Air Pollution Impacts on Mental and Physical Health and Can Eventually Lead to Depression and Suicide.

Approximately 16 million Americans have been diagnosed with depression and that number is only growing year by year as air pollution starts to have and affect on mental health. As air pollution starts to get worse, it is considered one of the greatest threats to the global population. For those who live in congested cities, they are more susceptible to ingesting the chemicals that are lingering in the air. 

 

As each year goes by the problem that most Americans deal with is depression. In recent studies, it has been known that air pollution has been one of the leading causes of depression. California is by far one of the most polluted states in the United States. Although California is one of the states that has one the lowest suicide rate in the U.S. (New Jersey is the lowest rate), it does have a lot of air pollution in both northern and southern California, mainly the bay area in northern California has the worst air pollution in the State. 

 

Air pollution not alone is harming humans but as well as harming the environment (Global Warming), the effects of this pollution can lead to damaged lung cells that can not be repaired, aging lungs which can cause shortness of breath, diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and possibly cancer. There are also studies that have shown air pollution reaching the brain’s blood barrier which can affect the central nervous system, which could have severe effects on brain structure, ultimately leading to early stages of Alzheimer and Parkinson disease.  For someone that happens to be a nonsmoker and that has been living in a city with air that is infested chemicals and pesticides for a long enough period of time they could develop lung cancer without smoking a cigarette. Those that most susceptible to the effects of exposure to air pollution are individuals that may already have been diagnosed with lung or heart complications, outdoor workers, children under the age of 14 (due to their lungs still developing), pregnant women and also athletes that exercise vigorously in the outdoors.

 

Although contaminated air is not directly linked to suicides, living in an area that deals with this problem can easily lead to depression and eventually lead to suicide if the certain individual that suffers from depression does not seek out professional help.

 

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

By: Raymond Martinez
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: info@therecover.com
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First Death Linked To Vaping Reported Amid Escalating Illness

As reports flood the media of dangerous vaping side effects, the first-ever person has died from severe lung injuries related to vaping. The CDC reported the adult lived in Illinois; however, did now release any additional details about the adult.

The death is one of 193 potential cases in 22 states of people diagnosed with various lung injuries or damage. No more information has been released about the main cause, although a standard connection joins these cases-they all vaped.

Officials have noted that most of the cases involved men, between the ages of 17 to 38. All public health departments have conducted trials and launched investigations since the instances began. During a news briefing, multiple department heads noted that even though they haven’t targeted the primary cause, all patients said they had vaped marijuana or other products containing THC. All them reported they used vapes, as well as tobacco vapes and e-cigs.

According to Brian King, Ph.D. of CDC, there are several potentially harmful ingredients in e-cigarette aerosol, like lead, ultra-fine particles, organic compounds, and deadly chemicals are known to cause cancer.

“We do know that e-cigarette aerosol is not harmless,” King stated.

Officials additionally noted that they couldn’t tell whether there has been an increase in injuries. Or whether the cases have been happening before and they weren’t knowledgeable of the cause.

The CDC calculates that one in five high school students and one in 20 middle school students vape.

 

Louella Amos, MD, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, noted that her cases symptoms included: weight loss and fatigue. These which developed several weeks to months before more dangerous symptoms appeared.

“The respiratory symptoms like chest pain and cough progressed quickly and got them to the hospital,” noted Amos. “Some of the patients needed to be hooked up to ventilators to help them breathe and were in our intensive care unit for multiple days, but the treatment did vary depending on the severity of symptoms. Thankfully, they have all responded well to high-dose steroids.”

According to the Vaping Technology Association, a trade group responsible for representing businesses involved in the vaping industry claimed these reports had not been correctly examined and connected.

“Current reports have failed to make a conclusive connection between industry-standard nicotine-containing vapor products and these hospitalizations, and in some cases, have conflated these vapor products with the use of THC- or marijuana-containing products,” the VTA announced in a statement. “At this point, neither the treating physicians in these cases nor the Departments of Public Health has ascertained which products and substances are being used.”

 

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

By: James William
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: info@therecover.com
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Emergence of Pkdl Leading to Vl Infection: A Challenge in Eradicating Visceral Leishmaniasis

A new challenge has been identified in the management of visceral leishmaniasis with the reemergence of the disease in the form of a skin disease is called post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) six months to one year after completion of treatment. DNDi state that it needs urgent scientific intervention since PKDL can transmit VL parasites.

 

An infectivity showed that a new challenge in treatment of kala azar is the reemergence of the disease in the form of skin lessions after six months to one year of completing treatment.

 

DNDi in partnership with International Center for Diarheariol Disease Research conducted the infectivity study on South Asian patients treated for visceral leishmaniasis can still infect other people with kala azar if they develop a skin condition called post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis.

 

The research suggested that it is no doubt another area of investigation needing urgent public health efforts to establish treatment.

 

“As part of the trial, PKDL patients allowed themselves to be bitten by laboratory-reared sand flies which were free from infection by plunging their hands into a cage for 15 minutes containing male and female sand flies. The sandflies were then analyzed for the parasites that caused kala azar.The results showed that nearly 60% of the 47 PKDL patients in the study passed on the parasites to the sandflies. This means the insect could then go on to infect someone else.  While these new findings don’t answer all our questions, they do show that treatment of PKDL patients will be a critical element of any leishmaniasis public health and elimination strategy,” stated DNDi.

 

The post-kala azar skin infection appear in the form of rashes and nodules on the face and on the rest of the body and contains the same parasite that causes kala azar hence the increased risk of spreading of kala azar to other people.

 

DNDi state that this case of recurrence of kala azar is happening because kala azar has been an ignored public health work on eradicating kala azar unfortunate resulting into many unanswered scientific questions around post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis are emerging.

