Drug Driving Is Not Okay

March 31st, 2010   Add Comment

Awareness of the dangers of “drug driving” is growing around the world. Random drug testing is popular already among schools, parents, and workplaces, and demand is increasing every day to put it into action on roadways.  Why?  Because saliva drug testing is now seen as reliable enough to be used (our test for example is 97-98% accurate).  From today’s Irish Times:

Sgt Trish Gill from Dublin city’s south central division told delegates at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) that roadside testing technology had progressed to such an extent in recent years that a drugs saliva test is now available to police forces.

And further down in the article…

She said both medication and illicit drugs could negatively impact driving in many different ways including impaired concentration, poor vision and an inability to properly judge speed and distance.

Drug driving was a major issue and needed to be tackled immediately with roadside testing similar to alcohol breath tests.

“Random alcohol testing has proven to be a success in reducing accidents. Random testing will have an additional effect on the overall consumption of drugs, as it has had on alcohol in some instances.”

The important thing is using a saliva drug test as a screen.  It indicates whether you are high or have used recently (since it can measure both recent use and current high, it’s not enough to just read positive to get a case together for drug driving – you also have to be demonstrably out of control of your vehicle.  For employers and parents, this part does not matter –  a no drug policy is a no drug policy, regardless of whether you are high right this minute).  When DUI checkpoints are instituted in the United States, people drive more conservatively and a message about the seriousness of drinking and driving is sent.  Drug driving can be at least as dangerous.

You can get your own version of a drug driving test by purchasing a saliva drug test from Home Health Testing.  They are easy to use and non-invasive.  If you want to make sure someone you know is not drug driving, this is the test for you.  You can easily find out if someone has recently consumed Marijuana, Cocaine, Opiates, Methamphetamines, Amphetamines, or PCP.

Tags: , ,

Home Thyroid Tests Can Reveal If You May Have Hypothyroidism

March 26th, 2010   Add Comment

If you have been feeling sluggish or depressed or have suddenly started to gain unexpected amounts of weight, it may well be time for you to get some information about hypothyroidism. A home thyroid test can help you understand whether the amount of thyroid hormone that your thyroid gland is producing is adequate or not and whether it is the thyroid gland that is causing all the various symptoms that you have been observing lately.

Hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid gland does not produce adequate amounts of hormone can be caused due to inflammation of the thyroid gland. Surgery that involves removal of part of the gland is also known to be a cause as is over treatment of hyperthyroidism. While you may be aware of the situation and well informed about it in the latter cases, an inflammation can occur anytime without your knowledge. Regular monitoring with the use of a thyroid test is essential to detect the cause of all the symptoms that go with hypothyroidism like fatigue, cramps, weight gain, edema, constipation, depression, intolerance to cold and more.

The dangers of hypothyroidism are many and effective treatment is possible only if the detection happens at an early stage. If getting a thyroid test done at a clinic is too much of a hassle, you can opt for a home thyroid test.

Thyroid testing at home is simple and all that you need to do is to use a finger lancet and send the sample in a special mailer provided for the purpose. The results are available in a matter of a couple of days.

Undetected and untreated, hypothyroidism can lead to a situation where high levels of TSH hormone are generated by the pituitary because the body expects higher levels of the thyroid hormone. Extreme cases can result in depression that can turn suicidal, heart failure and even coma.

When a simple blood test can avoid a serious consequence like this, it seems judicious to stay aware of the symptoms of hypothyroidism and check your thyroid levels with an easy to use home thyroid test.

If you do not want to be among the many people who continue to get symptomatic treatment for the problems that they face due to hypothyroidism, make sure that you take things into your own hands and take the home thyroid test. Also called the TSH test, it is available online easily.

January 2010 was thyroid awareness month, but any month is a great time to get your thyroid tested. Don’t let your life continue to be littered with frustrations when you can fix it easily if you only knew the reason. A large number of hypothyroidism cases go undetected due to the lack of awareness of the condition. Make use of the convenient home thyroid test to get treated and get your life back in a matter of weeks. With proper diagnosis and medication, you will see a change in your confidence and personality that you never thought possible, all started by taking a simple thyroid test.

