GOT DRUGS?

[NonLinear]

Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show

Fueling the surge are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol.

By Lisa Girion, Scott Glover and Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times

2:55 PM PDT, September 17, 2011

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Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found.

Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While most major causes of preventable death are declining, drugs are an exception. The death toll has doubled in the last decade, now claiming a life every 14 minutes. By contrast, traffic accidents have been dropping for decades because of huge investments in auto safety.

Public health experts have used the comparison to draw attention to the nation's growing prescription drug problem, which they characterize as an epidemic. This is the first time that drugs have accounted for more fatalities than traffic accidents since the government started tracking drug-induced deaths in 1979.

Fueling the surge in deaths are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol. Among the most commonly abused are OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax and Soma. One relative newcomer to the scene is Fentanyl, a painkiller that comes in the form of patches and lollipops and is 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Such drugs now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

"The problem is right here under our noses in our medicine cabinets," said Laz Salinas, a sheriff's commander in Santa Barbara, which has seen a dramatic rise in prescription drug deaths in recent years.

Overdose victims range in age and circumstance from teenagers who pop pills to get a heroin-like high to middle-aged working men and women who take medications prescribed for strained backs and bum knees and become addicted.

A review of hundreds of autopsy reports in Southern California reveals one tragic demise after another: A 19-year-old Army recruit, who had just passed his military physical, took a handful of Xanax and painkillers while partying with friends. A groom, anxious over his upcoming wedding, overdosed on a cocktail of prescription drugs. A teenage honors student overdosed on painkillers her father left in his medicine cabinet from a surgery years earlier. A toddler was orphaned after both parents overdosed on prescription drugs months apart. A grandmother suffering from chronic back pain apparently forgot she'd already taken her daily regimen of pills and ended up double dosing.

Many died after failed attempts at rehab — or after using one too many times while contemplating quitting. That's apparently what happened to a San Diego woman found dead with a Fentanyl patch on her body, one of five she'd applied in the 24 hours before her death. Next to her on the couch was a notebook with information about rehab.

The seeds of the problem were planted more than a decade ago by well-meaning efforts by doctors to mitigate suffering, as well as aggressive sales campaigns by pharmaceutical manufacturers. In hindsight, the liberalized prescription of pain drugs "may in fact be the cause of the epidemic we're now facing," said Linda Rosenstock, dean of the UCLA School of Public Health.

In some ways, prescription drugs are more dangerous than illicit ones because users don't have their guard up, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Opferman, head of a county task force on prescription drug-related crimes. "People feel they are safer with prescription drugs because you get them from a pharmacy and they are prescribed by a doctor," Opferman said. "Younger people believe they are safer because they see their parents taking them. It doesn't have the same stigma as using street narcotics."

Lori Smith said she believes that's what her son might have been thinking the night he died six months shy of his 16th birthday. Nolan Smith, of Aliso Viejo, loved to surf, sail and fish with his brother and father. He suffered from migraines and anxiety but showed no signs of drug abuse, his mother said.

The night before he died in January 2009, Nolan called his mother at work, asking for a ride to the girls basketball game at Aliso Niguel High School. Lori told him she couldn't get away.

When Nolan didn't come home that evening, his parents called police and his friends. His body was found the next morning on a stranger's front porch.

A toxicology test turned up Zoloft, which had been prescribed for anxiety, and a host of other drugs that had not been prescribed, including two additional anti-anxiety drugs, as well as morphine and marijuana.

All investigators could give the family were theories.

"They said they will have parties where the kids will throw a bunch of pills in a bowl and the kids take them without knowing what they are," Lori said. "We called all of his friends, but no one would say they were with him. But he must have been with someone. You just don't do that by yourself."

The triumph of public health policies that have improved traffic safety over the years through the use of seat belts, air bags and other measures stands in stark contrast to the nation's record on prescription drugs. Even though more people are driving more miles, traffic fatalities have dropped by more than a third since the early 1970s to 36,284 in 2009. Drug-induced deaths had equaled or surpassed traffic fatalities in California, 22 other states and the District of Columbia even before the 2009 figures revealed the shift at the national level, according to the Times analysis.

The Centers for Disease Control collects data on all causes of death each year and analyzes them to identify health problems. Drug-induced deaths are mostly accidental overdoses but also include suicides and fatal diseases caused by drugs.

