Addiction Medicine

Addiction is defined as the inability to stop utilizing a substance or engaging in an activity despite the fact that doing so is harmful to the physical and mental health of a person. Exhaustion, declining physical health and irritation are all common signs of addiction. Addiction medicine is a specialized branch of medicine primarily concerned with the evaluation, diagnosis, recovery, prevention and treatment of addiction related disorders. Substance-related and addictive disorders and people who exhibit unhealthy use of substances like prescription drugs, nicotine, alcohol and other illicit and licit drugs are all treated under this area of medical science. Addiction medicine involves the study of drug cravings from different perspectives such as brain states, regional, small-scale networks, and large-scale networks. It also encompasses craving management through cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, environmental and neural perspectives. This book provides significant information to help develop a good understanding of addiction medicine, its neuroscientific approaches and therapeutical implications. Those in search of information to further their knowledge will be greatly assisted by it.