You can check out our home thyroid test here!

-  Anne Hamilton

Tags: ,

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Your System?

March 25th, 2010   12 Comments

There are many people who ask the question “how long does marijuana stay in your system?”  Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not simple and straightforward, the fact is that if you want to use a drug test effectively, it is a question that requires an answer.

So let’s cut through the misinformation on the Internet and provide one!

Before we understand the period of time that marijuana lasts in the system, there are a couple of facts that you should know.

- The presence of marijuana is detected by a drug test through the presence of the active chemical THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol.  Technically, what is detected is known as THC-COOH (11-nor-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid).

- The time that marijuana stays in the system depends on the amount of marijuana intake and the frequency at which it is consumed.

- When you smoke marijuana, your body breaks it down like it would anything else.  The products of this breakdown are known as metabolites.  The main metabolite of marijuana is THC-COOH.  THC-COOH can be stored in the body in fat if you’ve consumed more than your body can get rid of at a given time.

- If you consume marijuana continuously, your system will be sort of “overloaded” with THC-COOH (which is not to say that you’ll be continuously high).  Some of that THC-COOH will be stored away in the fat since the body can’t get rid of it.  This means that the THC-COOH will be present in the system for much longer, as the body will have to play catch up at getting rid of the THC-COOH.  Think of it as the difference between eating a peanut butter sandwich and a KFC Double-down.  Both count as one meal, but one has far more calories and fat content.  Since the body can’t use the calories and fat content it’ll store them away.  Same with THC-COOH and someone who smokes a lot of marijuana.

- Marijuana drug testing can be conducted using saliva, urine, hair and sometimes blood as the sample.

- The specific window that you need to check for marijuana consumption depends on whether you are checking on someone who has tried for the first time or if you are testing someone who smokes a few times a week, or someone who smokes daily.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay in Saliva?

Marijuana does not stay in saliva for very long.  Most of the rules that apply to marijuana’s detection time in urine and hair do not apply to marijuana in saliva.  It can be detected by a saliva drug screen about an hour after intake. The accuracy of a saliva drug test (97%-98%) will decrease rapidly about 12 hours after the marijuana was consumed. So while a saliva drug test option may be useful if you want to find out if someone is high or if they were smoking yesterday, it is not an effective test for long term or less recent use.

How often someone smokes marijuana (for example, every day for 6 months, or just once) has no bearing on the results of a saliva drug test.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Urine?

The amount of time marijuana can be detected in urine depends on the amount and frequency of its consumption.  Marijuana can stay in the urine for up to two months in cases of very frequent, prolonged use.   Basically, the more you use marijuana, the longer it will remain in your urine.  If you have just tried marijuana, for example, and that was your only use, it will probably be out of your urine within a week.

Those who kick the habit after consuming the drug almost daily can still have THC traces in the urine for a month or longer.

Be sure when testing to wait for about 2 to 5 hours after consumption or last suspected conception for THC to appear in the urine though.

How Long Does Marijuana Stay In Hair?

When smoked, marijuana enters the bloodstream and as the blood nourishes the hair, the drug gets into the hair follicles too. As the hair grows, the hair follicles contain traces of THC that can confirm the intake of marijuana. THC can show up in hair about a week after consumption (it takes the hair bearing traces of THC that long to emerge from the scalp).

Drugs take a long time to deteriorate in the hair and therefore testing can be done many days after consumption. A standard laboratory will check up to 90 days but a court or another law enforcing institution can have hair analyzed for more than 3 months as well.  Special arrangements can usually be made with laboratories if inquiries are made.

