Final Wrap Up

This final learning module was on two great subjects, OTC drugs(ch.15) and treating drug dependence(ch.18). Like always, I found that Chapter 15 on OTC drugs was much more intriguing… probably because I am a self medicater due to the fact that I currently do not possess health insurance.  “Each year people in the United States spend more than $18 billion on drug products that are purchased OTC.” (pg 430). “Of the approximately 3.5 billion health problems treated in the United States annually, almost 2 billion can be treated with an OTC drug” (pg 432). With the overwhelming amount of people in this country that do not have health insurance, it does not surprise me at the amount of money that is being spent each year on OTC drugs. “More than 50% of the population routinely us OTC medicines to treat common cold symptoms.” (pg 436) To me, that says that its easier, faster, and probably cheaper to head out to your local drug store and buy forms of OTC medicines to treat your symptoms than it is to seek a health care professional.

In this discussion forum I feel as if I contributed to the best of my ability. I perceive that I was able to bring light to a popular topic and also shed good information on fellow classmate’s topics. Throughout this semester I feel like perseverance and hard work has helped me achieve success in this class. Sure, I do not have a 100% in the class, but I am pleased with my grade. I think that in order to have achieved better grades in the student seminars that I should have included, both information from the book and internet research to make a stronger point.

All in all, the class was a pleasure to take and had a vast wealth of information to absorb.

Good online resources:

http://brainblogger.com/2008/06/11/self-medicating-with-over-the-counter-medicines-for-mental-illness/

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm143551.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-information/DrugHerbIndex

Tobacco, Drugs & Marijuana

Throughout this module the exposure to Tobacco, Marijuana and Stimulants was very relatable to everyday life for many people. Some people can go their entire life without being in direct contact with any of the three above mentioned topics, but the reality is that the use of these substances are prominent and ever growing. We learn that each and every substance has its risks and side effects, but that does not seem to stop a large majority of people from abusing one or more of these substances. From our text, “Marijuana use, in particular, is a group motivated behavior that is strongly affected by peer pressure and influence. (pg 391) I found this to be very true. How often do you know of someone or hear about someone that is a, “closet pot head?” Through my internet research is found some very interesting articles. While searching for resources to make a discussion response to a fellow classmate I stumbled across an article from the, Harvard University Gazette. The article was interesting to me because it was disproving the facts that marijuana use had detrimental effects on the brains ability to retain memory. "By day 28, however, there were no significant differences among the groups on any of 10 different tests, and no significant association between cumulative lifetime marijuana use and test scores," Pope says. In other words, the researchers conclude that heavy marijuana use produces no irreversible mental deficits.” I do have to say that I am more interested in Marijuana than tobacco or stimulants. Call it cliché, but that’s just what I find intriguing.

I don’t think that I was able to perform at my best during the discussion in this module. I don’t know if it is me over analyzing or being too critical of myself, but it seems as if certain posts are just hard to respond too. As if they’re awkwardly proposed or just poorly presented. Out of all of the modules thus far, this one has been the more difficult in terms of discussion. As a whole, I do not feel like the effort was there. Looking back at the past modules I am satisfied with my overall performance. I think that I present well researched discussion topics and have provided credible sources. I know that for the majority of my module discussions I have used sources outside of the book. Reason being is that I feel that the book is almost too easy to use to add to the discussions. I like the challenge of creating intriguing and thought provoking question and the hunt for good information.

I look forward to the next module as always. I am predicting that I am going to take a fond interest into herbal drugs.

reference:
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/10.11/marijuana.html

Chapters VI,VII & VIII

These three chapters were full of new learning experiences for me. Although I felt that all three were quite informational, I did not find chapter 6 as interesting as chapters 7 & 8. I have always been interested in the cause and effects of alcohol abuse. The myths of alcoholism running in families, and the damaging effects that alcohol can have on a person and their surroundings. I suppose I have taken such an interest in alcohol and its effects because, alcoholism is not stranger in my family. It was interesting to do some internet research in regards to genetic studies that have been done. Im not so convinced that there is a distinct gene that causes alcoholism, because then that would be like saying there is a specific gene that causes cigarette smoking. I feel that it is much for feasible to say that an alcoholic is more prone to impulsive decision making and has a lack of control when put into certain social and emotional situations.

I think that the information that I brought to the discussion was information that was needed. Alcoholism is a tricky subject due to the wide abuse of the substance. The book states; “Large scale studies of twins suggest that addictions such as alcoholism are among the most inherited types of mental illnesses.” “Despite the prominent role of heritability in the expression of alcohol dependence, the environment is equally as important.” It’s a two headed coin. There is an abundance of information on both hereditary and environmental aspects of alcoholism and I don’t feel that you can blame just one. The cause and effect in my opinion is a culmination of both.

