Extreme rehab: Inside the world’s most radical drug clinic
Dr Andre Waismann is rewriting the rulebook for rehab, with incredible success. So why is the medical establishment ignoring his work? Nick Harding investigates
Thursday, 2 October 2008,
Dr Andre Waismann looks out of the window towards the Gaza Strip. Speaking in a medical centre in the Israeli town of Ashkelon, a few miles north of the heavily fortified border and constantly under threat from Kassam rocket attack, he explains his vision. “My goal,” he says, “is that any drug addict in the world will one day be able to turn up at their local general hospital and say, ‘good evening, I am hooked on opiates’. They will then lie down on a treatment table and be cured quickly before going home healthy. It will be as simple as taking a trip to the dentist.”
Waismann’s clinic, based in Barzilai Medical Centre in the south of Israel, offers a controversial solution for drug addicts dependent on opiates such as heroin and morphine, as well as people hooked on painkillers containing the opiate codeine, such as Vicodin. Waismann and his team “clean” them of their addiction. The vomiting, nausea, stomach cramps and fever associated with opiate withdrawal are bypassed and the patient, who is sedated during the process, awakes with no cravings, having gone through detoxification. For the next 10 months to a year they take regular pills to counteract the effects of any heroin or opiate they may take and, according to Waismann, become fully functioning members of society again. He says he has successfully treated 11,000 patients over 14 years, and refers to his technique as ANR, or accelerated neuro-regulation. He says it reverses both the physical and the psychological dependency on the drug. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Mental Health, Recent Posts on October 3, 2008 - ד' תשרי תשס"ט at 5:15 pm
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Understanding Obama: The Cult of Personality
By Ali Sina, Faithfreedom.org, September 22, 2008
A cult of personality is excessive adulation, admiration and exaltation of a charismatic leader, often with unproven merits or achievements. It is similar to hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders.
I must confess I was not impressed by Sen. Barack Obama from the first time I saw him. At first I was excited to see a black candidate. He looked youthful, spoke well, appeared to be confident – a wholesome presidential package. It is so instinctive for most people to want to see blacks succeed. It is as if all humanity is carrying a collective guilt for what the ancestors of blacks endured. However, despite my initial interest in him, I was put off soon, not just because of his shallowness but also because there was an air of haughtiness in his demeanor that was unsettling. His posture and his body language were louder than his empty words.
It is surreal to see the level of hysteria in his admirers. This phenomenon is unprecedented in American politics. Women scream and swoon during his speeches. They yell and shout to Obama, “I love you.” Never did George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt. Martin Luther King Jr. or Ronald Reagan arouse so much raw emotion. Despite their achievements, none of them was raised to the rank of Messiah. The Illinois senator has no history of service to the country. He has done nothing outstanding except giving promises of change and hyping his audience with hope. It’s only his words, not his achievements that is causing this much uproar.
When cheering for someone turns into adulation, something is wrong. Excessive adulation is indicative of a personality cult. The cult of personality is often created when the general population is discontent. A charismatic leader can seize the opportunity and project himself as an agent of change and a revolutionary leader. Often, people, tired of the status quo, do not have the patience to examine the nature of the proposed change. All they want is change. During 1979, when the Iranians were tired of the dictatorial regime of the late Shah, they embraced Khomeini, not because they wanted Islam, but because he promised them change. The word in the street was, “anything is better than the Shah.” They found their error when it was too late. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Mental Health, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on September 28, 2008 - כ"ח אלול תשס"ח at 5:58 am
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The Creative Energy Behind ADHD
By Sue Shellenbarger, Wall Street Journal
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Health Sciences, Mental Health, Special Education on May 5, 2008 - ל' ניסן תשס"ח at 6:27 pm
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Religion is good for you
New study proves what observant Jews have known all along – religious people are happier
Rabbi Levi Brackman, YNet News, April 4, 2008
We humans can be destructive to ourselves. Many people live unhealthy lifestyles because it gives them short-term enjoyment, ignoring the long-term suffering it causes.
The same thing applies to religion. It has now, yet again, been proven that religion and belief in God make us happier and better equipped to deal with life’s troubles. Still, there are many people who would rather indulge in irreligiosity than lead a religious and therefore happier life.
Prof. Andrew Clark of the Paris School of Economics and Dr. Orsolya Lelkes of the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research recently presented their research at the conference of the Royal Economic Society in Coventry, UK. They said that religious believers are happier overall than atheists or agnostics.
What I found most interesting, however, was the following discovery: regular church attendance and an active prayer life make people even happier than passive belief alone.
But wait a second: Isn’t organized religion the root of all evil?
Many Jews in the United States have turned away from religion for this very reason—they claim that organized religion is the cause of all wars and suffering for mankind. Some have therefore opted for a more individual spiritual life, which does not enforce upon them any social or communal norms and does not expect them to pray regularly or go to a house of worship. Others have abandoned religion all together. They see no value in community affiliation beyond its social benefits.
But now we have real evidence about the benefits of active belief and practice within an organized setting. “Religion tempers the impact of adverse life events,” say the authors of the study.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Christianity, Health Sciences, Judaism, Mental Health, Monotheistic Religions on April 4, 2008 - כ"ח אדר ב' תשס"ח at 6:12 am
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Unprecedented Method to Predict ALS, Parkinson’s Disease
By Mayo Clinic, Jan 19, 2008
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - ROCHESTER, Minn. — A new Mayo Clinic study details an unprecedented method to predict brain aging disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Parkinson’s disease. Investigators studied common variations within axon guidance pathway genes and identified several gene variations (DNA fingerprints) that collectively predicted people who are at a high risk for ALS (2,000 times greater than the average risk). They also identified several gene variations that collectively predicted people at a high risk for Parkinson’s disease (nearly 400 times greater than the average risk).
