The recipient of an MD from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Kathleen Whaley has served as an addiction medicine physician at several health care facilities. Accomplished in her field, Dr. Kathleen Whaley maintains board certification from the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM).ABAM board certification signals to the public that an addiction medicine physician has demonstrated superior professional competence. The highest standard in the field of addiction medicine, ABAM board certification is achieved through a rigorous evaluation process.This process begins with ABAM determining that a physician holds the required educational and clinical credentials. Those who meet the organization’s requirements then take a six-hour examination. Designed by an expert panel in collaboration with the National Board of Medical Examiners, the examination tests whether a candidate has the skills, knowledge, judgment, and professionalism to provide exceptional care to patients dealing with addiction.Candidates who pass the examination earn ABAM board certification. To maintain this credential, physicians must complete ongoing continuing education courses and pass a periodic maintenance of certification examination. Doing so ensures that those who hold ABAM board certification continuously have the tools to furnish the highest level of care.
Dr. Kathleen Whaley, a board-certified addiction medicine physician, has cared for patients in a variety of recovery settings, including medication-assisted treatment (MAT), partial hospitalization programs (PHP), and inpatient care. Dr. Kathleen Whaley also maintains active membership in the national and Indiana chapters of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, through which she encounters new developments in her field.A recent study out of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has revealed findings indicating dopamine as a contributing factor in the processes of addiction. Dopamine's role in addiction has been debated for a number of years, but the Geneva team has demonstrated its connection with heroin through several mouse model experiments.One experiment showed that after the team gave heroin to the subject mice, the level of dopamine in the subjects' neural reward center increased significantly. A subsequent experiment involving repeated exposure yielded similar results.The team then sought to link dopamine with the addiction process itself. In mouse subjects with heroin addictions, which were demonstrated by a tendency to self-administer the drug using a touch lever, the activity of dopamine neurons was inhibited and there was a significant decrease in self-administration of the drug. The link between dopamine release and heroin addiction was solidified with the next experiment, which replaced a laser light addiction with a heroin addiction in mice with manipulated dopamine neurons.The study's senior author, Professor Christian Lüscher, believes that these findings mark important progress in the effort to understand addiction pathways. According to Dr. Lüscher, with more research, knowledge of these pathways could improve both addiction science and pain management.
As a board-certified addiction medicine physician, Dr. Kathleen Whaley has cared for patients in both New York and Indiana. Dr. Kathleen Whaley currently works at Conifer Park in Rochester, New York, where she draws on an in-depth understanding of neurological addiction processes.At its core, addiction is a change in the brain's reward system. The human brain naturally reinforces behaviors that feel good, largely through the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine. Addictive substances activate the same processes, despite the fact that the substances themselves are harmful to the body.Dependence occurs because those same substances overstimulate the brain's reward system. They increase the feelings of pleasure associated with taking the drug, which causes the person to repeat the behavior to excess. The person's brain begins to prioritize use of the drug above other, healthier alternatives. Furthermore, the brain learns to associate certain situations and stimuli with the pleasure of the drug. Those cravings further intensify the person's need to use the substance.In time, these floods of pleasure-causing chemicals inhibit the brain's ability to produce normal levels of neurotransmitters. Without the drug, the person feels listless, depressed, and unable to enjoy other activities. Normal use of the drug becomes baseline and the person needs more of it to feel “high"; the increased use further damages the brain and body.