 

There has been no study in the past on post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis disease resulting into little scientific knowledge on post-kala azar dermal leishmaniasis and this DNDi infectivity study is the largest study done by 2019. The post-kala azar testing started in 2017 conducted through 2018 and was completed in January 2019.

 

DNDi say that this new discovery will see them work towards addressing the post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis so as not to reverse the gains of treatment of kala azar already attained.

They will start by conducting a similar study in Sudan and will be commencing treatment trials in South Asia, East Africa because they believe that early treatment of PKDL is vital to promote future success in the complete eradication kala azar.

 

Contact: Everlyne Otieno

Company: The Recover
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Vaping Damages Blood Vessels After Just One Use, New Study Says

The growing trend of vaping and e-cigs has moved its way into the lives of millennials and young teens, using them as genuine pigs. However, now after several cases of lung damage, lung failures and more they now announce, ” Vaping one time, even without nicotine can cause damage to the blood vessels, reduce blood flow and create dangerous and deadly toxins.

According to a new study published in the journal Radiology, claims that the heat created when e-cigarettes turn liquid into vapors mixes the compounds into toxics particles, which causes damages to blood vessels. The study, which was conducted at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, took an MRI of 31 healthy non-smokers before and after vaping nicotine-free e-cigarettes. The participants took three second drags 16 times on the e-cigs that had tobacco flavoring and sweeteners, but no nicotine. After each finished, the team analyzed the data and found that blood flow decreased in the femoral artery, the main artery that delivers blood to the thigh and leg.

Also, they also noticed that the participants had worse circulation, stiffer arteries, and less oxygen in their bloodstream. Felix Wehrli, the study’s principal investigator, explained in an interview that,

“The results of our study defeat the notion that e-cigarette vaping is harmless.”

“Beyond the harmful effects of nicotine, we’ve shown that vaping has a sudden, immediate effect on the body’s vascular function, and could potentially lead to long-term harmful consequences,” he added in a statement published by the University of Pennsylvania.

These findings reflect the same process in the initial steps leading to cardiovascular disease. However, it would take many years to develop.

The team concluded that they saw an average 34 percent reduction in the femoral artery’s dilation. They also noted that vaping led to a 17.5 percent reduction in peak blood flow, and a 30 percent decrease in oxygen found in the veins.

The study’s lead author, Alessandra Caporale, highlighted in a statement that these discoveries show that vaping can cause significant changes to the inner wall of blood vessels.

“E-cigarettes are advertised as not harmful, and many e-cigarette users are convinced that they are just inhaling water vapor,” Caporale stated in an interview. “But the solvents, flavorings, and additives in the liquid base, after vaporization, expose users to multiple insults to the respiratory tract and blood vessels.”

The once-popular notation that e-cigarettes do not harm the human body has now faced public and scientifically proven backlash. In just the last month, almost 100 teens in 14 states have reported lung damage after vaping. This included 14 hospitalizations in two states at the beginning of August 2019.

After such a mass amount reports, the  Centers for Disease Control announced it would start an investigation into the health consequences of smoking e-cigarettes. An earlier study discovered that e-cigarette flavors, or juice, had toxic effects, including more delicate cell survival and increased inflammation.

“Inhaling chemicals into your lungs is dangerous,” announced Erika Sward, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association. She added, “E-cigarettes are guilty until proven innocent, and we are very much in the guilty stage.”

“Nobody knows what it does to the human lung to breathe in and out aerosolized propylene glycol and glycerin over and over. It’s an experiment, frankly,” said Dr. Robert Jackler, founder of Stanford Research Into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, during a congressional hearing in July. “We will find out, years from now, the results,” he concluded his announcement.

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

Contact: James William 
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
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Children with Cellphones and How these devices can affect their Mental Health and Social Interaction

In today’s society, almost every child about to start high school already has a cellular device, but more and more these children are given a cellphone before they enter middle school. More or less these children are becoming attached to their cellular device and are detrimentally affecting the thought process and as well their brain growth development. With that being said this will not stop parents from purchasing their children’s new devices for emergency purposes which can not be frowned upon.

 

As parents across the United States are supplying their children with brand new devices some factors can come into play when talking about parenting. Supplying their children with these devices can really hurt the development of the child’s brain and as well the way they go about interacting with people. A lot of slang and lingo are reaching these young brains and ultimately are hurting the way that they were to go about things in their day to day basis, such as not listening to their parents, no being able to multi-task.

 

Although having a cell phone at such a young age is considered required since there can be an emergency that can happen at all time, also having tracking applications are really beneficiary for the parents so they know where their children are at all times, but as each year goes by the dependency of the cellular device goes up and up, that anxious feeling of not having their phone next to them or on them makes the children depend on their phone even more. As new devices come out parents are regardlessly going to purchase these devices for their children and even themselves as well.

 

All in all, children having a cellular device can form early habits of any type of addiction later on in their lives and can affect their relationships with their loved ones, studies have shown that using a cellular device can lead to depression and can be referenced as a “security blanket” for some adolescents and as well for adults.  On the other hand, cellular devices can help those who deal with depression or addiction through their handheld devices with certain applications and website, but if a child is having those problems having a cellular device would not be the solution for such issues.

