AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The Means Report’s Psychological well being issues since you matter collection continues as we flip our consideration to dependancy. The reality about addictions, what are they? The actual fact is what you understand to be an dependancy may not be or vice versa. We’re gonna get some clarification on that from an knowledgeable who’s been variety sufficient to hitch us. Additionally the remedy that’s on the market for dependancy. How can we make you and people you like higher and more healthy as soon as once more.

Brad Means: Dr. Lelan Byrd has been variety sufficient to hitch us. He’s from the Medical School of Georgia at Augusta College. He’s a professor. He makes a speciality of dependancy medication and we simply are so grateful, not solely to have you ever right here, Physician, however only for what you do for individuals who need assistance. Thanks for that.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Effectively, thanks for having me, giving me the chance to speak about one thing that’s so prevalent on the market and must be talked about. So thanks for doing this.

Brad Means: You’re proper, it’s in every single place. And I used to be driving over right here right now making an attempt to determine what dependancy is. And I believed, oh, nicely, dependancy is, what it boils all the way down to is one thing that you just do an excessive amount of, that you just do in extra. Is that correct?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Yeah. I imply, that’s correct, however it’s actually lack of management over no matter it’s that you just’re hooked on. Whether or not it’s a behavioral dependancy or whether or not it’s a substance challenge, particularly what we’re seeing a lot of and I’m overwhelmed with, right here in our space, significantly all around the nation, is the opioid dependancy.

Brad Means: Yeah.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: And what you hear a lot of and that’s what we’re confronted with each day. Actually, we’re making an attempt to save lots of lives with folks that, as you activate any tv you wanna take a look at, you see folks dying of the opioid overdose.

Brad Means: So are dependancy and dependence the identical factor? Are they shut?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: They’re shut. Dependancy, we actually have 11 standards that we undergo once we’re diagnosing a substance use dysfunction of some kind, whether or not or not it’s alcohol, whether or not or not it’s marijuana, whether or not or not it’s tranquilizers. And people standards, we used to name ’em, we used to name alcoholism. Now we’re extra mild in how we time period that. We name alcohol use dysfunction, delicate, average, or extreme primarily based on these standards that we use to judge it. Just about each household, each individual on the market has both a good friend or a member of the family or an affiliate that they might have considerations that has a substance challenge that they’re coping with. All of us do. And we’re those that can consider the severity of that downside. If it’s inflicting hassle at work, if it’s inflicting hassle with household, with interpersonal relationships, that’s the place we’re referred to as on to to evaluate it and to intervene once we suppose it’s essential.

Brad Means: How do these folks get to you? Is it their members of the family dragging them in? Do they arrive voluntarily? Or is it-

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Many occasions. In fact right here, it’s completely different. I got here out of personal follow and out of personal follow coming to the medical college, most of my sufferers would both be popping out of restoration or out of the hospital that had been referred to my workplace. Right here on the Medical School, in fact, I’m concerned within the in affected person care and the seek the advice of. So that they’ll come both out of the hospital. Typically, more often than not they arrive voluntarily. Many occasions, households, it’s a household illness. And plenty of occasions households will name the workplace and say, “Look, I’m frightened about my son,” “I’m frightened about my husband,” “I’m frightened about my spouse,” and so they’ll get an appointment for us to judge it.

Brad Means: Stroll me by means of the opioid dependancy. As a result of, you understand, it appears that you’ve got a medical process, you’re taking a tablet, it makes the ache go away and also you’re good. How do you go from that to dependancy? Is it, as a result of, truthfully, once I take, you understand, hydrocodone, or OxyContin, or one thing like that after, my final time was a dental process. It didn’t make me really feel excessive. It made my tooth cease hurting all through the prescription. And I don’t, the place’s the dependancy come from?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Fascinating query. I imply, the opioid epidemic, which you, I’m a retired surgeon and I can’t let you know the variety of sufferers that I took care of, both with a kidney stone or some surgical process that we’d prescribe a drugs such as you’re alluding to, hydrocodone, hydromorphone. And again within the early 90s what we’d do any person got here in with a kidney stone that was gonna cross it, you’d write ’em a prescription for Percocet or hydrocodone and provides ’em 30. They usually’d inform ’em to drink loads of fluids and they’d cross the stone. It could alleviate the ache in order that they may deal with it as an outpatient. A big proportion of these sufferers, as a lot as 30% of ’em that we placed on that remedy, after they handed the stone would come again to us requesting extra of the drugs. Now that euphoric impact that you just didn’t get, many sufferers love that euphoric impact of an opiate.