The CDC's 2009 statistics are the agency's most current. They are considered preliminary because they reflect 96% of death certificates filed. The remaining are deaths for which the causes were not immediately clear.

Drug fatalities more than doubled among teens and young adults between 2000 and 2008, years for which more detailed data are available. Deaths more than tripled among people aged 50 to 69, the Times analysis found. In terms of sheer numbers, the death toll is highest among people in their 40s.

Overdose deaths involving prescription painkillers, including OxyContin and Vicodin, and anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium and Xanax more than tripled between 2000 and 2008.

The rise in deaths corresponds with doctors prescribing more painkillers and anti-anxiety medications. The number of prescriptions for the strongest pain pills filled at California pharmacies, for instance, increased more than 43% since 2007 — and the doses grew by even more, nearly 50%, according to a review of prescribing data collected by the state.

Those prescriptions provide relief to pain sufferers but also fuel a thriving black market. Prescription drugs are traded on Internet chat rooms that buzz with offers of "vikes," "percs" and "oxys" for $10 to $80 a pill. They are sold on street corners along with heroin, marijuana and crack. An addiction to prescription drugs can be costly; a heavy OxyContin habit can run twice as much as a heroin addiction, authorities say.

On a recent weekday morning, Los Angeles County undercover sheriff's deputies posing as drug buyers easily purchased enough pills to fill a medicine cabinet on a sidewalk a few blocks south of Los Angeles City Hall.

The most commonly abused prescription drug, hydrocodone, also is the most widely prescribed drug in America, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Better known as Vicodin, the pain reliever is prescribed more often than the top cholesterol drug and the top antibiotic.

"We have an insatiable appetite for this drug — insatiable," Joseph T. Rannazzisi, a top DEA administrator, told a group of pharmacists at a regulatory meeting in Sacramento.

In April, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced initiatives aimed at stanching prescription drug abuse. The plans include a series of drug take-back days, modeled after similar programs involving weapons, in which consumers are encouraged to turn leftover prescription drugs in to authorities. Another initiative would develop voluntary courses to train physicians on how to safely prescribe pain drugs, a curriculum that is not widely taught in medical schools.

Initial attempts to reverse the trend in drug deaths — such as state-run prescription drug-monitoring programs aimed at thwarting "doctor-shopping" addicts — don't appear to be having much effect, experts say.

"What's really scary is we don't know a lot about how to reduce prescription deaths," said Amy S.B. Bohnert, a researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School who is studying ways to lower the risk of prescription drugs.

"It's a wonderful medical advancement that we can treat pain," Bohnert said. "But we haven't figured out the safety belt yet."

lisa.girion@latimes.com

scott.glover@latimes.com

doug.smith@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drugs-epidemic-20110918,0,346288,print.story

[tamiflyer]

Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show

Fueling the surge are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol.

By Lisa Girion, Scott Glover and Doug Smith, Los Angeles Times

2:55 PM PDT, September 17, 2011

advertisement

Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found.

Drugs exceeded motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in 2009, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While most major causes of preventable death are declining, drugs are an exception. The death toll has doubled in the last decade, now claiming a life every 14 minutes. By contrast, traffic accidents have been dropping for decades because of huge investments in auto safety.

Public health experts have used the comparison to draw attention to the nation's growing prescription drug problem, which they characterize as an epidemic. This is the first time that drugs have accounted for more fatalities than traffic accidents since the government started tracking drug-induced deaths in 1979.

Fueling the surge in deaths are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol. Among the most commonly abused are OxyContin, Vicodin, Xanax and Soma. One relative newcomer to the scene is Fentanyl, a painkiller that comes in the form of patches and lollipops and is 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Such drugs now cause more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

"The problem is right here under our noses in our medicine cabinets," said Laz Salinas, a sheriff's commander in Santa Barbara, which has seen a dramatic rise in prescription drug deaths in recent years.

Overdose victims range in age and circumstance from teenagers who pop pills to get a heroin-like high to middle-aged working men and women who take medications prescribed for strained backs and bum knees and become addicted.

A review of hundreds of autopsy reports in Southern California reveals one tragic demise after another: A 19-year-old Army recruit, who had just passed his military physical, took a handful of Xanax and painkillers while partying with friends. A groom, anxious over his upcoming wedding, overdosed on a cocktail of prescription drugs. A teenage honors student overdosed on painkillers her father left in his medicine cabinet from a surgery years earlier. A toddler was orphaned after both parents overdosed on prescription drugs months apart. A grandmother suffering from chronic back pain apparently forgot she'd already taken her daily regimen of pills and ended up double dosing.