 

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

By: Raymond Martinez
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: info@therecover.com
Website: www.therecover.com

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Top Addiction Experts Claim Giving Children a Smartphone is “Like Giving Them Drugs”

Smartphones and drugs seem to be sisters when it comes to addiction. The idea of comparing smartphones to drugs may sound drastic. However, thousands of studies have proven this statement right. The reality of giving a child a smartphone or tablet is becoming the normal thing to do as a parent. But experts caution all parents, claiming that these devices have the same effect on the young brain the same way drugs do. According to an addiction therapist in the UK,  he noticed the growing smartphone addiction among teens as the age of technology expanded at fast rates. Millions of people spend hours on their phone daily, scrolling down pointless images and comments. Many millions make a living from the palm of their hand, and millions use their devices to keep up with their current obsession or current political craze. Well, as crazy as it sounds, scientists have proven that this routine of using devices has the same effect as drugs or alcohol. Studies have suggested that when people are “coming off” these device routines, they show symptoms of withdrawal. The situation has transformed from funny and a joke to a full blown addiction epidemic

Jennifer Ihm from the Kwangwoon University in Korea published a study that highlight the addiction to smartphones. Her case study involved 2,000 12-year-olds. The professor noted that addiction might affect children’s psychological and physical health. She also noticed patterns in children’s academic success at school, which seemed to deteriorate as the smartphone use increase. It is reported that 50% of teenagers use their devices daily.

Almost 84% of these teenagers reported that they wouldn’t be able to survive a day without their smartphone; this addiction also caused signs of depression, anxiety, neck/ wrist pain, sleep disorders and feelings of loneliness. Another term that has entered the dictionary since the use of smartphones and social media is ” FOMO” THE FEAR OF MISSING OUT. Health experts highlight the signs of addiction if someone keeps checking their phone regardless if rang or not. If spending time away from the phone gives the person anxiety and stress, or leads to poor grades or work performance. People also report losing interest in other hobbies and loved ones.

Just like any other addiction, patients deal with the stages of recovery, such as feeling anger, depression, tension and restlessness.

Parents teach their children.

Parents are the biggest influencers in a child’s life, setting the example of healthy behaviors. According to the journal Paediatrics Child Health, parents are the ones who can easily prevent this addiction: Stop using devices in front of the children all day, this sets an example that is on the phone may not be appropriate all the time. Stray from using the phones at the dinner table; this teaches children to be present.

Mental health issues in two-year-olds caused by smartphones and tablets

A study conducted by professors Jean Twenge and Keith Campbell from San Diego State University examined data from over 40,000 children in the US. The ages of the collected data spread between 2 and 17. The data showed that the more a child uses their devices, the more damaging it was on their emotional health and well being. For example, the study showed that over half of the children who use their phones for 2 hours or more tended to lose their temper and couldn’t calm down as smooth as others would. Kids between the ages 2-5 shouldn’t use a phone as evidence proved it affected their mental health.

Technology causes behavioral issues.

Spending four or more hours a day on devices makes young children argumentative and anxious, and they will also experience a lack of curiosity. Experts have also claimed that it also makes adolescents less friendly, leading to bullying or other mental health issues of isolation.

Limiting screen time

Technology isn’t going away; this is why mental health experts have cautioned parents to limit the amount of time that they let their children spend on their phones. Children under five should only use devices for one hour, grade school ages and teens should only be allowed two hours. Preventing this addiction is easy, stopping techonology is impossible.

 

Contact: Kennedy Adams

Company: The Recover

Address: Huntington Beach, CA

Contact Number: (888) 510-3898

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Four Central Asia Countries Shifting to New Community-Based Mental Healthcare System to Fix Treatment Gaps

Four countries in Central Asia are fixing gaps in their mental healthcare systems by shifting from a traditional institution-based model to a new community-based system in partnership with WHO Europe. It aims to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health illnesses from the homes to schools to workplaces and encourage uptake of treatment to prevent short life expectancy expected with mental illnesses.

Four countries in Central Asia Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have embarked on the elimination of mental diseases gaps allowing focus on the treatment of the mental illnesses in partnership with WHO Europe.

These countries are working on reforms to improve the treatment method options, which is said to be a considerable achievement. The high stigma levels impeded treatment, and there was impending danger of increase of more untimely deaths resulting from low uptake of a treatment since self -harm had become options for many with mental illnesses.

WHO program Mental Health Gap Action Program is helping Central Asian countries to move away from the traditional and institutional settings to make mental health services more accessible using a community-based model that avails services were available in daily practice facilities.

“Over 100 million people in the European region are suffering from some mental illness, and in the region’s richest countries, only about 30% are receiving the medical attention they require. In the poorest countries, the numbers drop to less than 5%. Many with mental health problems choose not to engage or to maintain contact with services because they feel stigmatized and discriminated against,” stated WHO regional office for Europe.

Central Asia has treatment centres based on the models of traditional or institutional settings offering specialized services to people with mental illnesses, but the systems were suspected to be promoting the patients’ decisions to neglecting of treatment due to bad experiences, and unfortunately indirectly contributing to the high suicide, self -harm and drug abuse.

The policies on mental health together with the services in Central Asia had been assessed to require refurbishment to be able to provide quality, safe, effective and accepted mental health services to the population that was in need.

The partnership with the WHO is timely since the WHO had been working on remodeling the mental health services programs from an institution based and hospital-based care to a community-based model to eradicate the main obstacle of intervention that is a stigma.

The WHO’s clinical tool mhGAP Intervention Guide with its community emphasis will offer treatment to a variety of mental health disorders and utilize the scarce resources well and promote healthy living.

The WHO mhGAP program is said to exist to change the narrative of suicides and self-harms to successful treatment by offering a wide array of mental health services capable of handling a variety of mental illnesses including schizophrenia, and depression for restoring healthy lives.

Central Asia has the main resources of primary health care practitioners who with minimal training will be able to treat mental health illnesses as the mhGAP intends to apply for their mental health program.

WHO is also promoting the training of primary health care physicians in Central Asia to be able to offer diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses before making specialist referrals.

The capacity building on mental health is being spread to people in workplaces and schools to increase awareness of mental illnesses and disorders and ease the work of community-based models of intervention.

By July 2019 Lancet psychiatry reported a concern that in all countries of the world people sick with mental illnesses are prone to getting physically ill but limited access to adequate health care due to mental illnesses.

