By Ada Brownell
Who knew wild
daring skid-row types wouldn’t be the only ones dying from drug overdoses? Now
even professionals, ordinary people and senior citizens are joining the crowd.
The United
States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose deaths. According to the
Centers for Disease Control, since 2000 the rate of deaths from drug overdoses
has increased 137%, including a 200% increase in the rate of overdose deaths
involving opioid pain relievers and heroin. The NY Times reported 64,000 people
died from drug overdoses in 2016. CDC says at least 20,000 died from fentanyl,
which is synthetic opiods.
I’ve seen what
heroin can do. In hopes of helping others, a young woman’s mother called the
newspaper where I worked as a reporter and wanted me to write about what
happens too often in our nation when an addict dies.
“She was having
seizures when we brought her here,” her mother said.
A photographer
and I watched the young woman die. She never regained consciousness. She
shouldn’t have died so young.
Heroin is called
the “recreational” drug. First-time users seek the “high.” They also abuse the
drug for the fake well-being they experience. Experts say heroin use often can
be traced to a chaotic home, an undiagnosed mental disorder, biological
conditions such as lack of neurotransmitter
endorphins in the brain, or if there is an addicted family member.
Others ripe for
heroin addiction are ravaged by fear, emptiness, guilt, loneliness,
relationship problems, or hurts because of abuse or a broken home. The person
seeks peace but can’t find it.
The rise in opiod and other drug use began to escalate with the decline of Christianity in America.
Born-again Christians experience what Peter called "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8), and Jesus called it "rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Before he ascended, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you" (John 14:27). They also experience amazing peace. Jesus told his disciples before He went into heaven, "Peace I leave with you" (John 14:27).
The drug addict thinks
getting high is the only way to have fun or have peace. Liquor is imbibed for some of the
same reasons. During my years in the newsroom where I worked as a journalist one
reporter was shocked I’d never had a alcoholic drink.
"How did you have any fun?" he asked.
"I've had lots of fun in my life," I told him, "and the wonderful thing is I knew I had it!"
Opiods sometimes are abused for much
the same reasons, but thousands become addicted because they need pain relief.
I took synthetic
morphine after I had knee replacements. My husband took a similar pain substance. Yet,
we were in a hurry to get off the drugs. We stopped them after a
few weeks.
Doctors told me
not to worry about addiction unless I had something else going on in my life
besides pain. He was talking about emotional pain.
I’ve
had back problems and recently my doctor was shocked to discover what I use: Horse linament, Absorbine. I buy it at a Farm & Ranch supply and I use it
frequently.
Increased
use of narcotics began when doctors discovered pain control assists with the
healing process so they began to be more liberal with prescribing narcotics.
The old notion that pain is somehow
"good" for you has been put to rest for good, say health officials.
They are increasingly recognizing that control of pain leads to more rapid
recovery for hospitalized patients, and can even cut costs.
While pain can function as the body's alarm that
something is wrong, it can also be counterproductive, says Dr. Lynn Webster,
who directs the Lifetree Clinical Research and Pain Clinic in Salt Lake City.
"Most of us just want to lie there, because if we
move after an operation or major trauma, it
hurts.
But when patients just lie there, Dr. Webster
says they're putting themselves at risk. "Patients who have good post-op pain control are able to breathe
better," says Webster. Deep breaths can prevent the development of
pneumonia, which can lead to sepsis and, in severe cases, require that patients
be put on a ventilator. If patients can get up and walk fairly quickly after a
procedure, then they also decrease their risk of blood clots in the legs which,
in some cases, can be fatal.
We know Controlling Pain Helps Healing
Controlling acute pain in the hospital setting can also
decrease a patient's risk of developing chronic pain later on. When people begin to feel pain, Webster
says the body begins to set up an inflammatory process in the central nervous
system that's "hard to quiet down." For some people, that
inflammation begins to feed on itself and, once discharged from the hospital,
patients may go on to experience pain for months, even years afterward.
The Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals, set new
standards for how pain should be treated. It recommended that health providers
routinely ask patients about the intensity of their pain — and then do
something about it.
In fact, measuring pain has been coined the
"fifth" vital sign, along with blood pressure, heart rate,
temperature and respiration.
I learned
about the amazing benefits that come from stopping pain 20 years ago from an
anesthesiologist. His team at Parkview Episcopal Hospital in Pueblo, CO saw amazing
results when anesthesiologists became involved in pain control, and not just
putting people to sleep.
