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American Addiction Centers National Rehabs Directory

AAC’s Unique Medical Capabilities

Along with proven therapies and tailored treatments for each individual, AAC utilizes an array of unique medical technologies to further enhance your recovery journey. Read more below to see what kinds of capabilities AAC offers patients:

What Is Medication-Assisted Treatment?

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is the use of medications in combination with behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders. MAT utilizes medication to block the euphoric effects of alcohol, normalize body functions and brain chemistry, and relieves physiological cravings. It helps to provide a more positive treatment experience for patients by managing pain levels. All medications used in MAT are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and treatment plans are tailored to meet each individual’s needs.

AAC is also a proponent of Pharmacogenetics, which looks at your genetic makeup to determine which medications are best suited for your own unique metabolic processes. It allows physicians to prescribe the exact dosages needed to most effectively curb an individual’s addiction without causing them to develop a dependence. Medications offered at AAC facilities include buprenorphine, Suboxone, Vivitrol, and Sublocade.

AAC’s Medical Capabilities

Pharmacogenetic Testing

Pharmacogenetic testing looks at how each person’s individual’s genetic makeup reacts to medications. The way our bodies metabolize, absorb, distribute, and get rid of drugs from the body varies based upon our specific genetics. We are the only addiction treatment provider that offers genetic-based testing medicine to our patients without charging additional fees for the service. AAC owns and operates two technological and addiction-centered labs that specialize in genetic and diagnostic testing.

Genetic testing is done through a non-invasive saliva sample, such as a cheek swab, and can help determine which medications and dosage are best suited for your unique metabolic processes to effectively to curb addiction. Testing also reduces the risk of developing a dependence to treatment medications.

According to the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, addiction is considered heritable about 50% of the time and genetic testing often reveals a person’s genetic makeup that holds the proclivity or susceptibility toward developing an addiction. This comprehensive test can be kept for the rest of a patient’s life and can provide a future guide to ensure each AAC patient can return to life as usual with as minimal risk as possible.

Urinalysis

When a person begins the recovery process with AAC, they will administer a urine sample to allow providers to find out which types of substances are in their body at the time of collection. Because it is not always easy to remember which drugs were taken or which were laced with other substances, this type of testing can give physicians a bigger picture of what direction and approach need to be taken for treatment. Especially within outpatient settings, ongoing urinalysis testing allows AAC staff to track how a patient’s substance use habits are changing or staying consistent throughout treatment.

Bloodwork

AAC uses bloodwork to guide a patient’s treatment plan and understand if any additional health issues exist that patients may not know about. Through Addiction Labs of America, AAC facilities can easily detect secondary health concerns that may gone undetected or unidentified during years of substance misuse.

It is not uncommon for those with an alcohol use disorder to also be at risk for pancreatitis, liver cirrhosis, or diabetes. Since diabetes can show a false positive on an alcohol tests, it is important to identify these health issues early. Bloodwork can also identify infectious diseases such, as HIV or chlamydia, and determine a patient’s blood sugar and cholesterol levels. The latter informs practitioners on how to create plans that help balance a person’s energy levels and mood swings. This way, individuals will have better emotional stability in order to tackle all aspects of the recovery process.



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