Lancet psychiatry is also worried that mental illnesses often lead to physical diseases causing the problem of comorbidity whose impacts results in reduced life expectancy because comorbidity is never clinically well managed besides being expensive for families to survive.

The Central Asia program to better manage mental health illnesses is a considerable difference being made in the region since the Lancet psychiatry report titled The Lancet Psychiatry Commission: a blueprint for protecting physical health in people with mental illness had recommended better health promotion and clinical care of mental illnesses in different parts of the world.

It is believed that the holistic integration will help easy management of mental illnesses occurring with non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and alcohol disorders.

It is hoped that the application of mhGAP integrated approach is a solution to comorbidity of mental health disorders and non-communicable that is very rampant in the European region which a high-level meeting called the WHO European High-level Conference on Non-communicable Diseases had highlighted.

WHO hopes to achieve success by using the tools to avert the narrative of shortened lifespans due to mild or severe mental illnesses in Central Asia. If successful, the burden of both mild and severe mental health will be history and no risks of early deaths by 10 and 20 years for mild and severe mental health disordersrespectively.

 

Contact: Everlyne Otieno

Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: info@therecover.com
Website: www.therecover.com

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Narcissism, Addiction & Mental Illness Linked Back to Selfies

Smartphones and the growing trend of selfies have been linked to not only narcissism but mental health conditions that fixate on a person’s obsession with looks and martial worth. In an interview, a well-known psychiatrist Dr. David Veal argued that “Two out of three of all the patients who come to see me with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the rise of camera phones have a compulsion to take and post selfies on social media sites repeatedly.”

“Cognitive-behavioral therapy is used to help a patient to recognize the reasons for his or her compulsive behavior and then to learn how to moderate it,” he added.

A particular case put a spotlight on the issue involving a British male teenager who tried to commit suicide after he failed to get the perfect “selfie.” The reports also claimed that Danny Bowman grew to be so obsessed with taking the complete picture that he would spend a total of 10 hours or more taking up tp 200 selfies. During his craze, the 19-year-old lost nearly 30 pounds, dropped out of high school, and buried himself inside his house for six months. For the months he was inside, he was in a deep depressive state that only led to obsession and eventually an overdose that almost ended his life. His mother was the one to find him during the suicide attempt.

“I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie, and when I realized I couldn’t, I wanted to die. I lost my friends, my education, my health, and almost my life,” Danny explained in an interview with the press.

Danny’s case was the first to be recorded as UK’s selfie addiction and has now driven health experts to explore therapy to treat his technology addiction along with OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder. His treatment took place at Maudsley Hospital in London, which included taking away his iPhone for intervals of 10 minutes. This sequence increased gradually to 30 minutes and then an hour. He said, “It was excruciating, to begin with, but I knew I had to do it if I wanted to go on living.”

Since then, the UK’s public health department has announced that the addiction to social media like Facebook and Twitter is indeed an illness. They also noted that there is consistently 100 patients who seek treatment every year. However, the rates have increased year after year.

“Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that raises the damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t the specter of either narcissism or very low self-esteem,” Pamela Rutledge wrote in Psychology Today.

All in all, the real problem that surrounds the rise of digital narcissism is that it has put a false sense of reality in peoples minds, fabricating the truth to find recognition anywhere and from anyone.

People who immerse themselves find it hard to achieve these ultimate goals, their role models are usually people in power or celebrities. Millions of girls have devoted their whole life and persona to create a living out of being an Instagram influencer; some do achieve those goals making over six figures a year and charging thousands per post. Many experts also believe that online manifestations of narcissism will eventually lead to a more self-presentational strategy to overcompensate for incredibly low and fragile self-esteem.

However, when these efforts are recognized and praised by others, they add to the distortion of reality and add to the users consolidate narcissistic delusions.

The addiction scare has even alerted health officials in Thailand. Panpimol Wipulakorn, of the Thai Mental Health Department, announced: “To pay close attention to published photos, controlling who sees or who likes or comments them, hoping to reach the greatest number of likes is a symptom that ‘selfies’ are causing problems.”

Their doctors suggest that these behaviors could, in the future, generate brain issues. He also noted that many people who are addicted and affected have very low self-esteem and lack self-confidence. “Selfie” was named “Word of the Year 2013” by the Oxford English Dictionary. The word is defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”

The truth is the age of technology is only growing and faster than ever. Addiction is always finding new ways to envelope the minds of people. Reality has been distorted in the minds of millennials and the generations to come.

 

Contact: Kennedy Adams

Company: The Recover

Address: Huntington Beach, CA

Contact Number: (888) 510-3898

Email: santamaria@therecover.com

Website: www.therecover.com

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How San Diego Is Combating The Opioid Drug Crisis

San Diego; it’s the land of consistent 70-degree weather and the perfect surf-and-city life balance. However, in the underground of this seemingly postcard-perfect city of suntans, a menacing epidemic of opioid addiction is raging in its undercurrents – and it is both fast-spreading and merciless.

San Diego has not been left unscathed by the Opioid Epidemic in America. Reflecting a consistency with the terrifying trend of opioid-related data surging in the United States, law enforcement in San Diego County has witnessed several overdoses and deaths that have followed an increasingly steep incline. In fact, in the last week of July 2019, there were four fentanyl-laced opioid-related deaths alone.

Luckily, the action is being taken. Due to the frequency of opioid-related overdoses in San Diego County, United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, Robert Brewer, decided to issue a Public Safety Alert on July 31st, 2019.