In most hospitals nationwide today, there is a 1 to 10
scale for patients to rate their pain. Hospitals are paying attention to pain
management today, says Dr. Linda Hertzberg, an anesthesiologist at St. Agnes
Medical Center in Fresno, Calif., and president of the California Society of
Anesthesiologists.
Improvements In Treatment
It's nearly impossible to experience absolutely no pain
after surgery or a procedure, says Hertzberg. And doctors do want patients to
be conscious. Hertzberg says that when patients define their level of pain, it
helps doctors target their treatment.
Methods for treating pain have advanced dramatically,
starting with the discovery in the mid-1980s that medication could be delivered
directly into the spinal cord and prevent the brain from receiving information
about pain, or even the surgery or procedure being performed — the medication
literally stops the pain signals in
their path.
Herzberg mentioned peripheral nerve blocks. He said you
can numb up someone's arm or shoulder, or numb up their leg for a period of up
to 24 hours.
I've met a few
people who have implanted pain control pumps.
But pain
control still relies largely on pills and now too many people are hooked on
opioids. I read where one man became addicted because his ObamaCare health plan
cut services in his area and he could no longer afford needed surgery and had
to get by on pain pills.
Why do so many
die? Often overdose is accidental, but some people want more of their drug, and
too much can kill.
What happens in
the body with an overdose of heroin or another opioid?
Why do they
die? Dr. Karen Drexler, associate professor at Emory University psychiatry
department, in a CNN report said, “Overdose can cause blood pressure to dip,
resulting in heart failure.”
But also the
drug affects the way the heart pumps blood and many addicts forget to breathe
because the respiratory system shuts down.
I've seen people become addicted to pain killers. It seems the ones most apt to addiction are those who have emotional pain, as well as physical pain.
On the surface, opioid pain relievers don’t seem near as
harmful as heroin. Heroin is a
powerful semi-synthetic opiate derived from morphine and is most often used as a recreational drug.
Heroin delivers an intense “rush” and is more powerful than most opioid
analgesics because it crosses the blood-brain barrier more rapidly.
A physician told me years ago that every drug we take into our bodies has a side effect—even aspirin. We have to decide if the reason we need the drug outweighs the side effects. Then take the drug according to the doctor’s instructions, paying strict attention to the amount and frequency.
Thank God for modern medicine and the knowledge he gave humankind so we discovered pain relief. But God does give us the knowledge that such drugs need to be controlled and to resist addiction.
If you need a miracle, read Ada Brownell's new book, What Prayer Can Do. There are true stories of deliverance from drugs and alcohol.
WHAT PRAYER CAN DO
A Collection of true
stories by Ada Brownell Published by The Pentecostal Evangel
By Ada Brownell
Ennis L. Surratt clutched the
cool metal handle of his .45 pistol. Through the weeds he could see three men
coming. He knew they would come near where he crouched because they would be
coming after the barrel of whiskey that had disappeared from his still the
night before.
When the men were only a few
feet from the barrel, Ennis stepped out in front of the man who seemed to lead
the way.
“You’re not taking this
barrel,” Ennis growled, keeping his right hand next to the gun. “You stole it
last night, and we’re going to settle it right here.”
He drew his gun and aimed it
at the thief.
“Shoot!” the thief yelled as
he whirled with his double-barreled shotgun.
An explosive charge sounded from the shotgun
and Ennis fell to the ground. Pain surged through his neck and chest, and hot
blood trickled from the wounds, but Ennis raised up on one knee and fired the
pistol.
With a cry of anguish, the
thief dropped the shotgun and fell into the weeds.
Ennis fell back again, and
both men cursed and writhed with pain until they were taken to town for
treatment. Ennis was filled with buckshot but not hurt seriously. The other
fellow, however, was in serious condition.
Events like this were why the
bootlegger became known as “the meanest man in town” and that caught the
attention of two lady evangelist holding a tent revival in that town. The women
decided if the meanest man in two would be changed by the power of God, there
would be revival.
How God reached down and Ennis
upside the head. He changed so much he became a fiery gospel preacher that won
not only many others to God, but his own children, who became ministers of the
gospel as well. One of his sons pastored the author’s church several years.
Read the story of Ennis Surratt and many others in What Prayer Can Do, on sale now at http://ow.ly/9CEI30h4IdL
