Crack cocaine has been a major public health problem in Brazil due to the individual and social harms and risks deriving from its use. This article aims to assess the characteristics of drug scenes in the capital and Midwest of Santa Catarina state. The project used the Time-Location Sampling. Between January and June 2011, 41 crack cocaine scenes were mapped in capital of Santa Catarina, where...

Mailing address: Rua Pedro Oliveira Bittencourt, 171/04, Bairro Tristeza 91900-230 Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cooperative games to help dealing with craving and anxiety, as well as to motivate change in the addictive behavior of crack/cocaine-dependent patients hospitalized at a detoxication...

OBJECTIVES To document changes in "crack" cocaine use in the sex industry in London, and to assess health risks associated with the drug. DESIGN Two serial cross sectional surveys. SUBJECTS Sex workers interviewed in 1989-9 and 1995-6. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Self reported use of crack cocaine; clinical history of sexually transmitted infection and pregnancy, clinical outcomes. RESULTS Th...

BACKGROUND Although single case reports have described acute aortic dissection in relation to cocaine use, this condition is not widely recognized, and the features of cocaine-related aortic dissection have not been defined. METHODS AND RESULTS We reviewed all available hospital charts from 1981 to 2001 with the ICD-9 diagnosis of aortic dissection. Among the 38 cases of acute aortic dissecti...

This study characterizes the family ties of crack cocaine users cared for in a psychiatric emergency department in southern Brazil. It is a qualitative study with a series of cases carried out in the city of Maringá, PR, Brazil from April to June 2010. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, analyzed using content analysis, and organized into two categories: family ties as facil...

Although intensive outpatient therapy is recommended for treatment of cocaine, psychosocial characteristics associated with crack cocaine abuse are also implicated in attrition from outpatient programs. Acupuncture, medications, and brainwave therapy (biofeedback), have all been used to encourage treatment retention and drug use outcomes. The effectiveness of three adjunct therapies in improvin...

Crack cocaine can cause a variety of pulmonary and cardiac complications. Pulmonary findings in a 65- year-old man with non-Hodgkin lymphoma who presented with shortness of breath not resolving with antibiotics are presented here. The usual manifestation of "crack lung" in an unusual clinical circumstance underlines the importance of a clinical history in such cases. The finding of "crack lung"...

Abstract Background Crack-cocaine dependence is a serious public health issue, related to several psychiatric and psychosocial problems. users are usually embedded in context of great social vulnerability, often associated with violence, poverty, family conflict easy early access alcohol, tobacco other drugs. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled consecutive sample 577 patients admitted 2...

A 39-year-old woman had an embolic upper division middle cerebral artery branch occlusion 3 hours after smoking the free base of cocaine ("crack"). Radionuclide ventriculography demonstrated cardiomyopathy, and echocardiography documented a left atrial thrombus. This case demonstrates that embolism is one mechanism of ischemic stroke after cocaine use, and that cardiomyopathy, possibly cocaine ...