The probability that the findings were by chance was extremely small (less than one in a trillion). The axon guidance pathway consists of a complex array of chemical signals that wires the brain during fetal development and maintains and repairs brain wiring throughout life. The study is published online in the public access journal PLoS ONE.
“The mission of our research is to predict, prevent and halt brain aging disorders,” explains Demetrius Maraganore, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist and principal investigator. “I envision a day when we will be able to do a simple blood test and predict whether a person is at high risk to develop brain aging disorders such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease and even Alzheimer’s disease by studying common gene variations in disease pathways. In persons at high risk, we may be able to prevent the diseases or slow or halt their progression by developing drugs that target the same disease pathways. For ALS and Parkinson’s disease, our study is a major step in these directions.”
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Mental Health, Recent Posts, Science on January 19, 2008 - י"ב שבט תשס"ח at 9:48 am
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Is Your Child Being Bullied? Tips for Parents
By Derek Randel, Health News Digest, October 11, 2007
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Keith is a ten year-old student who has always liked school. That was until recently and now he does not want to go to school each morning. This of course is very frustrating for his parents. The reason Keith dislikes school does not have anything to do with academics. Keith is being bullied before school, at school, and on the school bus. Who can blame him for not wanting to go into an environment where he does not feel safe?
The basic definition of bullying is when someone keeps doing or saying things to have power over another person. Bullying involves crossing into one’s space without permission. Come on, isn’t bullying just something that happens to all children and we’re just making a big fuss over this? The children will get over it, right? Shouldn¹t we tell Keith to grow up and handle it? Wrong. It is not ‘boys will be boys’ anymore. Looking at the life long results to victims of bullying, adults shouldn’t be ignoring it any longer. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Mental Health on October 12, 2007 - ל' תשרי תשס"ח at 11:53 am
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Israeli education program helps urban American students realize their learning potential
By Batsheva Pomerantz, Israel 21C, September 17, 2007
When underachieving fourth graders in Bridgeport, Connecticut recently spent three days undergoing a battery of educational tests, they not only had fun but they perceived themselves in a totally new and positive way. One of the students, Tyheem, wrote in appreciation: “…thanks for everything. You made my brain strong.”
These students of African American and Hispanic background were part of a pilot project using a novel Israeli-developed system of cognitive assessment developed by the Jerusalem-based International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential (ICELP)
The testing preceded the recently signed partnership between the ICELP and the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (NUA). Plans are underway to start implementing the partnership in 20 US cities in the near future. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Mental Health, Middle East Report on September 17, 2007 - ה' תשרי תשס"ח at 9:24 pm
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Researchers: New understanding of autism is near
BY DELTHIA RICKS,delthia.ricks@newsday.com, August 14, 2007
Attorney David Gould and his wife, Lauretta Murdock, the founder of a school in New Hyde Park, were not prepared for the phone call they recently received.
It was from a neighbor, someone they had never met. The caller was frightened. The Gould’s 16-year-old son, Bryan, had casually entered the neighbor’s house through an unlocked door, startling the home’s occupants.
“We were so lucky. God were we lucky,” said Gould, of Port Washington. Bryan was oblivious to the panic. At a time when home invasions are in the public consciousness - and homeowners might be armed - Gould feels fortunate his neighbors sensed something different about Bryan and were able to coax him to give them his home phone number.
The teen is autistic, as is his 12-year-old brother, Connor.
Yet, the Gould/Murdock household is not atypical. Families nationwide are facing the realities of autism, and sometimes with more than one child. Murdock is one of Long Island’s leading experts on the condition, having established Mosaic, a New Hyde Park school for autistic children.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Mental Health, Recent Posts, Special Education on August 14, 2007 - ל' אב תשס"ז at 5:58 pm
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New Model for Autism Suggests Women Carry the Disorder and Explains Age as a Risk Factor
Press Release, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, July 23, 2007
A new model for understanding how autism is acquired has been developed by a team of researchers led by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Autism is a developmental disorder, characterized by language impairments, social deficits, and repetitive behaviors. The researchers analyzed data on autism incidence and found a previously unrecognized pattern. The pattern can be explained by assuming that spontaneous germ-line mutation is a significant cause of the disorder. Parents, especially women, who acquire the mutation – but do not exhibit severe symptoms of the disorder – have a 50% chance of passing the mutation on to their children. Sons often show the most severe symptoms. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Mental Health, Recent Posts, Special Education on July 26, 2007 - י"א אב תשס"ז at 3:24 pm
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Parents can help kids deal with mean peers
TODAY contributor Dr. Ruth Peters offers advice on how to spot the signs
By Ruth A. Peters, Ph.D. ,TODAY, July 17, 2007
Like it or not, our kids are growing up in a culture of cruelty.
Daily in school they face peers who can be wonderful, friendly, nice and inviting — or rejecting, insulting, bullying and down-right nasty.
When you’re a kid, it’s politically correct to be just like the others — ranging from having the same neat lunchbox to similarly cool clothes and interest in the same music and sports.
Of course, there are children who do not reside “inside the box,” who do fit in with their peers. But too often these children have to display either extraordinary wit, personality, intelligence, athletic prowess … or their folks happen to own the largest house (and pool) in town. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education Report, Mental Health, Recent Posts on July 18, 2007 - ג' אב תשס"ז at 9:58 am
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