Junk Food Is Addictive

Why does junk food remain so popular? What makes tens of millions of people consume it daily, even if they are well aware of its health and dietary pitfalls?

Well, part of the reason is by design – that is, the way such foods were designed to appeal to our senses. Think of the old Lay’s potato chip commercials; “No one can eat just one.” In many respects, that’s what junk food does: It is designed to create a sort of can’t resist mindset, which is a) why junk food makers have thrived, even in a culture of health; and b) why so many Americans (and increasingly, citizens of other countries) are seeing epidemics of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other medical conditions.

Digest that for a moment and consider the following examples, as laid out by Michael Moss, author of Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us:


Ever wonder why so many people can’t put down a bag of junk food Cheetos?
Find out here--> http://lifechangingcarehouston.com/junk-food-addiction

Why does junk food remain so popular? What makes tens of millions of people consume it daily, even if they are well aware of its health and dietary pitfalls?

Well, part of the reason is by design – that is, the way such foods were designed to appeal to our senses. Think of the old Lay’s potato chip commercials; “No one can eat just one.” In many respects, that’s what junk food does: It is designed to create a sort of can’t resist mindset, which is a) why junk food makers have thrived, even in a culture of health; and b) why so many Americans (and increasingly, citizens of other countries) are seeing epidemics of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other medical conditions.

Digest that for a moment and consider the following examples, as laid out by Michael Moss, author of Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us:


Ever wonder why so many people can’t put down a bag of junk food Cheetos?
Find out here--> http://lifechangingcarehouston.com/junk-food-addiction

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Big papers' Page 1 stories spotlight recovery center for pill addicts, lack of state program for problem gamblers

Gripping stories from recovering addicts, on the front pages of Kentucky's two largest newspapers this morning, highlight Kentuckians' fights against all types of addiction, from gambling to drugs.

Hope of recovery emerges from Laura Ungar's story in The Courier-Journal that focuses on the Isaiah House recovery center in Willisburg. A gymnasium at the site has been transformed into a factory of sorts, where a pill addict who has been clean three weeks polishes car parts, while a morphine addict with 103 days’ sobriety hammers nails into wood to make pallets, Ungar reports.

Work is an essential part of recovery at the Isaiah House, giving structure to chaotic lives, teaching job skills and building confidence. “It gives them a sense of purpose, of accomplishment,” Executive Director Mark LaPalme told Ungar. “They get their dignity back — that’s what work does.”

LaPalme, a Connecticut native and recovering cocaine addict, said he started Isaiah House in his basement in 1999, after a spiritual experience moved him to set aside seven bedrooms for other addicts. Today, the house helps to rebuild the lives of drug and alcohol addicts, while promoting worth ethic and responsibility throughout the recovery process (Read more).

Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes about Kentucky's lack of a state program to treat problem gamblers. It is one of 13 states without such a program.

Billy Stephens, 66, Hawesville Mayor Rita Stephens' husband, said he lived a "a life of lies" with his gambling addiction, but with professional treatment, has not gambled since 2010. When he finally sought treatment, he could find no affordable treatment in Kentucky. The family had to borrow money to pay for his $6,000 treatment in a 36-day program in Louisiana, which is free to residents of the Bayou State.

"My addiction almost destroyed me," he told Brammer. "My insurance in Kentucky would have helped with my treatment if it were alcohol. But it was gambling." (Read more)

Gripping stories from recovering addicts, on the front pages of Kentucky's two largest newspapers this morning, highlight Kentuckians' fights against all types of addiction, from gambling to drugs.

Hope of recovery emerges from Laura Ungar's story in The Courier-Journal that focuses on the Isaiah House recovery center in Willisburg. A gymnasium at the site has been transformed into a factory of sorts, where a pill addict who has been clean three weeks polishes car parts, while a morphine addict with 103 days’ sobriety hammers nails into wood to make pallets, Ungar reports.

Work is an essential part of recovery at the Isaiah House, giving structure to chaotic lives, teaching job skills and building confidence. “It gives them a sense of purpose, of accomplishment,” Executive Director Mark LaPalme told Ungar. “They get their dignity back — that’s what work does.”

