International Society of Addiction Medicine

The International Society of Addiction Medicine, ISAM, is an international fellowship of physicians founded in 1998 and committed to the advancement of knowledge about Addiction Medicine through the

  • Recognition of physicians worldwide who have a major role to play in its management
  • Enhancement of the credibility of the physician's role
  • Emphasis of the importance of educational activities
  • Drug addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.
  • Brain changes that occur over time with drug use challenge an addicted person's self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. This is why drug addiction is also a relapsing disease.
  • Relapse is the return to drug use after an attempt to stop. Relapse indicates the need for more or different treatment.
  • Most drugs affect the brain's reward circuit by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy activities, leading people to repeat the behaviour again and again.
  • Over time, the brain adjusts to the excess dopamine, which reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug-an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug, trying to achieve the same dopamine high.
  • No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. A combination of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors influences risk for addiction. The more risk factors a person has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction.
  • Drug addiction is treatable and can be successfully managed.
  • More good news is that drug use and addiction are preventable. Teachers, parents, and health care providers have crucial roles in educating young people and preventing drug use and addiction.

ISAM ACTIVITIES

  • Provision of a membership-based forum for physicians worldwide
  • Biannual email Newsletters, informing members of ISAM activities and meetings
  • ISAM Committees and position papers on select topics relevant to practice methods
  • International Certification Exam in Addiction Medicine
  • Textbook of Addiction Treatment: International Perspectives
  • ISAM Fundamental Modules held annually
  • Regularly offered webinars

Latest Blog Postings

Androgen Receptor Gene Mosaicism in Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome Patient Detected by Whole Exome Sequencing

Androgen insensitivity syndrome is the most frequent etiology of disorders of sex development in 46,XY individuals. It is characterized by evidence of feminization of the external genitalia at birth, abnormal secondary sexual development in puberty, and male infertility. It is an X-linked recessive disease caused by alterations in the...Read More

Study on Knowledge and Compliance of Standard Precautions among Intensive Care Units Nurses in Shaanxi Province, China

Introduction: The standard precautions advanced by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1996, goals of Standard precautions to reducing the risk of transmission of blood-borne and other pathogens in hospitals. The prpous of this study :to assess the knowledge and compliance of standard precautions...Read More

Tumor Necrosis in a Breast Cancer Case as a Result of a Novel Systemic Magnetic Nanoparticle Hyperthermia “Firstin-Human” Safety and Feasibility Trial

Background: We report a case of a patient with metastatic breast cancer that was treated with a novel magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia approach for the treatment of solid tumors comprising of systemic administration of iron oxide multicore encapsulated nanoparticles, named Sarah Nanoparticles (SaNPs), and Alternating Magnetic Field (AMF) irradiation. Case...Read More

Factors Affecting Nursing Ethics in Nursing Practice at University Hospitals of Tigray, Ethiopia, 2019: A Qualitative Research Study

Objective: Nursing ethics is the rational and sustainable use of communication, knowledge, clinical skills, emotions and values in nursing practice. This study aimed to discover and explain factors that affect nursing ethics in nursing practice at Aksum university hospital. This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis approach. Twenty...Read More