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.

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.

A new study indicates that men who suffer from obesity by the age of 20 are more likely to die, on average, eight years before their counterparts who are not obese.

Presented in Stockholm at the International Congress on Obesity, the research points towards the fact that obesity tends to develop before a person turns 20, and also that obesity is unlikely to develop later on.

The study was carried out amongst 5000 military conscripts ranging from the ages of 20 to 80 years. Around 2,000 of the participants were obese when the research began.

The results of the research indicate that premature death in obese men went up by 10% at every single point that exceeded the healthy level of 25 body mass index points. Figuring out a person’s body fat via a calculation which uses your weight and height is what is referred to as body mass index.

Esther Zimmermann of Copenhagen University Hospital who was the head of the study stated that at the age of 70, 70% of the males in the comparison group and 50% of them in the obese group were alive and well. Taking off from this, she said that they made an estimation that from the middle-aged years, obese men were more likely to die 8 years prior to their counterparts in the comparison group.

Zimmerman also said that other factors that were taken into consideration while carrying out the research were education, year of birth and smoking - however, hereditary diseases and other such factors were not.

An amazing network of cells, tissues and organs, the immune system is our body’s main defense against disease. However, there are many factors that affect the immune system and nutrition is one of them. This is why many of us do our best to take care of our bodies by eating right and taking an immune system booster such as ActivaMune.

ActivaMune, a patented dietary supplement, was created by a group of leading scientists in the fields of nutrition and molecular biology at the University of California at Berkeley. The ingredients include three main health-promoting nutrients that are naturally found in the Brassica vegetables: Diindolylmethane (DIM), Sulforaphane and Selenium.

The scientists at UC Berkeley have found that DIM is a strong activator of the immune system for both men and women, offering the body anticancer properties as well as antiviral and antibacterial properties. In addition, the scientists have demonstrated that DIM promotes Interferon-Gamma production and sensitivity in the body, which is another reason why it has strong immune enhancing properties. With many other health benefits including cellular detoxification and support for multiple organs, ActivaMune is an ideal immune system booster.

The use of medications to help suppress withdrawal symptoms and cravings in people struggling with addiction to heroin and other opiates has helped success rates in rehab.

There was a time when the common opinion within a rehab program was that a person needed to quit “cold turkey” in order to truly kick their drug addiction. The concept of using medication to help a person control their urges was not considered to be relevant, since many treatment doctors believed that this was merely replacing one drug for another and did not teach the patient how to live a drug-free life.

This idea was fallen by the wayside in recent years, as drug treatment concepts have advanced. Treatment specialists now release that a well-rounded treatment program can include the use of medication along with therapy and other treatment methods. Advances in treatment have made it easier for people to get effective treatment for their drug addiction and have a better chance of remaining free of drugs.

When it comes to heroin and other opioids, there are several different types of drugs which can be used in treatment received in an addiction center. Many different types of medication are used during the withdrawal process. Opiate addiction creates some of the most demanding withdrawal symptoms, and medication can help with both the physical and mental problems that arise during withdrawal. In the case of severe dependency on opiates, this withdrawal treatment can be done in a hospital setting with doctors and nurses who can treat patients in case significant side effects occur.

There are several types of drugs that are used in the treatment of heroin and opiate-derived prescription drug abuse. Drugs such as methadone and buprenorphine target the same sensory receptors that are excited during the use of heroin and morphine. These drugs help to relieve the cravings that addicts have along with suppressing withdrawal symptoms.

Another drug that is frequently used in the treatment of opioids in drug rehab centers is naltrexone. This is one of the more recent advancements in the medicinal treatment of heroin addiction. Naltrexone actually blocks the effects of heroin and other opioids at the brain’s receptor sites, limiting the amount of pleasure that a person receives from using it. However, naltrexone is not the best option if a person has not gone through detoxification in a drug rehab facility.