Brad Means: So it’s a excessive they really feel!

Dr. Lelan Byrd: It’s a excessive, completely.

Brad Means: Okay.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: And they’d come wanting extra of that remedy. Now they’ve handed their stone and their ache is gone however they needed extra of this.

Brad Means: Okay.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: And what we’re beginning to see is that we will now, hopefully, among the analysis and among the fascinating stuff that I’m concerned with that it’s occurring from Penn State College, is that we hopefully will have the ability to establish these folks. That subset of sufferers which might be fixing to have a surgical process, that you could establish might have an issue with opioids down the street. Which you could predict those which might be gonna get that euphoric impact and which might be gonna need it. What you requested what occurs with these sufferers. Whether or not it’s a automobile accident and so they get opioids from the emergency room after they’re evaluated there. They go house, they take it, they prefer it. Subsequent factor they arrive again and a health care provider received’t prescribe it. So what do you suppose occurs? They go proper to the road

Brad Means: Yeah.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: and get it. It’s really easy to do. And we now have some within the hospital proper now with that very state of affairs.

Brad Means: Let’s return to your affected person profile. Do you see all ages or does dependancy kick in at a sure age?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: That’s an excellent query. However I’d see it in non-public follow, surprisingly. This was popping out of my fellowship in my dependancy coaching. I by no means thought that you’d see youngster and adolescent dependancy as a lot as I did.

Brad Means: Yeah.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: My follow was in Roswell, Georgia. And in loads of the high-end excessive colleges that had been there, Marist, Cambridge Excessive College, you’d suppose there’s not gonna be an dependancy downside. I used to be overwhelmed with that age group of sufferers that had been concerned in it. The place you’d suppose that they’d be immune from it, no, I imply, we’d see it again and again. I imply, the earliest I’ve had sufferers that got here to me in non-public follow was age 14.

Brad Means: 14? Was it ingesting primarily?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: You understand, we speak about gateway medication and virtually invariably it’ll begin with marijuana. Marijuana is completely different than it was again once I was within the early 70s and 60s.

Brad Means: Certain.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: The marijuana that’s on the market now, that THC content material of marijuana these days, avenue marijuana, is completely completely different. Again within the day, early 80s, even the THC content material can be 4, 5%. Now it approaches 80 and 90%. And that’s a special drug altogether. That’s a hallucinogenic drug. So we’d see sufferers that gateway drug of hashish, that they begin utilizing in a short time escalates in that group to the place they’re searching for some thoughts altering substance.

Brad Means: Is there a gene for dependancy? We’ve heard you’ll be examined and discover out. Okay, I’m on the trail to be hooked on cocaine. I higher by no means contact it.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Sure.

Brad Means: Is that potential?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Let’s simply take alcohol. We speak concerning the gene for alcohol when it comes to can we predict who, with ingesting at an early age, is gonna grow to be an alcoholic or have alcohol use dysfunction, extreme. 50% of it we take a look at and say it’s genetic. The opposite 50% can be environmental, social, no matter, however there’s an enormous DNA part. There’s an enormous DNA part, genetic part to all addictions. And we’re beginning to unmask that. That’s the place the science is headed and that’s one of many thrilling issues that we’re doing in it.

Brad Means: I wanna ask you one fast query then I wanna transition into the therapies which might be on the market, however I do know that you’ve got expertise with athletics, not solely as an athlete your self but in addition as a coach. Do you see dependancy and abuse on the earth of sports activities? And if that’s the case, why? Is it only one individual does it after which the peer strain makes it unfold?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: One other nice query, however sure. Now we marvel what our children are doing.

Brad Means: Oh my goodness.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Yeah. It was once again within the 70s once I was very lively in skilled sports activities. Stimulants had been the efficiency enhancing drug, early 70s, I imply, it was common for cocaine and we didn’t take a look at athletes again at the moment.