Many died after failed attempts at rehab — or after using one too many times while contemplating quitting. That's apparently what happened to a San Diego woman found dead with a Fentanyl patch on her body, one of five she'd applied in the 24 hours before her death. Next to her on the couch was a notebook with information about rehab.

The seeds of the problem were planted more than a decade ago by well-meaning efforts by doctors to mitigate suffering, as well as aggressive sales campaigns by pharmaceutical manufacturers. In hindsight, the liberalized prescription of pain drugs "may in fact be the cause of the epidemic we're now facing," said Linda Rosenstock, dean of the UCLA School of Public Health.

In some ways, prescription drugs are more dangerous than illicit ones because users don't have their guard up, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Steve Opferman, head of a county task force on prescription drug-related crimes. "People feel they are safer with prescription drugs because you get them from a pharmacy and they are prescribed by a doctor," Opferman said. "Younger people believe they are safer because they see their parents taking them. It doesn't have the same stigma as using street narcotics."

Lori Smith said she believes that's what her son might have been thinking the night he died six months shy of his 16th birthday. Nolan Smith, of Aliso Viejo, loved to surf, sail and fish with his brother and father. He suffered from migraines and anxiety but showed no signs of drug abuse, his mother said.

The night before he died in January 2009, Nolan called his mother at work, asking for a ride to the girls basketball game at Aliso Niguel High School. Lori told him she couldn't get away.

When Nolan didn't come home that evening, his parents called police and his friends. His body was found the next morning on a stranger's front porch.

A toxicology test turned up Zoloft, which had been prescribed for anxiety, and a host of other drugs that had not been prescribed, including two additional anti-anxiety drugs, as well as morphine and marijuana.

All investigators could give the family were theories.

"They said they will have parties where the kids will throw a bunch of pills in a bowl and the kids take them without knowing what they are," Lori said. "We called all of his friends, but no one would say they were with him. But he must have been with someone. You just don't do that by yourself."

The triumph of public health policies that have improved traffic safety over the years through the use of seat belts, air bags and other measures stands in stark contrast to the nation's record on prescription drugs. Even though more people are driving more miles, traffic fatalities have dropped by more than a third since the early 1970s to 36,284 in 2009. Drug-induced deaths had equaled or surpassed traffic fatalities in California, 22 other states and the District of Columbia even before the 2009 figures revealed the shift at the national level, according to the Times analysis.

The Centers for Disease Control collects data on all causes of death each year and analyzes them to identify health problems. Drug-induced deaths are mostly accidental overdoses but also include suicides and fatal diseases caused by drugs.

The CDC's 2009 statistics are the agency's most current. They are considered preliminary because they reflect 96% of death certificates filed. The remaining are deaths for which the causes were not immediately clear.

Drug fatalities more than doubled among teens and young adults between 2000 and 2008, years for which more detailed data are available. Deaths more than tripled among people aged 50 to 69, the Times analysis found. In terms of sheer numbers, the death toll is highest among people in their 40s.

Overdose deaths involving prescription painkillers, including OxyContin and Vicodin, and anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium and Xanax more than tripled between 2000 and 2008.

The rise in deaths corresponds with doctors prescribing more painkillers and anti-anxiety medications. The number of prescriptions for the strongest pain pills filled at California pharmacies, for instance, increased more than 43% since 2007 — and the doses grew by even more, nearly 50%, according to a review of prescribing data collected by the state.

Those prescriptions provide relief to pain sufferers but also fuel a thriving black market. Prescription drugs are traded on Internet chat rooms that buzz with offers of "vikes," "percs" and "oxys" for $10 to $80 a pill. They are sold on street corners along with heroin, marijuana and crack. An addiction to prescription drugs can be costly; a heavy OxyContin habit can run twice as much as a heroin addiction, authorities say.

On a recent weekday morning, Los Angeles County undercover sheriff's deputies posing as drug buyers easily purchased enough pills to fill a medicine cabinet on a sidewalk a few blocks south of Los Angeles City Hall.

The most commonly abused prescription drug, hydrocodone, also is the most widely prescribed drug in America, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Better known as Vicodin, the pain reliever is prescribed more often than the top cholesterol drug and the top antibiotic.

