no, i am not lisa nova.

yeah, i have a friend in Oregon who has used meth for quite a few years and it is very sad.  the thing with drug addicts is to avoid chemicals as much as possible and they are in our food and environment, so it is had.  one thing about addicts they can become addicted to anything because of their addictive personalities.  that is why you see some who have gotten 100% into religion or 100% into exercise, or whatever.  they require something to replace their addiction to a drug, but hopefully it is a healthy alternative.  one very strange thing i have noticed about drug addicts is rarely do they like alcohol.  most of them do not drink.  i sort of think it is because the hangovers are bad and if you start drinking again, you generally feel worse, whereas if you come off a drug, you can take more and feel better. 

yeah, the ingedients in meth, i just don't think many are aware of.  the finished product certainly doesn't look harmful.  yeah, it destroys brain cells.  My best guess on recovering is a good diet and taking nutrients and/or drugs that correct a choline imbalance/depletion.  the problem with using drugs is the abuser often goes back to street drugs because they do not differentiate between those and pharamceutical drugs.  frankly, sometimes the phramaceutical drugs are not good for them either;  that is especially true when it is psychotropic drugs, which have no place in medicine or anywhere.   

The researchers measured levels of N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), a metabolite produced only in neurons. "NAA levels are a measure of the viability and density of neurons," Dr. Ernst says. "Many diseases associated with brain cell loss or damage, such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and epilepsy, are also associated with reduced NAA."

The scientists also measured levels of two other chemical markers-choline-containing compounds and myo-inositol (MI)-associated mostly with specialized cells called glial cells. "The primary role of glial cells is to maintain normal function of neurons, including repair of injury to the cells. Increases in glial markers suggest proliferation of these support cells in response to neuronal damage," Dr. Ernst explains.

Among the methamphetamine abusers, NAA levels were reduced by 5 percent in the frontal white matter and 6 percent in the basal ganglia compared with levels among nonusers. "The reduced concentrations of NAA in the drug users' brains suggest that long-term methamphetamine abuse results in loss of or damage to neurons," Dr. Ernst says. Methamphetamine abusers also showed increases of 11 percent in levels of MI and 13 percent in levels of choline-containing compounds in the frontal gray matter compared with nonusers. "This suggests an increased number or size of glial cells as a reaction to the injurious effects of the drug," he adds.

"Methamphetamine may be substantially toxic to the cells we use in thinking," Dr. Ernst says. "This long-term, and perhaps permanent, alteration in basic brain chemistry is additional evidence that methamphetamine abuse, like abuse of other drugs, should be considered a brain disease and treated accordingly."

http://www.drugabuse.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNVol15N3/Brain.html

Torrie