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From the Townsend Letter
January 2007

 

CARA Model of Brain Repair at the Sacramento Drug Court
by Carolyn Reuben, LAc


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Mel Gibson, Nick Nolte, William Moyers, Keith Urban, Kate Moss, Willie Nelson, Eric Musselman (the Kings' head coach, for you non-basketball fans), and numerous other famous people have been outed as alcohol or illegal drug users during the past year, some for repeat offenses. As millions of Americans who were in their twenties in the 1960s can attest, to use drugs isn't necessarily to abuse them. Yet there seems to be a subset of the population, even among those with plenty of money to buy the best treatment available, who cannot move beyond their drug. I join a growing number of researchers and practitioners who have a logical explanation why and a reasonable solution to this problem.

We believe that there is a disconnect between what science knows an addict needs and what society provides as treatment. Yes, addicts need behavior modification training. They also need mental health counseling and a drug-free place to live and a job with a living wage. Yet, even before all that, they need brain repair at the molecular level.

Let me explain how we do the necessary repair work in Sacramento using acupuncture, nutrition, nutritional supplements, yoga, tai chi, qigong, and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Because you will most likely be interested in what you can quickly apply to your own medical practice or personal life, I will emphasize the acupuncture and nutrition components.

It Started with Acupuncture
During the mid-1980s, the jails in Miami and other Florida cities were crowded with cocaine users. One judge on the 11th Circuit Court was given a year off the bench to find a solution. Judge Herbert Klein was impressed with the group acupuncture program at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx run by psychiatrist Michael Smith, MD. Soon Smith was helping Klein and others, including former US Attorney General Janet Reno, design the country's first Drug Court, which opened in Dade County, Florida in 1989. In addition to acupuncture, the Drug Court included 12-Step meetings and counseling sessions as the carrot and time in jail as the stick to help nudge people into recovery.

Across the country in San Francisco, acupuncturist Pat Keenan remembered seeing Chinese doctors using surgical tape to stick plump black plant seeds called semen viccariae on the ears of children in a clinic in Nanjing when she had studied there. The ear seeds were pressed as a form of acupressure to treat various ailments. Now working in a public health clinic in a poor neighborhood, Pat decided to apply the seeds to drug-exposed babies. "The...semen viccariae were chosen because they are the right consistency and shape so they don't irritate the baby's skin," wrote Pat in the clinic newsletter back in 1991. She chose three ear points commonly used in acupuncture: kidney, brain stem, and "shenmen," a point used to increase endorphins. Babies, even rigid PCP-exposed infants, quickly responded, relaxing into quiet softness in her arms.

I wanted to apply this cleverly simple and inexpensive protocol in Sacramento, so I called our local county hospital and was introduced to a counselor whose boss hired me to give ear acupuncture to women in recovery. (I never did use the seeds on children.)

Wanting to spread the work, a small group of acupuncturists and others created a nonprofit organization that came to be known as Community Addiction Recovery Association (CARA, pronounced as "care-ah," to emphasize the care we could provide). Our timing couldn't have been better. Overcrowding in our local jails had resulted in a hefty fine and forced the Criminal Justice Cabinet, a collaboration of all major criminal justice players in the county, to seek help.

Enter Michael Smith, MD, who answered a request from one of our original Board Members, psychiatric technician Daniel Uselmann, to speak here at a public forum. Smith, in San Francisco for a conference, drove himself the two hours from San Francisco to Sacramento with his usual generosity and zeal. After he spoke, the law enforcers agreed to fund acupuncture in the pilot drug court they were planning for our county.

We've been treating clients five days a week, one hour a day, since Drug Court began in November of 1995. Many choose needles during the week and seeds (or magnets, which are tinier and more attractive on the ear than seeds) for the weekend, when acupuncture isn't available. Needles cost a few cents each. Treating a dozen or more people simultaneously makes it cost-effective, especially since people who are resistant to counseling can still be helped.

In some locations (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington), non-acupuncturists, such as social workers, nurses, corrections officers, and case workers can learn to insert needles and, after a 70-hour training (see NADA; Resources), can work as an Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist. Since these professionals are often already on staff, the cost of acupuncture within a community or care facility can be radically reduced.

Whether with needle, seed, or magnet, auriculotherapy stimulates a cranial nerve branch in the ear. When needling, we use the points named Shenmen (to increase endorphins), Sympathetic (which relaxes the sympathetic nervous system), and Kidney, Liver, and Lung (the three major detox organs). How do we know it works? In a 1999, retrospective cohort study published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, Michael Shwartz of Boston University looked at detoxification readmission rates of clients treated in outpatient and short-term residential treatment for substance abuse detoxification, some with acupuncture, some not. No matter how he looked at the data, acupuncture clients were less likely to be readmitted for detoxification within six months.