"We have an insatiable appetite for this drug — insatiable," Joseph T. Rannazzisi, a top DEA administrator, told a group of pharmacists at a regulatory meeting in Sacramento.

In April, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced initiatives aimed at stanching prescription drug abuse. The plans include a series of drug take-back days, modeled after similar programs involving weapons, in which consumers are encouraged to turn leftover prescription drugs in to authorities. Another initiative would develop voluntary courses to train physicians on how to safely prescribe pain drugs, a curriculum that is not widely taught in medical schools.

Initial attempts to reverse the trend in drug deaths — such as state-run prescription drug-monitoring programs aimed at thwarting "doctor-shopping" addicts — don't appear to be having much effect, experts say.

"What's really scary is we don't know a lot about how to reduce prescription deaths," said Amy S.B. Bohnert, a researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School who is studying ways to lower the risk of prescription drugs.

"It's a wonderful medical advancement that we can treat pain," Bohnert said. "But we haven't figured out the safety belt yet."

lisa.girion@latimes.com

scott.glover@latimes.com

doug.smith@latimes.com

Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.c...idemic-20110918,0,346288,print.story

CDC says that they are mostly accidental overdoses. They should go after the doctors who prescribe them without sufficient instructions. JMMHO. GLTY and all. Go RV.

[NonLinear]

CDC says that they are mostly accidental overdoses. They should go after the doctors who prescribe them without sufficient instructions. JMMHO. GLTY and all. Go RV.

Agreed. A local MD was arrested. He sold A LOT of these [painkillers]. His lifestyle showed as much. He did have a good practice according to many of his 'non pain killer subscribed' patients. He had the 'pain killer crowd' waiting at his front door everyday. He never pleaded guilty yet was found guilty. He lost everything and went to jail. There is no doubt he knew what he was doing! Sad.

The pharma company that makes one of the bestsellers, was 'busted' for KNOWINGLY not telling the doctors that they were so addictive even though they KNEW they were.I forget the name of the pharma company. They paid a fine and were told to get their act together. No jail time for any of the company employees.

A lot of lives and families have been destroyed.

[tandy]

good post, thx....something all of us should be "street wise" about...my step grandson is now in rehab trying to get off hydrocodon that he was hooked on due to a back injury...a respectful. retired brigadier general friends son had the same problem, another young man I know lost his wife and children due to his addiction to pain killer...and on and on it goes...we all know people that have past or present addiction to "legal" drugs...we all need to be street wise in watching for the signs so we can help loved ones and friends before it's too late...my local pharmacist said he thinks 90% of the pain killer prescriptions he fills hit the streets in a matter of hours...sad that doctors don't screen and follow their patients better...the stories of lives destroyed by drugs would fill volumes and the cost to taxpayers is staggering....perhaps we as parents and mentors can become more involved and help stamp out some of this deadly trend...dealers should be dealt with swiftly and harshly..

maybe an rv will be forthcoming before long...keep smiling , it makes people wonder what you've been up to!

[divemaster5734]

The sad part is there are people that live with massive pain every day that will suffer because of the abusers.

I had five surgeries in the last four years, the pain pills helped me through rehab therapy.

Have to admit, it took a week to kick the damn things when I realized I didn't need it anymore, could have probably stayed on them forever with the doc's blessings if I was that way.

According to the report, coke and heroin are safer, wow.

Must be when mixed with drinking.

[watergorilla]

I played football professionally for ten years as an offensive lineman, and trust me, I've had my share of aches and pains. Playing in a game is like being in 30-40 car wrecks in a 3 hour period. I saw alot of guys get messed up on pain killers that were 'prescribed' to them to keep them going. I'm a little guilty of this myself. When I saw some teammates 'needing something to get through it', I knew it wasn't for me. I didn't like to even take aspirin after that. I've been trying to be as holistic in my health as possible. I have an inversion table for back pain, a godsend for straightening out my back. I use a foam roller for maintenance, and a foot roller to relieve pain in my feet.