LaPalme, a Connecticut native and recovering cocaine addict, said he started Isaiah House in his basement in 1999, after a spiritual experience moved him to set aside seven bedrooms for other addicts. Today, the house helps to rebuild the lives of drug and alcohol addicts, while promoting worth ethic and responsibility throughout the recovery process (Read more).

Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes about Kentucky's lack of a state program to treat problem gamblers. It is one of 13 states without such a program.

Billy Stephens, 66, Hawesville Mayor Rita Stephens' husband, said he lived a "a life of lies" with his gambling addiction, but with professional treatment, has not gambled since 2010. When he finally sought treatment, he could find no affordable treatment in Kentucky. The family had to borrow money to pay for his $6,000 treatment in a 36-day program in Louisiana, which is free to residents of the Bayou State.

"My addiction almost destroyed me," he told Brammer. "My insurance in Kentucky would have helped with my treatment if it were alcohol. But it was gambling." (Read more)

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FDA likely to make hydrocodone painkillers harder to prescribe

Prescription painkillers containing hydrocodone should be placed in a more restrictive federal category, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel of experts voted on Friday. The changes would be an effort to stem the tide of prescription painkiller abuse and addiction in the U.S., much of it in rural areas, beginning in Central Appalachia. Painkillers containing hydrocodone are the most widely prescribed drugs in the country.

Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times reports the FDA is likely to adopt the panel's recommendations, which include limiting access to hydrocodone drugs such as Vicodin by making them harder to prescribe. Refills wouldn't be allowed without a new prescription, and faxed or called-in prescriptions wouldn't be accepted. Only a hanwritten prescription from a doctor would be allowed, and pharmacists would be required to keep the drugs in special vaults.

Many said these changes would be a key step in reducing painkiller addiction. However, dissenters in the vote were concerned that this move wouldn't make a difference. Oxycodone, the main ingredient in the highly-abused painkiller OxyContin, has been classified in a restrictive category since it was first introduced on the market but it is still widely abused, dissenters said. They also said the change could create unfair obstacles for legitimate patients. (Read more)

Prescription painkillers containing hydrocodone should be placed in a more restrictive federal category, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel of experts voted on Friday. The changes would be an effort to stem the tide of prescription painkiller abuse and addiction in the U.S., much of it in rural areas, beginning in Central Appalachia. Painkillers containing hydrocodone are the most widely prescribed drugs in the country.

Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times reports the FDA is likely to adopt the panel's recommendations, which include limiting access to hydrocodone drugs such as Vicodin by making them harder to prescribe. Refills wouldn't be allowed without a new prescription, and faxed or called-in prescriptions wouldn't be accepted. Only a hanwritten prescription from a doctor would be allowed, and pharmacists would be required to keep the drugs in special vaults.

Many said these changes would be a key step in reducing painkiller addiction. However, dissenters in the vote were concerned that this move wouldn't make a difference. Oxycodone, the main ingredient in the highly-abused painkiller OxyContin, has been classified in a restrictive category since it was first introduced on the market but it is still widely abused, dissenters said. They also said the change could create unfair obstacles for legitimate patients. (Read more)

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Pike court will keep lawsuit county and attorney general filed against Purdue Pharma over damage done by its OxyContin

A state court will hear the Kentucky attorney general's 2007 lawsuit against OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, against the wishes of the company. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit affirmed a lower court's order returning the suit to Kentucky from New York's Southern District, where Purdue wanted the case heard. The suit was filed in Pike Circuit Court, in Kentucky's easternmost county.

"After years of delay tactics, Purdue will now answer to a Kentucky court and a Kentucky jury," Attorney General Jack Conway said. Purdue Pharma spokeswoman Libby Holman said the company is disappointed by the decision, but now it is "fully prepared to vigorously defend this action on its merits, and we expect to prevail."

Then-AG Greg Stumbo and Pike County sued Purdue Pharma in October 2007, alleging that the company's "aggressive and deceptive marketing campaign saddled taxpayers with millions of dollars in social, health care and other costs," Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville reports. The suit also alleges the company misled health-care providers, consumers and the government about the highly addictive nature of OxyContin. The suit is largely based on admissions of guilt made by the company and several top-ranking company officials in a May 2007 Virginia federal court settlement. Purdue Pharma, its president, chief legal counsel and former medical director pleaded guilty to misleading doctors, regulators and patients about OxyContin during that case.

