Exclusive Interview on Addictiveness During the Coronavirus Pandemic with Dr. Henry Balzani, the “Addictiveness Doctor”

Fort Lee, NJ, USA, 2020-May-15 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — In an exclusive interview with Practicomm, nationally recognized addictiveness expert provides valuable update on controversial addiction issues.

Q1. In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, it appears that people who were not addicts could become addictive just from being quarantined? Do you think that would be a large number of new addicts?

Our “Basic Survival Thinking” is mostly negative and being quarantined produces increased life stresses such as, unemployment, financial loss, fear of death, forced isolation and mental illnesses. During the pandemic, there has been an increase in alcohol consumption (as well as other substances) to blunt the negative thoughts. Also, there was an increase in sugary-high carb “comfort foods” used to stimulate positive feelings through the increased production of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin.

But in fact, almost all the Covid-19 deaths are directly related to our addictiveness to high carb, processed food and the abuse of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, especially high blood sugar, diabetes and high blood pressure, which compromise the immune system. In brief, “Yes”, there will be an increase in addictiveness to try to relieve the pressure and mental stress from this pandemic

Q2. Some people say that smoking is a worse addiction than alcohol and drugs. Is that true? If so, why?

Smoking leads to strong persistent cravings for more nicotine within minutes to hours of the last puff. Vaping allows nicotine to almost always “be in hand’ day and night, inside or out. Addiction to different substances varies with the substance and the individual, and is tempered by availability, legality, cost, social acceptance, the onset of health issues, age of user, and more. Smoking health issues usually develop later in life; products are readily available, and vaping is now cool and socially acceptable. Fortunately, tobacco products are banned in buildings and outside in parks, thus making it harder to use freely.

Q3. It seems that most addiction treatment centers have a high percentage of patients who are “cured” for only a small period of time before going back to the addiction. Is that a correct statement?

The LIFETIME tendency to relapse (recidivism) after treatment is still high. The “Post Treatment Cure” is, for most, a physiologic removal of the substance from the body; and, for a time, a psychologic re-education and respite for the client before entering the real world. The “Roots of Addiction” can start early in life and become deeply and unconsciously embedded over years, and can always be reactivated under stress. To achieve a lifetime cure, addicts must always be actively involved in their recovery, because life just doesn’t get easier. I have seen my clients relapse a number of times before being able to maintain sobriety; and, some who have relapsed after many years of sobriety.

Q4. Can addicts actually change the way they think? How would they do that if they could? Does this vary by the type of addiction?

Adult addicts can change the way they think if they have a strong Desire, Interest and Commitment to recover. But, being pushed into recovery usually doesn’t last long.

They must deal with the root causes of their addiction, as they can be reactivated during times of stress. For any addiction, they must fully commit and actively participate in their process of Detox, Treatment, Counseling, and follow up, remove people places and things, and have (or seek out) a strong support system which can help in stressful situations. The stresses of life will always be there and it’s the psychological aspect of addiction that can be persistent!

For more information on the root causes of addiction, visit  addictivenessdoctor.com and/or go to Dr.Balzani on Facebook.

Via EPR Network
More Healthcare press releases

MEDIS expands into new areas of cardiovascular disease with the acquisition of Italian medtech company AMID

LEIDEN, Netherlands, 11-May-2020 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — MEDIS, a leading developer and supplier of software applications for image-based diagnosis and quantitative assessment of cardiovascular disease, today announced that it acquired Advanced Medical Imaging Development S.r.l. (AMID), a developer and supplier specialized in cardiovascular mechanics and innovative image processing in ultrasound and other modalities. The strategic acquisition will expedite MEDIS’ expansion in new areas of cardiovascular disease, and secure MEDIS’ access to key technologies to further enhance its innovative portfolio of post-processing solutions for X-ray, MR, CT, IVUS, OCT and US devices.

The acquisition of AMID, based in Sulmona (Italy), will further increase MEDIS’ share in the cardiovascular market. “This acquisition expands our product portfolio and brings in new sales channels. The combination of AMID’s products with our product and services portfolio will enable us to provide our customers a unique and more complete multi-modal offering for cardiovascular imaging analysis”, said Hans Brons, CEO of MEDIS.

“As part of MEDIS we will have significantly more leverage to position our portfolio of innovative technologies in the global market for cardiovascular imaging software,” commented Giovanni Tonti, CEO of AMID. “Our technology offerings will allow MEDIS to complement and further enhance its already impressive suite of clinical offerings and spur innovation.”

“MEDIS and AMID have already had an excellent cooperation for over five years, both commercially and in product development. I am very excited about our access to the unique know-how and innovative power of AMID’s founders and their technology, and to intensify the cooperation leading to new solutions that ultimately will benefit the patients“ says Hans Reiber, founder and CSO of MEDIS.

MEDIS will leverage AMID’s proprietary state-of-the-art software and know-how to provide even more sophisticated cardiac and cardiovascular imaging software solutions to its customers. “The integration of both companies will take place over the next months. We expect to significantly strengthen our power to innovate and are very excited about our new relationships with AMID’s existing OEMs and sales channels” added Hans Brons. “Our new customers will continue to receive the same high quality of service which they have come to expect.”

AMID, which will continue to operate under that name is now a wholly owned subsidiary of MEDIS.

Over the last 6 months Van Herk Ventures has made significant further equity investments in MEDIS with the aim to help accelerate the growth of the company and to enable the acquisition of AMID.

“With this investment, Van Herk Ventures enables us to further expand on our position as an independent vendor of high specialty software and a leader in this industry,” stated Hans Brons, CEO of MEDIS.

“We have been intrigued by the broad spectrum of innovations in the cardiovascular imaging domain that MEDIS has created and commercialized over the years, and in particular the more recent exciting and disruptive opportunities in the field of interventional cardiology.

MEDIS has been recognized worldwide as a company that develops high quality software, listening to the needs of the clinicians and researchers and supporting them with new and expanded applications. We believe that there is a great upwards potential in MEDIS and we like to stimulate these developments and see the company grow to the next level. We are therefore very excited about the MEDIS acquisition of AMID,” said Dharminder Chahal, managing director of Van Herk Ventures.

SOURCE: EuropaWire