“Fentanyl-related deaths are rapidly climbing to unprecedented levels,” says the author of the US Department of Justice’s recent press release on this public safety alert, Kelly Thorton. “The Medical Examiner’s Office reports 50 confirmed fentanyl-related overdose deaths so far this year, plus another 28 suspected, but yet-to-be-confirmed cases with four months remaining in the year. Should this trend continue for the remainder of 2019, the death toll could potentially reach 130, which would amount to a 47 percent increase over last year’s total of 90 deaths, and a staggering 787 percent hike over five years ago when there were 15. The victims are overwhelmingly male, and the average age is 36, with the youngest 18 and the oldest 66.

US Attorney Robert Brewer has deemed San Diego a “fentanyl gateway” in the United States, and this claim is not without warrant. Fentanyl, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is “a powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent. It is a prescription drug that is also made and used illegally.”

Yes – you read that correctly. Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It produces the same effects as other opioids, including feelings of euphoria, drowsiness, sleepiness, sedation, and respiratory depression. However, anything involving fentanyl is amplified over 50 times. It’s basically a death sentence, and most people that ingest it are doing so without knowing it when they initially went to buy other street drugs.

It is established that there is a problem in San Diego with Opioid misuse, much like in many other parts of our country. People are dying and overdosing at increasing rates every single month. But what is anyone doing to solve this issue? Fortunately, it is almost always true of humanity that when problems arise, so do heroes.

Apart from Robert Brewer’s public safety alert, others are also taking the initiative in making a change for San Diego county. According to Voice of San Diego in its article Amid Opioid Crisis, AMR Joins Initiative to Prevent Prescription Drug Misuse, American Medical Response has been consistently doing its part in making a positive impact on its regional Southern California community. After witnessing a drastically-rising amount of opioid-related ambulance calls in 2019, AMR decided to take action against the county’s catastrophe. Through “prevention and education,” AMR has set its sights on a future with fewer overdose deaths.

There is a stigma surrounding drug abuse, and it can keep people from getting the help they need. San Diego is home to numerous drug and alcohol treatment programs, including residential drug and alcohol rehab, outpatient drug rehab programs, and clinics offering medically assisted treatment. San Diego also has many of the best inpatient and outpatient drug rehab facilities that focus specifically on opioids.

The American Medical Response team partnered with another organization to further their cause: the Safe Homes Coalition. The Safe Homes Coalition is a nonprofit organization with the self-proclaimed mission of helping “raise awareness about the proper use, storage, and disposal of prescription medication to create safer homes and communities.”

On April 6th, 2019, the Safe Homes Coalition hosted a “kickoff” in downtown San Diego to formally launch the beginning of the nonprofit named Keep Kids Safe. Keep Kids Safe’s mission is to “educate families about the safe use, storage, and disposal of prescription medications.” This education program began in April with an incredible event that featured notable San Diego figures that spoke on behalf of the vision such as San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, amongst others.

The Keep Kids Safe education program also partnered with the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors, considering part of its aim is to give plastic bags to realtors.

“Why plastic bags?”, you ask? On its website, the Keep Kids Safe program “provides plastic bags to Realtors so their clients can secure prescription medications while their home is being shown to potential buyers.” Now, over 10,000 bags have been handed out amongst the San Diego community during showings. This allows for the proper storage and securing of prescription medications and, therefore, the reduced potential for opioid misuse, abuse, and addiction in both children and adults.

Aside from this, in the Los Angeles Times, there was an article written that also highlighted the noteworthy “blue pills” (fentanyl-laced substances) and their relation to recent deaths in San Diego County. Anyone who has any prescription pills that they need to dispose of, or any prescription pills that appear to be of this blue kind can drop them off anonymously and the sheriff’s office – no questions asked. The allowance for anonymity when it comes to disposing of unknown, unsafe, or prescription pills can prevent them from getting into the wrong hands.

Through education and anonymity, San Diego and its interconnected businesses, organizations, and leaders have been working diligently together to better their community. Prevention is vital when it comes to most issues that strike during adulthood, but it is especially crucial when discussing the topic of illegal or non-prescribed prescription drugs. If you or a loved one are suffering from an addiction, be sure to call the national addiction helpline through SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) today. If you are in San Diego County and are looking for a safe place to dispose of narcotic substances of any kind, contact the San Diego Sheriff’s office, and they will instruct you on how to drop off these substances anonymously. No one is exempt from the disease of addiction, and San Diego is doing its part in battling this horrible epidemic for the good of Southern California and the rest of our country.

 

Contact: Kennedy Adams 

Company: The Recover

Address: Huntington Beach, CA

Contact Number: (888) 510-3898

Email: santamaria@therecover.com

Website: www.therecover.com

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A Kenyan Model Youth Friendly Clinic Achieves Significant Youth HIV Viral Suppression

A clinical trial based in Kisumu Kenya is on the good path to managing adolescent HIV/AIDS after it achieved significant viral suppression among the youths comprising of adolescents and teenagers.

An organization called Family AIDS Care and Services (FACES) sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the adolescent package of care (APOC) on adolescent viral suppression.

The study arrived at the conclusion that setting aside days for adolescent clinics made it easy to achieve viral suppression compared to those who visit regular clinics and recommended the replication of the model for practitioners managing adolescent HIV.

“This study suggests that adolescent clinic days greatly improve adolescent viral load suppression and should be considered for implementation across HIV programs. At clinics offering adolescent-friendly clinic days, adolescents were nearly 2 times more likely to be virally suppressed than at facilities not offering these specialized clinic days,” stated Science Direct.

The APOC recruited 10-19 year-olds and evaluated their viral load in 13 FACES test cites and for a period of 11 months divided into  6 months before January 2015- August 2016 and after November 2015 – March 2017.

After obtaining the patient’s information form the openMRS, adolescent clinic days used their adolescent package of care (APOC) checklist to asses factors associated with viral suppression.

