Addiction As A Medical Disease - 891 Words

Addiction, defined as a chronic medical disease, has led to great furor in the scientific community.[1] Some argue that because epidemiologic data shows that most addicts quit, possibly when faced with social and financial consequences, addiction is based on decisions and thus, should be treated as a choice. Those in favor of the disease model remark that because experiments have correlatively shown that drugs can change the brain structurally and functionally, one should treat addiction as a medical disease. One can expect from both perspectives, that the more important question is whether or not addiction has a biological aspect to it that can be causally linked to substance abuse behaviors. In this essay, we will review some of the compelling evidence on both sides of the argument and weigh their significance in order to come to a logical judgment. In Lopez-Quintero et al., 2013, the purpose of their experiment was to 1) estimate the time to remission 2) estimate the probability of remission and 3) identify predictors of remission. They collected epidemiologic data for alcohol, cannabis, cocaine in adults aged 18-24 of the U.S population in 2001-2002 by an interview from the DSM-IV Alcohol Use Disorder and Associated Disabilities Interview Schedule (AUDADIS). The questions asked participants when they stopped their dependence and with what drug. In their results, they found that while the probability of remission in the first year after onset of dependence was very low, aShow MoreRelatedMedical Journal Article: Addictions as Real Physical Disease1838 Words   |  7 Pagesreal disease is not as clear cut as one might think. One major area of concern has been the debate between those that believe that the conceptualization of a disease should be free from social influences/values versus those that state that the criteria use to define a disease, especially psychiatric disease like addiction, are a result of social definitions/values (e.g., Szasz, 2008). In general, most health professionals agree that the determination of what is or is not labeled as a disease shouldRead MoreMedical Marijuana As A Treatment For Different Diseases1676 Words   |  7 Pagesuse of medical marijuana as a treatment for different diseases. Recent research suggests that diseases like AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Cancer, Crohn’s disease, Glaucoma, Multiple sclerosis and Epilepsy can be helped with Medical Marijuana. Therefore, given this information, federal government and states should lessen the restrictions on the usage of medical marijuana to help treat different diseases. 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