Brad Means: Proper, no testing.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: In case you had sufficient cash, you’d purchase cocaine. And that was very prevalent. And did it improve efficiency? Effectively, there although, if you happen to would take a look at a few of these groups within the early 70s and see the place they had been, we referred to as it being within the jar. Within the jar meant you’re taking amphetamines,

Brad Means: Yeah.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: your greenies, inexperienced dextroamphetamine, that was the favored drug. As time went on, that utterly modified to the place steroids turned one thing and anyone that’s adopted sports activities is aware of Barry Bonds and what he regarded like early in his profession and what he regarded like towards the top of his profession, and what these explicit medication did, efficiency enhancing medication, that are steroids and testosterone which is used, beta hCG and human chorionic gonadotropin that they’re capable of get. Very costly, however very troublesome to detect. However yeah, they’re a distinguished downside in sports activities.

Brad Means: So for any person who’s watching and so they’re apprehensive about taking that first step, what’s remedy appear to be and the way quickly are you able to break the necessity for that substance or that conduct?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: In fact, it relies on what substance. However in fact early intervention is one of the best. The deadly drug that we take care of each day now are the opioids. And with the inflow of fentanyl that’s coming actually out of Mexico,

Brad Means: Yeah.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: folks which might be shopping for avenue medication now, the laced avenue medication, the Xanax, the road lingo for medication, virtually 100% of the time are laced with fentanyl and that’s a daunting factor.

Brad Means: Terrifying.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: However that’s what we’re seeing. And treating that and having an intervention, we now have sufferers within the hospital proper now. There are three of ’em which have are available which have overdosed with fentanyl which have been resuscitated with Narcan, and now we’re caring for ’em and getting them detoxed. The detox is simply, that’s type of the straightforward half. That’s the introduction to restoration.

Brad Means: What do you do with these after you get ’em detoxed when it comes to saving their life? Is it extra conduct remedy at that time?

Dr. Lelan Byrd: We do have new drugs out which we name ’em MAT remedy, medically-assisted remedy, that are medication that basically change the opioid with a substance that diminishes the cravings that they may have for the opioid. And we run a clinic right here now on the Medical School that we’re seeing an increasing number of of these sufferers. However you’ll be able to take, for instance, the sufferers I used to be speaking about that got here in with fentanyl overdose. Now they’re gonna go into withdrawal. And at a sure level of withdrawal after they have the shakes, and the tremors, and the muscle pains, and the sweats, and so they’re depressing being in there withdrawing from the opioid, we can provide ’em that remedy, we name it Suboxone or buprenorphine. And proper earlier than your eyes, I imply, inside half-hour if you happen to give them this dose after they’re in lively or average withdrawal, their signs dissipate.

Brad Means: Wow.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: In fact, as soon as you will get ’em in that type of remedy or that type of remedy, their life can flip round however it offers ’em an opportunity. Similar to the title says, medically-assisted remedy.

Brad Means: Yeah.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: It’s serving to them to get by means of.

Brad Means: >My final query, and it’s only a private one. How should it really feel to you to take any person, so many individuals, from their darkest hour, a lot of whom could also be watching proper now and provides them a brand new lease on life? It’s gotta be superior.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: It truly is. Dr. Vaughn requested me, Vaughn McCall, our chairman, requested me that once I was this job. What’s it prefer to be in restoration? I did kidney transplants right here on the Medical School for various years. And once we would sew that kidney into any person and it will actually, on the working desk, it begin making urine. And we’d see ’em again. This can be a affected person which have been on hemodialysis or getting their full blood quantity filtered 3 times every week. So having to go to a hemodialysis middle. Effectively while you transplant them, their life modifications. I imply, actually in a single day to the place they don’t should go, that’s what restoration, that’s the closest factor in medication that I’ve seen to restoration in my life within the dependancy medication. if you happen to get any person in true restoration, like I stated, detox is a primary step, but when you will get any person, whether or not it’s alcohol, opiates, stimulants, tranquilizers, if you happen to get ’em in restoration their life modifications. And that’s thrilling. That’s a enjoyable factor to do ’trigger actually you’re saving that individual’s life.

Brad Means: Oh, you’re saving so many lives, Dr. Byrd, and everyone who works over there at MCG. Thanks all for what you do and thanks for the enter right now. It was invaluable.

Dr. Lelan Byrd: Effectively, thanks. As once more, thanks for letting us speak about dependancy. And extra folks learn about it and that we may also help any person, the higher we’re gonna be.

Brad Means: Completely. Thanks for that.