I think the most amazing piece of equipment, besides my inversion table, would be my FAR infrared sauna. It uses a wavelength technology, instead of heating coils, like standard saunas that heat at 185-235 degrees. That's too damn hot! Sitting in my infrared sauna, when heated to a recommended 130 degrees, feels like MAYBE 90 degrees when your sitting in it. You actually get 3x more sweat volume in it than you do in a conventional sauna, and at a much lower temp. It's amazingly comfortable to sit in, and nothing in medical science has been proven more effective at getting heavy metals, toxins, dioxins, urea, pesticides, and insecticides out of your system! Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and in 15 minutes, once you start sweating, you'll get rid of more of that stuff I just mentioned than your kidneys can cycle out in 24 continous hours!

One of the biggest catchphrases in the U.S. is; 'Never let them see you sweat.' We get up in the morning, put on anti-perspirant, which has aluminium in it [Hello Alzhiemers], go from our air-conditioned house to our air-conditioned car to our air-conditioned place of wherever, and spend the majority of our days trying NOT to sweat. You get a toxin buildup in your body, until something goes wrong. Generally this starts with high blood pressure, and goes on from there.

When we go to the doctors here in the states, it's 'TAKE A PILL.' Great! Add a toxin to your system to mask a fire caused by toxin overload! Your body will adapt...for awhile, until something else shuts down...'TAKE A PILL.' STARTING TO SEE A PICTURE DEVELOPING? How many people do you know around your age , that are on 3-5 different meds? That's what the pharma co. want, because once you start down the slope with meds, there is usually no turning back. "Oh, we'll keep you alive til your 70-80s, your lifestyle will be crap because you won't be able to do anything, but we'll keep you alive. Just keep taking all these pills."

There are a tremendous number of benefits from these saunas. I like the pain and arthritis relief the most, as well as detoxing my body. Sitting in one for 30-45 minutes is like running 6-9 miles on your cardiovascular system.

Check out www.theisauna.com

There is about 20 pages of medical benefits you can check out. And if you get a doctors scrip for it, it's a tax write-off!

I know it sounds too good to be true, so did I, til I tried one, and the pain went away in about 4-7 minutes. I have ties to the company, and I'm not trying to sell anybody anything. I just know that I'm continuosly amazed at how good mine makes me feel. I leave the sandbox in a week, and I'm sure my first couple of days home will be spent in the sauna. If anyone wants to PM me for more info, please feel free.

Once again, I'm not trying to sell anyone anything, just offering info on a way to get off the meds, or stay off the meds.

[yota691]

These drugs need to be taken off the Market

[Aces-n-Eights]

much safer... nuff said

Edited September 19, 2011 by Aces-n-Eights

[tandy]

much safer... nuff said

you are 100% correct...Phoenix tears has some great info about the medicinal uses of cannibas (if they haven't changed it) there are some credible people that claim complete cure of cancer with hemp oil...of course the legal drug cartel doesn't want anything on the market that can cure disease...the last pharmeceutical drug to cure anything was the polio vaccine and Dr. Jonas Salk was persecuted and sneered at by his peers until they saw that it worked...FDA (Fraud Developers Inc)

[DinarDana]

much safer... nuff said

Only if it is organic. Smoking pesticides is not a good idea.

[Aces-n-Eights]

Only if it is organic. Smoking pesticides is not a good idea.

mine is au natra... au naturul..... ah hell... its all good

[DinarDana]

I think the most amazing piece of equipment, besides my inversion table, would be my FAR infrared sauna. It uses a wavelength technology, instead of heating coils, like standard saunas that heat at 185-235 degrees. That's too damn hot! Sitting in my infrared sauna, when heated to a recommended 130 degrees, feels like MAYBE 90 degrees when your sitting in it. You actually get 3x more sweat volume in it than you do in a conventional sauna, and at a much lower temp. It's amazingly comfortable to sit in, and nothing in medical science has been proven more effective at getting heavy metals, toxins, dioxins, urea, pesticides, and insecticides out of your system! Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and in 15 minutes, once you start sweating, you'll get rid of more of that stuff I just mentioned than your kidneys can cycle out in 24 continous hours!

I have heard great reviews on these saunas, thanks for the endorsement. I have a FAR infrared heating unit for my home (one room) and the heat is amazing.

[siriusstuff]

There are so many great supplements you can research for your own needs ( it takes way more time and effort than going to a "medical professional' but so, so worth it! For your animal friends as well.....I have not gone to an md for a decade and only then for a diagnosis of what I already knew I was dealing with and prior to that decade? Not at all for about 3 decades because there was no need. So, do your due diligence on yourselves, take care of yourselves and have a long and healthy and prosperous life.

