RSS Feed
Facebook
MySpace
NIDA Chat Day Word Cloud
0 Comments What are your biggest questions about drug abuse? What words come to mind when you think about addiction?
We took the transcript from the morning session at NIDA’s 2008 Chat Day and used it to make this “word cloud
.” The biggest words are the words that were used most often in the conversation between teens and NIDA scientists—like drugs, school, and high. There were lots of questions about specific drugs, including marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco, and also about how to find help if you’re worried that you or a friend might have problems with drug abuse or addiction. If you look closely you can spot NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow, who was answering questions online with kids, and some schools that participated in Chat Day, like Rockville High in Maryland and Yonkers High in New York.
It’s kind of cool to see a conversation between scientists and teens all summed up in a picture like this! You can read frequently asked questions from NIDA’s Chat Day. And you can make your own word cloud pictures using any website or text at www.wordle.net.
A Day at the Movies
Hollywood is exciting, glamorous, dramatic, funny, and can make just about anything seem cool—including drug abuse, and especially the use of marijuana. But films don’t tell you the whole story. Did you know there are over 400 different chemicals in marijuana smoke? Did you know that marijuana smoke really does hurt your memory, judgment and perception? And yes—you can get addicted to marijuana!
In this video, NIDA scientist Dr. Joe Frascella explains why marijuana is not all its “glammed” up to be. Dr. Frascella runs the division of NIDA that deals with clinical neuroscience, human development, and behavioral treatment for drug abuse and addiction—so he knows a little more about the science of marijuana than your average film director. Watch the video and see how much of this you already know—and how good you think Hollywood is at telling the real story.
Comorbidity, a Word for Thought…
This is a guest SBB post from NIDA intern Giselle.
“Comorbidity” is a strange word, right? Well, at least for me it was. I have to admit it that it was the first scientific word I learned during my internship here at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)–my Spanish accent still gives me a hard time pronouncing it. On the first day of my internship I had to read and get acquainted with the extensive research that NIDA has done and published. Comorbidity was featured in NIDA’s Research Report Series.
So, what’s co-mor-bi-di-ty? Here’s what NIDA scientists say: “When two disorders or illnesses occur in the same person, together or one after the other, they are called comorbid.” Having two disorders together can also cause them to interact in ways that make both of them worse.
So what does all of that really mean? It means that sometimes two illnesses go together. For example, people who have depression or other mental illness are often addicted to drugs as well, and vice versa-so that’s why scientists say depression is often “comorbid with” drug abuse.
NIDA scientists aren’t completely sure why depressed people are more likely to have a drug abuse problem. But here’s my take on it. Everyone has had the so-called ‘mood swings.’ If someone feels really bad, they may want to ‘ease their mind’ with drugs. Unfortunately, that can lead to a second disease - addiction to drugs - and then they feel even worse than they did before.
That’s what’s really bad about comorbid diseases: they can make each other worse! If someone is depressed, it’s harder to be motivated to quit using drugs. And if someone is using drugs, it can interfere with their treatment for depression.
What other diseases could you think could be comorbid? And why? It’s food for thought.
Steroids: More than Meets the Eye
Regardless of whether or not teens should care about body image or physical appearances, the truth is that we do care, a lot. And working out is a healthy way to look and feel better. The trouble comes when people sacrifice their health to look buff—like by taking steroids.
While not that many teens try steroids even once, according to NIDA surveys (about 3 in 100), those who do use steroids are getting a lot more than just larger muscles. Steroids can cause acne and make your hair fall out. They can also damage your heart and change your hormone levels so that girls might grow facial hair, and boys could develop breasts. Seriously.
NIDA scientist Dr. Baler reveals more about what steroids can do in the video to the left.