This is a big achievement for Kenya since the HIV progress report of 2016 indicated that youths aged 15-24 accounted for half of the new HIV infections in Kenya. The people between 15- 24 years accounted for 51% of the new infections documented, especially girls.

The statistics revealed that 5000 youths in Kisumu County contracted HIV/AIDS yearly by conclusion in 2016 despite the interventions which were existing. This trend is attributed to stigma in disclosure of one’s status and myths around sex such as one contact is not sufficient to spread the virus.

The HIV prevalence rate in Kisumu County, in general, was at 19% in 2016. New infections reported in 2015 alone were 10,682. Aids deaths in adults 3,406.Children living with HIV 16,859.New infections in children 2,209.Aids deaths in children 1,040.

The initiation age for sex was between 16-17 and most didn’t know of the basic sex safety measures, the ABC. KEMRI/CDC in Kisumu stated most were sexually active and didn’t use condoms, and were not aware of the PrEP therapy.

The HIV progress report of Kenya identified that the youths aged between 15-24 contributed to many new HIV cases in Kenya because most of them were ignorant of safe sex practices.

The youths were advised to practice the ABC model of HIV prevention which is Abstinence, Being faithful and use of condoms.

In alignment with the World Aids Day theme of 2016, Ending AIDS and Stigma among Adolescents and Young People, the stakeholders involved in HIV intervention were requested to meaningfully get involved in managing HIV to realize SDGs of 2030.

The intervening stakeholders were requested to address the root causes of the increased youth and adolescent HIV considering that the age group 15-24 is highly sensitive and easily succumb to stigma.

It was requested that youth-friendly clinics be set up to help in managing adolescent and youth HIV and the success of viral suppression achieved by the FACES APOC study is a fulfillment of what was requested of them in 2016.

 

Contact: Everlyne Otieno

Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: info@therecover.com
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Youth Marijuana Consumption Not Linked to Adult Brain Structure

Since the legalization of marijuana, countless studies have been conducted to locate the true potential and risk that come with using cannabis. According to a new study published earlier this month in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence shakes up previous clinical trials that once spread concern about youth cannabis use and brain development.

The team of experts at Arizona State University studied the use of cannabis among 200 boys in Pittsburgh in the late 1980s, then correlated those in take rates to high-resolution MRI brain scans of the same men 20 years later, when they turned 30.

“We found no differences in adult brain structure” within the boys who reported heavy cannabis use during there teen and young adult years, those who reported occasional use and those who reported never using marijuana, wrote the team.

They added, “Even boys with the highest level of cannabis exposure in adolescence showed subcortical brain volumes and cortical brain volumes and thickness in adulthood that were similar to boys with almost no exposure to cannabis throughout adolescence.”

As of now, the science around adolescent marijuana use and the way the brain reacts during development appears to be very politically charged and barley unresolved. The new study conducted by ASU now sheds a unique perspective of reality when it comes to the ever-growing issue. However, many find it unlikely that this data will debunk the myth of concerns.

The research team was directed by Madeline Meier, director of ASU’s Substance use, Health and Behavior Lab. The team announced that their findings were somewhat small and very limited. They acknowledged the difficulties they faced with young men in Pittsburgh who had conduct problems as youth and relies on self-reported cannabis use. Another complex issue within the study was the MRI imaging scans only took place once per subject when they were in their 30s.

“Importantly, several [previous] case-controlled studies have found brain structure differences in adolescent or young adult cannabis users with cumulative levels of cannabis exposure,” Meier and colleagues addressed. “It was unclear from those studies if brain structure differences among [those subjects] persisted into later adulthood. Our study suggests they might not.” The brain structure difference may appear in an early onset cannabis user’s ’20s, however diffuse and clear up by their 30s.

In previous studies, experts have used other measures (gray matter shape and density, white matter integrity) to study structural brain abnormalities between youth cannabis users and non-users. Miere confirmed that her teams MRI data may not be the most accurate when it comes to measuring cannabis-correlated brain dysmorphia.

According to the context of the study, the authors, “found no association between prospectively-assessed adolescent cannabis use and subcortical brain volume and cortical brain volume and thickness in adulthood.”

“Reviews of these studies have revealed that, although a few studies have found evidence of an association between an earlier age-of-onset of cannabis use and adult brain structure, most studies have not,” the team concluded.

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

Contact: Kennedy Adams 
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: santamaria@therecover.com

Website: www.therecover.com

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Agape Treatment Center Tackles Mental Health Primary Care

Located in the beautiful Fort Lauderdale Florida, surrounded by lush green and unique houses that encourage social interaction, Agape Treatment Center envelopes the perfect setting for recovery, all while creating a comforting environment. Such a natural ambiance integrated with the commercial reality of life will motivate and heal any client looking for treatment.

Agape Treatment Centers fully emerges their clients in mentally stimulating exercises and activities that embrace the true essence of life. They hope that with such design, clients will open up their minds to all the things life has to offer. Their modernized clinical space was created to deliver warmth and character. They offer 20 beds vs. 100+ beds giving clients a more personal boutique-style treatment experience.

Each member of the staff is licensed and highly trained, paired perfectly with clients to uniquely treat their needs.  This ensures the individual will receive a full social experience with someone, sharing interaction, all while forming the ability to connect in a calm and healthy environment. They hope clients will leave Agape Treatment Center feeling love and having a better grasp at structured guidance.

What makes Agape unique is the culture of people who genuinely care about the individual’s well-being in a small productive setting. Most treatments across the country tend to only focus on substance abuse and addiction issues, whereas Agape offers a focus on primary mental health care, and the therapy to revitalize the authentic self of a person.

