Feature Channels: Addiction

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Cocaine addicted individuals may continue their habit despite unfavorable consequences like imprisonment or loss of relationships because their brain circuits responsible for predicting emotional loss are impaired, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in The Journal of Neuroscience.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Kentucky neonatologist Henrietta Bada recently published a pilot study examining the effectiveness of a non-opiate drug clonidine to treat neonatal abstinence syndrome.

• share
• favorite_border

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is preparing to issue a final ruling on whether it will extend its tobacco regulatory authority to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), researchers from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Rutgers School of Public Health have identified strong support for a number of e-cigarette policies among smokers. Findings included strong support for advertising restrictions and placing warning labels for potential risks on the devices.

• share
• favorite_border

Expert can harness her extensive experience working with addiction and mental health a residential treatment center in Canada to discuss the implications of a sharp rise in the use of marijuana among the adult population in Ontario, and whether marijuana has been given a “free pass” as a largely harmless drug leading to greater consequences.

• share
• favorite_border

Analyzing every marijuana-related Twitter message sent during a one-month period in early 2014, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have found that the “Twitterverse” is a pot-friendly place. In that time, more than 7 million tweets referenced marijuana, with 15 times as many pro-pot tweets sent as anti-pot tweets.

• share
• favorite_border

While considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, snails have found a more intriguing use to scientists and the medical profession offering a plethora of research possibilities.

• share
• favorite_border

A team from The Scripps Research Institute has designed a more effective nicotine vaccine and proven that the structures of molecules used in vaccines is critical.

• share
• favorite_border

“Our data reveal that incontrollable urges to smoke are stronger at the beginning of the follicular phase that begins after menstruation. Hormonal decreases of oestrogen and progesterone possibly deepen the withdrawal syndrome and increase activity of neural circuits associated with craving” - Adrianna Mendrek

• share
• favorite_border

Stimulants use such as cocaine and amphetamine is associated with a nearly two-fold greater likelihood of suicidal behaviour amongst people who inject drugs, say researchers at the University of Montreal and the CHUM Research Centre. Drug addiction had already been identified as a major risk factor for suicide, and it is in fact the cause of ten percent of deaths among drug users. The data from this groundbreaking study could help develop and evaluate more appropriate suicide prevention efforts in this highly vulnerable population.

• share
• favorite_border

At age 50, after a lifetime of drug abuse and jailtime, Leo Pereida is graduating from college. He credits his turnaround to his faith in God.

• share
• favorite_border

When it comes to measuring teen smoking, many public health agencies rely too heavily on reports of monthly cigarette use, a broad statistic that makes it difficult to draw conclusions about current habits and historical trends, a new study finds.

• share
• favorite_border

E-cigarettes appear to be less addictive than cigarettes in former smokers and this could help improve understanding of how various nicotine delivery devices lead to dependence, according to researchers.

• share
• favorite_border

Within a few months after drug withdrawal, patients in recovery from dependence on prescription pain medications may show signs that the body's natural reward systems are normalizing, reports a study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

• share
• favorite_border

Nine in 10 primary care physicians say that prescription drug abuse is a moderate or big problem in their communities and nearly half say they are less likely to prescribe opioids to treat pain compared to a year ago, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study has shown that smoking can inhibit the success of treatment for alcohol abuse, putting people who are addicted to both tobacco and alcohol in a double bind.

• share
• favorite_border

University of Utah professor Eric Garland developed Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery-Enhancement to change the face of intervention and treatment for drug abusers.

• share
• favorite_border

Teens prescribed anti-anxiety or sleep medications may be up to 12 times more likely to abuse those drugs illegally than teens who have never received a prescription, often by obtaining additional pills from friends or family members, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

• share
• favorite_border

Smokeless tobacco products are marketed as a way for smokers to cut back on the negative effects of tobacco, while still being able to use it. Is that really the case? A professor in the Department of Psychology at West Virginia University is investigating whether smokers are using smokeless tobacco products as a replacement, or supplement to cigarettes.

• share
• favorite_border

The medical community may be inadvertently creating a new generation of illegal, recreational drug users by prescribing anti-anxiety or sleep medications to teenagers, say University of Michigan researchers.