Food, Glorious Food
During the fall of 1995, I read an article about a nutrition-based drug treatment
program in Minneapolis run by Joan Larson, PhD, (described in her Seven Weeks to Sobriety; see Resources) and also heard a lecture by an ex-con polydrug abuser who raved about the nutrition-based program of Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD (described in
Potatoes Not Prozac; see Resources). A nutrient-based treatment program made so much sense!

While some emphasize changing one's diet and others are sure individualized nutrients are essential, the goal for all addiction nutrition practitioners is permanent brain repair. Larson at Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota; DesMaisons at Radiant Recovery in Albuquerque New Mexico; Julia Ross, MA, MFT, at Recovery Systems in Mill Valley California; Clark Inkanish at TK Wolf in Tulsa Oklahoma; James Braly, MD, at Bridging the Gaps in Winchester Virginia; Joseph Beasley, MD, at Comprehensive Medical Care in Amityville New York; and Charles Gant, MD, in Syracuse New York, among others, have discovered that by giving the bodies the raw materials they need, clients make it through the tough early days of withdrawal and beyond feeling healthier and happier than they have for years.

After a couple years of listening to my nagging, the Drug Court supervisor found extra money at the end of the fiscal year and allowed CARA to begin a nutrition program. I hired Jan Trifiro, a certified nutritionist and former junior high school teacher (big help with the Drug Court clientele!) to create a six-week curriculum of basic nutrition concepts based on the work of DesMaisons.

The day begins with a frozen fruit-whey powder blended drink to get the methamphetamine users used to eating regularly again and to provide everyone with an easily digestible source of protein. Clients fill out a food-mood journal in acupuncture class each morning, in which they list what they ate and drank the day before and how they felt. Each week, Trifiro reviews the journals with each client. Then she lectures the
class on the basics of healthy eating, including the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates, the importance of hydration, and the definition of a healthy fat or oil. The favorite part of the whole program comes next: food! The group cooks together and eats lunch. They may be making ground turkey burgers or whole wheat crust vegetarian pizza. Whatever it is, there are few leftovers.

Brain Repair in a Bottle
In four to six weeks, we must work our magic in our clients' lives, since our part of Drug Court involves only Phase One of a four-phase program. Luckily for us, subsequent Drug Court supervisors have supported our expanded program financially and politically. Julia Ross calls the physical consequences of addiction a "brain wreck." The information needed to clear the tracks is "profound but not difficult to grasp and apply." It all begins with vitamins.

After years of chasing their next high, our clients exhibit many signs and symptoms of malnourishment; their teeth are rotted; their digestion is a misery; their skin is sallow and marked; and their nerves are hypersensitive. We give everyone a multivitamin, a B complex for their nervous system, 100 mg of fish oil to increase their catecholamines and provide essential fatty acids, and 1000 mg of vitamin C (in the form of Emergen-C packets, which are sweet and tasty in a glass of water) to help them detox. We individualize amino acid packets by asking clients questions and having them complete a questionnaire. Our goal is to quickly begin neurotransmitter repair. It's amazing how quickly clients notice a difference.

Since Austrian Otto Loewi discovered the first neurotransmitter, now called acetylcholine, in 1921, over 300 others have been discovered. Luckily for those of us in the addiction field, we're mostly concerned with just four. Let's start with the catecholamines: dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. The catecholamines are what wake you up, focus your brain, and put color into your day. Without enough catecholamines, life is grey, boring, and disorganized. Anyone with diagnosed with ADD/ADHD needs more catecholamines. You only have to notice how many coffee shops are on your city's streets to realize we are a catecholamine-deficient people. You may also notice that methamphetamine abuse is reaching epic proportions. Some 500 counties questioned in 2005 named methamphetamine abuse as their largest drug problem and methamphetamine, the one drug causing the most incarcerations (Angelo D. Kyle, NA Co-President and Bill Hansell, NACo President-Elect. The Meth Epidemic in America, Two Surveys of US Counties. July 5, 2005).