I feel as if while I was researching for not just my post alone, but for response posts, I stumbled across some very shocking and incredible websites that sparked an interest in me. While doing research to respond to Chelsea-Sue I came across a study that was done on social status and alcoholism. It was interesting to learn about this study and the effect that alcohol has on the happiness of “upper class” college students. More information can be found here -à

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120820090848.htm

I feel that I put forth a good effort in the discussions. I work hard to try and find a subject and articles that others would not have thought to look at. I always try to look for a different angle to present materials and although sometimes I feel like its possible that it will hinder a discussion, it is still credible information that needs to be reviewed. I think that I can improve my discussions by relating a mixture of both cited book material and website research instead of just using website research.

As far as words that were new to me this module there were a handful. One of those words being:

Hepatotoxic effect- The first stage of liver disorder, which is alcoholic fatty liver, where the liver cells increase production of fat resulting in an enlarged liver. As taken from page 197 of our text.

Delirium tremens(DTs)- As an alcoholic is getting through withdrawal it is possible to have DTs. This happens in extreme acute alcohol syndromes. The individual will go through hallucinations, can become delirious and suffer from a high fever and rapid heartbeat. As taken from page 241 of our text.

Chapters 3&5

This module as compared to the previous was far more interesting to me. I felt as if the laws in regards to drugs and the FDA regulations were very interesting. There was a lot of good information that was presented to us in our text as well as a wealth of information that could be found via a simple Google search A piece of information that I found to be new to me and intriguing was found on page 97 of our text; “A drug marketed before 1962 could no longer be grandfathered in. IF the company could not prove the drug had the qualifications to pass the post-1962 test for a new drug, it was considered a new, unapproved drug and could not be legally sold.” This I felt was one of the most influential pieces of information that I took from chapter 3. It really makes you feel that the government is doing what they are intended to do, and that is protecting their citizens.

Besides information from our text, the internet has a wealth of information on drug law and drug testing. One website that I stumbled across while researching in regards to a classmates post was -à http://education.findlaw.com/student-rights/drug-testing-background-information.html . I thought that this website was very helpful in regards to information on drug testing. Another site that I found to be an information addition was à http://www.studentdrugtesting.org/ . This website has plenty of information in regards to random drug testing and also student drug testing. The information ranges from drug use to legislation information.

I feel as if I put forth a good effort this module and added concise information to the module also. I think that if better questions were presented by fellow classmates, I could have contributed even more. I feel as if my question could have been confusing as to where it would lead in the discussion, but it was a topic that I felt needed to be discussed. I don’t mean to complain, but I find it very disheartening when I read a post that is not even relatable. The instructions state, “Make sure that you create one discussion question related to the current chapters in review,” not create a plethora of random thoughts and type them into your post for your classmates to try and pick and choose from. This makes it very hard to read, lets alone try and figure out how to respond. /rant

Three words that were presented that I felt taught me something in this module is as follows; Cross tolerance, Threshold dose, and Pharmacokinetics. All of these terms helped me to understand a little more about the world of drugs. Before this module I had no idea that the use of one drug could affect the tolerance to another, or that there was even a name for the study of the distribution and concentration of drugs throughout one’s body (pharmacokinetics).

With that being said, I felt that this module helped add onto the foundation of knowledge that I have on the subject of drugs and relatable topics. I feel as if the learning is going to continue throughout this semester and I am looking forward to the next module.

Module Deuce Learning Entry.....

This module has been proven to be a learning experience to me! I have surely absorbed quite a bit of knowledge throughout this module.  Whether it is the interesting drug slang terms, such as: Ditch weed, which is apparently a term for inferior marijuana. I always thought it was called Swag? Or facts such as, "The popular use of illicit drugs, particularly alcohol and tobacco, has caused far more deaths, sickness, violent crimes, economic loss, and other social problems than the combined use of all illicit drugs." which can be found on page 7 of our text. This is a fact that particularly struck me with awe.
I could not believe at first how such a fact could be true until I performed more research to shed more light on the subject.
www.pamf.org/teen/risk/ ----> This website helped me throughout the module and also opened my eyes to information in regards to alcohol, tobacco and drug use.

Samantha posted an interesting addition to the learning module in relation to addiction. The website she gave as reference was a nice, quick, and easy site to reference for information on various types of drugs and how the addiction forms. I found it very helpful and thought it would be nice to include in the blog. ---->
http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/addiction-types/drug-addiction/index.htm

I feel that I have made a great contribution to the module with my comments. I feel that I have used my responses and comments to add new information to the Original Posters information and used it to expand and bring in new information. When I find something that is brought to my attention it truly interests me and it makes me want to learn as much about the subject as possible. I feel that addiction is something that is hard to understand completely understand. Samantha's post sparked and interest in me to learn more and more. The website I posted about was ----> http://www.thirteen.org/closetohome/pdf/CTHactivitycards.pdf and I found that it was a very interesting read about the "Science of addiction."

Pertaining to vocabulary that stuck out to me, I would have to first say that Comorbidity, was something that I never heard of. The definition has taught me about the relationships between drug addiction and mental illness'.
Structural Analogs, although not really a definition per say, was intriguing. I never knew how big the market for altered illegal drugs really was.


All in all this was a pretty successful module in my opinion and it was interesting learning and experiening all of the new information that was presented and found!

Testing....Testing....

Is the Mic turned on? Can anyone hear me?