[NonLinear]

good post, thx....something all of us should be "street wise" about...my step grandson is now in rehab trying to get off hydrocodon that he was hooked on due to a back injury...a respectful. retired brigadier general friends son had the same problem, another young man I know lost his wife and children due to his addiction to pain killer...and on and on it goes...we all know people that have past or present addiction to "legal" drugs...we all need to be street wise in watching for the signs so we can help loved ones and friends before it's too late...my local pharmacist said he thinks 90% of the pain killer prescriptions he fills hit the streets in a matter of hours...sad that doctors don't screen and follow their patients better...the stories of lives destroyed by drugs would fill volumes and the cost to taxpayers is staggering....perhaps we as parents and mentors can become more involved and help stamp out some of this deadly trend...dealers should be dealt with swiftly and harshly..

maybe an rv will be forthcoming before long...keep smiling , it makes people wonder what you've been up to!

Agreed. I 'lost' a lifelong friend to her abuse of painkillers for a botched back surgery. Sad story I will not bore you with! She definitely had the $$$ yet her house was a mess! She also hallucinated from them! She certainly was not herself. I have warned my grown children to stay away from these substances at all cost!

[wpsmit]

Only if it is organic. Smoking pesticides is not a good idea.

Being a child of the sixties, I tried 'em all. Fortunately I never got hooked on anything, except maybe cannabis. Smoked it every day for 10 years, then when our first child was born, I quit, and have not used it for 31 years. It is my opinion, however, that using it is soooo much safer than alcohol. and again IMO, should be legalized. No more arrests, with associated court time and cost, prison population decreased, create thousand of jobs, and help reduce our national debt significantly. Charge $25 per pack (as I understand well under today's black market prices), $15 - $20 of which would be tax.

Users get a bargain, leaving more disposable income, and Gov makes a ton of money. I know this will never happen in my lifetime, but it sure has a lot of merit.

[NonLinear]

I played football professionally for ten years as an offensive lineman, and trust me, I've had my share of aches and pains. Playing in a game is like being in 30-40 car wrecks in a 3 hour period. I saw alot of guys get messed up on pain killers that were 'prescribed' to them to keep them going. I'm a little guilty of this myself. When I saw some teammates 'needing something to get through it', I knew it wasn't for me. I didn't like to even take aspirin after that. I've been trying to be as holistic in my health as possible. I have an inversion table for back pain, a godsend for straightening out my back. I use a foam roller for maintenance, and a foot roller to relieve pain in my feet.

I think the most amazing piece of equipment, besides my inversion table, would be my FAR infrared sauna. It uses a wavelength technology, instead of heating coils, like standard saunas that heat at 185-235 degrees. That's too damn hot! Sitting in my infrared sauna, when heated to a recommended 130 degrees, feels like MAYBE 90 degrees when your sitting in it. You actually get 3x more sweat volume in it than you do in a conventional sauna, and at a much lower temp. It's amazingly comfortable to sit in, and nothing in medical science has been proven more effective at getting heavy metals, toxins, dioxins, urea, pesticides, and insecticides out of your system! Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and in 15 minutes, once you start sweating, you'll get rid of more of that stuff I just mentioned than your kidneys can cycle out in 24 continous hours!

There are a tremendous number of benefits from these saunas. I like the pain and arthritis relief the most, as well as detoxing my body. Sitting in one for 30-45 minutes is like running 6-9 miles on your cardiovascular system.

The 'abuse' aspect of football is why my boys played baseball. I have too many 'older' friends that are still suffering from their days of playing football in high school or college. Some are on painkillers and others have had multiple surgeries. Most if not all wished they had never played!

I have been using dry heat saunas since a teenager. When the far infrared sauna came out, I planned on putting a room in my house. Instead, I discovered the far infrared blanket or wrap. It is like a sleeping bag that you lay in. I use it at least 4 times a week during the winter. During the summer I back off. You can find them now on Ebay at a couple hundred each. It is a wise investment and you can lay down when using it and even go to sleep! Too, you can fold it up and tuck it away when you do not use it. I usually just leave it on the bed in the guest bedroom.

I agree about the effectiveness of far infrared. Here is another link that gives you more information relative to the benefits. Note how it helps tremendously for drug detox! http://www.road-to-health.com/melt.htm