Host Kurt Swensen and special guest Bruce M. discuss the difficulties and similarities between quitting nicotine and other drugs.

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In Brief

Almost one in twelve (7.9 percent) fathers living with adolescents aged 12 to 17 had an alcohol use disorder, while 68.1 percent used alcohol in the past year but did not have an alcohol use disorder; 24.1 percent did not use alcohol in the past year
The rate of past year alcohol use among adolescents was lower for those who lived with a father who did not use alcohol in the past year than for those who lived with a father who used alcohol but did not have an alcohol …

This week on ORS radio we discuss nicotine and heroin. Are there similarities in terms of quitting? Hear from someone who’s finding out. Join us at Saturday @ 7:00 pm Pacific.

Be Well,

Kurt

Life in my opinion is a series of winning and losing. There will come a time when you will have to experience failure, one way or another. If you have always gotten what you want, the harder it will be for you to cope with losing. Some people say you can always refuse to lose. But losing is inevitable, and when it happens to you, you have to accept it the most graceful way you can.

Host Kurt Swensen discusses gratitude

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In recovery it is easy to focus on the things in life that are difficult and “not right yet.” Anyone who makes a point of concentrating what’s wrong typically gets more of the same. If a person can focus on the things in life that they have to be grateful for, they will find much, much, more that makes them happy.

Teens who are dealing with an addiction need to be helped by professionals. Teens are at a point in their life when they are emotionally and physically developing. This means that they still lack some of the fundamental reasoning skills that many adults have. Addiction only makes the problem worse.

In medicine we seek to find balance within the body, but balance shouldn’t nor peace should end there.

We need to find peace within ourselves so that the problems that plague (any culture and any population) won’t intrude and bother us. It’s the inner peace, no matter where or how you find it, is the goal of all human kind. Ask any ones desire, no matter what it is and ultimately at the base of their desire, will be peace. I want money, I want fame, I want women, I want a man, I want a marriage, I want security, or whatever. All that is a desire to give us what we think is inner peace. Very interesting I thought.

For years people have asked me, “Can acupuncture help you lose weight?” I have always responded with my comedic answer, “YES! It only takes one needle, between your lips so you can’t eat”. I have always meant that jokingly but it does illustrate a great point. Ultimately, no matter WHAT we do, we need to BURN more calories than we TAKE IN. There are no short cuts; there is no magic pill or magic herb.

Hot flashes? Night sweats? Emotional mood swings? For so long menopause has been a “way of discomfort” for many women. Women have been told to “endure and put up with it”. They have routinely been prescribed anti-depressants when that hasn’t even been the problem to begin with. They have been given Hormone replacement therapy which has shown to increase risks in many types of cancers. They have been told to take vitamins or horse urine, yet nothing has helped. Western medicine, in its patriarchal mindset, has long abandoned any goal of actually helping women with this transition in life called Menopause.