While hair drug testing provides a good opportunity to confirm whether someone has been on marijuana, and has the largest detection window, the issue is that this drug is not one of the easiest drugs to hair test. THC, when it’s in your body, does not always bind successfully to the hair follicle. Therefore, it is possible that a semi-frequent user may get a negative reading on a hair follicle drug test while someone who had it just once a couple of weeks back may get a positive result. It is a bit of a toss up. The hair follicle drug test is therefore not considered to be as reliable for marijuana as it is for other drugs like cocaine (and for drugs like cocaine, and all other drugs tested for in a standard consumer hair drug test, hair follicle drug testing is actually found to be better at catching drug use than urine tests).

So while the question “how long does marijuana stay in your system” is a pertinent and popular one, there are all of the above factors to consider before an appropriate and correct answer can be given. Even though there is all this discussion about the whole question, if you are concerned, the best thing to do is to just go out there and purchase a home drug test and check out whether you or someone else test clean or not.

(Check out our home drug test product line here! We carry all of the tests profiled above in the chart.)

- Anne Hamilton

Tags: , , ,

Marijuana Presents A Problem for NFL This Year

March 24th, 2010   Add Comment

Remember Ricky Williams?  The former college football superstar has spent much of his pro-career dealing with the consequences of failed drug tests, which by his own admission were partially responsible for his brief early retirement and have caused controversy throughout his career.  With a lot of his past behind him, Williams is successful again playing for the Miami Dolphins.  As NFL coaches and scouts are finding though, his drug use (marijuana) is by no means limited to him or other players.

As Don Banks covers over at Sports Illustrated’s website (SI.com), some head coaches are now describing marijuana use among potential draft picks as an “epidemic.”  Beyond the legality of smoking marijuana, possible drug use is a huge issue for teams in the NFL.  Do you pass on a superstar like Percy Harvin because of a failed marijuana drug test?  And if you don’t, how do you deal with the controversy, bad press, fines, suspensions and possible jail sentence that comes with an athlete that fails a drug test?

Coaches seem to be investigating drug issues player by player, especially if the drug in question is marijuana – harder drugs do not receive such a level of tolerance.  Imagine if you are on the verge of a possible contract in the millions with a professional football team – and this is what you must worry about.  It’s a pretty scary thought.  Ricky Williams is a pretty great football player, but his journey to playing in the NFL on Sundays again was a lot harder than it had to be.

Tags: ,

Talk To A DUI Lawyer Before Talking With The Police

March 24th, 2010   1 Comment

(This is the first in a continuing series of guest editorials on the Home Health Testing blog).

A DUI arrest is a serious matter and can have life long consequences for the charged. This is why it is important that you talk with a DUI lawyer and let him/her handle your case before you say anything to the police. When a driver is stopped by the police as a suspect for drunk driving, the best thing to do is not to speak at all. If you start a conversation with the police officer, that can be used against you in court. Similarly, many people believe, that they should do all what the police officer asks them to do. However, this is not the correct approach. You can also refuse to take a breath test or refuse to give the field sobriety tests, which will lead to your driver’s license suspension, which can be fought in court.

Speak to a DUI attorney
As soon as you are stopped as a suspect for drunk driving, you should immediately ask for a lawyer to talk on your behalf. You should not feel awkward about asking for a lawyer as it is your right. However, you must provide your identification as well as insurance proof when you are pulled over. Even if the police arrest you for not taking the test, or not answering their questions, you should still not say anything. Instead, ask for your lawyer to talk on your behalf. You must stay quiet till your lawyer turns up.

How to talk with the police officer
On the other hand, if you talk with the officer, make sure you talk in a calm manner and not in an angry or irritated tone. It is also not advised to start an argument with the police officer, as that can have further consequences and penalties. Similarly, if you try to evade the officer, it can also get you in trouble. Police officers are trained to study a persons behaviour through their speech and also through their body language, so if you try and act smart, you are only asking for trouble. Also, if you start answering questions asked by the officer, make sure you answer them honestly and truthfully. However, make sure you do not mention any of your recent drinking activities, as they can act against you directly.

