It may surprise some people, but by statistics, alcohol is by far the deadliest drug. Alcohol is responsible for 88,000 preventable deaths annually in the United States.¹ Many of these are related to chronic diseases caused by alcohol use, such as liver disease and heart disease. Additionally, close to 30% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents (more than 10,000 per year) occur as a result of alcohol-impaired drivers.² That means that one person dies from an alcohol-impaired driving incident every 50 minutes.  It should also be noted that 48% of all perpetrators of homicide drank alcohol directly before the murder,³ and 40% of all victims of homicide were under the influence of alcohol.⁴  Alcohol use is similarly correlated with other violent crimes including robbery, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault. It can become a crippling addiction, responsible for the destruction of many relationships, careers, and families. 

Given its devastating impact on both...

The term “unhealthy drug use“ means either the use of illicit drugs or misuse of prescription medications. Similar to alcohol abuse, unhealthy drug use is a very serious cause of death, injury, and mental and physical illness. In June 2020, the USPSTF officially recommended that doctors ask questions to screen patients for unhealthy drug use.¹  After identification of individuals struggling with this issue, it has been shown that behavioral or pharmacologic interventions make a significant improvement.^2-3 The task force's recommendation applies to all individuals 18 and older.

Illicit drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, inhalants, and hallucinogens have no therapeutic benefit, carry a significant risk of harm, and are always considered problematic. Unfortunately, misuse of prescription medications can be just as dangerous. Common prescription medications that are subject to abuse include opiate pain medications, stimulants (usually used for treatment of...

Most screening tests are fairly straightforward… frequently they are as basic as an x-ray or a lab test. This is not the case for depression, however.. With depression, the majority of symptoms are very subjective and personal for each individual. This means it is a little more complicated to screen for, but doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly important.

In the United States, depression affects approximately 8% of individuals 12 years of age and older.¹ There are around 16 million adults who had at least one major depressive episode per year.² Worldwide, depression is the leading cause of disability.³

Common symptoms of depression are:⁴

• a lack of interest in doing things that would normally cause enjoyment

• depressed mood

• problems sleeping

• feelings of guilt

• worthlessness, or hopelessness 

• decreased energy levels 

• trouble concentrating 

• changes in appetite or eating habits

• a “slowing” of your motions

• suicidality

...

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (often abbreviated as AAA) is a “ballooning” of the aorta below the diaphragm. The aorta is the largest artery in the body. When your heart beats, it pumps a large amount of blood from the heart’s left ventricle directly into this blood vessel. All other arteries in the body branch off of the aorta. An aneurysm develops as a result of weakening of the wall of the artery, causing it to stretch and create the “ballooning“ effect. As you could imagine, if this balloon were to burst, it would instantly become a life-threatening issue. Up to 81% of all people who experience a rupture of an AAA do not survive.¹

The most important risk factors for development of an AAA include male sex, a history of smoking, older age, and having a first-degree relative with a history of AAA.² The other risk factors of lesser importance include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atherosclerosis, history of aneurysms, coronary artery disease,...

Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens an individual’s bone integrity. The word comes from two Greek roots; “osteo”, which means “bone”, and “poro” which means “porous”. As the name would suggest, the bone from a person with osteoporosis has less supporting structure, which means that the bone is weaker. 

^{Image credit: Google images / McMaster University}

The way healthy bone stays structurally sound is by constantly breaking down and rebuilding existing bone. This is performed by specialized cells called osteoclasts (which break down bone) and osteoblasts (which create new bone). Another important part of making bones strong is the mineralization of bone, which is accomplished by a calcium-based deposit. Osteoporosis develops when bone is being broken down at a higher rate than it is being rebuilt. 

You don’t feel osteoporosis happening. It’s not painful, and the shape and size of your bones...