The second important amino acid for addiction treatment is tryptophan, a metabolic precursor for the neurotransmitter serotonin. In the 1980s, tryptophan was inexpensive and easily available in every health food store. Psychiatrists used tryptophan to increase levels of serotonin in cases of insomnia and depression. The amino acid's reputation was sullied in 1989 when a single polluted batch of tryptophan from Showa Denka, one of several Japanese suppliers, caused eosinophilia myalgia syndrome which killed eleven Americans and sickened many more. Showa Denka stopped producing tryptophan. Other suppliers continued to ship safe tryptophan to American hospitals, American baby food manufacturers, and foreign buyers, but the supply of tryptophan on health food shelves quickly dried up. Recently tryptophan has appeared again for over-the-counter purchase.

Meanwhile, another metabolic precursor of serotonin was discovered in an African bean called Griffonia simplicifolia. This precursor, 5-hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP, is an intermediary between tryptophan and serotonin and can cross the blood-brain barrier to increase levels of serotonin in the central nervous system. According to a handy amino acid therapy chart designed by Julia Ross and described in her book
The Mood Cure (see Resources), symptoms of serotonin deficiency include anxiety, irritability, premenstrual syndrome, panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, a dislike of hot weather, difficulty getting to sleep and difficulty staying asleep, low self-esteem, obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviors, and the kind of depression that perceives all life's woes as one's own fault.

The third important amino acid for addiction treatment is phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is used to maintain levels of endorphins, those powerful pain relievers and mood elevators that create an effect characterized as the "runner's high." The most common symptoms of endorphin deficiency are hyper-sensitivity, low threshold for pain, a tendency to become easily hooked into sentimental TV commercials, a tendency to cry easily, chronic pain, and depression. Unlike tyrosine and 5HTP, phenylalanine doesn't make more of a neurotransmitter. It destroys the enzyme that causes endorphins to self-destruct and so extends their life. To build more endorphins, a person must consume adequate protein in meals.

As with all amino acids, phenylalanine is a three-dimensional molecule and has a natural twist to it. With amino acids, L- indicates a left twist (the Latin is laevus), and D- indicates right (the Latin is dexter). It's the D- form that maintains endorphins, but for manufacturers, it's cheaper to mix the two. Some of the L- form converts to L-tyrosine. The D-form is patented and is quite useful for relieving pain while avoiding the stimulation of the L-form.

The fourth amino acid useful for addiction treatment is gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is also the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the body. Anxiety and muscle tension are signs of deficient GABA, as are cravings for tranquilizing drugs, marijuana, and alcohol.

The Drug-Neurotransmitter Connection
Drug Brain Needs Useful Amino/
Dosage
Results
Cocaine/
meth
catecholamines Tyrosine
1500-2000mg 3x/day
clears thinking,
lifts mood/energy
Heroin/
marijuana
endorphins DLPA
1000-2000 3x/day
relieves pain/sadness,
adds pleasure
Prozac serotonin 5HTP/tryptophan
100-200mg 2-3x/day
stops depression &
compulsions, enables sleep
Valium GABA GABA
(250-1000 mg 2-4x/day
calms anxiety,
reduces tension
Alcohol and marijuana can affect all the neurotransmitters.

Abbreviated from an expanded version found in "Nutritional Rehab." In The Mood Cure by Julia Ross. New York: Viking Penguin; 2002:250.

As usual, there are contraindications for amino acid use, and we thank Julia Ross for teaching them to us. We don't give amino acids to our bipolar clients. Their needs are beyond our abilities right now. In addition, we don't give amino acids to people on psychiatric medications for any diagnosis without consulting their psychiatrist. We do not give L-Tyrosine or DL-Phenylalanine to people with a history of melanoma, high blood pressure, migraines, or Graves' Disease, and, sometimes, the autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's thyroiditis. And we do not give GABA to people with extremely low blood pressure.

Research
Is there research to back up the nutrition approach to drug treatment? Yes, and although there isn't room here to describe the researchers and their work, you can find some by searching PubMed (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/), as well as your usual search engines, for the work of Kenneth Blum, PhD; Ernest Noble, MD, PhD; Michael
Trachtenberg, PhD; Richard Wurtman, MD; and Eric Braverman, MD, to name a few.

Several program providers have also reported on their protocols, most notably the following: Joan Mathews Larson, PhD, found a 74% success rate, after evaluating 100 clients over one to three-and-one-half years following graduation from treatment. These results were published in the International Journal of Biosocial and Medical Research. (1987; 9 (1):92- 100). Julia Ross's 79% success rate, after following 100 clients for one year, is unpublished but was reported at the First National Conference on Reward Deficiency Syndrome, San Francisco, November 12-13, 2000; and there was the 80% success rate of patients who maintained Charles Gant, MD, PhD's nutritional protocols, remaining drug and alcohol-free two years after graduating from formal treatment, as reported in Dr Grant's book, End Your Addiction Now (see Resources). One anecdotal report comes from Cathie Scott of Sedona, Arizona. At age 45, Scott was a 28-year veteran of drugs and alcohol. She signed herself into Larson's treatment center and recalls, "In three days, I felt better than I'd felt in ten years."

