Can exercise help conquer addiction?

As an athlete, I think regularly about the potential health benefits of exercise for my patients. Every week, I treat patients hospitalized at Brigham and Women’s Hospital with significant medical problems that are a direct result of severe addiction, ranging from seizures and strokes to heart valve and joint infections. I also care for outpatients at the Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital Addiction Recovery Program. In both settings, I provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT) such as buprenorphine-naloxone for opioid use disorder, and extended-release naltrexone for both alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder. I work closely with therapists and social workers who offer our patients counseling and referrals to additional programs. I frequently discuss mutual-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery with patients. I use motivational interviewing techniques to help enhance motivation and guide patients towards their recovery goals. Suffice to say, I am a psychiatrist interested in pulling out all of the stops when it comes to treating addiction. Despite increased national attention and numerous interventions to tackle the opioid epidemic, recent statistics are still alarming. Drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids increased by 87% annually from 2013 to 2016. This dramatic increase is attributed mainly to the illicit manufacturing of fentanyl, an opioid approximately 100 times more potent than morphine. In Massachusetts, where I pract...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Addiction Exercise and Fitness Health Source Type: blogs