Providing mental health services in primary healthcare includes diagnosing and treating people with mental disorders. They identify the disorder and its roots with a Cognitive Emotional Memory Assessment tool and utilize the appropriate evidenced-based interventions to treat the disorder. They guarantee that their central healthcare staff can apply the necessary psychosocial and behavioral skills needed to treat their clients.

Agape offers a wide range of modalities & therapeutic programs.  One of the most popular among the clients is experiential therapy, this includes; small team building fun activities such as community interactions, beach mediation, and escape room challenges.  This allows clients to become open and vulnerable to experiencing life’s fun choices sober, which helps change their perspective on what a fun healthy lifestyle looks & feels like.  The clinical programs & strengths that Agape offers through multiple modalities with individualized care are; one on one sessions with their expert therapists, as well as services with EMDR & Certified Trauma specialists which is almost unheard of. It is more typical of treatment centers to offer them only every 1-2 weeks.  Agape Treatment Centers Team is highly committed to helping their clients gain insight about their mental health and learn the skills needed to promote an overall positive outcome.

 

Contact Agape Treatment Center for a no-cost evaluation and start your recovery today!

 

 

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

Contact: James William 
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number:  954-900-1245
Email: santamaria@therecover.com

Website:  www.agapetc.com

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A Website Discusses Why Couples Should Research Before Choosing A Drug Rehab Program

As the drug epidemic continues to rise, the never-ending cycle of addiction takes hold of everyone who is suffering. A website has dedicated their time to make sure couples have the information they need when it comes to attending a drug rehab program. Couplesrehabs.org has been delivering useful information for years in the hopes that people across the nation will find peace and comfort in the right rehab program.  A new resource page now gives the couples living in Arlington; Texas, the necessary information at their fingertips.

The process of couple’s drug rehab is always a long and slow journey. However, their staff ensures that they will help guide every person on the right path. Every relationship is different, and when placed in the proper program, couples have a higher chance of succeeding and remaining sober together.  The key to a healthy relationship is communication and honesty, and in most cases, when individuals start to use, they tend to lose all sense of reality, causing the connection to spiral.

To understand the process of drug rehab and the initial steps it takes to recover couples must first come to the reality of what their issues are. The new resource page highlights every step that couples will face when searching for the right Couples drug rehab, Arlington, Texas. Just like a typical drug rehab program, each person will be evaluated separately and then as a couple to find the best possible treatment for their situation. Once the couple has been through the initial intake, they will be guided to the right detox program depending on the severity of the abuse.  Usually, when clients detox, they are not allowed to have any contact until they are finished. However, there are some couples drug rehabs that that would allow individuals to stay together while they undergo withdrawals. Many facilities understand that detox is one of the hardest steps, which is why they have transitioned into letting people be together.

Couples who are looking for the right treatment center tend to pick the easiest and most convenient one without doing any research. Choosing the wrong couples drug rehab program can lead to unsuccessful treatment and relapse. CouplesRehabs.org highlights the options available, which include: Outpatient, Inpatient, 12 steps, and more to show couples that there are countless opportunities to receive help. Understanding the difference is critical when it comes to choosing a program.   Couplesrehabs.org has partnered with several treatment facilities across the country to help couples locate local programs tailored to their personal and relationship requirements.

Their extremely trained staff is accessible 24/7 through a helpline and will explain any questions or concerns couples and loved ones may have.

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New Study Shows: Legalizing Marijuana in Colorado Lead to ‘Significant Decrease’ In Opioid Prescriptions

Its been a few years since the state of Colorado legalized recreational marijuana since then the number of opioid prescriptions for pain decreased dramatically compared two to other states where access to cannabis is still considered illegal.

According to a new study, Researchers at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and the University of New England were interested in analyzing how the connection between legal access to medical cannabis and lower use of opioids, less is known about how more extensive adult-use laws affect the prescribing rates of pharmaceuticals used for pain.

The team chooses to compare, Colorado with Maryland and Utah because they were the first three states to legalize some marijuana jurisdiction fully but in different ways. For example, Maryland even though they have similar demographics when it comes to terms of population size, homeownership, education level, and uninsured rates, whereas Utah was the most geographically same state with comparable Body Mass Index and median household income.

“Colorado had a larger decrease in opioid distribution after 2012 than Utah or Maryland. Therefore, marijuana could be considered as an alternative treatment for chronic pain and reducing the use of opioids,” according to the study’s findings, which were pre-published on bioRxiv earlier this month. “There has been a significant decrease in the prescription opioid distribution after the legalization of marijuana in Colorado.”

The study showed that Maryland had the highest amount of total pharmaceuticals distributed during the period. The weight of all 11 opioids peaked at 12,167 kg MME; however, that amount peaked to twice the weight in Colorado and Utah, which peaked at 5,029 kg MME in 2012 and 3,429 kilograms in 2015, respectively. In conclusion, the two drugs distributed the most each of the three states were oxycodone and methadone.

“Colorado and Maryland experienced an overall decrease in opioid distribution, but Colorado’s decrease was larger,” the study highlighted. “While the nation as a whole was experiencing a decrease in opioid distribution, it was promising that Colorado’s greater decrease considers the potential impact of recreational marijuana.”

Although it is unclear why Colorado experienced such a drop in prescriptions for pain medication, yet many experts find it hard to ignore that Colorado legalized marijuana for adult use in 2012.

“If there is an initial reduction in opioid distributions in states with recreational marijuana laws, it is conceivable that opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose deaths could also fall,” the team concluded. “Therefore, it may be time to reconsider the practice of automatically discharging patients from pain treatment centers for positive marijuana screens, considering this use might reduce their overall opioid use.”