Body-Mind Moves
At the Sacramento County Drug Court, we have created a program integrating all the elements we think are important in addition to acupuncture and nutrition:

* Probation officers on-site and biweekly visits to court before a judge provide ongoing accountability and consequences, which clients admit is needed and appreciated.

* Counseling and case management provide a safe place to learn to stop hiding from uncomfortable feelings behind drugs and instead work to recognize that these feelings are a necessary part of being human.

* Acupuncture provides a peaceful place where brain chemistry begins to heal, pain begins to disappear, a natural sense of inner calm is easier to generate, and clients notice cravings melting away.

* Yoga, tai chi, and qigong for an hour each week reconnect the client with his/her body, a foreign feeling for most addicts who have spent years, often decades, ignoring their physicality in search of a high.

* Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a simplified version of a system begun several decades ago in Southern California by clinical psychologist Roger Callahan, PhD. Callahan discovered that tapping on acupuncture points in certain order, while giving verbal instructions to the body, resulted in astounding relief of phobias, allergies, pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One of Callahan's students, a retired engineer named Gary Craig, shortened the tapping sequence, revised the wording, and called it Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Instead of charging several thousand dollars for the training, Craig gives away the manual for EFT on his website at www.emofree.com and encourages everyone to put it to use. Since the majority of women addicts suffer PTSD and so do many of the men, it may be the modality clients use most frequently outside class. I've used it myself to stop sugar cravings and writer's block, eliminate body pain (including helping others stop their pain), dissolve allergic reactions, and banish the upset of old memories. It is hard to believe something so powerful can be so simple. I recommend you read archive emailed newsletters at www.emofree.com to familiarize yourself with the places to tap and the way to create sentences that act like magic wands for healing. You can also access a how-to from Dr. Joseph Mercola's website (http://www.mercola.com/forms/eftcourse2.htm).

The CARA Model Of Brain Repair
The CARA model of brain repair is still a work-in-progress and probably always will be as we learn new forms of treatment and fine-tune those we use and love. Not every client is ready to bloom even with all our care. That's the nature of the disease, since we humans are more than just our biochemistry; we are also our history and our dreams. However, even those who struggle appreciate how different our program is from any other program they've attended

Want to know more about how nutrition, acupuncture, and mind-body exercises can treat addiction? CARA hosts Beyond Talk Therapy: New Frontiers in Addiction Treatment, a conference featuring over two dozen of the country's top experts in non-pharmaceutical methods of addiction treatment, September 27 -29, 2007, in Sacramento, California. For more information, please contact our event planner, Details Details, at 916-443-3855, and check out our website, www.carasac.org!

Resources

Acupuncture Supplies
Helio Medical Supplies, Santa Clara, CA, 800-672-2726
Everything for the acupuncturist: seeds, magnets, needles, office supplies, and more.

Amino Acids, Fish Oil, Vitamins
Some companies I've used because they are inexpensive:
Metabolic Maintenance, Sisters, OR, 800-772-7873
NOW Foods, Bloomingdale, IL, 888-669-3663
Threshold Enterprises (a one-stop shop for dozens of companies), 800-777-5677

Organizations
SOS (Secular Organizations for Sobriety, or Save Our Selves)
4773 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, California 90027 USA
323-666-4295, Fax 323-666-4271
sos@cfiwest.org; www.secularsobriety.org
A secular alternative to traditional "I admit I am powerless and turn to God"-
type 12-Step programs

CARA International
22230 Loma Vista Drive, Sacramento, CA 95825 USA
916-485-2272; Fax 916-485-2272
carasac@aol.com, www.carasac.org
Newly formed membership organization for network practitioners using
nonpharmaceutical brain repair methods; also lobbies for more inclusion of these methods in everyday treatment programs.

National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA)
Jay Renaud, Director
PO Box 1927
Vancouver, WA 98668
888-765-6232
nadaclear@aol.com; www.acudetox.com
Offers an international, 70-hour standardized training for health care workers, addiction specialists, acupuncturists, and counselors to perform auriculotherapy (treatment of the ears) and understand the unique dynamics of work in the addiction community.

