CLINICAL ISSUES :: DRUG TESTING AND MONITORING
Figure 1. People aged 12 and older with a past-year substance use disorder (SUD): 2020.
• Adults who use drugs may have problems of clear think- ing, remembering, and paying attention. Drug addiction impairs social behaviors and affects work performance and personal relationships. • Parents’ drug use results in chaotic, stress-filled homes and probable child abuse and neglect.8
Such conditions harm the
well-being and development of children, and they also may resort to drug abuse.9 • Pregnant women who abuse drugs during pregnancy risk premature and underweight babies. This situation also affects the child’s ability to learn and behavior later in life.10
The child
may also become dependent on opioids or other drugs used by the mother during pregnancy, a condition called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
Scientific reasons behind drug addiction Drug addiction manifests as a behavioral disorder where the patient exhibits compulsive drug-seeking behavior. It is
a brain disorder, that is caused by functional changes to the brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control. Brain images of people with addiction have shown changes in the areas of the brain that control judgement, decision- making, learning, memory, and behavior.11
Those changes
may last a long time after a person has stopped taking drugs.12 Addiction is dependent on various factors, including genetic and environmental factors. Figure 3 shows the factors that impact drug addiction.3
Drug testing
Situations requiring drug testing Drug addiction is preventable and treatable. If left untreated, it can last a lifetime and may lead to death. Drug addic- tion can be determined by drug testing. Although, drug testing may be required for clinical or nonclinical reasons. A clinical reason would be when a doctor requests drug
12 Month-ending provisional number and percent change of drug overdose deaths
Figure 2. Based on CDC data available for analysis on August 16, 2022.
MLO-ONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2022 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
