Tackle substance misuse in young people early, says NICE

An exploration of substance misuse in people with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) who misuse substances and how such problems impinge upon their well-being. The aim of this paper is to describe how alcohol and drugs affect the health of people with IDs. METHODS A questionnaire was forwarded to all the community ID teams and mainstream addiction teams across Northern Ireland:...

Substance Misuse Education for Physicians: Why Older People are Important.

This perspective article focuses on the need for training and education for undergraduate medical students on substance-related disorders, and describes initiatives undertaken in the United Kingdom (UK), Netherlands, United States (US), and Norway to develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed by future doctors to treat patients adequately. In addition, we stress that in postgraduate tr...

Substance misuse and older people: better information, better care.

Substance Misuse in Pregnancy

Tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and cocaine are the most consumed psychoactive drugs throughout the population. Prenatal exposure to these drugs could alter normal foetal development and could threaten future welfare. The main changes observed in prenatal exposure to tobacco are caused by nicotine and carbon monoxide, which can impede nutrient and oxygen exchange between mother and foetus, restricti...

Substance misuse in adolescents

Harith Swadi is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University (PO Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; Fax: (9713) 672 995; e-mail: [email protected]) and a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist currently practising in the Middle East. Formerly, he was Senior Lecturer at the St Thomas’ Hospital Campus of the...