Safe Harbor
787 W. Woodbury Rd. #2
Altadena, CA 91001
626-791-7868
www.alternativementalhealth.com
mail@alternativementalhealth.com
Billing itself as "the world's largest site on non-drug approaches for mental
health," Safe Harbor is a nonprofit corporation offering referrals, testimonials, local lectures, national conferences, and hope in a crazy world that has separated streams of funding for mental health and addiction programs and research.

Books on Addiction Nutrition
Here are written directions for everyone's needs, from Sahley's fast-read pamphlets to the Millers' thorough overview to Ross's, Gant's, and Larson's carefully crafted how-tos to DesMaisons's focus on food to Cass's expansive vision. Keep reading the scientific parts and the differences between the amino acids until their names are as familiar as Uncle Joe and Auntie Kate, and with embarrassing ease, you will change lives.

Staying Clean & Sober: Complementary and Natural Strategies for Healing the Addicted Brain
Merlene Miller and David Miller, PhD
Woodland Publishing; 2005
ISBN: 158054391X
Aminos and food, acupuncture and ear pressure, chiropractic and brainwave biofeedback, exercise and aromatics and more; the Millers reveal what's going on in the world of drug-free drug treatment and leave the reader with a smile of relief that recovery can include what's comfortable, doable, and fun.

The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions -- Today
Julia Ross, MA
New York: Viking Penguin, 2002
ISBN: 0670030694
Explains the connections of mood to adrenal and thyroid gland hormone imbalances, how to eliminate food cravings, and quickly figure out the nutrients and dietary changes that will bring back clearheaded focus and a joyful attitude while eliminating a need for drugs. We have given this book to clients upon graduation from Drug Court.

Depression-Free, Naturally
Joan Mathews Larson, PhD
New York; Random House; 2001
ISBN: 0345435176
Originally titled Seven Weeks to Emotional Health, Larson's publisher chose one popular problem to highlight in the title of the paperback, but it's truly encyclopedic in covering all manner of emotional disturbances, including addiction, aggression, and ADD. An excellent guidebook for self-care or for designing a professional treatment program by the Mother of Addiction Nutrition.

Seven Weeks to Sobriety
Joan Mathews Larson, PhD
New York: Ballentine; 1997
ISBN: 0449002594
Personal grief was transformed into public welfare after her teenage son's suicide in recovery led Dr. Larson to research the hypoglycemia-alcoholism connection. Her effort to connect the research dots has led to this extraordinary bible of self-care and a successful treatment program in Minneapolis.

Potatoes Not Prozac
Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD
New York: Simon and Schuster (Fireside); 1999
ISBN: 0684850141
Chapter Five Brain Chemistry 101 is a treasure in explaining simply and usefully the neurotransmitter connection to addiction.

Natural Highs
Hyla Cass, MD, Patrick Holford
New York: Penguin Putnam (Avery); 2003
ISBN: 158333162X
A Los Angeles holistic psychiatrist, author, and frequent presenter at conferences on spirituality, holistic health, and addiction, Cass and her coauthor Patrick Holford cover the terrain of feeling good from every imaginable viewpoint. We have given this book to clients upon graduation from Drug Court.

How to Defeat Alcoholism: Nutritional Guidelines for Getting Sober
Joseph D. Beasley, MD
Times Books; 1989
Beasley has written so many books on the subject of successful treatment for alcoholism that it's amazing he isn't fed up with America's stubborn resistance to what works.

End Your Addiction Now: The Proven Nutritional Supplement Program That Can
Set You Free

Charles Gant, MD, PhD, and Greg Lewis, PhD
New York: Warner Books; 2002
ISBN: 044667981X
One of the few excellent nutrition-oriented self-care guides with full chapters on stopping smoking.

Alcoholism: The Cause & Cure
Genita Petralli
Alternative Approaches to End Alcohol Abuse; 2004
ISBN: 1591965101
Petralli runs an alcoholism treatment program in Los Angeles based on nutrition and naturopathic principles with unbridled enthusiasm and energy. This book has everything from bowel cleansing to meal planning from "The laws of health are not negotiable" to "It's a beautiful journey, relax and enjoy it."

Breaking Your Rx Addiction Habit
Billie J. Sahley, PhD, Katherine M. Birkner, CRNA, PhD
San Antonio, Texas: Pain & Stress Publications; 1996
ISBN: 1889391042
Sahley, a pain management specialist, and her coauthor produce a variety of pamphlets on addiction treatment via nutrition that need proofreading but are useful for their brevity. She also creates formulas for brain repair such as Brain Link. She runs the Pain and Stress Clinic in San Antonio, Texas, where her staff uses email and phone for consultation.