The nation's prescription-drug epidemic apparently began in the region, largely because of the introduction and high rate of prescription of OxyContin. Kentucky has nearly 1,000 overdose deaths a year. Conway's office said the suit against Purdue Pharma seeks reimbursement for drug-abuse programs, law-enforcement actions and prescription payments through Medicaid and the Kentucky Pharmaceutical Alliance Program. (Read more)

A state court will hear the Kentucky attorney general's 2007 lawsuit against OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, against the wishes of the company. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit affirmed a lower court's order returning the suit to Kentucky from New York's Southern District, where Purdue wanted the case heard. The suit was filed in Pike Circuit Court, in Kentucky's easternmost county.

"After years of delay tactics, Purdue will now answer to a Kentucky court and a Kentucky jury," Attorney General Jack Conway said. Purdue Pharma spokeswoman Libby Holman said the company is disappointed by the decision, but now it is "fully prepared to vigorously defend this action on its merits, and we expect to prevail."

Then-AG Greg Stumbo and Pike County sued Purdue Pharma in October 2007, alleging that the company's "aggressive and deceptive marketing campaign saddled taxpayers with millions of dollars in social, health care and other costs," Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville reports. The suit also alleges the company misled health-care providers, consumers and the government about the highly addictive nature of OxyContin. The suit is largely based on admissions of guilt made by the company and several top-ranking company officials in a May 2007 Virginia federal court settlement. Purdue Pharma, its president, chief legal counsel and former medical director pleaded guilty to misleading doctors, regulators and patients about OxyContin during that case.

The nation's prescription-drug epidemic apparently began in the region, largely because of the introduction and high rate of prescription of OxyContin. Kentucky has nearly 1,000 overdose deaths a year. Conway's office said the suit against Purdue Pharma seeks reimbursement for drug-abuse programs, law-enforcement actions and prescription payments through Medicaid and the Kentucky Pharmaceutical Alliance Program. (Read more)

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Northern Kentucky group forms in response to what some consider 'epidemic' of heroin use in their area

Ashel Kruetzkamp with a vial of Naloxone
HCl, used to treat those who overdose
on heroin. (Photo by Patrick Reddy)

Heroin use is reaching such high levels in Northern Kentucky that experts are calling it "a plague." The problem is so dire that local agencies are coming together to form the Northern Kentucky Heroin Impact and Response Workgroup.

Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Terry DeMio reports that the group includes leaders from St. Elizabeth Healthcare, law enforcement, addiction treatment programs, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and those who have been impacted by heroin. The goal of the group is “to fight, treat and prevent the destructive force of heroin in our community,” said Dr. Jeremy Engel, a family doctor with St. Elizabeth Physicians, Bellevue. Engel spearheaded the effort based on his belief that heroin use in the area has hit “epidemic” levels.

Engel points to first nine months of 2012 when St. Elizabeth Healthcare treated 311 heroin overdose patients in the emergency rooms of its five hospitals. For the same time period in 2011, the heroin overdoses presented in those emergency rooms numbered 186. With help from the chamber, St. Elizabeth Healthcare and others, Engel is forming the task force under the NKY Vision 2015 umbrella. (Read more)

Ashel Kruetzkamp with a vial of Naloxone
HCl, used to treat those who overdose
on heroin. (Photo by Patrick Reddy)

Heroin use is reaching such high levels in Northern Kentucky that experts are calling it "a plague." The problem is so dire that local agencies are coming together to form the Northern Kentucky Heroin Impact and Response Workgroup.

Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Terry DeMio reports that the group includes leaders from St. Elizabeth Healthcare, law enforcement, addiction treatment programs, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and those who have been impacted by heroin. The goal of the group is “to fight, treat and prevent the destructive force of heroin in our community,” said Dr. Jeremy Engel, a family doctor with St. Elizabeth Physicians, Bellevue. Engel spearheaded the effort based on his belief that heroin use in the area has hit “epidemic” levels.

Engel points to first nine months of 2012 when St. Elizabeth Healthcare treated 311 heroin overdose patients in the emergency rooms of its five hospitals. For the same time period in 2011, the heroin overdoses presented in those emergency rooms numbered 186. With help from the chamber, St. Elizabeth Healthcare and others, Engel is forming the task force under the NKY Vision 2015 umbrella. (Read more)

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