs.

During flu season, clinics get congested with patients wanting to get a flu vaccine. However, thanks to the wonders of modern medical technology, people can hope to one day administer flu vaccines to themselves and their families, without ever leaving their homes. Researchers have announced development in vaccine delivery and administration through a patch of microneedles. These microneedles are attached to a Band-Aid-like patch, which when applied to the skin will barely cause any pain or sensation, since the needles dissolve and release the medication almost in seconds. Mark Prausnitz led a team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and announced their research in the Sunday edition of Nature Medicine.

According to Prausnitz, people who have tested the microneedle patch without vaccines reported very minimal discomfort (1/20th of the pain felt with a regular infection needle), and most of the testers reported painless administration. Patch technology isn’t something new. Hormone patches and nicotine patches have been around for years, delivering medication that is readily absorbed by the skin. But patches with flu vaccines have not been proven yet, and this is why the research is still ongoing. The microneedle patch that Georgia Tech is developing will not make use of patch technology, but will simply use the patch to hold tiny needles that don’t hurt on application.

This will solve two great issues, such as fear of needles and needle disposal, which has always been a crucial infection control concern. How does it work? The patch will be left on the skin for 5 to 15 minutes after it has been applied and will deliver a correct dose of the flu vaccine, without the risk of overdosing or any damage to the skin. The needles are only 300ths of an inch, or 650 microns in length, and about 100 of them are being used in research. One day, people will no longer sit in doctor’s offices waiting to get a flu shot. These vaccine patches will be delivered to homes where the whole family can benefit and ultimately be protected from flu virus.

The substance known as Diindolylmethane has been in the news for sometime now with the reputation of being the only molecule in the biomedical field to possess immune activating and anti-cancer properties.

And while you must have heard that in consuming large amounts of broccoli one can lower the risk of cancer, and is now known in medical circles as the ‘Brassica Effect’. The truth is that the aforementioned substance is present in all vegetables that belong to the Brassica family.

Apart from being able to help patients with immune-related diseases and cancer, doctors say that a dietary supplement containing this compound will work as a natural immune booster among other obvious benefits such as supporting the organs of our body as well as promoting cellular detoxification.

Since everyone is prone to these all types of viral and bacterial diseases as well, this compound is said to work as a possible cure for these illnesses while also being already known to work as the perfect cancer prevention diet.

Using this compound in a dietary supplement that is completely natural is absolutely the way to go, and somehow one think about the fact that most lasting and complete cures for diseases are available in nature, and thus not opt for medicine that is anything but natural.

Well, some smart chap said that it’s all about the money, honey. Oh yes, and it’s about having a beautiful smile as well that is an attention-grabber anywhere you go. But can you get good dental care (a.k.a a great smile and so on and so forth) with an affordable dental payment plan?

That’s really the catch… isn’t it?

For those who have lived through the strains of ‘metal mouth’ and so on and so forth wouldn’t mind spending a fortune to alleviate themselves from the fear of these embarrassing moments even when well into the twenties. However, that will not be necessary as the latest dental implants denture used today are clever in the sense that you don’t have to be careful of what you eat and how you look in a social setting.

While modern developments ensure that one can get the best comfort and care for basic procedures, it has also devised ways by which one can get implants such as crowns Los Angeles that will not have the person feeling the discomfort during or after the procedure.

So whether you need to use Invisalign for your oral health needs or even undergo a simple teeth cleaning, one thing is for sure, you need to find the right dentist who will give you the best care but not leave a hole in your pocket.