Cleansing the Body, Mind, and Spirit
Carolyn Reuben
Berkley Publishing Group; 1998
ISBN: 0425161919
This is my book on the myriad ways one can detoxify the body, but since it's out
of print, I buy it like everybody else, used, from the Internet. Check out Chapter 14 on "Addiction and Substance Abuse Detox."

The Healing Nutrients Within
Eric R. Braverman, MD, with Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, PhD, Ken Blum, PhD, &
Richard Smayda, DO
Laguna Beach, California: Basic Health Publications;2003
ISBN: 1591200377
An important overview of amino acids for the nonscientist. Lead author Eric Braverman, MD, has experience applying amino acids to addiction. He runs a comprehensive medical treatment center in New York.

Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism
Dr. James R. Milam and Katherine Ketcham
New York; Bantam; 1984
ISBN: 0553274872
One of the classics that opened many professionals' eyes to the nutrition link to addiction.

Books on Acupuncture for Detox and Recovery
Transformation & Recovery: A Guide for the Design and Development of Acupuncture-Based Chemical Dependency Treatment Programs
Alex G. Brumbaugh
Stillpoint Press; 1994
ISBN: 0963979108
Still the bible of acudetox, covering everything from the practicalities of opening an acupuncture treatment program to the spiritual dimensions of addiction work.

Fighting Drug Abuse with Acupuncture: The Treatment That Works
Ellinor R. Mitchell
Pacific View Press; 1995
ISBN: 1881896129
Mitchell took the time to interview the key players in acudetox and tell their story.

Some Studies and Other Articles on Non-Pharmaceutical Brain Repair
Articles describing the genetic basis for linking addiction to other compulsive, addictive, impulsive behaviors are found in many of the following works:

Nutritional Therapy In Medical Practice: A Reference Manual and Study Guide, 2001 Edition by Alan R. Gaby, MD. Section 25, Alcoholism and Drug Addiction; pp. 253-255. Lists 43 scientific studies of various nutritional substances used for addiction treatment

Blum K, et al. Reward deficiency syndrome. American Scientist. March-April 1996; 84 (2):132.

Blum K, Braverman ER.Reward deficiency syndrome: a biogenetic model for the diagnosis and treatment of impulsive, addictive and compulsive behaviors. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. November 2000; Vol. 32 (Supplement).
The Journal, a quarterly, has been published since 1967. Subscriptions are $90/year, available through Haight-Ashbury Publications, 856 Stanyon Street, San Francisco, CA 94117; 415-752-7601; www.drdave.org/journal.

Noble EP. The D2 dopamine receptor gene: a review of association studies in
alcoholism and phenotypes. Alcohol. 16 (1):33.

Volkow ND, et al. High levels of dopamine d2 receptors in unaffected members of alcoholic families. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006; 63(9):999-1008.

Volkow ND. Treat the addict, cut the crime rate. Op-Ed article. The Washington Post, August 19, 2006.
Author Nora D. Volkow is the Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse. "As a clinician," Dr. Volkow, a physician, writes, "I don't remember ever meeting an addicted person who wanted to be addicted or who expected that compulsive, uncontrollable, or even criminal behavior would emerge when he or she started taking drugs."

Lieberman HR, Corkin S, Spring BJ, Wurtman RJ, Growdon JH. The effects of dietary neurotransmitter precursors on human behavior. Am J Clin Nutr. 1985 Aug;42(2):366-70.

Treatment Programs
Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD
Radiant Recovery
www.radiantrecovery.com
admin@radiantrecovery.com
901 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Suite D-128
Albuquerque, NM 87104
888-579-3970
505-345-3737
505-345-3057 (fax)

Joan Mathews Larson, PhD
Health Recovery Center
www.healthrecovery.com
hrc@healthrecovery.com
3255 Hennepin Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-827-7800

Julia Ross, MA, MFT
Recovery Systems
www.moodcure.com
recoversys@aol.com
147 Lomita Drive D
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415-383-3611

Billie J. Sahley, PhD
Pain & Stress Center
www.teenlinkusa.com specifically for teens
psctr@painstresscenter.com
5282 Medical Drive, Suite 160
San Antonio, TX 78229-5379
210-614-7246; Order line: 800-669-2256
FAX: 210-614-4336

Consult your doctor before using any of the treatments found within this site.

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