Quantum Units Education

High school students who acknowledge texting while driving are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors, such as riding with a driver who has been drinking alcohol; not wearing a seat belt; or drinking and driving themselves, according to a new study.

“This suggests there is a subgroup of students who may place themselves, their passengers and others on the road at elevated risk for a crash-related injury or fatality by engaging in multiple risky MV (motor vehicle) behaviors,” wrote the authors of the study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

The study

Researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which asked high school students whether they had texted while driving in the 30 days previous. Nearly half of the 8,505 students aged 16 or older who answered that question reported doing so. The survey also queried participants on behaviors such as wearing a seat belt or riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking.

Full story of teens taking risks at CNN Health

Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/

Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education

New! Meditative Psychotherapy

This brief course was developed using Dr. Jeffrey B. Rubin’s book, Meditative Psychotherapy: The Marriage of East and West. Dr. Rubin is one of the leading integrators of the Eastern meditative and Western psychotherapeutic traditions, and the creator of meditative psychotherapy. The author discusses how the “marriage” of these two disciplines promises a way to illuminate human suffering and offer paths to healing and transformation. The book includes examples from Dr Rubin’s practice that illustrate his reflections and perspective.

New! Preventing and Addressing Alcohol and Drug Problems – A Handbook for Clergy

This course is intended to increase awareness of the family consequences when the disease of addiction is present, enhance the ability to support people in faith communities who are struggling with addiction, and provide some strategies to help prevent alcohol and drug use by the youth in the community. It is based on the core competences published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2004. With a better understanding of addiction and the untreated family consequences, the reader may be more comfortable and effective in helping affected families obtain necessary help, and in adopting strategies that can reduce the number of people who will be hurt by these diseases in the future.

New! Identifying Mental Health and Substance Abuse Problems of Children and Youth

This course is intended to promote the early identification of children and adolescents with mental health and substance use problems. It addresses the approaches, methods, and strategies used to identify mental health and substance use problems of high-risk youth (persons whose ages are between birth and 22 years) in settings that serve either a broad spectrum of children and adolescents or a high-risk population.

New! Effective Treatment for People in Homelessness Rehabilitation

This course is an extraction from Treatment Improvement Protocol #55 – Effective Treatment for People in Homelessness Rehabilitation. This course focuses on several people with behavioral health disorders who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Each case demonstrates effective approaches to treatment for people who are in different phases of homelessness rehabilitation and who have substance use and/or mental disorder.

New! Stroke Rehabilitation

The guideline is relevant to all healthcare professionals providing or directing treatment services to patients recovering from a stroke, in any healthcare setting (primary care, specialty care, and long-term care) and in community programs.

For these CEU courses and many more, visit Quantum Units Education

Although drinking alcohol is known to be a risk factor for developing breast cancer, a new study suggests that alcohol may not have any effect on whether you survive the disease.  In fact, researchers found that being a moderate drinker may actually improve your chances of survival.

“The results of the study showed there was no adverse relationship between drinking patterns before diagnosis and breast cancer survival,” said Polly Newcomb, director of the cancer prevention program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and the lead author of the study.

“We actually found that relative to non-drinkers there were modestly improved survival rates for moderate alcohol intake.”

The researchers followed close to 25,000 breast cancer patients for an average of 11 years, and found that women who drank moderately – three to six drinks per week – before developing breast cancer were 15% less likely to die from the disease.

Full story of alcohol and breast cancer at CNN Health

Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/

Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education

A Duke University researcher is studying whether virtual reality can be used to reduce cravings in people who are addicted. The goal is to help them develop coping strategies that they can use in the real world, Popular Science reports.

A person using virtual reality for addiction treatment is hooked up to a simulator, and enters a virtual environment with one of their triggers, such as a crack pipe or bottle of alcohol. Someone in the scene offers them their drug of choice. Researchers slowly add cues to the virtual environment, or change the situation, based on the patient’s history.

A voice tells the person to put down the joystick and look around the room without speaking, to allow their craving to dissipate. The voice asks them to rate their cravings periodically.

The research is spearheaded by Zach Rosenthal, who receives funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Department of Defense. He uses virtual reality to trigger a reaction, and then teaches patients to cope with it. The method is called cue reactivity, which has long been used for treating phobias.

Full story of virtual reality for addiction at DrugFree.org

Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/

Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education

Although drinking alcohol is known to be a risk factor for developing breast cancer, a new study suggests that alcohol may not have any effect on whether you survive the disease.  In fact, researchers found that being a moderate drinker may actually improve your chances of survival.

“The results of the study showed there was no adverse relationship between drinking patterns before diagnosis and breast cancer survival,” said Polly Newcomb, director of the cancer prevention program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and the lead author of the study.

“We actually found that relative to non-drinkers there were modestly improved survival rates for moderate alcohol intake.”

The researchers followed close to 25,000 breast cancer patients for an average of 11 years, and found that women who drank moderately – three to six drinks per week – before developing breast cancer were 15% less likely to die from the disease.

Full story of alcohol and breast cancer at CNN Health

Photos courtesy of and copyright PhotoPin, http://photopin.com/

Beedie Savage – President of Quantum Units Education