 | Addictive Substances and Neurological Disease Addictive Substances and Neurological Disease: Alcohol, Tobacco, Caffeine, and Drugs of Abuse in Everyday Lifestyles is a complete guide to the manifold effects of addictive substances on the brain, providing readers with the latest developing research on how these substances are implicated in neurological development and dysfunction. Cannabis, cocaine, and other illicit drugs can have substantial negative effects on the structure and functioning of the brain. However, other common habituating and addictive substances often used as part of an individual's lifestyle, i.e., alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, painkillers can also compromise brain health and effect or accentuate neurological disease. This book provides broad coverage of the effects of addictive substances on the brain, beginning with an overview of how the substances lead to dysfunction before examining each substance in depth. It discusses the pathology of addiction, the structural damage resulting from abuse of various substances, and covers the neurobiological, neurodegenerative, behavioral, and cognitive implications of use across the lifespan, from prenatal exposure, to adolescence and old age. This book aids researchers seeking an understanding of the neurological changes that these substances induce, and is also extremely useful for those seeking potential treatments and therapies for individuals suffering from chronic abuse of these substances. Ronald Ross Watson PhD is a professor of Health Promotion Sciences in the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. He was one of the founding members of this school serving the mountain west of the USA. He is a professor of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of Arizona. He began his research in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health as a fellow in 1971 doing field work on vaccines in Saudi Arabia. He has done clinical studies in Colombia, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and USA which provides a broad international view of public health. He has served in the military reserve hospital for 17 years with extensive training in medical responses to disasters as the chief biochemistry officer of a general hospital, retiring at a Lt. Colonel. He published 450 papers, and presently directs or has directed several NIH funded biomedical grants relating to alcohol and disease particularly immune function and cardiovascular effects including studying complementary and alternative medicines. Professor Ronald Ross Watson was Director of a National Institutes of Health funded Alcohol Research Center for 5 years. The main goal of the Center was to understand the role of ethanol-induced immunosuppression on immune function and disease resistance in animals. He is an internationally recognized alcohol-researcher, nutritionist and immunologist. He also initiated and directed other NIH-associated work at The University of Arizona, College of Medicine. Dr. Watson has funding from companies and non-profit foundations to study bioactive foods'' components in health promotion. Professor Watson attended the University of Idaho, but graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, with a degree in Chemistry in 1966. He completed his Ph.D. degree in 1971 in Biochemistry from Michigan State University. His postdoctoral schooling was completed at the Harvard School of Public Health in Nutrition and Microbiology, including a two-year postdoctoral research experience in immunology. Professor Watson is a distinguished member of several national and international nutrition, immunology, and cancer societies. Overall his career has involved studying many foods for their uses in health promotion. He has edited 120 biomedical reference books, particularly in health and 450 papers and chapters. His teaching and research in foods, nutrition and bacterial disease also prepare him to edit this book. He has 4 edited works on nutrition in aging. He has extensive experience working with natural products, alcohol, exercise, functional foods and dietary extracts for health benefits and safety issues, including getting 12 patents. Dr. Watson has done laboratory studies in mice on immune functions that decline with aging and the role of supplements in delaying this process as modified by alcohol and drugs of abuse. Dr. Sherma Zibadi received her Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Arizona. Her medical degree and training were done at the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. She then completed her post-doctoral research fellowship awarded by the American Heart Association where her research involved cardiology and complementary medicine studies. Her research has involved maladaptive cardiac remodeling process, which helps to identify new targets for treatment of heart failure. Dr. Zibadi''s research interest also extends into foods as medicines, exploring the preventive and therapeutic effects of dietary supplements on heart failure and its major risk factors in both basic animal and clinical studies, translating lab research findings into clinical practice. Dr. Zibadi is an author of more than 35 research papers in peer reviewed journals. She has been an editor on 8 scientific books like this one being proposed. She has edited on a variety of clinical topics: breast milk, bottle feeding, wheat and rice in health, polyphenols and health, omega 3 fatty acids, dietary supplements in immune modulation, and dietary fat and health. She and Dr. Watson have collaborated extensively on both laboratory research and editing. |