 

 

 

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

Contact: Kennedy Adams
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
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Overdose Epidemic Efforts in Pennsylvania Showing Progress

Pennsylvania’s cities were once filled with opioids which in the end resulted in high overdose rates. Within the last year, the state has issued an old opioid disaster declaration and related efforts to battle the number of people who are dying from heroin and other opioids. However, the state secretary of health, said those numbers have yet to show up in figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Like many other medical experts, she is almost certain that overdose rates are steadily decreasing across the state. Just a few weeks ago, the new provisional reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that 68,557 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2018,-announcing a 5% decline. Thanks to Pennsylvania’s efforts they see the same results, experts attributed it to things including more access to the reversal drug naloxone, and more overdose survivors and others getting treatment as a result of the state’s efforts.

State leaders have announced that Gov. [Tom] Wolf is committed to addressing the opioid crisis and it is one of the highest priorities of the administration and one of the priorities for the second term

About a year ago Pennsylvania launched an “Opioid Command Center” to coordinate work of 16 state agencies ready to significantly impact the opioid epidemic. The year-old facility is located within Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Susquehanna Township.

According to more than a dozen state officials the state has seen progress in the following areas: treating about 12,000 people who came to 45 state-run treatment centers, saving almost 20,000 lives as the result of Narcan administered by police and first responders, and significantly expanding the availability of “warm handoffs” into treatment to overdose survivors delivered to emergencies rooms.

Regardless of the state’s progress, officials understand there is much more work to do like educating and working with hospitals to provide warm handoffs rather than other conventional methods. Law enforcement continues to monitor and locate the few remaining “pill mills” of doctors prescribing opioids that feed the crisis.

The Wolf administration cited these actions aimed at the opioid crisis: the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program has decreased the prescription of opioids by over 20 percent and has practically eliminated doctor shopping. More than 1,500 prescribers in 2018 received formal training and with the proper funding available to reach added 2,000 additional in 2019.

Also, over 22,000 physicians have undergone training on how to prescribe opioids carefully and judiciously. The 811 drug take-back boxes helped properly dispose of 482,000 pounds of undesired drugs last year.

Officials claim numerous people are getting connected to programs after calling the state’s hotline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If anyone is struggling with drugs or alcohol The Recover’s, national helpline is available at (888) 510-3898

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

Contact: James William
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
Contact Number: (888) 510-3898
Email: info@therecover.com
Website: www.therecover.com

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A “Hidden Epidemic” Of Health Concerns Could Arise Due to New Kinds Of Toxic Lab-made Adulterants Cocaine

For the past decade, the country has been at war with drugs and their never-ending consequences. At a press conference on June 17, 1971, President Nixon, with his newly elected Drug authority at his side, declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” “To fight and defeat this enemy,” he added, “it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.” With that statement, the “war on drugs” began.

As a country, medical experts and state officials have fought tirelessly to battle the opioid overdose crisis that has taken the lives of thousands. However, with so much spotlight on synthetic opioids, multiple other drugs have been ignored creating a hidden epidemic of chronic disease — organ failure, leaky blood vessels, and “flesh-eating” infections — that might threaten cocaine and meth users in coming years. This accusation comes from the discovery of increasing signs of dangerous adulterants in illicit drugs.

Expert is concerned because cocaine use is up 47% since its lowest point in 2011, with 2.2% of people over the age of 12 reporting they have snorted or smoked it in the last year. According to the CDC, US cocaine and methamphetamine overdose deaths have almost rippled in the last five years. They also reported that Methamphetamine overdoses killed 12,987 people last year, and cocaine overdoses killed another 15,699.

However, these numbers have been ignored due to the even larger number of overdose fatalities from opioids. Over 40,000 people died of opioid overdoses in 2018, a lower number than the year before, which marked the nation’s first decline in total US overdose deaths in 28 years.

“While the declining trend of overdose deaths is an encouraging sign, by no means have we declared victory against the epidemic of addiction,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar explained in a statement regarding the 5% drop, which still accounted for 67,774 deaths.

She continued, “We also face other emerging threats, like concerning trends in cocaine and methamphetamine overdoses.”

As of recent cocaine mixed with fentanyl, a deadly opioid was thought to be the main reason in the spike of deaths; however, The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime argues that the record coca crops in Colombia and more affordable cocaine for a resultant stimulant-drug boom worldwide.

Unfortunately, another emerging contributor is an unknown wave of toxic lab-made adulterants that are being mixed into illicit drugs. According to a study, MJ Technologies presented lab findings to display how toxic cutting agents are being found in bewildering varieties and more significant numbers than seen before in illicit drugs. Their findings included samples of cocaine and heroin tested from three US states — Kentucky, Nevada, and Vermont — in 2016 and 2017, which tested positive for multiple additives connected to erratic heartbeats, reduced immune system response, and organ failures. The team also discovered signs of multiple toxic adulterants in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

MJ Technologies emphasized that Warning signs about these adulterants have been around for a decade. Reports from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and public health researchers show that they have had concerns about cocaine being aced with levamisole, a veterinary drug for parasitic worms linked to severe infections, and phenacetin, a banned painkiller linked to cancer and kidney failure, since 2009.

According to the DEA, since 2012, levamisole has been tested and found in almost 80% of the cocaine samples, it tested, in strengths as high as 10%. Despite the dangerous effect, the current threat may be pushed aside because most US labs do not test for toxic adulterants. Typically, Crime labs are looking for drugs like heroin or cocaine, not cattle dewormers, to enable criminal prosecutions. Public health clinics, coroners and Hospitals don’t, either, rather they test for drugs that are high on the chemical dependencies list, like heroin, cocaine, and meth.

More research is needed, but the reality of dangerous cocaine is on the rise.

The Recover is an unbiased substance abuse and mental health news provider. Helping individuals looking for the right treatment programs in their area. Also providing information on drug rehab centers for addiction recovery.

Contact: Mckenzie Santa Maria
Company: The Recover
Address: Huntington Beach, CA 
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