The police will make an effort to start small talk, and to confuse you or to engage you in a conversation if you try and avoid one. Even answering innocent questions can damage your case by working against you, as the police officers not only take note of what you answer, but also how you answer them. They specifically look for slurred speech to use it to prove in court that you were drunk at the time of arrest.

Therefore, you should make sure that you do not talk with the officer at all. Even if you think you are providing information which will not work against you in court, you are wrong. By staying quiet and exercising your right to remain silent, you make things easier for your DUI lawyer to defend you. The more you talk at the time of arrest, the complicated your case will become, as everything you say will be “on record” and will come back to haunt you in court.

By asking for a DUI lawyer to represent you in court, you will make sure you have someone at your side who understands the ins and outs of the DUI laws of the area, and knows how to deal in court. Your lawyer will also attend court sessions for you and will work to reduce your penalties or have them removed completely. Do not try to take matters in your own hand as it will most likely lead to a DUI conviction. An experienced lawyer will discuss your case in detail with you and explain the whole process to you and will also guide you on how to deal in the court and face the prosecutor and judge. So if you have been charged and arrested for drunk driving, you should immediately ask for a DUI lawyer who is trusted and has successfully fought and won DUI cases. If you are having difficulties finding one, you can visit http://www.MyDUIAttorney.org and find one in the state where you have been charged in.

This editorial was written by Richard Jacobs of DUI lawyer directory website http://www.myduitattorney.org.

Nicotine And Women

March 20th, 2010   Add Comment

Smoking is a habit that does no one good. Even a single cigarette is harmful for the system. Women suffer from all the negative effects of smoking as men do. These include a higher risk of cancer including cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, kidney and bladder. Other smoking risks associated with the habit include all kinds of respiratory diseases. Women smokers are at a 12 times higher risk of dying from lung cancer and 10 times more likely to meet their death from bronchitis and emphysema.

Some of the specific risks that women face when they indulge are discussed below.

Infertility

Women smokers have reduced fertility. A study showed that 38 percent of non smoking women conceived in their first cycle as against only 28 percent of those who did. A woman smoker is more likely (3.4 times more) to take more than a year to conceive.

Menstruation

Secondary amenorrhea (absence of menstruation or irregular menstruation) is a common issue that female smokers face. Vaginal discharge that is not regular and bleeding is also common. The toxic effect also leads to a quicker menopause than what would have been otherwise.

Hormones

Lower levels of estrogen in women who smoke leads to early menopause! While estrogen replacement therapy helps, taking external hormones and smoking at the same time increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Osteoporosis

Smoking reduces the bone density and therefore increases the already high risk of osteoporosis in women. It was seen that women who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day lower their bone density by 5 to 10 percent. This reduction can lead to significantly higher chances of fractures.

Pregnancy

Women who smoke through their pregnancy have children who are more susceptible to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The habit also leads to preterm delivery that can bring other issues related to it along with. Chances of low birth weight, placenta previa, miscarriage and neonatal death is also common. Smoking can also reduce the flow of blood to the fetus thereby reducing the amount of nutrients that reach it.

Oral contraception

The use of oral contraceptives along with smoking increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases in women by ten times. This smoking risk increases with age and is considerably higher in women above the age of 35.

Other smoking risks

Smoking risks include lung cancer to a large extent in women. It is estimated that about 68,000 women in the US die each year from the condition. The risk of cardiovascular diseases is three times higher in middle aged smoking women than in middle aged non smoking women, according to the American Heart Association. Skin related issues such as wrinkles and spotting are also known to appear in women who smoke. It also leads to yellow and stained teeth, bad breath, tartar deposits and tooth loss.

The best way of managing the issue of smoking is to ensure that you never really start. One way in which you can keep your teenager from smoking is to make her aware that you have a nicotine test at home that you can use anytime. Stay vigilant about telltale signs of smoking so as to prevent the habit from forming in the first place.

Tags: , ,